My Family, My Journey: An Opportunity to Get Involved

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

An Opportunity to Get Involved

If you have been rooting for us on the sidelines wondering how you might get more involved, this post is for you!

Our agency, Gladney, has been able to access free shipping of several crates to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They have several infant incubators that were donated by a Texas Children’s Hospital that will be going in some of the crates, but they would like to fill the remaining crates with diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer, and baby carriers - all of which will be going to the Foster Homes in Ethiopia where our children, and many other children, are waiting to be adopted.

They have made it super easy to participate in this donation effort by making arrangements with diapers.com, who will provide $10 off (on first time orders that include diapers) and fast free shipping if your order is over $49.

If you would like to participate, here's how:

Go to diapers.com in time for delivery by November 15th.

Order any of the following products that the children and in-country caregivers need:

Babyganics Germinator Hand Sanitizer - 250 ml

Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers - Extra Large Case - (sizes needed size 1 through size 3)

Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Baby Wipes - 360 Count Refill

Baby Bjorn Baby Carrier Original - City Black

Enter the Referral Code “Gladney” on the shopping cart screen when you check out to get a $10 discount (This code did not work for me for some reason. If you have the same problem you can use "HEID6267" to get the $10 off. Your order must include diapers for it to work).

Ship your donation directly to Gladney at:

Scott Brown
Gladney Center for Adoption

6300 John Ryan Drive

Fort Worth, Texas 76132

I also want to add, especially for anyone who will be traveling to Ethiopia to bring their children home, consider asking your pediatrician if they would be interested in making donations of formula and medications (anything that would be found in a typical first aid kit is needed). We spoke with our pediatrician about this and he is excited to help.

There will be no way for me to know who was kind enough to participate so leave me a comment or send me an email so I can thank you for your generosity!

2 comments:

Rebecca said...: you rock my world!!!; Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Tam and Kai - NYC said...: good tip on the pediatrician! we're far from that point, but it's going in my to-do-later notes.

hope to see you soon!; Thursday, November 05, 2009

Timeline

*PAPER CHASE/5.5 MNTHS*
6-27-08: Register for orientation with local agency
7-16-08: Attend orientation with local agency
8-19-08: Decide to adopt from Ethiopia through Gladney. Best decisions ever!
8-28-08: Attend orientation with Gladney
8-28-08: 1st Home Study interview
9-25-08: Home study interviews completed & all Gladney paper work submitted
9-30-08: CIS fingerprints
10-2-08: FBI clearance
11-12-08: Home Study report completed
11-25-08: Gladney approval
12-4-08: CIS approval
*WAIT FOR REFERRAL/13 MNTHS*
12-11-08: Wait list!!!!!!!
4-21-09: Increased our age preference hoping to speed things up (HA!)
8-29-09: Heidi's medicals updated
9-15-09: Mark's medicals updated
9-20-09: Travel Immunizatons
11-10-09: Sent in request for CIS fingerprint updates
11-11-09: Gladney calls to review our age preference
11-17-09: Gladney calls again and tells us about twin boys who *might* become available. We agree to increasing our age preference in order to pursue these boys.
11-21-09: Receive CIS fingerprint appointment
12-16-09: Have CIS fingerprints taken
1-4-10: Referral!!!!!!! 28 month old twin boys!!!!!
*WAIT TO PASS COURT/4 MNTHS*
1-19-10: Start home study update
2-18-10: CIS fingerprints cleared
3-4-10: Home study update completed/sent CIS extension request
3-30-10: File submitted to courts!
3-31-10: Received court date!
4-22-10: Received CIS approval extension
4-23-10: 1st court date
4-28-10: 2nd court date
5-05-10: 3rd court date
05-06-10: 4th and final court date! We're a family!
5-12-10: Receive travel dates!
5-18-10: Travel!
6-1-10: Home as a family of SEVEN (four humans, three puppy dogs!)

Fun Facts About Ethiopia

•Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.