Thursday, November 15, 2007

National Adoption Month

Transition Home is Up & Running!

We received this letter from Laurel, our Ethiopian Program Director on 11-14!
It is nice to know what they need so that we can start collecting the items or monetary donations for when we travel to pick up our daughter.


Dear AW Ethiopia Families,

We are excited and pleased to be able to announce that the new America World transition home in Ethiopia is up and running. Last week the first 13 children, who were recently referred to families were moved from Kids Care to the America World home. The home has been equipped with all the major needs and staff have been hired, trained and are providing loving care. There are still many things needed to help make the home a nurturing and stimulating environment for your prospective children as they wait the arrival of their parents. Therefore, we are writing to let you know of some of these needs and how you could help meet them, if you desire to do so.

America World employee Rachel (Duckworth) Ward and her husband will be making a 10-day trip to Ethiopia before their official move there at the end of January 2008. So if you would like to donate items for use at the transition home, please have them mailed to or dropped off at the America World--Tennessee office by close of business on Wednesday, November 21st. Items may also be dropped off at the Corporate office in McLean. Rachel will be leaving for Addis on Monday morning, the 26th.

Here is a list of suggested items:

Classic children's books
Coloring books and crayons
Children's Bibles and/or Bible stories
Hand Sanitizer (large bottles)
CD players, children's worship CD's, lullabies, etc.
DVD player and Children's Videos (ie: Veggie Tales, The Wiggles, Praise Baby)
Rubber coated children's spoons
ABC and 123 learning materials for toddlers.
Tape recorder
Little cosmetic mirror
Baby blankets, regular ones and one with hoods sewn in
Towels/soaps and bath items
Playdough
Jump rope
Inflatable balls
Bubbles
Lace cards, beads to string on laces
Clothing
Diapers
Baby Tylenol, antibiotics, probiotics


If you would prefer to make a monetary donation, you may write a check to America World and send it to the corporate office in McLean. In the memo line, please write "transition home support," so that our finance department knows how to allocate your donation. Rachel will be able to use these funds to purchase items while she is in Addis.

November News!

Praying that our news will come in November!!!!

Ethiopia - November 2nd
America World received court appointments this week for the five families who received referrals on October 3, 2007. The appointments are scheduled for November 7, 2007. Once we have final approvals for these families, America World will begin to work on their travel. We continue to wait for court appointments for those who received referrals on October 19, 2007

Ethiopia - November 9thAmerica World continues to wait on court approvals for the five families who received referrals on October 3, 2007. There were some hold-ups due to delays at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. We anticipate more news for the families waiting on approvals next week.

America World continues to work toward our goal of the transition home in Addis opening. This past week our staff representative secured cribs, beds, refrigerators and other households appliances for the home and has started the process of hiring nannies. Eventually children will stay in this home between referral and travel. Our agency looks forward to the home’s grand opening!

October News!

I haven't been very good at keeping up with the updates lately! SO...The following are the Agency Updates for October! This should fill you in!

Ethiopia - October 5thAmerica World is happy to announce that we received referrals for six children this week; four of the children were males, and two of the children were females. The ages of the children ranged from approximately 1 ½ months to 11 months old. There are five families currently reviewing the referrals for these children. We look forward to receiving their responses within the next week!

As mentioned in the Ethiopia September monthly update, America World signed a lease for a transition home in Addis Ababa last week! Once this home is up and running, the children who are being adopting by America World families, will be transitioned to this home from the orphanage between the time of referral and travel. In addition to this, our in-country staff liaison has recently hired two additional staff to help with adoption processing. Our agency believes that both of these accomplishments will lead to a smoother, more efficient adoption process for Ethiopia families, so we are happy to share this news!

Ethiopia - October 12thSeveral families have asked about referral timings. How often does America World anticipate receiving referrals? In answer to this question, referrals in the Ethiopia program will be more sporadic and less systematic than some of the other America World adoption programs. Occasionally our agency may receive two sets of referrals in a month; other times there may be more than one month between referral batches. In most cases, we will receive multiple referrals at a time rather than individual referrals. This will assist America World in planning group travel for families.

Ethiopia - October 19America World is happy to announce that we received referrals for six children this week; three of the children were males, and three of the children were females. The ages of the children ranged from approximately 2 months to 14 months old. There are five families currently reviewing the referrals for these children. We look forward to receiving acceptances from families within the next week!

October - 26thOur agency continues to wait on court appointments for the families who received referrals on 10/3/07 and 10/19/07. The court in Ethiopia has been overloaded due to re-opening after 2 months of being closed, but we anticipate receiving appointments in the near future.

America World recently hired Rachel (Duckworth) Ward to work with our transitional home services in Addis. Those of you in Tennessee may know Rachel as she has worked in America World’s Tennessee affiliate office as its Director of Social Services since AW-TN was licensed in 2004. She and her husband Barrett plan to depart for Addis Ababa early in 2008.

NEW BLOG

Check out our new blog for our Ethiopian Adoption!! http://www.totsites.com/tot/journeytoafrica