In-Process Update

I've decided to post the updates we get from our agency on here so you all have some sort of update as well!  

8-26-2009

Dear Adoptive Family,

I had a good trip to Ethiopia and am now back in the office. The courts are now closed and the last two groups filed were actually given court hearing dates in October. We will continue to make referrals during the court closure and families whose cases have been approved in court will continue to travel.

Some cases have still not been filed in court and others need to be refiled once the courts reopen. This is primarily due to paperwork problems following rule changes. We regret the delay for these families and children.

We have in-taken many new children in August. Completed files have started arriving in our office and we have begun making referrals. I am happy to say we are now referring baby girls to families whose dossiers went in November of 2008. We have new baby boys in the nursery as well and the next referrals will go to families whose dossiers were sent in mid February.

We have a few new children with special needs. There are two deaf girls, ages 6 and 8 and a deaf boy of 8. There is a girl who had polio when she was younger. She is now 8, is beautiful and works oh so hard for her physical therapist. There is a little girl about 3 ½ who has very mild CP which causes her to limp.

There have been several more cases recently where, after the children were placed, we learned that the truth was not told about their situation when they were placed for adoption. In some cases the “aunt” turned out to be the mother or the children who were said to be siblings were actually cousins or not related at all. To combat this, the courts are now requiring the person placing the child to appear in the local court and state the circumstances. We think this will help. In addition our social workers are traveling to present training to the police and child welfare workers, the ones who intake these children, to help them understand how difficult it is for children who are told to lie and for the adoptive families when they learn the truth. 

The day I left, a holiday was being celebrated, called Buhe. I asked several people and none seemed to know the origin but the tradition is for children to wear their native costumes and go from door to door singing and asking for money. I heard that some children raise their school fees in this way. Layla kids were going from office to office to ask staff for money and they planned to use what they collected to buy music CDs. In the evening there is a bonfire and fireworks. I am always nervous about fires on the soccer field at Layla but no one was hurt.

We have several needs at this time that I want to mention. There is a serious need for plastic diaper covers (plastic pants) and it is impossible to buy them there. If you are traveling and can take some they will be appreciated. We also need a small walker for a 6 to 10 year old child. 

We have had four or five babies hospitalized with pneumonia the past few days. The doctor said that if we had oxygen available at Layla the babies would not have to be sent to the hospital. He says that the cost for the equipment is about $3000. This is equipment that pulls oxygen from the atmosphere and does not require bottled oxygen. If this is something you would like to support financially, we would be grateful. 

By the end of the week we should be ready to send you some very important information about what you need to do to keep your immigration file current. This is the family’s responsibility and it is important for you to pay attention to what is happening with your file. Please watch for this.

Best wishes, 

Merrily