Last night was an epic "rock you" (meaning rock me) to sleep marathon.
Mama, rock you....pleez?
Mama, sing...pleez?
Mama, bed...pleez?
Toss, turn, stare off into space....
Mama, read book....pleez? (denied after first 3 requests)
Repeat (a thousand times)
Just when I thought Kysa (20 months) was really close to dreamland, she bolted upright on my lap and reached for my necklace. She took the pendant, a silver Africa with a heart cut out over Ethiopia, and looked at it closely as if considering something deeply. She looked me in the eye and said, "Africa, Mama." Then she pressed the pendant to my lips for me to kiss, and then laid her head on my chest with her cheek pressed against the pendant. She fell fast to sleep.
As this adoption process drags on and on it's easy to doubt its realness. Who knew it would take a moment of child generated magic to remind me of just how real it is?
...to remind me of the realness of a child's intuition
...to remind me of the realness of our connection with each other
...and to remind me of the realness of miracles, and love and dreams
Thank you, Kysa, my wise little teacher. I will gladly surrender my exhaustion and frustration to your pearls of wisdom and grace.
Aum Shanti,
Allison
Our latest update: Officially #13, Unofficially #9
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, December 5, 2011
The stockings are hung...all 4 of them
This past weekend we decorated for the holidays. It's a joyous time of year and one we loved sharing with Kysa as she comes upon her second Christmas.
The tree was put up, lights and ornaments adorn it, and other festive decorations made their way across our home. The stockings were next. One. Two. Three.
Four. The reminder of how last year at this time we were so certain that we'd have our son home for this Christmas that we actually bought him his own stocking. Well, we wanted it to match Kysa's... made sense. But here we are... one, two, three...
This year, we'd just be happy for a referral by NEXT Christmas. Not an easy position to be in, since of course we wish we could know that. I'd be happy if that was fact. Still we know that we are fortunate to have our amazing little Kysa. We know that there are also so many families in our same situation or somewhere in the adoption process who will also have an emotional holiday season. We know that other adoptive families will have a chance to celebrate this year as they bring home their sons and daughters. We will celebrate with these families. We will hope we're in their shoes next year.
There has been and continue to be lots of change, turmoil, progress (you pick your term) in the Ethiopian adoption system. This has created much of the slow-down we have experienced, even if we see very little... it's what we hear, what we piece together... it's the reality we know. We feel fortunate to have an agency that we believe in and trust, that helps.
In the meantime, please don't forget that there is still a famine going on in the Horn of Africa. Yes, even while we laugh and sing... while we eat and drink... while we give and receive... there are millions of people not as fortunate as us. Please think about them, pray for them, and if you have the means... please help them.
http://www.unicefusa.org/work/emergencies/horn-of-africa/
To end on a positive note, we did MOVE UP 1 SPOT today on the wait list. One more forever family accepted their referral today. One more child will be with their forever family for the upcoming Holidays. We move up.
/ fredrik
The tree was put up, lights and ornaments adorn it, and other festive decorations made their way across our home. The stockings were next. One. Two. Three.
Four. The reminder of how last year at this time we were so certain that we'd have our son home for this Christmas that we actually bought him his own stocking. Well, we wanted it to match Kysa's... made sense. But here we are... one, two, three...
This year, we'd just be happy for a referral by NEXT Christmas. Not an easy position to be in, since of course we wish we could know that. I'd be happy if that was fact. Still we know that we are fortunate to have our amazing little Kysa. We know that there are also so many families in our same situation or somewhere in the adoption process who will also have an emotional holiday season. We know that other adoptive families will have a chance to celebrate this year as they bring home their sons and daughters. We will celebrate with these families. We will hope we're in their shoes next year.
There has been and continue to be lots of change, turmoil, progress (you pick your term) in the Ethiopian adoption system. This has created much of the slow-down we have experienced, even if we see very little... it's what we hear, what we piece together... it's the reality we know. We feel fortunate to have an agency that we believe in and trust, that helps.
