"Spiderman" Andrew Garfield Takes a Humanitarian Trip to Ethiopia with Dr. Jane Aronson

Andrew Garfield, star of the film 'The Amazing Spider-Man', and Dr. Jane Aronson, founder of Worldwide Orphans Foundation, share a passion for transforming the lives of children left behind.

A Glimmer of Hope - Ways Those Who Have Adopted From Ethiopia Give Back

5 Ways Adoptive Families Give Back to Ethiopia
From Adoption Today Magazine
Despite the media’s blitz debating whether or not Ethiopia will continue on as the hot spot for international adoption, non-profit A Glimmer of Hope is seeing a different kind of trend skyrocketing within the adoptive community with strong family ties to this sub-saharan African country.  In the last six months, five adoptive families have spearheaded different personal campaigns that so far have raised almost $800,000 to fund the construction of schools, water projects and health clinics in rural Ethiopia.  Through Glimmer, a growing stream of adoptive families are giving back in big ways to the birth country of their adopted children by helping Ethiopian women and children living in extreme poverty.

A family calling
“We were very, very blessed with these two children, and had a strong calling to give back to the country that has given us so much,” Jeff Greene said.  Jeff and his wife, Kristen, might even call this trend a family affair since they have personally rallied an army of parents, sisters, brothers, cousins and a posse of close friends to their cause to give back to their children’s birth place. The Greenes’ cause hit home with many who are giving up their birthdays or participating in half-marathons and fun runs to raise donations.
Continue with story here.

Adoption Institute's Report on Changes in Ethiopia's Adoption Process

REPORTS OF ABUSES LEAD TO CHANGES IN ETHIOPIA'S ADOPTION PROCESS


Recent reports of fraud and corruption have caused concern about adoptions from Ethiopia among child welfare organizations and the U.S. State Department, reports Peter Heinlein in a December 14 VOANews.com article titled "Under Pressure, Ethiopia Plans Crackdown on Baby Business." Earlier in the month, the State Department issued a statement cautioning prospective adoptive parents against "malfeasance and abuse" and announcing delays in the adoption process in an attempt to ensure that all adoptions are ethical and in the best interests of the child. Ethiopian officials report that they will close orphanages that only serve as "transit homes" en route to adoption, and re-accredit all foreign adoption agencies in an effort to impose higher ethical standards. To read the article, go to: http://bit.ly/eWXZWi . To read the State Department notice, go to http://bit.ly/bqj5wI  and scroll down to December 6, 2010.

Record Low in International Adoptions

Adoptive Families Magazine reports that 2010 was a year of record low international adoptions.

The number of intercountry adoptions by Americans fell 13 percent in the past year—from 12,753 to 11,059—to reach a 15-year low, according to data from the U.S. Department of State. Adoptions from China continued to head the list, with 3,401 adoptions to the U.S. in 2010. Rounding out the top five sending countries are Ethiopia (2,513), Russia (1,082), South Korea (863), and Ukraine (445).

Joint Council on International Children's Services' Emergency Campaign for Ethiopian Children

Because Ethiopia has decided to drastically reduce the number of international adoptions, JCIC has undertaken an emergency Ethiopia campaign.  If you would like to help, they have a petition and suggestions for other things you can do here.

Ethiopia Update by JCIC

This is from their blog:

Ethiopia Update 3/11/11


Following are our notes from the Department of State Office of Children’s Issues conference call regarding Ethiopian adoptions conducted earlier today. These notes do not represent nor are they in any way attributable to the Department of State or US Citizenship and Immigration Services. We are providing the notes with respect to those who could not participate in the conference.

We extend our thanks to the Department of State for conducting the conference call and to US Citizenship and Immigration Services for their participation and contributions.

The Department of State is Actively Involved

The Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs announced a reduction in the processing of intercountry adoption cases from 50 per day to 5 per day, effective March 10, 2011.

