Hey Folks...
Just thought I'd jot a quick post for those of you keeping up with this crazy journey. ;) I will try to post some pics from this past weekend soon, so stay posted.... We had some great family time this weekend!
Amy's sister Michele graduated from Rutger's Law School on Thursday, so we left Wed night for NJ to spend time with Amy's family (We'll have to dedicate an entire post to Michele's incredible success at Rutgers...and her upcoming position with the NJ State Supreme Court Chief Justice! We're all SO proud of her - Way to go Shell!)
On Friday morning we left for the Hershey area to hang out with my family for a short time too. It was my mom's 60th Birthday... (I'm not so sure she wanted that made public... but oh well) Mom doesn't look a day over 40. She looks great! ;)
Since it was such a special birthday, we decided to drive out and surprise her. We stopped in to see Dad at his office in Lancaster before heading over to St Joan of Arc School where Mom's been a music teacher for several years now. She was pretty excited to see Kenni and Sasha when they ran up to her in the lunchroom on Friday. We were also able to see Ben and Kami Deppen in the Lancaster area later that afternoon, and then had a nice birthday meal with Mom, Dad, Nate and the five of us. We had a great time... and Tariku is loving Grammie and Papa more all the time!
We planned to head back home on Saturday, but we had a great time a great food with the Ensminger/Epler crew in Annville! That was a great time relaxing and catching up, and watching the kids have a blast getting dirty.
ok... I'll post more pics of the weekend soon.
Love to all,
Pete
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
New Pics!
So, we've been home for a little over three weeks now Tariku is transitioning better everyday, as you can tell in these pictures...Amy and the kids are in S. Jersey right now with her Parents and extended family so I'm catching up on some things here at the office. I talked to Amy yesterday and she said Tariku woke up every hour the other night... I hope he slept better last night.
Anyhow... Here's some new pics!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Recent American Idol ... my response
I wrote this in response to a thread on our agency's adoption forum ... it was in response to the American Idol show highlighting Ethiopia and her struggles. There is a lot of controversy amoungst the Adoption community as to how "negatively" they chose to portray our children's birth country.
So ... I don't usually say much on the forum, but here go some thoughts I've been trying to collect ever since our return 2 weeks ago from Ethiopia with our son.
We traveled to Addis early and were able to spend a week and a half there before our adoption week started. It was during those days prior to meeting our son that we were able to really see the devestation in that city. Having been to West Africa before, we thought we were prepared to see and handle the poverty, etc. in Addis. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw ... the impact poverty, drought, disease has had is far greater than any other place we had been.
During our week with CHSFS we were significantly sheltered from the worst parts of the city. In their defense, I think they were just trying to keep us safe. We never drove through the Mercado (spelling?) ... which is the center of the largest slum in Africa. People/children sleeping on the median and lined up down the sidewalk. A million people living in an area with no sewer or water system. So many people ... living in condition I did not even know existed.
It was only during our early time there that we were able to really see all this.Before we left for Ethiopia we had put together this beautiful picture of our son's birth country in our minds. We had done the reading/research and we knew so much of the amazing history and rich culture Ethiopia has to offer. We knew about the beauty of the people and the countryside. It was easy to focus on the beauty when we were a half a world away.But when we actually were there it was very easy to do the exact opposite ... be so completely overwelmed by the devestation that we could not even bear to think about the beauty.
It is so hard to explain in words and always comes out wrong when I try to write it. It's sort of like this ... the beauty is there, it is amazing and overwelming and striking. The history is deep and the culture is fascinating and wonderful. But when I held an HIV+ little girl in my arms at AHOPE (an orphange for HIV+ children) I could not even think about the beauty because the unfairness and overwelming grief that surrounds her is so big I can't even see it all. It's like the beauty makes the poverty so much more real. It's the contrast between the two that is so overwelming and hard to deal with.
When I watched my two bio daughters play with the kids at AHOPE ... play with them without any regard for language or nationality or sickness ... it make my heart ache with grief for these people. Not because I am any better than them ... not because I have some ability to "save" them from anything. But because all of a sudden I felt guilty for my life of priviledge ... for my life that has come so easily by comparison.
