Paperwork

That may seem like a never-ending theme here in our house and that is because, well...it is! Hopefully the last of it (for this portion) will go out by Friday. Big plans...I know and I am so good at following through on those big plans all the time.

I have been having trouble reaching a doctor who needs to write a letter for our file. It has been so frustrating and if I can't get a hold of him I am not sure what the next step is.

Prayers would be helpful!

Will the paperwork ever end?

It really is amazing how much paperwork is required to proceed with an international adoption (it might be the same for domestic adoptions... I don't know). It just makes you wonder, is part of the reason for all the questions we answer (many of which are the same questions answered multiple times on multiple forms to multiple recipients) designed to test our endurance? I wonder sometimes how many prospective adoptive parents (people who have oodles of love to share) just get lost in all the forms that must be filled out and never proceed to the end stage of the adoption process? How many more orphaned or abandoned children who desperately need homes would receive them if adoption were a little bit easier and a little less expensive?

I continue to pray that God would help guide us through the remainder of this process and pray that God place a loving parent in the life of every needy child. God's love, after all, is unlimited, boundless, unconditional, and free... would that we could shower that love of God everywhere it's needed.

Homestudy Interview Complete

Our homestudy interview and visit is complete...yay!

Now it is on to:

• the I-600A forms...check,
• passport application/renewal paperwork...check,
• second part of our CHSFS application...almost,

Two out of three isn't bad :)

New Sea in Ethiopia

Is a new sea forming in Ethiopia? Kind of...but it will take another million years or so for it to fully form.

"A Crack Opens in the Ethiopian Landscape, Preparing the Way for a New Sea"

From Discover

November 4th, 2009 11:07 AM

by Eliza Strickland

In 2005, the earth cracked open in Ethiopia. Two volcanic eruptions shook the desert, and a 35-mile-long rift opened in the land, measuring 20 feet wide in some places. Now a new study adds weight to the argument that the opening of this crack marks the first step in the formation of a new sea that may eventually separate East Africa from the rest of the continent. Says lead researcher Atalay Ayele: “The ocean’s formation is happening slowly, likely to take a few million years. It will stretch from the Afar depression (straddling Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti) down to Mozambique” [ABC News].

The study, to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, explains that the seismic movements observed in Ethiopia are very similar to the changes wrought by faults and fissures on the seafloor, where the processes that move tectonic plates usually begin.

Seismic data from 2005 shows that the rift opened in a matter of days. Dabbahu, a volcano at the northern end of the rift, erupted first, then magma pushed up through the middle of the rift area and began “unzipping” the rift in both directions, the researchers explained in a statement today. “We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this” [LiveScience], says study coauthor Cindy Ebinger.

The active volcanic region in Ethiopia’s Afar desert sits at the boundary of the African and Arabian tectonic plates, which have been gradually spreading apart for millions years; the new study shows that large-scale seismic events can speed up that process. The gradual separation has already formed the 186-mile Afar depression and the Red Sea. The thinking is that the Red Sea will eventually pour into the new sea in a million years or so [LiveScience].

Homestudy Interview

Our homestudy interview with LSS is scheduled for November 18, 2009!

Next up: Second part of our CHSFS paperwork.

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Doro Wat

Perhaps the best-known of all Ethiopian, or even African recipes, Doro Wat (Doro Watt, Doro Wot, Doro Wet, Doro We't, Dorowat) is a spicy chicken dish made with berberé and niter kibbeh (or nit'ir qibe, a spicy clarified butter). Berberé and niter kibbeh, basic ingredients in many Ethiopian recipes, are usually made in large quantities and kept on hand for some time. No doubt using berberé and niter kibbeh gives a special quality to Doro Wat. However, I am told that a very good result can be obtained by adding some easier to find ingredients from an American grocery store.

Our family loves this dish served over injera and yes, even the boys like it!

Ingredients:

1 lime, juiced (or lemon)

2 teaspoons salt

1 chicken (about 3 pounds), cleaned and cut into serving-size pieces, remove skin and score or pierce the meat with a knife to facilitate marinating, reserve wings, gizzard and neck for other use

2 (or more) red onions, finely chopped

4 tablespoons niter kebbeh or butter

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced

1 piece fresh ginger root, cleaned, scraped, and chopped (about a teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek, ground

1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground

1/2 teaspoon berberé or 1 to 2 tablespoons of a combination of cayenne pepper and paprika (if berberé and niter kebbeh are not used)

1 small tomato, chopped or a few tablespoons tomato paste or tomato sauce (optional)

1 cup dry red wine, chicken stock or water

hard-boiled eggs (1 per person), pierced with a toothpick or the tine of a long fork.

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the lime juice, half the salt, and chicken pieces. Let chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Cook the onions over medium heat for a few minutes in a dry (no oil) pot or dutch oven large enough to eventually hold all of the ingredients. Stir constantly to prevent them from browning or burning; remove the pot from the heat if necessary.

Add the niter kebbeh or butter to the onions, along with the garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cardamom, nutmeg, remaining salt, berberé (or cayenne pepper and paprika), and tomato. Stir and simmer for a few minutes until te onions are soft, tender, and translucent, but not browned.

Add the dry red wine, chicken stock or water. Bring the mixture to a low boil while stirring gently. Cook for a few minutes, then reduce heat.

