5/14

Sorry that it's been so long since my last post...so busy!! I want to give a late shout out to all the mothers and mothers-to-be! Happy late mother's day! I didn't forget, I just didn't have time to post!! Tim was so sweet. He got me a very nice mothers day card, telling me what a great mom I am going to make and that he is so thankful for me. I almost cried reading it, then he gave me a necklace that I have been wanting for forever!! It is a pendent of Africa with a heart cut out where Ethiopia is. There is a really neat lady who sells them and donates part of the profit to families who are adopting(more on this later). You can find them at www.etsy.com. Anyway, Tim put it in a sock and gave it to our dog, Kettle to give to me. It was soo cute. The only problem was, Kettle didn't want to give up the sock!! It so totally made my day. I couldn't beleive that Tim remembered the necklace, as I mentioned it several months ago when I ran across them. I think he's a keeper!!

I was just catching up on reading posts from our Yahoo Group and I ran across some really disheartening information. Here is a post from the state department's website. May 13, 2009

Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court:
The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

Currently neither MOWA nor the First Instance Court are accepting any abandonment case from any orphanages in Addis Ababa pending an inquiry.

On one hand I am really heartsick and sad about this, but on the other, I am really glad that Ethiopia is so commited to ensuring that the children that are placed for adoption are orphans and that the program is free from corruption. Please pray that they are able to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. It is my understanding that none of the orphanages that our agency, AWAA, works with have had this issue and are not under investigation. I feel very confident that our agency works very hard to ensure that the children adopted through them are true orphans and that they work with honesty and integrity and do everything in their power to prevent any kind of corruption in any of their programs. When I learn more information,I will be sure to pass it on.