We worked hard to make this adoption possible ... working extra jobs, cutting way back on things we used to think necessary. And our friends here honored us with this huge going away party/fundraiser before we left. We were sent off with this huge encouragement for all the "good" we had done as a result of our "sacrifice."
I stood at AHOPE a couple days later with my bags of donations and felt so horrible for even thinking I had made a sacrifice. Nothing I had done really qualified as a sacrifice in light of what I was then staring in the face.
And now that I'm back here in the States I've gone back to my regular life ... the shock of what I saw has worn off in so many ways. It is when I stare into my son's eyes that I feel this overwelming responsibility to him ... like I owe it to him to try and make a difference.And if me, as a mother who has traveled to Ethiopia to pick up her son, can move past what I saw in such a short amount of time ... then surely the majority of our American population can do the same. And if it takes pictures and statistics of the worst to compel us to give ... then so be it.
Ethiopia is a beautiful place ... probably the most beautiful place we've ever been. But her beauty is being overshadowed by her struggles ... struggles that we as a country could significantly impact. Not because we are better in any way ... but because for some reason that I don't understand ... we have access to more resources.
So ... there it is ... the rambles of a mom who gazes at her new son with so many emotions going all the time ... love, grief, guilt, sadness, joy and more. What happened to cause our son to need our family should never have to happen.
Right now we are trying to figure out the next step our family needs to take in order be a part of the rebuilding of our son's birth country. Adoption turned out to be so much bigger for us than we ever thought it would be. So much bigger ... and so much more amazing. Truly the journey of a lifetime.
So ... I don't usually say much on the forum, but here go some thoughts I've been trying to collect ever since our return 2 weeks ago from Ethiopia with our son.
We traveled to Addis early and were able to spend a week and a half there before our adoption week started. It was during those days prior to meeting our son that we were able to really see the devestation in that city. Having been to West Africa before, we thought we were prepared to see and handle the poverty, etc. in Addis. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw ... the impact poverty, drought, disease has had is far greater than any other place we had been.
During our week with CHSFS we were significantly sheltered from the worst parts of the city. In their defense, I think they were just trying to keep us safe. We never drove through the Mercado (spelling?) ... which is the center of the largest slum in Africa. People/children sleeping on the median and lined up down the sidewalk. A million people living in an area with no sewer or water system. So many people ... living in condition I did not even know existed.
It was only during our early time there that we were able to really see all this.Before we left for Ethiopia we had put together this beautiful picture of our son's birth country in our minds. We had done the reading/research and we knew so much of the amazing history and rich culture Ethiopia has to offer. We knew about the beauty of the people and the countryside. It was easy to focus on the beauty when we were a half a world away.But when we actually were there it was very easy to do the exact opposite ... be so completely overwelmed by the devestation that we could not even bear to think about the beauty.
It is so hard to explain in words and always comes out wrong when I try to write it. It's sort of like this ... the beauty is there, it is amazing and overwelming and striking. The history is deep and the culture is fascinating and wonderful. But when I held an HIV+ little girl in my arms at AHOPE (an orphange for HIV+ children) I could not even think about the beauty because the unfairness and overwelming grief that surrounds her is so big I can't even see it all. It's like the beauty makes the poverty so much more real. It's the contrast between the two that is so overwelming and hard to deal with.
When I watched my two bio daughters play with the kids at AHOPE ... play with them without any regard for language or nationality or sickness ... it make my heart ache with grief for these people. Not because I am any better than them ... not because I have some ability to "save" them from anything. But because all of a sudden I felt guilty for my life of priviledge ... for my life that has come so easily by comparison.
We worked hard to make this adoption possible ... working extra jobs, cutting way back on things we used to think necessary. And our friends here honored us with this huge going away party/fundraiser before we left. We were sent off with this huge encouragement for all the "good" we had done as a result of our "sacrifice."
I stood at AHOPE a couple days later with my bags of donations and felt so horrible for even thinking I had made a sacrifice. Nothing I had done really qualified as a sacrifice in light of what I was then staring in the face.