Add the chicken pieces, making sure to cover them with the sauce. Cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes – or until the chicken is done – turning the chicken a few times.

After the chicken has been cooking for 20 minutes, gently add the hard-boiled eggs and ladle sauce over them.

Serve hot. The only traditional way to serve Doro Wat is with a spongy flat bread called injera, which can only be properly made with difficult-to-obtain teff flour. However the recipe found here can be made with whole wheat flour. While it's not the way Ethiopians would serve it, Doro Wat is very good with couscous, rice, or Middle-Eastern or Indian style flat bread.

Berbere

In Ethiopia, the preparation of berbere takes days — chilies are dried in the sun for three days, then ground in a mortar and pestle, mixed with ground spices, and set in the sun to dry again — and it is usually made in huge amounts.
Each Ethiopian family has its own recipe for this universal seasoning, with varying degrees of heat and spiciness. Traditionally, berbere is used to flavor Ethiopian stews, such as Doro Wat, but it also works well as a rub for meat.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 cup ground dried Serrano chilies or other ground dried chilies
• 1/2 cup paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions:

Finely grind the fenugreek seeds with a mortar and pestle (if you are strong enough) or in an electric spice or coffee grinder (like this weak girl does). Stir together with the remaining ingredients in a small bowl until well combined.

Hair care (in case I have girls)

This is something I never thought of...what if I have girls? How do I care for their hair? My friend, Cathy, has told me of the difficulties of it but what happens when I actually have to care for a girls hair (other than my own)?

Another mother pointed this out to me....just in case I have girls :)

Thought you all might benefit from this adoptive mom's tutorials, it was really
helpful to me.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Katelynylyn

"I originally made this channel to help other adoptive mothers who were trying
to navigate the waters of styling and caring for hair that was different from
their own. I am so happy that so far, many people, not just adoptive parents,
have found my videos to be helpful. I do not claim to have any expertise, just a
few years of trial and error. I love doing my girls hair and I hope to help
others enjoy it too!"

Timeline

A lot of people have been asking exactly what our timeline is. So I thought I would write on that today.

We have completed all the paperwork for our homestudy and will be scheduling the interviews the next few days. Our psych evaluations will be completed this Thursday and will take about one week to turn that paperwork in to LSS.

Once our homestudy is completed we will have to send out our dossier to CHSFS and then on to Ethiopia. Once our dossier is submitted (about one to four months from now) we will have to wait 12 to 18 months for a referral which depends on the ages of the children, gender preferences, medical conditions we are willing to accept, etc. Once we accept a referral, then we wait 3 to 5 months until we travel to Ethiopia for a 10 day stay.

It will be awhile yet, but well worth the wait!

Know the question...be the answer!

What a great campaign to raise awareness of such a horrible global crisis. Visit JCICS (Joint Counsil on International Children's Services and their campaign site, Be The Answer.

Tef

Tef (Eragrostis tef) – also known as Lovegrass – is a poppy seed-sized grain that comes in a variety of colors, from white and red to dark brown. It is able to withstand high heat and bright light and thrives even in unpredictable and difficult climates. Tef grows predominantly in Ethiopia and comprises the staple grain of the cuisine. Ground into flour, teff is used to make the traditional bread, injera. This flat bread – not as thick as a pancake but not as thin as a crepe – is slightly sour and nicely complements the exotic spices found in Ethiopian cuisine.

The word tef is thought to originate from the Amharic word teffa which means lost, due to the small size of the grain). Tef's history can be traced back thousands of years to the ancient civilizations of Abyssinia. This grain was also placed in the pyramids together with pharaohs as food for their last journey.

Tef Trivia:

• Eragrostis tef borrows its name from Greek, to mean "the grass of love" from eros (love) love, and agrostis (grass).
• Three thousand grains of tef weigh one gram.
• Tef is the smallest grain in the world. It takes about 150 teff seeds to equal the weight of a kernel of wheat!
• Teff is extremely high in fiber, iron, and calcium.

For some great tef recipes visit Purdue University or The Teff Company. For an easy and tasty injera recipe visit Cooking Light.com.

Prayer request

Please pray for a little Ethiopian boy named Elias who is ill and was taken to a hospital in Ethiopia. His soon-to-be forever family has not received much information on what is wrong. It could be the flu but they are not sure. Keep Elias, his family and the doctors in your prayers!

The following is modified from "The Celebration of ‘Maskal’ – Finding of the True Cross" by Ermias Gulilat and "Finding of the True Cross" by The Ethiopian Tourism Commission.

Meskal has been celebrated in the country for over 1600

 years and has become an integral part of the Ethiopian 

Christian calendar. The word actually means "cros" and the feast commemorates the discovery of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. The original event took place on 19 March 326 AD. but the feast is now celebrated on 27 September. Many of the rites observed throughout the festival are said to be directly connected to the legend of Empress Helena.

By the middle of the afternoon the celebrations start. 

