Tuesday, September 13, 2011

a few updates

We are in the middle of the annual court recess in Ethiopia, so not much news. Here are a few things:
  • In the last few months, the Ethiopian government has shut down several orphanages. I've seen different estimates for the total number, but it's well into the double digits. This seems to be part of the effort to address concerns about international adoptions from Ethiopia.
  • I have read multiple reports of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa stepping up their investigations into children's orphan status. They are requesting more legal paperwork, re-interviewing relinquishing families and sending investigators into the field. Although this is positive, it still is being done at the wrong time - after the child is already legally adopted.
  • Three families using our agency who received referrals only a few weeks before us have received court dates for late October/early November. We had been thinking we'll get a court date in January, but now we hope it might be earlier.
  • In mid-October we'll be participating in a phone conference to prep us for our court date and first trip to Ethiopia.
  • We have no updates on the boys. As far as we know they are still somewhere in or near Burji. We hope that they are fed, sheltered, being visited by family, being well taken care of... but we just don't know.
The new school year has started. So far it's going much better than last year.
And that's all for now.

8 comments:

  1. I'm thinking you'll definitely make it to court in 2011. So exciting!!

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  2. I couldn't agree more with yoru comment about the US Embassy. I was glad to hear about the closer scrutiny, but it doesn't take a genius to see the difficult position they put themselves in. Would they not issue a Visa to child? Then what happens? Our case was investigated further and my husband and I figured we'd have to move to Addis if one or both of our kids didn't get their Visa.

    I have been thrilled to hear about people getting court dates! Thinking of you! I cannot wait to see pics of your kids. Please reach out if you need any help or have questions. Adopting 2 at once is something you cannot really prepare for...at least I couldn't... =)

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  3. It is late in the game and the Embassy has admitted they let "small, benign frauds" through for a long time because they feel their hands are tied...sigh.

    I think it sounds like they are doing the right thing now.

    On the happy side...I hope you hear about a court date very very soon!! : ).

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  4. Hoping you hear news of a court date soon!

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  5. Thanks everyone! It is starting to seem a little bit more real!

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  6. Thanks for the update - I'm hoping for a referral in early 2012, and it'll be interesting to get news on the timing for my first and second trips.

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  7. I remember how hard it was hearing no news -- just waiting and hoping little T was ok. I felt like I was living in a black hole. Thankfully these kids are pretty darn tough. Will send positive thought out into the universe that they are healthy and happy. Hope you travel soon!

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  8. Susan, with more people moving through the process after the slowdown, hopefully you will get a good estimate of wait times. We still feel very up in the air with that.
    Karen, for some reason the wait after referral has been easier than the wait before referral. Probably because it still feels so unreal.

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