Will We Make The Cut-Off?

This is the question in our house this week regarding our adoption.

April 18th marked 11 months of waiting-list time for us, and May 9th marks the implementation date of a new requirement in Ethiopia that adoptive parents appear at the adoption court hearing. Anyone who has a referral and whose file is submitted to the court (to receive a hearing date) before May 9th will not have to travel for the hearing. Anyone whose adoption is submitted May 9th or later will have to travel for the hearing. (This means TWO trips to Ethiopia instead of the one for which we planned.)

We are waiting and praying, waiting and praying. Of course, in everything, we trust that the timing and details will be just right, but we also know we WANT to have a referral and be submitted to court in the next two weeks! It will take an act of God in order for us to only travel once, but we aren't ruling out an act of God!! :)

We have enjoyed watching many new families form in the last few months, as most of the friends we have gained through this process have traveled to get their children, and several others will be on their way soon, including a special couple in our church.

Now, of course, as always, we're ready for it to be our turn!

In many other blog posts, I have posted "next steps," with no change really occurring in what should take place "next" in many, many months. Below, though, I have posted two sets of "next steps," listing the steps should we meet the looming deadline and the steps if we don't.

Happy reading!

Next steps if we receive a referral and are submitted to court before May 9:
1. Referral
2. Submission to court & court date scheduled
3. Court date
4. Wait for embassy date to be scheduled
5. Travel for embassy date and to bring home child(ren)
Good news: Easier and Cheaper

Next steps if we are not submitted to court before May 9:
1. Referral
2. Submission to court & court date for documents scheduled
3. Court date for child's documents, living relatives, etc.
4. Pass first court date
5. Court date scheduled for us to attend.
6. Travel for court, meet baby(ies), see Ethiopia
7. Come home without baby(ies) - unless embassy date can be schedule reasonably quickly.
8. Wait for embassy date to be scheduled.
9. Travel to pick up child(ren) or have them escorted home.
Good news: Since we saw the child(ren) before the adoption was final, the child(ren) are automatically citizens when we reach US soil.

I personally prefer the one with the fewer steps! ;)

We'll let you know what we know in two weeks!

Rebecca

Electricity Situation in Ethiopia

The following is a re-post of a report found on the AAI blog www.aainews.blogspot.com. If you are inclined to pray, now would be the time to pray for rain in Ethiopia.

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The following is a post from Gail Gorfe, the AAI staff member who manages Layla House and raises her own wonderful family of 4 children in Ethiopia. The electricity situation is becoming increasingly dire.

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Power rationing and life in Ethiopia

Around the end of the February power rationing was started again in Ethiopia. Power rationing is done by the Ethiopian government to meet the energy demands of the country. Due to a shortage of power, the electricity is turned off to save energy. Most electricity is generated through dams and without enough water (and dams being built taking longer then scheduled) the problem continues to grow.

Back in February everyone was very annoyed with the rationing but as it continues annoyance is a very minor issue. We went from losing power for 8 hours twice a week, to 12 hours then to 16 hours every two days. As of this week it is now 24 hours every second day. This is no longer simply an annoyance, but a catastrophe for the economy and for many people. And it is not over. Rumors around town are suggesting it will be as high as 48 hours of no power and 12 hours with.

Losing power in your home is no fun, especially when you are used to the luxuries of life, like hot water in the house, a fridge and washing machine. Without power those of us with the luxuries are reminded of what the majority of Ethiopians live without every day. This does not make it any easier of course. Planning meals is harder, shopping for groceries because a daily job and even taking hot showers (especially with a large family) becomes a job of scheduling.

But the impact on the country is so much bigger. There are many small business that operate in Addis Ababa and throughout the cities where that small business provides the income for the owner and/or employees and supports a large household. Income is shared within families as unemployment is high. As power rationing continues, business close down and more people will lose their jobs, with little prospect of another one.