Many are seen wearing their brilliant white Ethiopian costumes. Meskal also signifies the physical presence of part of the True Cross at the church of Egziabher Ab, the remote mountain monastery of Gishen Mariam located north of Addis Ababa. In this monastery, there is a massive volume called the Tefut written during the reign of Zera Yacob (1434 - 1468), which records the story of how a fragment of the cross was acquired. A colorful procession of priests, deacons and choir boys and girls of Sunday schools wearing embroidered robes walk around a huge pyre, bearing ceremonial crosses and wooden torches decorated with olive leaves. As the sun begins to set, the torch-bearers move forward in unison to set alight the slender pyramid-shaped structure, topped with a cross made from the yellow flowers known as Maskal daisies which are placed on the tallest central pole.

The crowd of spectators are kept at bay while visitors are allowed to enter the inner circle in accordance with the Ethiopians age-old tradition of hostility. The casually dressed tourists form an incongruous contrast as they brandish their cameras, while around them the procession of proud clergy clad in dazzling ceremonial robes chant as they perform this ancient rite.

The origins of the celebration are expressed in the Ethiopian manuscript of parchment. It is said to date back to the discovery of the Byzantine Queen of Helena of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. According to the manuscript, in the 20th year of the reign of her son Constantine, she set off for Jerusalem in search of the ‘life giving cross,’ which she eventually found after many trials and tribulations. She is said to have forced the Jews to reveal the whereabouts of this ‘Honourable Cross’, which allegedly lay under the hill of Golgotha, formed from sweepings, ashes and offal piled on the grave of Jesus Christ.

Helena is said to have found the Cross by lighting incense and following the smoke as it descended to earth. She caused bonfires to be lit on the hills of Palestine which could be seen across the sea by the people of Constantinople.

So how did the rediscovered cross come to Ethiopia? According to Tefut, a massive volume dating from the 15th Century which records the detailed story of the acquisition of a fragment of the True Cross by Ethiopia. The Christian Kings of Ethiopia were often called upon in the early Middle Ages to protect Egyptian Copts against the Egyptian Muslims. In return for this delivery from Muslim persecution, fabulous gifts of precious gold were offered to Ethiopian Emperor Dawit. He rejected these offerings and asked instead for four pieces of the True Cross, which were under the custody of the patriarch of Alexandria. The request was granted and the pieces brought to Ethiopia. They were guarded on the journey by torchbearers and then deposited in a church at Gishen, in northern Wollo dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Rejoicing followed throughout the whole country and the Emperor ordered that the capes of the priests be embroidered with flowers. Since that day, Ethiopian Christians are believed to have commemorated the occasion  with flaming torches and huge bonfires.

Emperor Dawit’s fourth son, Zara Yacob, succeeded him as Emperor and, when he was a very old man, dreamt that God ordered him to ‘place the cross upon a cross.’ Zara Yacob spent two years in abstinence, searching in seclusion, and at last discovered a mountain shaped like a cross. There he built the beautiful church of Egziabher Ab, and a fragment of the True Cross was kept within a gold box in the church. The priests of Gishen still safeguard this treasure along with the Tefut which is handwritten in Ge’ez on beautiful parchment.

Today Maskal is a religious and joyful annual social occasion that Christians throughout the country look forward to each year. Both women and men wear their national clothes, while youths boast and compete in fights with sticks. There is also jesting as well as flirting and courting sanctioned by the festival. These days, people return from the capital parade to their houses and bring the torches called Chibbo, to neighbourhood bonfire gatherings. The torchbearers chant as they circle the pyre, the Damera, (literally stack or pile of wooden torches), which are covered with cloth until a priest blesses it. The torchbearers then hurl their flames into the midst of the Dameras, while the gathering watches the blaze light up the night sky. On the following day people go to the bonfire and make the sign of the cross on their foreheads with the ash.

A HUGE thank you!

I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Aloft in Green Bay, WI. They have just helped us out tremendously! If you ever get the chance to visit them...do so. The place is awesome, the staff is friendly and they care about people. While you are there be sure to check out the "sassy" glass in the water closets and the water tiles in the lifts. In addition, their bar, w xyz has fantastic drinks which you can enjoy in their backyard. Right, Lindsay?!

Thank you to Cathy and the rest of the staff at Aloft. You are AMAZING!

Back on

Our adoption is back on track after a short break. We really needed that little bit of time to get our current family settled in before continuing on this adventure.

Matthew and I attended our 7 1/2 hours of mandatory adoption education (the state of Wisconsin mandates a total of 18 hours for all adoptions). We have another two days of courses...one more 7 1/2 hours and one more four hour class complete with ethnic potluck dinner and family presentations.

News from Ethiopia: Ethiopia Coffee Exports May Rebound This Year, Exchange Says

Coffee exports from Ethiopia, Africa’s largest producer of the beans, are expected to rebound to about 171,000 metric tons this year after shipments fell to their lowest level in six years last year, an official with the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange said.

“Early assessments indicate a very good potential for a bumper harvest of coffee,” said Eleni Gabre-Madhin, chief executive officer of the Addis Ababa-based exchange, in an interview on Aug. 29. “We are expecting at least 2007/2008 tonnage.”

Shipments fell from 170,888 tons in 2007/2008 to 133,993 last year after a drought cut production and Japanese importers largely stopped buying Ethiopian coffee after finding high levels of pesticide residues in shipments.

Better rains this year in the main coffee-growing areas will lead to more production during the country’s October to December harvest. Ethiopian coffee trees will also produce more due to their cyclical nature, in which harvests peak every second year, she said.