The Department of State is actively involved in discussions with the Government of Ethiopia, other governments and stakeholders.
A coalition of countries is preparing a proposal to assist the Ministry increase its capacity.
Embassy suggested that children with special need’s cases should not be delayed.
The US Embassy officials have a scheduled meeting with the Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs for Monday, March 14, 2011.
There are areas of concern related to intercountry adoption, however the reduction is disproportionate.

Adoption Cases
Currently there are no implementation guidelines for in-process cases.
For adoption cases registered with the Ethiopian court, the best estimate is a one-year delay.
The staff change at the Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs has been confirmed as taking effect the week of March 13, 2011. The impact this will have on adoption cases is not known.

It is estimated that between 800-1,000 adoption cases are currently on the docket of Ethiopian courts.
________________________________________________________________________________

Also on the JCIC blog is an open letter by Dr. Jane Aronson (Founder and CEO of Worldwide Orphans Foundation)  to President Bill Clinton, asking for his involvement in this matter

U.S. Department of State Issues an Adoption Alert for Ethiopia

Ethiopia Plans to Reduce International Adoptions by 90%.  Here is the alert issued on March 9, 2011 by the U.S. Dept. of State:

Government of Ethiopia Plans Major Slow-Down in Adoption Processing


Citing the need to work on quality and focus on more important strategic issues, the Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) has indicated it will reduce to a maximum of five the number of adoption cases it processes per day, effective March 10, 2011. Under Ethiopian adoption procedures, MOWCYA approves every match between prospective adoptive parents and an Ethiopian child before that case can be forwarded for a court hearing. The U.S. Embassy is working with Ethiopian government officials and adoption agencies to learn more about this change in procedures. We will continue to share information as it becomes available.

Given MOWCYA's current caseload, the U.S. Embassy anticipates that this change could result in an overall decline in case processing of some 90 percent. If this change is implemented as proposed, we expect, that parents who have begun the process of adopting from Ethiopia but have not yet been matched with a child could experience significant delays. It is not clear if this change in procedures would have any significant impact on cases in which MOWCYA has already approved matches.

Prospective adoptive parents should remain in close contact with their adoption service provider to obtain updates on individual cases.


The Embassy's Adoptions Unit can be reached at consadoptionaddis@state.gov.


Please continue to monitor http://adoption.state.gov/  for updated information as it becomes available.

Note:  Ethiopia is not party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention).

Opportunity for You to Go On a Mission Trip to Ethiopia

HopeChest is planning a mission trip to Ethiopia this April 18th-28th. Cost will be around $1,000 (PLUS airfare) depending on size of the group.

Ginia Hairston, HopeChest's program services director, will lead this trip to visit several of our orphanages in and around Addis Ababa. (You'll get to meet many of the children helped in our Shirts for Shoes campaign too!) The deadline for application and first deposit: February 21st.
Email nicole@hopechest.org  to reserve your spot.
http://www.hopechest.org/

Another Drop in International Adoptions

Adoptive Families magazine reports that the number of intercountry adoptions fell again last year—from 17,438 in fiscal year 2008 to 12,700 in fiscal year 2009, a decrease of 27 percent—according to early data from the U.S. Department of State on IR3 and IR4 visas issued.
The decline likely reflects several trends in intercountry adoption: Adoption from China continues to slow; and Vietnam and Guatemala processed only grandfathered international adoption cases during 2009.
Some countries saw an increase in intercountry adoptions last year. Adoptions from Ethiopia continue to rise, and adoptions from Haiti, the Philippines, and Ukraine have all increased.

Shirts for Shoes: Be an Orphan's Valentine

HopeChest's new campaign is, Shirts for Shoes. In partnership with Kari Gibson's Simply Love project, they have created exclusive and limited edition T-shirts for you to buy as a Valentines Day gift for your loved ones. 100% of proceeds will provide a new shirt and new shoes to 400 children in Ethiopia in their programs. 
To purchase or for more information:
http://networkedblogs.com/p24378963

Famine Crisis in Ethiopia - You can help!

