Ethiopian Journey: The End of My Rainbow: A Shower of Blessings

Monday, March 3, 2008

A Shower of Blessings

My awesome, wonderful, amazing friends Darla, Kayla, and Patti threw an adoption "baby" shower for me on Saturday. They worked so hard and I am so blessed by their love and support. I was overwhelmed with generosity. My best friend, Suzette flew all the way from Arizona just to be here for me. My new children and I truly received a "shower" of blessings.

WOW! We are sooo blessed!

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Why Ethiopia?

* One in ten children die before their first birthday
* One in six children die before their fifth birthday
* 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
* 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted due to malnutrition
* The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years; the average life span is 41 years
* Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school; 88% will never attend secondary school; 99% of schools do not have books
* Ethiopia has the highest HIV/AIDS population in the world
* There are 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia; 1.2 million children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
* Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
* In the 1980's one million Ethiopians died of starvation
* Drought struck the country again from 2000-2002 (1st year no crops, 2nd year no seeds, 3rd year no animals)
* Only 24% of households have access to safe drinking water
* 82% of the population survives on less than 1 dollar a day
* Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002
* Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
* In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports
* The Ethiopian agency I worked with wants the orphaned children adopted by Christian families!

(figures adapted from a Yahoo group web posting and Unicef-Ethiopia)

And continue to rise ~

1996 . . . 44
1997 . . . 82
1998 . . . 96
1999 . . . 71
2000 . . . 95 - 16th
2001 . . . 158 - 15th
2002 . . . 114 - 16th
2003 . . . 135 - 15th
2004 . . . 289 - 9th
2005 . . . 441 - 6th
2006 . . . 732 - 5th
2007 . . . 1255 - 4th
2008 . . . 1725 - 4th
2009 . . . 2277 - 2nd
2010 . . . 2513 - 2nd

The meaning of the Ethiopian flag

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world, and the only African country that has no history of colonization. Upon their independence, many African countries adopted the colors of the Ethiopian flag - green, yellow and red - that became known as the Pan-African colors.

The official flag of Ethiopia consists of three equal and horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands.

The significance of the colors on the Ethiopian flag are interpreted to have a connection to the Holy Trinity, as well as the three main provinces of Ethiopia. The red stripe stands for power, faith and blood. The yellow strip symbolizes peace, natural wealth and love. The green stripe represents the land and hope.

The yellow pentagram on the blue disk, also known as the National Coat of Arms, is a symbol of the current government; it is intended to reflect the desire of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia, as well as of its religious communities, to live together in unity and equality. The star represents unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity, and the blue disk represents peace.

Adoption Expenses

All figures are for two children (over 24 months old)

Adoption Agency Fees

$ 350 ~ CWA Agency Application Fee
$ 5,000 ~ Professional Agency Services Fee
$ 120 ~ Hague Convention Training (10 hrs)
$ 1,100 ~ Post-Adoption Administration
$ 7,000 ~ Ethiopia International Fees

Home Study & Dossier Expenses

$ 2,000 ~ Home Study
$ 750 ~ USCIS Approval
$ 759 ~ Document Preparation
$ 650 ~ Document Translation
$ 900 ~ Post-Placement
$ 400 ~ Colorado Required Training (14 hrs)

Travel Expenses

$ 780 ~ Travel Vaccinations
$ 51 ~ Ethiopia Visa, 2 adults
$ 4,670 ~ Airfare, roundtrip, 2 adults
$ 2,293 ~ Airfare, one-way, 2 children
$ 1,204 ~ In-Country expenses, 7 days

U.S. Visa (for children)

$ 400 ~ Medical Examinations
$ 820 ~ Immigrant Visa Fees
$ 70 ~ Ethiopian Passports

U.S. Validation & Citizenship

$ 400 ~ Validation, Agency Fee
$ 193 ~ Validation, Court Fees
$ 148 ~ Birth certificates

$ 1221 ~ Proof of Citizenship

$31,280 Total Cost

Ethiopian Journey: The End of My Rainbow

Monday, March 3, 2008

A Shower of Blessings

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