Prices for premium Arabica beans, though heavily dependent on the world price of coffee, may be higher this year because of a new grading system in Ethiopia introduced in conjunction with the Specialty Coffee Association of America, she said. The system will bring Ethiopia’s grading methods in line with those used by the SCAA.

“Hopefully it will encourage farmers to produce more of these top quality grades,” she said.

The exchange will also begin providing a new direct-buying service for coffee roasters that seek specialty coffee from specific farmers, she said.

U.S.-based specialty coffee roasters complained last year that Ethiopia’s move to trading beans on a commodity exchange made it difficult to trace coffee to specific growers, a desirable marketing feature for specialty roasters.

Ethiopia, which claims to be the home of the coffee tree, has hundreds of native varieties of coffee.

Amharic word list

This is a list I got from another adoptive mother. I found it quite interesting and thought maybe you would be interested as well.

I love you -->  ee-wha-de-halow (girl end in shal oh)
It’s ok honey -->  Ishee eye-zoe
Don’t be afraid -->  ah teh frah
These together are great for scary or sad times or bad dreams, etc…..
*Add “yay” to the end of the name for a term of endearment. Kedusyay, Natiyay, etc…. it is like saying Jilly or Sammy. They also use the "y" at the end like we do. It is an "i" as in Nati.

Ok -->  ishee
It is time to go to sleep -->  la ten ya
Go to sleep (command) -->  ten ya
Night night -->  mah Tah mah tah

No, don’t do that -->  tdoe
Stop -->  koom (girl koom ee)
Yes -->  ow
Good child -->  goe bez
Enough!  -->  Bakka
Wait  -->  Koi (girl koy ee)
Good job!  -->  Tih ROO sih RAH
That was bad, that is bad, it was a bad thing….  -->  Meht FOH
Good -->  tih roo
Are you ok? -->  Teh shah lekh (girl end in lesh)
Look  -->  ay (ay ee)
Sit down -->  koach ah bel
Come  -->  nah
Hello  -->  halo or seh lahm
Good bye  -->  chow
I’m sorry -->  yih kir tah


Mommy -- amay 
Daddy -->  ahb-baba
Small -->  tinish 
Big  -->  tih lihk
Dog  -->  woosha
Cat --> dumet
Bird -->  wuhf
Car -->  mah kee nah
Ball -->  kwas 
Shoes -->  chamahs
Clothes -->  libs
Blanket -->  bird libs
New -->  addis (new clothes, mommy, etc…)

Potty, pee --> shent 
Poop -->  kah kah
Brush teeth -->  broosh

Juice  -->  chee mah key
Milk  -->  wha tet
Water  -->  whu ha

Delicious (it is good) -->  yee tahf tahl
Do you want …? -->  tih fuh lih GAHL ekh (boy), tih fuh lih GAHL esh (girl)
Bottle (even for water) -->  TOO toh
A bad guy is  -->  lay-bah

I have begun reading The Connected Child: Bring hope and healing to your adoptive family in preparation for our adoption education classes with LSS. It is slow reading for me since I have a house to clean, three other children to watch and a room to finish painting but I think I will get a lot out of it. As another blogger said, "It seems to be a combination of "Attachment 101" and basic good parenting skills." One critique I have, is that it tends to repeat itself quite a bit (and I am only just starting chapter 3). However, I'm not sure if that will be bad thing in the end...sometimes I need to hear things twenty times before it sinks in.

Our classes are on September 16, 23 & 24. We have yet to find a babysitter for any of those days. It has been frustrating that there are not alternate times available since Wednesdays are so hard with confirmation and church plus it is an all day class and all our sitters will be at work or back in school.

On hold

Our adoption is currently on temporary hold. With our recent move and the stress that goes along with it we feel that it would be best for our family to settle in here in De Pere before proceeding with our adoption. However, in a few months we will be back at it and we will bring our babies home!

Gorgora and the Susneyos Palace

Bahir Dar is a town set on the south-eastern shore of Lake Tana, where local fishermen still use papyrus boats. It is situated 37 kms from the spectacular Tisisat Falls. Here the Blue Nile creates "Smoking Water" an awe-inspiring sight as it plunges into the gorge below.

From Bahir Dar one must explore some of the ancient monasteries that have been built on the islands of Lake Tana, or on the many Islands. These include Dega Estephanos with its priceless collections of icons, as well as the remains of several medieval Emperors, Kebran Gabriel and Ura Kidane Mehret with its famous frescoes.

Kebran Gabriel is the principal monastery visited by male tourists from Bahir Dar, with its impressive Cathedral-like building first built at the end of the 17th century. Dega Estephanos, which is also closed to women, is on the island in the Lake, and the monastery is reached by a very steep and winding path. Although the church is relatively new (only hundred years old), it houses a Madonna painted in the 15th century. However, the treasury of the monastery is a prime attraction, with the remains of several Emperors, as well as their robes and jewels.

Near Gorgora, at the northern end of the Lake, the Susneyos palace is a forerunner of the magnificent palaces and castles of Gondar, and dates from the region of Emperor Susneyos. The sixteenth century Susneyos Palace served as a 'blueprint' for the famous palaces of Gondar. It was built by Catholic missionaries for Emperor Susneyos, founder of the Gondar dynasties.