In the meantime, please don't forget that there is still a famine going on in the Horn of Africa. Yes, even while we laugh and sing... while we eat and drink... while we give and receive... there are millions of people not as fortunate as us. Please think about them, pray for them, and if you have the means... please help them.
http://www.unicefusa.org/work/emergencies/horn-of-africa/
To end on a positive note, we did MOVE UP 1 SPOT today on the wait list. One more forever family accepted their referral today. One more child will be with their forever family for the upcoming Holidays. We move up.
/ fredrik
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
we've got some catching up to do....
I know, I know...it's been a while. I'm a little daunted by all I need to report. I can assure you we've been busy, busy, busy...which has certainly helped occupy our thoughts since we haven't moved up the list. IN FACT...we've actually moved BACK to unofficially #11 since one of the six families on hold in front of us came off being on hold.
At the end of August, we went to Sweden to celebrate the marriage of Fredrik's sister, Viktoria, to John. It was a lovely weekend, despite the fact that I arrived with a kidney infection (seriously miserable plane ride, thank goodness Kysa slept and was in good spirits, but fairly quick recovery once I got some antibiotics). The wedding gave us the opportunity to introduce Kysa to most all of her Swedish relatives. She showed everyone that she knows how to party by taking a power nap after dinner and coming back to the reception to dance until 1am. Sometimes jet lag can work in your favor.
We traveled up to Gothenburg for a few days and then took a train across the country to Stockholm where we stayed with good friends and Kysa enjoyed being around five other kids for a few days. I think she's ready for siblings! We had a fantastic time catching up with old friends and walking around Stockholm, Kysa became an official Swedish citizen and I quickly remembered what a GORGEOUS city Stockholm is and decided that we needed to move there.
I'm not packing my bags just yet....
Almost as soon as we touched down and had a chance to wash our dirty laundry, we spontaneously decided to made a quick weekend trip to New York. Here's why: Marcus Samuelsson (born in Ethiopia, adopted by Swedish parents, now lives in Harlem, and big time celebrity chef) held a benefit brunch at his home in Harlem to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. We had a great time and met other Ethiopian adoptive families, Ethiopians, Swedes...and generally enjoyed the company of an incredibly diverse, super-cool, BEAUTIFUL group of people.
We met Marcus and his wife, Maya. Maya claims to be from Ethiopia, but seriously, despite how gorgeous Ethiopians are, I don't think she's even from this planet...she's THAT beautiful. And gracious. We had a couple brief conversations, and after she kissed on Kysa, she actually thanked us for opening up our hearts to adopt. Wow. We enjoyed the food, drink and music, especially Kysa who hung out by the dj's table most of the afternoon. When Marcus gave a little talk near the end of the brunch he gave Kysa a shout out, calling her the "little blonde professional Ethiopian dancer." We left completely inspired and feeling so fortunate to be slowly, carefully and eagerly weaving ourselves into the Ethiopian community.
We spent the rest of our time walking around Manhattan. The weather was perfect and we literally clocked over 15 miles of walking in the three days we were there. We visited the Central Park Zoo, the Natural History Museum (Kysa now says "dinosaur" see video below), and we ate at some of our favorite spots, Bubby's and Caracas, just to name a few. Fredrik and I BOTH got homesick for our old city. New York, we miss you! But again, we're not packing our bags just yet.
We returned home, I unpacked our bags. I chopped off my hair (again), and then we repacked and we all headed up to Boone, NC were I spent 4 days training to be a doula. Though I still need to do a couple things to become certified, I am now an official "Dona International trained Doula!" Yippee!! While I was spending time in the company of several lovely ladies and two awesome teachers, Kysa and Fredrik spent time enjoying fall in Boone, and Kysa got to hang out with her grandparents. Great weekend!
Somewhere in the midst of all the travel we also got rid of our big couch to make more room for baby boy, I purged my closet.....Oh yeah, AND I attended a beautifully peaceful birth!
I'm not sure if all this travel, wishing to move to another country, or back to NY, cutting my hair (twice), becoming a doula, getting rid of furniture and clothes is related to the adoption. I'm not sure what other families have done to help cope with all the waiting, but we're obviously ready to embrace change. We're getting antsy. We're ready for a baby...