Small business like coffee shops, translation offices, secretarial services and so many more are dependent on power to operate and on days without power they cannot work, which is a big loss for a business that needs to bring in a specific amount of income to stay operational.
Larger business like restaurant suffer greatly too of course. A lot more time and effort is needed to prepare food and keep it fresh and many need to spend money on purchasing generators.
Government offices, banks and others also suffer great slowdowns with the power cuts. The work of one week is forced into a few days and people wait longer for things that otherwise take only a few hours.

Large factories, which provide needed items for the society, or sent products for export, and bring in the needed foreign currency, are struggling to stay operational and every day you read in the papers of another one shut down. Without sufficient power the large machines cannot operate and many hours of work are lost when the power is shut off. The government is even requiring some factories to purchase generators for their power needs or to be cut off completely.

Specific factories are currently still exempt from the rationing, such as Pharmaceutical factories, but if the power shortage continues even they will need to be included in the rationing, forcing them to become dependent on generator power in order to keep the power properly regulated.

From mid to late June until the of September is when Ethiopia has its large rains. It is the “Krempt” season. Over the past few years the rains have come as early as late May, but so far this year there have been only a few showers here and there. Rain is very much needed and once the rainy season it is fully underway the power issue will be alleviated.
Of course rain for power is not the only issue. Ethiopia has faced drought many many times in the past and if this years’ rainy season is late, there will be many other problems besides the issue of power rationing.

We can only hope and pray that the rains will come very quickly and life can return to normal.

We shall be thankful...

In Ethiopia, complications to the completion of adoptions and many, many other forms of commerce have been caused by a lack of electricity (due to a lack of rain). We shall be thankful, today, for steady electricity.

http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/content/view/1207/26/

Questions all of us have asked...

Here are a few questions posed by an adopting family to the director of our adoption agency. They are questions many of you have probably asked yourself but maybe not had the courage to ask us. I have reposted the questions and the agency director's response below. For your reference, "Layla House" refers to the agency's transition center for children in the process of adoption and "AAI" refers to Adoption Advocates International, our agency.

"This is AAI and other agencies may and probably do do
things differently.

1. Does money change hands in Ethiopia when children are relinquished?

AAI does not take relinquishments from parents. Parents must relinquish to an orphange, and technically Layla House is not an orphanage but a transition home to care for kids in the adoption process. So, by the time AAI gets kids they have already been relinquished. AAI would not accept children from any orphanage that knowingly gives anything to bio parents. This is against the law and not in accordance with Hague regulations, and wrong. It is not likely that this is happening, word would spread very quickly and the orphanage would be shut down.

2. The article (and the one in the NYT last week) seemed to imply that there are in fact NOT millions of orphaned children in Ethiopia. I have been told that there are. Because we do not live there, how can we know what is true?

I don't think that is any way to know for sure how many orphans there are. AIDS has had a huge impact, especially in particular areas, such as the truck routes though Ethiopia. Diseases such as TB and malaria cause children to be orphaned. Single parents can seldom raise a child which leads to abandonment or relinquishment. There are far more children in need that can be served by the current adoption system. This is why AAI has programs such as the orphan student programs in Nazaret, Sheshamone and Dire Dawa, and Dessie, to help orphan kids who can live with extended family and stay in school. AAI provides sponsorships for nearly 500 such children. We currently have 95 sponsors for the program and could certainly use more, $20 a month.

3. The articles implied that families often place children in orphanages so that they might be educated or for a boarding school/ childcare type of scenario. Can someone speak to this?

This is true some places, such as Mexico. I have not seen this in Ethiopia. I think there are so many older orphan children in need in Ethioipa that it is not likely that orphanages would be caring for kids who have family..That is just my guess.


4. Both articles outright said that infants are not who really need adopting. Again, can someone speak to this?

Any child who does not have a family needs one. Whatever age. Babies in need who are adopted do not become older children in need of families. So, babies whose parents have died or who find themselves unable to raise them do need adoptive families. In addition there are many many older kids boys over 7 and girls over 8 or 10, who are hard to place, because there are not enough adoptive families for them. Adopting an older child is not a good choice for many families but for folks who have had parenting experience, it can be a very rewarding and enriching experience. These placements do take a lot of AAI staff time. It would be "easier" to just place babies, but we have always seen our job to be doing as much as we can to help with the greatest need."