During the reign of Emperor Susneyos (1606-1632) Bahir Dar attracted the interest of the Jesuits, who erected a tall (for that time) two-storey building in the compound of Saint George's church. This place of worship was renowned far and wide, so much so that the settlement was often spoken of as Bahir Dar Giyorgis. In the same area is the medieval church of the Debre Sina Mariam.

Cost is not the issue

Numerous people have asked us (and some continue to ask us everytime we meet) about the cost of adoption. They are continually amazed at the amount of money it take to adopt and most admitt that they have never spent that amount on one single thing. Even when I've discussed the breakdown of payments for the adoption people continue to say they have not spent that much in their life. Amounts as low as $5,000. My response is usually, really? You've never bought a car or a house? You've never paid for a surgery or hospital stay? If by some chance (and there have been a few) I've asked if they have children. If the answer is yes then I ask them if they would hesitate to spend any amount of money to bring their child home...to keep their child safe. If you think about it parents will not hesitate to do what is right for their children. Two of ours just happen to live in Ethiopia at the moment and we would like to bring them home...the cost is just a small thing to us to love our children!

News from Ethiopia: Not ruling out troops return to Somalia

I read up on Ethiopian news every day as

part of my morning routine. I have decided it would be interesting for everyone else to be able to read some news from that part of the world. So I will be posting a news article on the blog every so often (probably once a month). Hope you enjoy this new feature to our blog.

Ethiopia Not Ruling out troops return to Somalia

By Tsegaye Tadesse and Barry Malone (Editing by David Clarke)

ADDIS ABABA, June 25 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has not ruled out sending troops to Somalia if the situation there worsens, but said there are no plans to intervene for now.

Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2006 to oust an Islamist movement from the capital in which new President Sheik Sharif Ahmed played a role. That sparked an Islamist insurgency which is still raging despite the withdrawal of the soldiers in January this year.

"We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where a so-called Ethiopian horse would be trying to take the chestnut out of the fire on behalf of everybody else," Meles told a news conference late on Wednesday.

"And this horse being whipped by every idiot and his grandmother."

Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, fled into exile after the Ethiopian intervention but joined a peace process last year and was elected in January. His government is now battling hardline insurgents who were once allies in the Islamist movement.

Addis Ababa has said it supports the new government, but is wary of the hardline Islamists, who are seen as a proxy for al Qaeda, because they control large areas of Somalia and have threatened to destabilise neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya.

With reports of foreign jihadists streaming into Somalia, Western security services are worried al Qaeda may get a grip on the failed Horn of Africa state that has been without central government for 18 years.

"We want to wait and see how the international community as a whole responds and then see if there is any need to revisit our position on the matter," Meles said. "We believe the deployment of Ethiopian troops would be unwarranted because we are not convinced there is a clear and present danger to Ethiopia."

Violence from the Islamist-led insurgency worsened this month, with the killing of three officials. The government, which controls little but a few parts of the capital, has declared a state of emergency and appealed to neighbouring countries for military assistance.

The Ethiopian leader played down claims from the speaker of Somalia's parliament that the country's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) risked being overthrown without foreign help.

"Our reading of the situation in Somalia is slightly different from the one of the speaker of the parliament that if there is no foreign military intervention ... the transitional government will collapse," Meles said. "The TFG is facing a very difficult situation with al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam militias supported by hundreds of jihadists, but we don't believe they will be toppled."

Isen has been quite the big brother, planning out where our babies will sleep, what they will eat, which toys he will share with them and which he will give them...he has a lot already planned out. I just know that he will be a great big brother to all four of his little siblings.
The other day he came to me and said that he couldn't wait to bring our babies home and that we need to bring home two because he wants more brothers. I told him that maybe we would have girls and he said, "No Mumma, I really think we are going to have boys. We have enough girls and I think God wants us to have more boys." I started laughing and told him that I was the only girl in the family, to which Isen replied, "Yeah, your enough Mumma." So much for reasoning with him :)

Ethiopia Program Webinar

I participated in a Webinar provided by CHSFS regarding their Ethiopian adoption program. Here are some questions/answers from this that I found helpful and happen to be questions others have asked of me.

Question: My question is if CHSFS can give an estimated wait time by age and gender. For example parents that are looking to adopt a girl 0-12 months are waiting 15 months, parent adopting 0-36 months are waiting 12 months. I know there are many variables that affect the time but I think the more information you have the better families can cope with waiting.

Answer: No we can't. We don't have a way of knowing exactly what child is going to come in to care when. This is the reason that we have a wide window (12 to 18 months) as our estimated wait time. When we try to get more specific than that, we are setting everyone up for disappointment. In general, we can say that if you are open to a child over the age of 36 months, and/or with more medical issues, your wait will be on the short end of the spectrum.

Question: When you are discussing wait times, please be very clear on the starting event of the wait time. In the past, in other discussions with CHSFS, I have heard "6 months" or "12 months," but it has never been made clear to me as far as 12 months from when or what event? I am assuming it is 12 months from the "officially waiting" designation, but that has not been made clear in the past.

Answer: The wait is meant to start at what we consider to be your "starting point" IN the Ethiopia program. Right now the starting point is considered to be when you turn in your dossier.