Given our present coping methods, if we don't have some movement soon who knows what we might do next. Move to Fiji? Matching tattoos? Take up family sky diving? We're open to suggestions...the more radical the better :-)
Om Shanti,
Allison
At the end of August, we went to Sweden to celebrate the marriage of Fredrik's sister, Viktoria, to John. It was a lovely weekend, despite the fact that I arrived with a kidney infection (seriously miserable plane ride, thank goodness Kysa slept and was in good spirits, but fairly quick recovery once I got some antibiotics). The wedding gave us the opportunity to introduce Kysa to most all of her Swedish relatives. She showed everyone that she knows how to party by taking a power nap after dinner and coming back to the reception to dance until 1am. Sometimes jet lag can work in your favor.
We traveled up to Gothenburg for a few days and then took a train across the country to Stockholm where we stayed with good friends and Kysa enjoyed being around five other kids for a few days. I think she's ready for siblings! We had a fantastic time catching up with old friends and walking around Stockholm, Kysa became an official Swedish citizen and I quickly remembered what a GORGEOUS city Stockholm is and decided that we needed to move there.
I'm not packing my bags just yet....
Almost as soon as we touched down and had a chance to wash our dirty laundry, we spontaneously decided to made a quick weekend trip to New York. Here's why: Marcus Samuelsson (born in Ethiopia, adopted by Swedish parents, now lives in Harlem, and big time celebrity chef) held a benefit brunch at his home in Harlem to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. We had a great time and met other Ethiopian adoptive families, Ethiopians, Swedes...and generally enjoyed the company of an incredibly diverse, super-cool, BEAUTIFUL group of people.
We met Marcus and his wife, Maya. Maya claims to be from Ethiopia, but seriously, despite how gorgeous Ethiopians are, I don't think she's even from this planet...she's THAT beautiful. And gracious. We had a couple brief conversations, and after she kissed on Kysa, she actually thanked us for opening up our hearts to adopt. Wow. We enjoyed the food, drink and music, especially Kysa who hung out by the dj's table most of the afternoon. When Marcus gave a little talk near the end of the brunch he gave Kysa a shout out, calling her the "little blonde professional Ethiopian dancer." We left completely inspired and feeling so fortunate to be slowly, carefully and eagerly weaving ourselves into the Ethiopian community.
We spent the rest of our time walking around Manhattan. The weather was perfect and we literally clocked over 15 miles of walking in the three days we were there. We visited the Central Park Zoo, the Natural History Museum (Kysa now says "dinosaur" see video below), and we ate at some of our favorite spots, Bubby's and Caracas, just to name a few. Fredrik and I BOTH got homesick for our old city. New York, we miss you! But again, we're not packing our bags just yet.
We returned home, I unpacked our bags. I chopped off my hair (again), and then we repacked and we all headed up to Boone, NC were I spent 4 days training to be a doula. Though I still need to do a couple things to become certified, I am now an official "Dona International trained Doula!" Yippee!! While I was spending time in the company of several lovely ladies and two awesome teachers, Kysa and Fredrik spent time enjoying fall in Boone, and Kysa got to hang out with her grandparents. Great weekend!
Somewhere in the midst of all the travel we also got rid of our big couch to make more room for baby boy, I purged my closet.....Oh yeah, AND I attended a beautifully peaceful birth!
I'm not sure if all this travel, wishing to move to another country, or back to NY, cutting my hair (twice), becoming a doula, getting rid of furniture and clothes is related to the adoption. I'm not sure what other families have done to help cope with all the waiting, but we're obviously ready to embrace change. We're getting antsy. We're ready for a baby...
Given our present coping methods, if we don't have some movement soon who knows what we might do next. Move to Fiji? Matching tattoos? Take up family sky diving? We're open to suggestions...the more radical the better :-)
Om Shanti,
Allison
Sunday, August 21, 2011
are we locked and loaded?
After sprinting up the wait list ladder from early May to late June, we have officially come to a steady halt. There has been no movement in almost two months. We still remain officially #16, and unofficially (we think) #10 with 6 families on hold in front of us. I'm not even sure how I feel about it....resigned, I suppose.