And now that I'm back here in the States I've gone back to my regular life ... the shock of what I saw has worn off in so many ways. It is when I stare into my son's eyes that I feel this overwelming responsibility to him ... like I owe it to him to try and make a difference.And if me, as a mother who has traveled to Ethiopia to pick up her son, can move past what I saw in such a short amount of time ... then surely the majority of our American population can do the same. And if it takes pictures and statistics of the worst to compel us to give ... then so be it.
Ethiopia is a beautiful place ... probably the most beautiful place we've ever been. But her beauty is being overshadowed by her struggles ... struggles that we as a country could significantly impact. Not because we are better in any way ... but because for some reason that I don't understand ... we have access to more resources.
So ... there it is ... the rambles of a mom who gazes at her new son with so many emotions going all the time ... love, grief, guilt, sadness, joy and more. What happened to cause our son to need our family should never have to happen.
Right now we are trying to figure out the next step our family needs to take in order be a part of the rebuilding of our son's birth country. Adoption turned out to be so much bigger for us than we ever thought it would be. So much bigger ... and so much more amazing. Truly the journey of a lifetime.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
We're HOME!
It's so good to be home! I'll write more about the 20 hour journey later...you'll get a kick out of it ;)
Thankfully it was less... well... eventful than the trip there.
Email or call us we'd love to hear from you - petezipf@sbcglobal.net
Love to all!
Pete
Thankfully it was less... well... eventful than the trip there.
Email or call us we'd love to hear from you - petezipf@sbcglobal.net
Love to all!
Pete
Friday, March 21, 2008
Mr. Rogers was right
I’m trying to type with Tariku sleeping in the crease of my and Sasha is yearning for lunch, so this won't be long... Sasha and Kenni both are ready to get on the plane to watch the seemingly endless selection of Disney movies as well. Soon enough. I think we're all ready to come home.
Do you remember Mr Roger's song he sang when he closed his show everyday?I think the song was: "It's Such a Good Feeling" or something like that ... remember?
I was just thinking about a couple lines he sang everyday at the end of his show..."It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.",,, then later he sings..."I'll be back when the day is newAnd I'll have more ideas for you.And you'll have things you'll want to talk about.I will too."Being here in this wondrous country makes you feel good to be alive - not because we feel like we're "missing comforts of home" but because the Ethiopian country and her people are beautiful. Yes there is a lot of problems and literally millions in deep despair, but when you walk down the street, even though the beggars you meet would love to be as rich as the panhandlers on the streets of Philly or NYC – the people here are… well they’re neighbors. This is a great place to be "in community"... because being "in community here is natural. ...
Today I met with Pastor Gizatu. A few days ago, I emailed a close friend of mine, Jerry who is the Global Outreach Coordinator for CURE (http://www.cureinternational.org/). I’ve known Jerry now for more than 15 years. Several weeks ago when he and I were chatting about our trip to Ethiopia he offered to connect me with the local CURE office here.
So, today I met Mr Gizatu who is the Spiritual Life Director for CURE here in Ethiopia. He picked me up about 9 and we quickly got acquainted. We talked about the social and spiritual culture here, the differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Evangelical Christianity (For those of you that are curious, there are FEW differences, but the way Pastor Gizatu explained it to me is that the Eth. Orthodox teaches giving alms to the poor is part of obtaining salvation.)
Before we arrived at the CURE Hospital – which is probably about five or six months from completion – we chatted more about our visit here. Mr Gizatu asked how I was connected with CURE and shared that the first mission trip I was ever on, was to Monterrey, Mexico in 1990 with Jerry when he was my Youth Pastor, and we talked about that trip too.
We had a great time sharing about the things God is doing here in Ethiopia but the car ride question that was a bit more difficult to answer was, “So how does your church work with other churches in your area at home?” I diddn’t have a hard time answering it because of a language barrier… I had a hard time answering it because to be honest. US Churches typically have their own agenda. They (We) typically have our own cliques’ and church culture to “worry about.” I could write pages more on my thoughts surrounding this issue as you may concur with too… but I wish that the body of Christ in the US… the most “civilized or developed” country in the world would take more lessons from the humble people in “developing” countries like Ethiopia.