Question: When is the expected court closure and will referrals be given through out the closure?

Answer: The federal court's closure occurs during the months of August and September. We hope to continue making referrals during the closure, although families must understand that the acceptance of a referral during the closure means the total wait time to get a court date and decision will be that much longer.

Question: What is the average length of time between referral and court dates?

Answer: Eight to 12 weeks.

Question: Do you think the courts in Ethiopia will expand staffing to accommodate for these increases in adoption cases so we get through court in a more timely manner?

Answer: CHSFS and the Joint Council of International Children's Services (JCICS) is working positively with the Ethiopian government to make sure the adoption process is efficient. This advocacy work, however, is limited by the administrative needs and challenges that are a part of the federal bureaucracy in other countries. There is a rumor that the federal Ethiopian court has hired 3 more judges, but this has not been confirmed by our source close to the court's affairs.

Question: Why are there so few children from Ethiopia on the waiting child list?

Answer: Ethiopia does not have a waiting international child (WIC) program, per se, as other countries do, e.g., China and Korea. This means that children from Ethiopia are not referable for adoption unless there is a presumptive family known by the placing agency. In other words, licensed orphanages and/or partnering agencies do not seek children with a specific special need. Nor can placing agencies put the photographs of children on the internet to recruit interested families. In short, the only children viewable on our WIC list are those children for whom there was a qualified and approved family; that in fact did not accept or match in the end, with the individual child(ren). One example of this is a child who ends up, upon a thorough medical examination, to be older than originally stated.

Question: Given recent concerns about abuses of the adoption system in Ethiopia, what safeguards does CHSFS have in place to prevent any possibilities of encouraging child trafficking?

Answer: Children's Home Society & Family Services Ethiopia (CHSFS-ET) does what we consider to be the best child background investigation work of any international agency working in Ethiopia. In other words, we believe no other agency does a better job than CHSFS-ET to verify the personal history and background information that is presented on the child by the licensed orphanage at the time of referral. A social worker, an interpreter and a videographer work as a team to corroborate the child's background and information related to how the child came into legal care and custody of the orphanage. In addition, most of the adoptions facilitated by CHSFS Ethiopia are sole parent or guardian relinquishments, In the vast majority of these cases, the adoptive parents meet and talk with the birth family and/or child's former legal guardian in what is a private entrustment ceremony between the two parties.

Question: What experiences are families having waiting for sibling groups of two or more children and various ages?

Answer: I think you are asking what is the current wait time. Most recently, the wait for a sibling group of two young children (under the age of 6) has been up to 18 months.

"Orphan" due out in July

On July 24 Warner Brothers will release their horror film "Orphan." The movie is about a family who adopts an older girl, Esther, who "is not what she appears to be." The film is currently being promoted, and the trailer can be seen here. The adoption message is extremely negative, and plays into the stereotypes of adopted children, particularly older children, as damaged.

The adoption community is protesting the release of the film and was successful in getting the line "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own" removed from the trailer. Executives at Warner Brothers claimed they "messed up" and have re-cut the trailer to remove the offensive line. However, the promotional posters still use this tag line. If this movie focused on a (insert a word) child, would Warner Brothers be able to get away with it? But, stick an adopted older child into the storyline and its okay? This message plays into the fears of the general public. I can attest to the fact that adoptive parents and those planning on adopting deal with these fears, misconceptions, and prejudices on a daily basis.

While I myself love a good horror movie, I find it difficult to understand why Warner Brothers would promote a movie in such a way. I have to agree with Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Institute, who says “The film preys on who these older kids are. That's why we have so much trouble getting older kids adopted. I fully respect that they are not going to pull a multi-million-dollar movie out of the theater, but they can mitigate the damage and make the ads less corrosive.” I have only seen the trailer. I will NOT see the film. And right now I don’t feel like seeing anything that Warner Brothers, Dark Castle Entertainment, or Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way (who claims to support the world’s orphaned kids) has produced or distributed.

I urge you to contact, with me, the makers of the film, as well as your local movie theater chains, with your concerns. Maybe I am overly sensitive like many people think, but when it comes to my children can I really be too sensitive?

Contact information:

Warner Bros.

4000 Warner Blvd.

Burbank, CA 91522

818-954-6000

Silver Pictures

4000 Warner Blvd. 90

Burbank, CA 91522-0001

818-954-4490

Time Warner Inc.

One Time Warner Center

New York, NY 10019-8016

212-484-8000

I wish there was more time during the day!

Things have been quite hectic here lately. I just returned a week ago from San Antonio, TX, where my youngest brother, Steven, graduated from Air Force basic at Lackland AFB. He graduated with honors, which means he was in the top 10% of a 632 graduates. He is now in Wichita Falls, TX completing his technical training.

Since there I have been trying to catch up on things around the house such as laundry and general cleaning and children. However, it has been so nice here in De Pere, WI (until today) that I have been working outside with Matthew on our gardens.

Our vegetable garden is in with the exception of leeks, lettuce and basil seeds, along with, the lavender I purchased yesterday. If it ever stops raining, I will be planting those. Tomatoes, sage, asparagus, rhubarb and cilantro are in, along with the chives that were already here (I just need to transplant those). Our flower gardens are coming along nicely. We have

removed many bushes from around the house that were overgrown or placed in the wrong spot (shade when they are sun-loving plants). Sunday we are heading out to get more of our flowers from Edgar, WI and then coming back and putting those...well, we have not decided where they will go yet but we will find room.