I do know that it has to be easier to wait for a child BEFORE the referral rather than the waiting after we've been matched and have seen his little face. Knowing this keeps things in perspective. I don't want to think about the waiting AFTER the referral. I know it will test me in ways beyond what I can imagine.
It's hard to get too discouraged when sweet Kysa fills our days, but honestly, after now being in this process for over a year it feels incredibly nebulous. Our friends and neighbors are having babies we imagined would be about the same age as our baby boy...but we're just not sure now. I've allowed myself to buy a few things for Mamoosh so that he stays REAL not just some fantasy. But I do find myself wondering sometimes if it will ever happen....
We did get a hint of good news this week in an email from our adoption coordinator. Here's the quick message:
I do know that it has to be easier to wait for a child BEFORE the referral rather than the waiting after we've been matched and have seen his little face. Knowing this keeps things in perspective. I don't want to think about the waiting AFTER the referral. I know it will test me in ways beyond what I can imagine.
It's hard to get too discouraged when sweet Kysa fills our days, but honestly, after now being in this process for over a year it feels incredibly nebulous. Our friends and neighbors are having babies we imagined would be about the same age as our baby boy...but we're just not sure now. I've allowed myself to buy a few things for Mamoosh so that he stays REAL not just some fantasy. But I do find myself wondering sometimes if it will ever happen....
We did get a hint of good news this week in an email from our adoption coordinator. Here's the quick message:
Just wanted to let you know that your dossier was sent today to Ethiopia. Once it has arrived, it will be translated and wait to be matched with a referral. 
I guess that means they're getting us locked and loaded.
Fredrik did ask our coordinator directly why there have been so few referrals and this is her answer:
I guess that means they're getting us locked and loaded.
Fredrik did ask our coordinator directly why there have been so few referrals and this is her answer:
The regional MOWA in one of the regions we work in has been slow to approve any paperwork as they just finished inspecting all the orphanages in that region. The regional MOWA closed many orphanages, none of which we worked with, so the MOWA is having to take care of relocating the children from those orphanages. Our staff reports to us that the regional MOWA is experiencing a ‘back-lash’ from all the changes that they are trying to implement. They feel it is temporary and should be resolved soon. We do work with another orphanage in a different region and are slowly giving out referrals from them (although mostly older children).
*MOWA is Ministry Of Women's Affairs
We're hoping that once MOWA gets the children from the closed care centers into their new care centers that the referrals will pick back up again.
Please keep all the children being shuffled around in your thoughts and prayers...they all deserve Forever Homes.
Namaste.
Allison
*MOWA is Ministry Of Women's Affairs
We're hoping that once MOWA gets the children from the closed care centers into their new care centers that the referrals will pick back up again.
Please keep all the children being shuffled around in your thoughts and prayers...they all deserve Forever Homes.
Namaste.
Allison
Saturday, August 6, 2011
I am not enough...
I've been procrastinating. Writing this post means having to put my feelings into words, and I haven't wanted to turn the images and fears that haunt my dreams and waking hours into coherent thoughts.
While I was pregnant with Kysa, every meal I ate became a gift to my growing child...it was the only real gift I could give her on a daily basis along with sending her thoughts of love and providing a stress free environment for her growth and development. Every locally grown salad, bowl of organic berries, or whole wheat bread became a gift of love to her. I, alone could provide my child nutrition, love and safety. It was so easy and simple. It was empowering to feel that I was enough...
This week we watched the nightly news during our dinner time. The images from the Horn of Africa bring our conversation to a halt and we stop eating as Fredrik and I retreat into ourselves to listen, watch and process. After the segment is over I busy myself with Kysa and Fredrik begins to clear the plates. Dinner is over. I'm feeling physically ill. We avoid each others' gaze, but I feel Fredrik watching me to see if I'm okay. When I can breathe again I initiate the conversation, and we begin to process the information together moving from general concern for the entire region to the very personal. This has been our nightly dance.