Mr Gizatu said The Church is growing very quickly here in Addis and all over the country. So many people we’ve met here have made an incredible impact on our lives, and we know that God did not connect us to Ethiopia without a specific purpose in mind for us, and I believe for our Church. We’ll see what that looks like, but I believe there are great things in store for our Church family and prayerfully… other Churches in our East Hampton area too. We live in an area of ridiculous wealth, and with the resources that God has provided we WILL make a difference in this world. So what if it raises eyebrows, turn heads, makes people gasp, or makes their sphincters pucker.
We are being picked up to head to the Airport in about 30 minutes so this is likely the last post before we get home, but I will continue this blog as a vehicle to keep you abreast of the lives of our family, and what God unfolds to us in our community as well.
Until we connect again…
[we'll] have things you'll want to talk about.I will too."
No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regret
Pete… for our PARTY of 5.
Do you remember Mr Roger's song he sang when he closed his show everyday?I think the song was: "It's Such a Good Feeling" or something like that ... remember?
I was just thinking about a couple lines he sang everyday at the end of his show..."It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.",,, then later he sings..."I'll be back when the day is newAnd I'll have more ideas for you.And you'll have things you'll want to talk about.I will too."Being here in this wondrous country makes you feel good to be alive - not because we feel like we're "missing comforts of home" but because the Ethiopian country and her people are beautiful. Yes there is a lot of problems and literally millions in deep despair, but when you walk down the street, even though the beggars you meet would love to be as rich as the panhandlers on the streets of Philly or NYC – the people here are… well they’re neighbors. This is a great place to be "in community"... because being "in community here is natural. ...
Today I met with Pastor Gizatu. A few days ago, I emailed a close friend of mine, Jerry who is the Global Outreach Coordinator for CURE (http://www.cureinternational.org/). I’ve known Jerry now for more than 15 years. Several weeks ago when he and I were chatting about our trip to Ethiopia he offered to connect me with the local CURE office here.
So, today I met Mr Gizatu who is the Spiritual Life Director for CURE here in Ethiopia. He picked me up about 9 and we quickly got acquainted. We talked about the social and spiritual culture here, the differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Evangelical Christianity (For those of you that are curious, there are FEW differences, but the way Pastor Gizatu explained it to me is that the Eth. Orthodox teaches giving alms to the poor is part of obtaining salvation.)
Before we arrived at the CURE Hospital – which is probably about five or six months from completion – we chatted more about our visit here. Mr Gizatu asked how I was connected with CURE and shared that the first mission trip I was ever on, was to Monterrey, Mexico in 1990 with Jerry when he was my Youth Pastor, and we talked about that trip too.
We had a great time sharing about the things God is doing here in Ethiopia but the car ride question that was a bit more difficult to answer was, “So how does your church work with other churches in your area at home?” I diddn’t have a hard time answering it because of a language barrier… I had a hard time answering it because to be honest. US Churches typically have their own agenda. They (We) typically have our own cliques’ and church culture to “worry about.” I could write pages more on my thoughts surrounding this issue as you may concur with too… but I wish that the body of Christ in the US… the most “civilized or developed” country in the world would take more lessons from the humble people in “developing” countries like Ethiopia.
Mr Gizatu said The Church is growing very quickly here in Addis and all over the country. So many people we’ve met here have made an incredible impact on our lives, and we know that God did not connect us to Ethiopia without a specific purpose in mind for us, and I believe for our Church. We’ll see what that looks like, but I believe there are great things in store for our Church family and prayerfully… other Churches in our East Hampton area too. We live in an area of ridiculous wealth, and with the resources that God has provided we WILL make a difference in this world. So what if it raises eyebrows, turn heads, makes people gasp, or makes their sphincters pucker.
We are being picked up to head to the Airport in about 30 minutes so this is likely the last post before we get home, but I will continue this blog as a vehicle to keep you abreast of the lives of our family, and what God unfolds to us in our community as well.
Until we connect again…
[we'll] have things you'll want to talk about.I will too."
No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regret
Pete… for our PARTY of 5.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Zipfs...Party of 5!
