News:
Seven children were referred this week through our agency (again, all seven are not affected by the recent ban on Addis Ababa abandoned children). The referrals were of 5 girls and 2 boys. The girls were ages 7 yrs, (2) 4 year olds, 2 years old, and 3 ½ months old; and the boys were 7 weeks and 3 ½ yrs old. The wait times on the infants was 10 months for the boy and 11 1/2 months for the girl. It is nice to see referrals continuing to come in despite the problems in the capital city.
No News:
Despite the recent meetings and continuing investigation, our agency notified us this morning that the court ban on Addis Ababa abandonment cases is still in place. There was no mention of when they think this will be resolved.
A huge thanks to everyone who has sent their prayers and best wishes on this issue. Again, we are SO hopeful that this is just a small procedural issue that needs to be dealt with as opposed to a larger systemic problem that may affect all adoptions in Ethiopia. Please continue to send your positive thoughts and energy out there for all the babies and children awaiting adoption.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend and love to all. XOXO
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A glimmer?
Last week's bad news from Ethiopia was difficult to hear and even harder to process, but there's a tiny glimmer of hope this week.
1. Four new infants were referred earlier this week. These are children not affected by last week's court decision as they do not come from orphanages in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Two of these infants were boys which means (drumroll please) that we moved up two more rungs on the ladder.
2. We were informed today by our adoption agency that on Monday, May 18th the Joint Council on International and Children’s Services will be having a meeting to confirm the extent of the illegal activities and investigations going on in Ethiopia regarding the abandoned children issue in Addis Ababa. The ruling judge will make his decision after hearing the results of this meeting plus ongoing investigations with the local police and input from the Ministry of Women's Affairs. This is potentially good news on two fronts: (a) it appears that decisions are being made quickly; and (b) the issue is being taken seriously which in our minds means that Ethiopia is still committed to international adoption.
So, here's our "good thoughts for the universe" request this week: we are hope, hope, hoping that further investigations do not uncover more problems that could jeopardize the intercountry adoption program in Ethiopia, and that the right decisions are made swiftly for these vulnerable children.
Thank you for all for the positive energy and support!
1. Four new infants were referred earlier this week. These are children not affected by last week's court decision as they do not come from orphanages in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Two of these infants were boys which means (drumroll please) that we moved up two more rungs on the ladder.
2. We were informed today by our adoption agency that on Monday, May 18th the Joint Council on International and Children’s Services will be having a meeting to confirm the extent of the illegal activities and investigations going on in Ethiopia regarding the abandoned children issue in Addis Ababa. The ruling judge will make his decision after hearing the results of this meeting plus ongoing investigations with the local police and input from the Ministry of Women's Affairs. This is potentially good news on two fronts: (a) it appears that decisions are being made quickly; and (b) the issue is being taken seriously which in our minds means that Ethiopia is still committed to international adoption.
So, here's our "good thoughts for the universe" request this week: we are hope, hope, hoping that further investigations do not uncover more problems that could jeopardize the intercountry adoption program in Ethiopia, and that the right decisions are made swiftly for these vulnerable children.
Thank you for all for the positive energy and support!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Heartbreak for Many. . . Confusion for Others
We truly hoped our next posting would be to announce more referrals indicating our rapid movement up the waiting list. And while there have been some referrals of late, we received some disturbing news this last Friday that affects ALL adoptions in Ethiopia.
Apparently one adoption agency (thankfully not ours) and a few orphanages in Ethiopia have been caught breaking procedural rules regarding the handling of abandoned babies/children in Addis Ababa (the capital city in Ethiopia where the agencies and all courts work from). Basically the accusations are that they were acting unethically in presenting children as abandoned who are in fact not abandoned. This is a very, very bad situation and the Federal Court in Addis Ababa has halted all adoption hearings for children abandoned in Addis Ababa (which accounts for a very large percentage of children adopted from Ethiopia) until the situation can be sorted out.
What does this mean?
Well, it is devastating news to those families who have already been referred their children and were waiting to travel to pick them up. They are currently on-hold and don't know if they'll ever get their children. I can't even imagine the pain they are in right now.
To people like us who are still waiting for referrals? Well . . . worst case scenario: the entire adoption program in Ethiopia could be halted due to corruption. This is similar to what happened in Vietnam, Cambodia and Columbia in the last 5-6 years. Best case scenario: the actions of one agency and a few orphanages will not be allowed to affect those that are following the rules and eventually a new system will be put into place that will prevent corruption in the future. This best case scenario, however, will likely result in a significant slow-down in referrals.
Please send good thoughts out into the universe that the best case scenario above is the only repercussion of the recent events. And we're working on getting our heads around the idea that we will be waiting alot longer than originally anticipated and preparing ourselves in case the worse case scenario comes to pass.
We wish we had better news to share, but this is the reality.
Apparently one adoption agency (thankfully not ours) and a few orphanages in Ethiopia have been caught breaking procedural rules regarding the handling of abandoned babies/children in Addis Ababa (the capital city in Ethiopia where the agencies and all courts work from). Basically the accusations are that they were acting unethically in presenting children as abandoned who are in fact not abandoned. This is a very, very bad situation and the Federal Court in Addis Ababa has halted all adoption hearings for children abandoned in Addis Ababa (which accounts for a very large percentage of children adopted from Ethiopia) until the situation can be sorted out.
What does this mean?
Well, it is devastating news to those families who have already been referred their children and were waiting to travel to pick them up. They are currently on-hold and don't know if they'll ever get their children. I can't even imagine the pain they are in right now.
To people like us who are still waiting for referrals? Well . . . worst case scenario: the entire adoption program in Ethiopia could be halted due to corruption. This is similar to what happened in Vietnam, Cambodia and Columbia in the last 5-6 years. Best case scenario: the actions of one agency and a few orphanages will not be allowed to affect those that are following the rules and eventually a new system will be put into place that will prevent corruption in the future. This best case scenario, however, will likely result in a significant slow-down in referrals.
Please send good thoughts out into the universe that the best case scenario above is the only repercussion of the recent events. And we're working on getting our heads around the idea that we will be waiting alot longer than originally anticipated and preparing ourselves in case the worse case scenario comes to pass.
We wish we had better news to share, but this is the reality.
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