And while waiting for our son is hard enough, the famine in Ethiopia and surrounding countries makes the wait excruciating. I just know there is a baby boy who NEEDS us and we are so ready to be his family. We are so willing to help...yet we wait and wait for our number to be called.
I feel utterly powerless. I am not enough...
If you haven't been following the news, please take a look at these images from The Economist posted below. If the people in the images seem far away, foreign and not a part of your world then please consider your connection to me. If you are reading this you are most likely a friend or family member...or also involved in adoption in some way. Please see these people as MY family, because quite simply...they are.
This is what I see:
Every skeletal baby is my son, every desperate yet stoic mother is his birth mother, every defeated man is my son's birth father, every group of weary children are my son's siblings, the masses of people are his fellow countrymen, his tribe, his community....and that makes them mine. It's personal...oh, so personal.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2011/08/pictures
Please consider joining Fredrik and me in sending aid to one of these agencies:
IRC (International Rescue Committee) - https://www.rescue.org/donate/drought_africa
World Food Program - https://www.wfp.org/donate/hoa_banners
USAID - http://www.usaid.gov/hornofafrica/
Oxfam - http://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/east-africa-food-crisis#donate
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and any aid you might send to our family in the Horn of Africa...
Aum Shanti-
Allison
While I was pregnant with Kysa, every meal I ate became a gift to my growing child...it was the only real gift I could give her on a daily basis along with sending her thoughts of love and providing a stress free environment for her growth and development. Every locally grown salad, bowl of organic berries, or whole wheat bread became a gift of love to her. I, alone could provide my child nutrition, love and safety. It was so easy and simple. It was empowering to feel that I was enough...
This week we watched the nightly news during our dinner time. The images from the Horn of Africa bring our conversation to a halt and we stop eating as Fredrik and I retreat into ourselves to listen, watch and process. After the segment is over I busy myself with Kysa and Fredrik begins to clear the plates. Dinner is over. I'm feeling physically ill. We avoid each others' gaze, but I feel Fredrik watching me to see if I'm okay. When I can breathe again I initiate the conversation, and we begin to process the information together moving from general concern for the entire region to the very personal. This has been our nightly dance.
And while waiting for our son is hard enough, the famine in Ethiopia and surrounding countries makes the wait excruciating. I just know there is a baby boy who NEEDS us and we are so ready to be his family. We are so willing to help...yet we wait and wait for our number to be called.
I feel utterly powerless. I am not enough...
If you haven't been following the news, please take a look at these images from The Economist posted below. If the people in the images seem far away, foreign and not a part of your world then please consider your connection to me. If you are reading this you are most likely a friend or family member...or also involved in adoption in some way. Please see these people as MY family, because quite simply...they are.
This is what I see:
Every skeletal baby is my son, every desperate yet stoic mother is his birth mother, every defeated man is my son's birth father, every group of weary children are my son's siblings, the masses of people are his fellow countrymen, his tribe, his community....and that makes them mine. It's personal...oh, so personal.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2011/08/pictures
Please consider joining Fredrik and me in sending aid to one of these agencies:
IRC (International Rescue Committee) - https://www.rescue.org/donate/drought_africa
World Food Program - https://www.wfp.org/donate/hoa_banners
USAID - http://www.usaid.gov/hornofafrica/
Oxfam - http://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/east-africa-food-crisis#donate
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and any aid you might send to our family in the Horn of Africa...
Aum Shanti-
Allison
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
We are the world, and this time it's personal
Beautiful beaches along the North Carolina coast. Wonderful friends with whom to share memories and dreams. Amazing food and drinks to get us through each day...no shortage of anything we could imagine.
This entire week we are most blessed to have our little Kysa around at all times. Her smile cannot help but place a mirror image on the faces of everyone she meets. It's a household full of smiles this week.
Personally, I needed this vacation. I needed to get away, to relax, to escape work for a few short days. It's been wonderful, a real mental break. I even finished my book... ah, many months in the making. Thank goodness for a vacation, the best time to catch up on that reading I have wanted to finish for a long time. The book I finished is called "There is No Me Without You" by Melissa Fay Greene.