Tuesday morning we went over to the Care Center to pick up Tariku and bring him with us permanently. First we toured the facility with the head CHSFS Physician. She is the perfect Doctor for all the children and she and the whole staff provide an excellent standard of care. She is the onsite Physician there all week, and then during the night and weekends there are nurses attending round the clock. During the tour we learned that from the time a child is brought to the orphanage they are cared for in an isolated area for 15 days to make sure they are not sick. During that time they are monitored, and provided the best attention. Once the 15 days are up, they are brought in with the rest of the children permanently. CHSFS is also in the process of adding additional full ICU care capabilities on site as well. As of now, they can do a lot, but with the addition of more medical equipment, they will be able to care for the sick children even more effectively. We got a chance to see several children’s pictures and progress from the time some of them arrived at the Care Center many were very gaunt and malnourished (Tariku was pretty weak when he arrived too) and those same children we interacted with during our time there were totally healthy, and very active children.
After the tour, all of us headed downstairs for the ceremony. A group of older children (3-5yrs old) sang some songs, and then Tariku and the other 6 children who are being adopted this week with our group were brought in one last time and given to each family in our group. Each of us was also given a booklet created by the nannies that took care of our children. The booklets had personal stories and memories that we will treasure always. Then one by one, we brought up our kids and they did a hand print for a booklet that stays here at the Care Center. After that we were invited to share our adoption experience with the entire group. To wrap it all up, we all gathered around in a circle and a few staff ladies prayed for the children, and invited anyone of us to pray as well. We could not have been more impressed with the transition, and all of the ceremony is included in a video story we get to keep.
When we finished the ceremony, we all said tearful goodbyes – especially the nannies who were responsible for each child – and we headed off to go to the American Embassy. Everything we did for the last 15 months leads up to this moment. We got to the Embassy sometime about 2 or 3pm and we only waited for about an hour and a half before we all sailed through the final stamps of approval to bring our children home! Again, this is another area where CHSFS has done an incredible job making sure that all the details in the paperwork are completed properly and according to US and Ethiopian Government standards.
We’ve met some families this week in our journeys around Addis who have not been so fortunate. The ones we’ve met that have had some issue with a legal document of some kind that was not processed - or just not processed correctly - still have been able to take their kids home within a day or two, but our agency had us prepared with everything we needed. We felt like some of the things we were asked to do may have been a bit ‘overkill’ but now we understand why CHSFS will be able to do over 600 adoptions this year alone. They know what they’re doing, and are helping to save hundreds of kids’ lives a year because of the program and the processes they’ve developed.
Today we just kinda chilled out. It was great to recap the special moments of the week with many from our group throughout the day. We’ve all bonded well with each other and with each others’ children. We’re all thinking about ways that we can reconnect soon because of the special relationships that were developed this week.
I might have a chance to write more tomorrow… maybe I’ll at very least try to post some more pics… but everyone else leaves tomorrow afternoon because they’re all flying different airlines, and Air Emirates doesn’t fly out on Thursdays from Addis. So, we’ll head back to the SIM Guesthouse to stay the night tomorrow (Thurs) because our flight doesn’t leave until Friday evening at 19:30 local time. We don’t have net access at the SIM Guesthouse so after tomorrow; maybe I’ll be able to post something here during our short layover in Dubai… in the middle of the night on Friday.
PS… please pray for our travel back home. We’ll have less luggage coming home, and hopefully less carry-on bags too, but we’ll have not two but THREE tired little ones and we’ll be a bit worn out… and worn thin too.
Love to all.. until next time…
Zipf, Party of Five
After the tour, all of us headed downstairs for the ceremony. A group of older children (3-5yrs old) sang some songs, and then Tariku and the other 6 children who are being adopted this week with our group were brought in one last time and given to each family in our group. Each of us was also given a booklet created by the nannies that took care of our children. The booklets had personal stories and memories that we will treasure always. Then one by one, we brought up our kids and they did a hand print for a booklet that stays here at the Care Center. After that we were invited to share our adoption experience with the entire group. To wrap it all up, we all gathered around in a circle and a few staff ladies prayed for the children, and invited anyone of us to pray as well. We could not have been more impressed with the transition, and all of the ceremony is included in a video story we get to keep.
