There has been a lot of stress and upheaval for those of us hoping to adopt from Ethiopia lately. So many questions, rumors, and unknowns. Logan and I are fortunate to be in a supportive community of adoptive families that we have met through our YahooGroup, blogs and Ethiopian events in Indianapolis. So many of our friends are struggling just like we are. We have friends who have referrals, but no court date. Friends who can't pass court because of a single missing paper. Friends who, like us, have been waiting so long for a referral. And then, for us, there is that tumor beside my brain.
We are no doubt in the middle of the craziest, most stressful months of our lives. But this is exactly what we signed up for (okay, the tumor isn't, but that is beside the point). Despite what some may believe, we did not sign up to adopt from Ethiopia because it was going to be easy. We signed up for this because once we knew about the millions of orphans in the world, we couldn't just "have more of our own" as they say. Once we knew about Ethiopia, once we learned about the country and we understood the effects of AIDS and famine and extreme poverty we couldn't not adopt from Ethiopia.
Our dedication to Ethiopia won't stop with the adoption of this one child.
Inter-country adoption is an answer for some individual children in the most dire of cases. When a child is destined to live and possibly die in an orphanage that doesn't have enough food, enough diapers, or enough medication... inter-country adoption can provide a loving family, a home, a school, a doctor, all of the things the child would not have had. Adoption doesn't solve the orphan crisis. It certainly doesn't solve Ethiopia's problems.
Last November, the day before our Both Hands event, Logan and I were bedridden with the Norovirus. I'm not a quick reader, but I had plenty of time on my hands that day and I read From Ashes to Africa, a book Angi let me borrow. In the book, they referenced a speech that Bono once gave at an NAACP event. They wondered just how "Christian" a rock star like Bono could really be. But after they heard his speech they wondered if they were as "Christian" as Bono. Logan and I looked it up on YouTube a few days later and... well... he explains exactly what we have found out to be true this year. Only he explains it like a rock star.
We are no doubt in the middle of the craziest, most stressful months of our lives. But this is exactly what we signed up for (okay, the tumor isn't, but that is beside the point). Despite what some may believe, we did not sign up to adopt from Ethiopia because it was going to be easy. We signed up for this because once we knew about the millions of orphans in the world, we couldn't just "have more of our own" as they say. Once we knew about Ethiopia, once we learned about the country and we understood the effects of AIDS and famine and extreme poverty we couldn't not adopt from Ethiopia.
Our dedication to Ethiopia won't stop with the adoption of this one child.
Inter-country adoption is an answer for some individual children in the most dire of cases. When a child is destined to live and possibly die in an orphanage that doesn't have enough food, enough diapers, or enough medication... inter-country adoption can provide a loving family, a home, a school, a doctor, all of the things the child would not have had. Adoption doesn't solve the orphan crisis. It certainly doesn't solve Ethiopia's problems.
Last November, the day before our Both Hands event, Logan and I were bedridden with the Norovirus. I'm not a quick reader, but I had plenty of time on my hands that day and I read From Ashes to Africa, a book Angi let me borrow. In the book, they referenced a speech that Bono once gave at an NAACP event. They wondered just how "Christian" a rock star like Bono could really be. But after they heard his speech they wondered if they were as "Christian" as Bono. Logan and I looked it up on YouTube a few days later and... well... he explains exactly what we have found out to be true this year. Only he explains it like a rock star.
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