It's impossible to summarize a 400+ page book in a few sentences and do it justice, but I can share my reaction. I hurt that there are millions of orphans in Ethiopia. I feel for the pain those childrens and families have to go through. I praise those before us who have ventured to adopt from Ethiopia and other countries and given those children a chance and some love. I cried.
We sit at Topsail Beach this week eating well, sipping drinks, surfing, swimming and laughing. I hope next summer we will be a family of four. But right now we are also aware of the suffering going on in Ethiopia and the surrounding Horn of Africa countries - a famine worse than in many decades, caused by nature but made worse by inactivity, denial or outright inhumanity by the rest of the world. As of this week, 11.6 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid in this part of the world - of which 3.2 million effected are Ethiopians. Those are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. Yes, it made the nightly news last week. But what else is being done..what else can be done? 20 years ago we sang "We are the World". As another mother of Ethiopian adopted children said this week, "this time it's personal". Yes, this time it is personal.
Read more about the current famines: http://reliefweb.int/node/436245
Somewhere 7,447 miles from here a family is living that has had or will have a son, that will one day be our son. Perhaps they are doing moderately well, perhaps they are not impacted at all by the famines.. or, perhaps they are one of the 3.2 million who are either directly or indirectly impacted by these famines. Tonight I think of that family. I want to spread their word. If you read this, please listen and absorb the words don't just let them gloss over like words in a magazine article. If you read this you are obviously a family member, a friend or a follower with high interest in this region or our story. You can help. "Just 50 US cents per day is enough to feed a hungry child or a mother on the edge or survival." - UN World Food Program on help needed in the Horn of Africa.
We contacted our adoption agency for advice. While they cannot endorse a particular aid organization, they did share some names of places that could use your help. I list them here with links to their pages. Now the rest is up to you, as you can see above... it doesn't take much.
IRC (International Rescue Committee) - https://www.rescue.org/donate/drought_africa
World Food Program - https://www.wfp.org/donate/hoa_banners
USAID - http://www.usaid.gov/hornofafrica/
Oxfam - http://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/east-africa-food-crisis#donate
In addition, we continue to support and believe in the work that AHOPE is doing in Ethiopia with HIV/AIDS children. Read the book I was talking about and you'll understand the importance of this organization too.
AHOPE - http://www.ahopeforchildren.org/
Most of you reading this are blessed and are also likely enjoying wonderful time with family and friends this summer. This is amazing, you should enjoy it thoroughly and be thankful. That song 20 years ago was a little corny and today risks sounding very 'old school'. No need to go dig up that old recording or search for it on You Tube or Pandora (although you may get a laugh if you do). Still, we really are the world. It's not a very big place. Somewhere out there a child is hungry...that might be our son. This time it is personal.
Love.
/ fredrik
This entire week we are most blessed to have our little Kysa around at all times. Her smile cannot help but place a mirror image on the faces of everyone she meets. It's a household full of smiles this week.
Personally, I needed this vacation. I needed to get away, to relax, to escape work for a few short days. It's been wonderful, a real mental break. I even finished my book... ah, many months in the making. Thank goodness for a vacation, the best time to catch up on that reading I have wanted to finish for a long time. The book I finished is called "There is No Me Without You" by Melissa Fay Greene.
It's impossible to summarize a 400+ page book in a few sentences and do it justice, but I can share my reaction. I hurt that there are millions of orphans in Ethiopia. I feel for the pain those childrens and families have to go through. I praise those before us who have ventured to adopt from Ethiopia and other countries and given those children a chance and some love. I cried.
We sit at Topsail Beach this week eating well, sipping drinks, surfing, swimming and laughing. I hope next summer we will be a family of four. But right now we are also aware of the suffering going on in Ethiopia and the surrounding Horn of Africa countries - a famine worse than in many decades, caused by nature but made worse by inactivity, denial or outright inhumanity by the rest of the world. As of this week, 11.6 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid in this part of the world - of which 3.2 million effected are Ethiopians. Those are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. Yes, it made the nightly news last week. But what else is being done..what else can be done? 20 years ago we sang "We are the World". As another mother of Ethiopian adopted children said this week, "this time it's personal". Yes, this time it is personal.