When we finished the ceremony, we all said tearful goodbyes – especially the nannies who were responsible for each child – and we headed off to go to the American Embassy. Everything we did for the last 15 months leads up to this moment. We got to the Embassy sometime about 2 or 3pm and we only waited for about an hour and a half before we all sailed through the final stamps of approval to bring our children home! Again, this is another area where CHSFS has done an incredible job making sure that all the details in the paperwork are completed properly and according to US and Ethiopian Government standards.
We’ve met some families this week in our journeys around Addis who have not been so fortunate. The ones we’ve met that have had some issue with a legal document of some kind that was not processed - or just not processed correctly - still have been able to take their kids home within a day or two, but our agency had us prepared with everything we needed. We felt like some of the things we were asked to do may have been a bit ‘overkill’ but now we understand why CHSFS will be able to do over 600 adoptions this year alone. They know what they’re doing, and are helping to save hundreds of kids’ lives a year because of the program and the processes they’ve developed.
Today we just kinda chilled out. It was great to recap the special moments of the week with many from our group throughout the day. We’ve all bonded well with each other and with each others’ children. We’re all thinking about ways that we can reconnect soon because of the special relationships that were developed this week.
I might have a chance to write more tomorrow… maybe I’ll at very least try to post some more pics… but everyone else leaves tomorrow afternoon because they’re all flying different airlines, and Air Emirates doesn’t fly out on Thursdays from Addis. So, we’ll head back to the SIM Guesthouse to stay the night tomorrow (Thurs) because our flight doesn’t leave until Friday evening at 19:30 local time. We don’t have net access at the SIM Guesthouse so after tomorrow; maybe I’ll be able to post something here during our short layover in Dubai… in the middle of the night on Friday.
PS… please pray for our travel back home. We’ll have less luggage coming home, and hopefully less carry-on bags too, but we’ll have not two but THREE tired little ones and we’ll be a bit worn out… and worn thin too.
Love to all.. until next time…
Zipf, Party of Five
Monday, March 17, 2008
CHFS invests in eternity
It’s Monday late night March 17th.
I’ll tell you all about the events of today… but let me first fill in some of the gaps from the last couple days. Honestly, after writing until almost 3am on Saturday … that whole day is kind of a blur… but it was a good day. After breakfast we headed over to the CHFS Office and met with the social worker who’s been assigned to Tariku from the time he was brought there on Nov. 21st. During that meeting, went over a few other details about the transition for Tariku, and then we were shown a video produced by CHFS staff and the CHFS Journalist. The video included every detail that they could find about our son. We are so thankful and very impressed at the thoroughness of the CHFS team to get the most accurate information possible for not just our son, but also for all the other orphans in their care as well. The Journalist went to Butajira and interviewed the Farmer who first found Tariku. They even played out a reenactment of the events from the time the farmer heard Tariku crying to the time the police got involved. The journalist did a great job with the filmed interviews and helping us understand as many of the missing pieces as possible. Through those interviews and documentary account of the first few days of Tariku’s life, we were given more information than we thought was available. We are so incredibly thankful for the intentional effort by the whole CHFS team to better prepare us as a family to help Tariku learn the details of his story as he grows up. We learned a little about the farmer who found him, and that he dropped everything he was doing and got in touch with the Butajira police. Two police officers, Genet and Alemayue came back to the site where Tariku was found to do some additional investigation and it was quickly determined that until they found the birth mother or decided what to do with the little guy that Genet, one of the two officers would take care of him temporarily.
ON a short side note: Amy and I are still processing –with the help of our agency – how to best communicate Tariku’s story to our close friends and family… please be patient with us as we learn what to say… and how much to share about his story before he knows his own entire story.
Genet took care of Tariku like one of her own children. We are so grateful for the farmer and for Genet and Alemayue who made sure Tariku was safe and placed in the hands of folks who could and would care for him.