From Tom Davis' blog:

URGENT: Millions Starving in Ethiopia
Today's news out of Ethiopia is not new. Millions starving. Millions without food or water. Millions trapped in extreme poverty. Millions is a concept we've accepted in our news reporting. If everyone in Colorado Springs was starving, we wouldn't quite get to "millions."

Hard to comprehend. Here's what I know. CHC's (Children's Hope Chest) kids don't starve. They don't drink dirty water. They are protected from abuse. They are sheltered from child labor. They are put through school to help develop their potential. Our kids are numbered in the thousands. And guess what? I've got 5,000 more who are waiting for a home.
This Christmas, CHC is going to launch a dynamic campaign to bring 5,000 new children into our CarePoint's throughout Africa. But with today's news of "millions" starving in Ethiopia, we've got to step up our plans a bit. I need to get the feeding centers up and running as soon as possible.

To read more and to find how you can help: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2009/10/urgent-millions-starving-in-ethiopia.html

For more on the Ethiopian famine from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8321043.stm

Overseas adoptions disrupted by new TB policy

From MSNBC
New mandate may delay plans for those adopting kids from China, Ethiopia
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Advocates of international adoption are furious over a new federal policy related to tuberculosis testing that could disrupt plans for families adopting children from China and Ethiopia.

The policy already has forced one distraught couple from Virginia, Jay Scruggs and Candace Litchford, to leave China without the daughter they had spent two weeks bonding with.
“That was a cruel thing to put a 4-year-old child through,” Litchford said in a telephone interview Monday. “How is she supposed to trust us now?”

The anger stems from a directive issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007 intended to minimize the number of immigrants entering the U.S. with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Earlier this year, the CDC announced that immigrants over the age of 2 from Ethiopia and China — a country that for the past decade has been the leading source of foreign adoptions for American parents — would be subject to the new protocols. The policy applies to all immigrants, including children adopted abroad by U.S. citizens.

Adoption advocates say the required testing procedures — and treatment in the case of positive tests — could cause delays ranging from several weeks to 12 months for obtaining a visa to bring adopted children back to the U.S.

Several major adoption organizations are circulating a petition asking the CDC to exempt adopted children from the requirements. The groups contend that the risk of TB transmission is minimal for infected children under 12 and contend that adopted children, unlike some adult immigrants, are virtually assured of obtaining top-level health care as soon as they reach the U.S.

Chuck Johnson, chief operating officer of the National Council for Adoption, expressed fear that some children adopted by Americans would, because of the new delays, die in their homelands for lack of state-of-the-art medical care they might have received in the U.S.
“Some of these bureaucrats are going to have to answer for that,” Johnson said.
Johnson and his allies are trying to mobilize congressional support for exempting adopted children from the policy. They are gathering testimonials from medical experts to back the contention that children, in contrast to adults, are extremely unlikely to transmit TB.

The CDC defends the policy as medically necessary.
“We agree it’s a rare circumstance that children can transmit TB, but the reality is it can happen,” said CDC spokesman Glen Nowak.
He also said the CDC did not have the legal authority to exempt children being adopted by U.S. families from rules applying to other immigrants.
As for Scruggs and Litchford, Nowak said, “We appreciate that this is frustrating. ... We are doing what we can to make this go as fast as possible.”