Read more about the current famines: http://reliefweb.int/node/436245
Somewhere 7,447 miles from here a family is living that has had or will have a son, that will one day be our son. Perhaps they are doing moderately well, perhaps they are not impacted at all by the famines.. or, perhaps they are one of the 3.2 million who are either directly or indirectly impacted by these famines. Tonight I think of that family. I want to spread their word. If you read this, please listen and absorb the words don't just let them gloss over like words in a magazine article. If you read this you are obviously a family member, a friend or a follower with high interest in this region or our story. You can help. "Just 50 US cents per day is enough to feed a hungry child or a mother on the edge or survival." - UN World Food Program on help needed in the Horn of Africa.
We contacted our adoption agency for advice. While they cannot endorse a particular aid organization, they did share some names of places that could use your help. I list them here with links to their pages. Now the rest is up to you, as you can see above... it doesn't take much.
IRC (International Rescue Committee) - https://www.rescue.org/donate/drought_africa
World Food Program - https://www.wfp.org/donate/hoa_banners
USAID - http://www.usaid.gov/hornofafrica/
Oxfam - http://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/east-africa-food-crisis#donate
In addition, we continue to support and believe in the work that AHOPE is doing in Ethiopia with HIV/AIDS children. Read the book I was talking about and you'll understand the importance of this organization too.
AHOPE - http://www.ahopeforchildren.org/
Most of you reading this are blessed and are also likely enjoying wonderful time with family and friends this summer. This is amazing, you should enjoy it thoroughly and be thankful. That song 20 years ago was a little corny and today risks sounding very 'old school'. No need to go dig up that old recording or search for it on You Tube or Pandora (although you may get a laugh if you do). Still, we really are the world. It's not a very big place. Somewhere out there a child is hungry...that might be our son. This time it is personal.
Love.
/ fredrik
Monday, July 11, 2011
Doesn't feel like good news...
Fredrik and I have been so excited by the multiple referrals recently and our seemingly rapid movement up the wait list.. We've loved all the excitement from family and friends who celebrate with us and encourage us as we climb the wait list ladder.
While trying to be realistic we check the blog multiple times a day to see if there's any movement and it seems weekly there's at least one or two referrals. Some of these referrals don't move us closer to our baby, but nonetheless it's a happy time to celebrate a child getting a forever family.
Today our agency posted new wait list estimates.
Infant Girl (0-2 years): 13 months
Infant Boy (0-2 years): 12 months
Toddler Girl (2-4 years): 6 months
Toddler Boy (2-4 years): 4 1/2 months
Older children (5 and up): under two months.
Please bear in mind that these times are estimates. We have no control over the timing of children in need of families. However, if the trend continues over the next few months, we anticipate all wait times being under one year.
So while I think this is suppose to be good news, I think I was getting WAY too optimistic. In my mind I was hoping for a fall referral and bringing baby boy home sometime this winter. Sigh. We're still #10 unofficially, we think, so who knows....
Fredrik gets to say, "I told you so...."
Bleh.
While trying to be realistic we check the blog multiple times a day to see if there's any movement and it seems weekly there's at least one or two referrals. Some of these referrals don't move us closer to our baby, but nonetheless it's a happy time to celebrate a child getting a forever family.
Today our agency posted new wait list estimates.
Infant Girl (0-2 years): 13 months
Infant Boy (0-2 years): 12 months
Toddler Girl (2-4 years): 6 months
Toddler Boy (2-4 years): 4 1/2 months
Older children (5 and up): under two months.
Please bear in mind that these times are estimates. We have no control over the timing of children in need of families. However, if the trend continues over the next few months, we anticipate all wait times being under one year.
So while I think this is suppose to be good news, I think I was getting WAY too optimistic. In my mind I was hoping for a fall referral and bringing baby boy home sometime this winter. Sigh. We're still #10 unofficially, we think, so who knows....
Fredrik gets to say, "I told you so...."
Bleh.
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