After that meeting, we all went out to the local open markets to pick up a few things… can’t wait to see how much our suitcases are gonna weigh now?! …lol… they just can’t weigh over 50lbs. After we had a good time haggling for goods, we went to a famous Coffee Shop here in Addis. Starbucks…eat your heart out. I promise you’ve never had real coffee until you’ve come to Ethiopia! There’s long told story that Coffee was first discovered and developed here into a drink. More details on that later… The Coffee show put us at almost 7pm that night so Amy and the girls and I opted to remain at the Guesthouse and eat there instead of heading out to a local hotel for dinner and dancing.
When we talked later about Saturday nights activities, most everyone was thankful for the opportunity to learn a few other Ethiopian traditions, but wished they were able to rest more because we all headed out in a caravan of Toyota Land Cruisers at 5am Sunday morning for the three hour ride south to Hosanna. Sunday morning had been carved out for everyone to meet our children’s birth families if they were able to be there.
Most of us thought we were going to be in for a very bumpy slow going ride over rough roads all the way to Hosanna, but over the last few years the Ethiopian government has worked with international contractors and their own government contractors to begin building major roads throughout the most traveled areas of the country. Maybe picture the equivalent to a wide 2 lane country highway in the US and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the road we sped south on from Addis to Hosanna. It was obvious though that even though the roads were newly paved, they were established roads from long ago because every several miles we’d have to dodge crossing sheep and goats or wait for livestock ‘driven’ by children - literally kids, most between the ages of 4-16yrs old - to readjust the herd as they guided the animals from one village to the next along the highway. It was kinda chilly on the way there. It was really dark when we left from Addis and was probably about 60 degrees, but is cold when used to dry 80+ degree weather. We didn’t see much except an incredible sky of countless stars as we sped along the desert mountain road, however, as the sun came up we did manage to catch a baboon headed into a treeline. I got a picture and some video of him just before he disappeared. It was a great experience too - heading south – because we got a better idea of how MOST of the country lives as Addis and other larger cities are just a small proportion of the people in the country. We got a chance to see small towns and rural areas and areas pretty isolated from towns it was a way to see how most of the rest of the country lives.
Of the 7 families in our group, all but two made the trip to Hosanna. We all knew it was going to be a very special but difficult time for us. We arrived at the Hosanna CHFS Office about 8:30 on Sunday morning and two or three families at a time got to meet their birth families for almost 30 minutes. Amy and I didn’t know if anyone would be there to meet us until Saturday night when we learned that they were able to get in contact with Genet, the policewoman who cared for Tariku for the first two and a half days of his life.
When we walked into the small plain room with our translator, we introduced ourselves and shared a little about us and our family. For the next twenty minutes or so we talked with Genet about the first few days of Tariku’s life, her family, and her hopes and dreams for Tariku. Genet is a police officer and her husband works in a local bank and they have two children. She explained that when the farmer brought her and a fellow police officer, Alemayue to Tariku, the three of them determined the next course of action for him. Genet readily agreed to care for him temporarily until they could bring him to someone that would provide permanent care. She gave him her child’s clothes to wear, bought milk and water for him, and made sure he felt safe and loved. She and her husband already had a six month old little girl and another small child and even though she wished they could care for Tariku permanently, they knew they could not afford to properly care for him too. It would have been too much for them, and they knew that he could be adopted and cared for by a family that would provide a caring and loving home for him. The meeting time with Genet was very special, and we will always treasure it. After we met with Genet we gave her recent pictures of our family, and of Tariku along with a map of the world showing the areas we both lived so she had an idea where we were from too. We able to get a picture of our family with Genet too.
After meeting with Genet, all of the birth parents’ met together with all of we adopting parents for a short ceremony. We read a prayer to each other that was translated for both of us to read and understand. When the prayer was finished each of the birth parents lit a candle and gave it to each of the corresponding adoptive parents as they kind of spiritually gave over their children to us.
We’ve learned recently that everything from the video that we’re provided, to the connection that we’ve shared with birth parents, along with the very special ceremony we shared on Sunday – that that is all very unique to our agency and to Ethiopia. Evidently, no other agency goes into this much detail. We have all been more impressed with CHFS as the days have passed. Now we know why this agency is so highly regarded and respected by not just folks in the US trying to adopt from Ethiopia and other countries, but their reputation precedes them as children are brought to their care centers from all over the county because families know that as difficult as it is to give up their own children or a member of their extended family, they will be provided the best love and care available! After that time together we were all pretty ‘drained’ but just before the ride back to Addis from Hosanna we were able to visit another satellite orphanage run by CHFS. Again, everyone of the children there were loved and cared for in a special and individual way.