The policy does not apply to children under 2. However, Thomas DiFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children’s Services, noted that China was emphasizing special needs adoptions for older children, so that many hundreds of families could be affected by the rules.
Bringing Harper homeAny policy change will come too late for Scruggs and Litchford, both architects from Alexandria, Va.
They traveled to China last month and met their adopted daughter, Harper, on July 27, but had to return home without her last week after a wrenching farewell that they captured on a video posted on their blog.
Litchford said she and her husband were aware of the new regulations and also knew that Harper — being adopted under the “special needs” program — had asthma-like health problems.
However, Litchford said they were told Harper tested negative for TB, so they went ahead with their trip, hoping to bring her home. After arriving in China, they were told that Harper actually had tested positive for TB and that, under the new CDC regulations, she would have to undergo a series of tests to ensure she was TB-free, with results not expected for at least six weeks.
The couple sought a waiver so they could leave with Harper in tow, but were unsuccessful and returned to the U.S. without her, in part for financial reasons and also because they had left their 6-year-old adopted son, Ivan, back in the U.S.
Litchford said Harper already had spent time in two hospitals and with a Chinese foster family that eventually decided it didn’t want her.
“She’s scared to death,” Litchford said. “Every time she walks into a new situation, she thinks she’s being left again. And then we had to leave her, the worst thing that could happen has happened.”

In the video, Scruggs tries to assure Harper that he and Litchford will return to take her home. But the girl nonetheless bursts into sobs and clings to her father as he tries to leave.
Harper will stay over the next several weeks with a family near Guangzhou, and her parents hope she will be cleared for travel to the U.S. at some point in September.
“This is not an immigrant — it’s not someone who has no address in the U.S. and no support network,” Litchford said. “It’s a child with a family who’s going to care for her. But now we can’t. We can’t take care of our daughter.”

Long term, the problems faced by Scruggs and Litchford may be alleviated by a bill recently introduced in Congress. It would extend U.S. citizenship immediately to children adopted abroad by American parents, replacing the current policy in which citizenship is extended only after the child reaches the U.S.

Had the bill been in effect this summer, Harper would not have been treated as an immigrant and would have been allowed to travel to Virginia with her parents.
Adoption advocates say the bill is unlikely to win approval this year, so they are hoping the CDC might ease the procedures for adopted children in the interim.
“I don’t believe the CDC intentionally put this policy into place to harm adopted children — I just don’t think they were considered in the mix,” said McLane Layton, founder of Equality for Adopted Children. “The policy needs to be re-evaluated in this regard, the sooner the better.”
Layton, one of most vocal critics of the CDC policy, has been following the difficulties of Scruggs and Litchford as they sought to bring home Harper.
“You wonder about the psychological and emotional impact it will have,” Layton said. “When her parents come back, how much will it take for her to believe they’re not going to leave her again?”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32363931/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/from/ET

Freed to Visit Orphans (Ethiopia)

Together 4 Adoption has just released a new video to raise awareness of the current global orphan crisis and to promote their upcoming October conference. It connects the glory of the gospel with the orphan crisis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCK8dMoErRA

What to Expect When Adopting From Ethiopia?

Here's an article from the June 2009 issue of Adoptive Families magazine on adopting from Ethiopia -

URGENT NEED: Forumla Needed for Malnourished Babies in Ethiopia

UPDATE: YOU DID IT! We raised all $12,500 as of this morning. Thanks to everyone who made this happen. We'll keep this post up for now and send you additional details on this project. Thank you Thank you! We can now provide 400 cans of Nutramigen to malnourished babies in Ethiopia.


From Tom Davis' blog -
http://tomdavis.typepad.com/

Famine and poverty are increasing the rates of malnourished infant babies in Ethiopia. Children's HopeChest has worked with the America World Adoption Agency (AWAA) on projects in Ethiopia and Russia over the past five years. This request came to us from their transition home where they are receiving severely malnourished babies into their care. This month, in honor of mother's day, I want to raise $12,500 to provide specialized baby formula to this transition home for these malnourished babies. (Please put "Ethiopia Formula" in the note section of the donate page.]
To kick this off, a friend of Children's HopeChest has offered a matching gift for the first $500 we receive toward this project.

Tom Davis in Ethiopia

Tom Davis is currently visiting orphanages in Ethiopia. You can follow along on his blog - http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/

Adopting from Ethiopia

Facts and information about adopting from Ethiopia:
http://www.redletterscampaign.com/adoption-411-2/country-overview-ethiopia/