The adoption is coming along. We are STILL waiting to hear if all the background check went through. Until then I have just about completed my portion of our adoption paperwork and we have our physicals coming up on June 21st. In addition, I did participate in an Ethiopian adoption webinar put on by CHSFS and I continue to read the books I have purchase on the recommendation of other adoptive parents.

Why adopt?

To quote another bloger/adoptive mother:

1. Every 5 seconds a child dies from a preventable disease/starvation in Africa.

2. Globally each day 30,000 children dies from prevenatable disease, food born illness, and starvation. This is equal to 100 jumbo jets full of children crashing.

3. There are 6 million suffering from malnutrition in Ethiopia.

4. In the next month 120,000 children under the age of 5 will perish because of starvation in Ethiopia.

5. Six of the nine regions in Ethiopia are experiencing a drought that has dramatically effected food production.

Once our eyes are open we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act.

Proverbs 24.12

A Step of Faith

As many of you know, I have a heart for missions. It is truly amazing to me to see God's work in the world through even the smallest hands in His family. We are all adopted

into God's family through Christ Jesus and we have all received the call to care for the world's orphans. While not all of us are called to adopt these children, we are all called upon to assist them in some way.

We are stepping out in faith and I know that our needs will be met by God. It feels like God is leading us out on a limb, when in reality God has built the bridge for us to walk over. But my sinful nature – always wanting to know everything and having to have control of everything – keeps me from the enormous blessing of trusting in God's will.

Of course there are worries involved with an international adoption but I have this strange calmness about me when it comes to our decision. With that being said, Matthew and I are confident that God is calling us to adopt two children from Ethiopia and while we know that adoption is expensive, even for one child, we know that God is good and He will provide the strength and support needed to see our children home to us!

God's call to care for the world's orphans

I was doing my daily check of Ethiopian adoption blogs and came across an interesting fact in a post that is circulating.  Here it is:

• There are 132 million orphans in the world, according to UNICEF.
  
• There are roughly 2 billion people who consider themselves Christians in the world.
  

If all 2 billion believe in Christ as their Savior then all are adopted:

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Romans 8:14-17

Therefore, if only 7% of Christians chose to adopt ONE child, all 132 million of the world's orphans would have a permanent home! 

 But wait...it gets better, if only THREE (yep, you read that 

correctly, 3%) of the world's Christians adopted ONE child, all adoptable orphans would have a permanent home and a forever family. That's all it would take!  

While I firmly believe that not everyone is called to adopt – Christian or not – I do believe that, at the very least, 3% of 2 billion Christians have been given this calling, especially since scripture defines the mark of pure Christianity as caring for orphans!  It's simply a matter of obeying the call and returning the enormous gift of adoption that God has given us to a child who needs a home.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.

James 1:27a.

Busy with...many things

There are so many things on my plate right now. I have a house to get unpacked, my brother’s wedding to attend (or my college graduation), children to watch and on top of it all I have set the end of May as a paperwork deadline. Yep, that’s right . . . I will have all the homestudy paperwork done by the end of May. God is good!

On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. 

Psalm 62:7-8  

God's Amazing Grace

Our family has been blessed with all the many people God has graced our lives with. At our new church, Hope Lutheran in De Pere, we are meeting countless people who show God's love daily but I am frequently reminded of my dear friends in Edgar, WI at St. John Lutheran Church who continually amaze me with their open, caring and loving nature. While my husband was still the pastor at St. John their Sunday School classes supported our adoption in many ways . . . the least not being through prayer. Even this month, with us no longer a physical part of their congregation, they are STILL supporting our adoption. What an amazing gift God has given us and the people of central Wisconsin!

Please pray for these awesome Christians, for their continued blessings and support and as they call a new pastor to serve their congregation.

Philippians 1.3-6  

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU AT ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH

AND

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Let's try this again

In my last post I mentioned that my husband had received a call to another congregation. After much prayer and thought he accepted it. We are now at Hope Lutheran Church in De Pere, WI. We moved here on April 17 and after some unpacking and many of us getting sick with the flu we are now moving forward again with our adoption. We are still working with LSS and CHSFS. However, instead of working with the Wausau office of LSS we will now be working with the Appleton office. 

In the next few weeks we hope to complete the paperwork for the next round of background checks. Since we just moved to a new county and city we must have background checks provided for those locations. After that is completed we will finally move forward with the rest of our homestudy.

I know that I have not been all that great with posting here in the last three months or so but that is about to change....I have made the commitment to post here once a week by Friday.

Apologies

I can't believe it has been near a month since we last posted anything! It has been a hectic month. I started my final degree requirement for my bachelors which takes up much of my time and leaves Matthew with very little of his since he then has to watch our children. Matthew also received a call to another congregation and so we have been spending much of our "free" time talking and praying about that. I just wanted to let you all know that we are still here and still working towards our adoption...just at a slower pace than before.

Curious?

A lot of people have been asking a lot of questions lately regarding our adoption.  Most of them are answered here - somewhere - on our blog.  Three of them are not - or at least I don't think they are.  So, I thought I would answer them all in one blog post since I can think of nothing earth-shatteringly amazing to tell you :)

Question #1: What agency are you with?

Answer #1: Two agencies actually.

Question #2:  What do you mean?  (I know, these two could be combined but that would only be two questions then, wouldn't it?)

Answer #2:  Our homestudy agency is Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and our placement agency is Children's Home Society and Family Services of Minnesota.

Question #3: Are you trying for a girl?

Answer #3:  No, we are leaving that up to the Ethiopian orphanage and government along with our agencies and ultimately, it is all up to God.  Are we hoping for a girl is a totally different question :)

Adoptive Families the Norm for Christian Families

So I'm reading the book "Passing On the Faith," by Merton P. Strommen and Richard A. Hardel in preparation for a class I'm going to teach at Concordia University- Wisconsin (pretty good read, by the way... if you're at all involved in family ministry or in ensuring that the children of your congregation are raised in the faith).  I'm not very far into it yet, but the first chapter talks a lot about how strong, life-changing families need to build and maintain two key relationship- a strong family relationship and a strong relationship with God.  The argument is that these relationships are two sides of the same coin and that the church needs to help families to encourage and support this sort of faith formation in the home.  The chapter then goes on to try and define what family is (you have to decide on what family "is" before you can try and address how to help it!).  It was in this context, then, that I came across this throwaway paragraph that speaks strongly to the notion of adoptive familes as normative for the definition of a Christian family:

As the first and most basic community, the family acts as a model for other, larger faith-learning communities. Diana Garland, director of the Family Ministry Project located at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Kentucky, defines family. According to her, the model of family that Jesus endorses is the adoptive family. The last act of Jesus' earthly ministry recorded in the Gospel of John enacts that adoptive model. Jesus turns to his mother and says, "Woman, behold your son." Then turning to the beloved disciple he says, "Behold your mother." The Church follows Christ by ensuring that no one in the family of faith is familyless- everyone is adopted into the family."                                        (revised edition,  2008,  p.23).

Not only do I agree wholeheartedly with this quote from Diana Garland, but I think it strikes right to the heart of what Maggie and I wish to do.  Although I believe Garland's intention was to state that the congregation itself functions as a family of believers, thereby ensuring that no one in the congregation be "familyless," still I think it speaks to our domestic families as well.  After all, it seems pretty clear that God is calling Christians to reach out in Christ-like love to many types of needy people- orphans being (if not foremost) at least prominent in that group.

God is speaking to His people through His Word, calling us to love one another as Christ has loved us (1 John 4:19),  the question for us is: are we listening?

Ethiopian Museums

So, I kind of have a new job.  I am now an intern at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and it is amazing...but this also means that I have less time for the adoption.  While it has been difficult not to focus on the adoption and all that goes with it, I know I have to get this internship out of the way before we bring our baby home.  So, I am an arts manager for the next 12-13 weeks.  In light of my current job I wanted to bring to your attention the following -- nothing very exciting but it is something to do with two things I love -- art and Ethiopia.  The online arts journal I read features a collection of news stories and blogs on art and culture.  The following link is a short blog about the loss of funds for Ethiopian museums due to budget cuts by other museums around the world...in this case Chicago's Field Museum.  www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2009/01/skeletal_budget_cut_no_lucy_fo.html

Passports and Adoption Paperwork

Greetings!  So, we are still waiting on one background check (Marathon County Sheriff's Department).  Hopefully, they get it in soon.  It was the only background check I had to pay for and it is the only one that took longer than a week!  Grrrr.  While we are waiting for that - and while I have some "free" time on my hands - I am getting my passport application ready.  That's right...I've never had a passport.  I'm old enough to remember when you didn't need a passport to cross the Mexican border :)  So, I am filling out my application - which is quite exciting by the way - and getting the needed fees, proof of identity, proof of citizenship and all that wonderful stuff together.  Then it is on to Matthew's renewal application.  The picture on his old passport is AWESOME!  Ask him -- wait, ask me and I will show it to you.  

Melkam Genna!

Happy Christmas (Melkam Gena) to you all!

According to Christian Orthodox tradition Christmas falls on January 7th.  A little less than half the population in Ethiopia belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church.  Christmas in Ethiopia is called Lidet (or Leddat) and is not the religious and secular festival that it is in the West.  On Christmas Eve, January 6, the city is crowded with pilgrims and tourists from all parts of the world.  The people remain outdoors all night, praying and chanting.   On January 7, the Ethiopian Christmas known as Ganna is celebrated.  The word Ganna is used interchangeably with the word Christmas, to mean the birth of Jesus Christ (Leddat).  Traditionally, young men played a game similar to hockey, called genna, on this day, and now Christmas has also come to be known by that name.  The preparation of the feast is an important part of the day in Ethiopia.  A typical Ethiopian feast for the Christmas meal includes a main course, such as doro wat  ( a spicy chicken stew), injera (a flat round bread) and homemade wine or beer.  The injera is used to scoop and eat the food, thereby replacing ordinary utensils.   Gift giving in an Ethiopian Christmas celebration is a very small part of this ceremony.   Children, if they receive gifts, usually receive simple presents such as clothing.