You know, when Amy and I first looked at CHFS, we were a little bit hesitant because there was some additional costs associated with working with them. However, after seeing how they not only care and provide for our children, but SO many more… I don’t know if I’ll ever recommend working with a different organization!
We got back Sunday evening and most went to bed early to prepare to pick up our kids on Monday morning to spend half the day with them here at the guesthouse!
Today - Monday (3/17) was a great experience… at least for most of us. I’m really glad that the agency only allows us a half day at first to spend alone with our kids because especially the older kids can have an incredibly difficult time adjusting. For us, we had a great morning with little Tariku. He was a little baffled by the idea of leaving the familiar sights and sounds and smells of the orphanage, but his wimper died down in a short while as we held him close. He is really enamored with his big sisters, and he loves the carrier we got for him too. We all went up to our room and laughed and played together. We even got to feed him a bottle and put him to sleep for a little bit before we left to bring him back.
Most of us had a great experiences this morning, but I’m sure the parents with older children would really appreciate your extra prayer. For older children the transition is many times much more difficult, especially if the older child remembers their birth family. Can you imagine… consider a child almost 3 years old, Mom (or Dad) finally admits to herself and the rest of the family that the only way she can love her child the best is to give it up for adoption. That is not uncommon here. It is hardly ever a quick or easy decision. Sure there are some parents who die young from various reasons, or some moms who die during childbirth (that almost always would not if in the US, Europe or Canada). Many times parents come to the point that they love their kids so much that they want them to have a better life so desperately; their prayer becomes: God please provide a loving home for my child to have the life that I wished I could provide. I wish it didn’t happen either but it does… what can we… what can you do about it?!
After we dropped off our kids back at the care center, we headed off to visit two places. First a womens’ and baby’s hospital and then a school – both funded and operated by CHFS sponsored staff. This hospital was not completely up to Western Standards in many ways, but it is the most state of the art facility in the area right now, and they are raising the standard of care as they bring on more trained staff and doctors. The Supervising Doctor that gave us the tour of the hospital was so excited that we were there and was so glad to show us the entire facility and its capabilities. It was a huge privilege to see how far they’ve come in a short time. They’ve only been open since October 2007!
After the hospital tour we headed over to an elementary school funded largely by CHFS. More and more there are individual investors and companies that fund it as well. The great thing is that they are able to keep the tuition about a third of what other comparable schools charge with the same level of education that other schools like them provide. As I said, I am even further impressed with CHFS for not just caring for our children in the care centers but investing into their communities in such orchestrated and intentional ways!
After that hospital visit we went to visit the Ethiopian National museum. One of the premiere exhibits there is this skeleton they call “Lucy” don’t ask me why they call it Lucy … maybe it was named after the archeologist… I donno. Anyway “Lucy” is supposed to be the oldest known homo sapien skeleton on the planet. You know you’d think that the silly thing would be behind more than a sheet of plexi glass in the basement of a museum in a country that struggles with their own security. I guess the real skeleton is in Houston, TX …”on tour” – I guess they’re trying to find similarities in early humans, in Texans. … who knows. I guess “lucy” will come back to Ethiopia some time. We had fun taking all kinds of pictures of Ethiopian history and archeology stuff. I must admit… T’was kinda cool.
When we got back from another long day, a few of us took a walk over to a local pizza joint… yeah it WAS good pizza. It was good to decompress some too….
The next couple days will be jammed packed for us, so I’ll write as soon as I’m able. Tomorrow, all of us go pick up our kids from the orphanage, and go to the local court to finalize the final Ethiopian documents releasing them into our permanent care. It will be a long day, and depending on a few things, it could be a stressful day. CHFS does an incredible job, but sometimes things change it seems almost at the drop of a hat in this court system. We’d appreciate your prayer for all of us as we get through court tomorrow. I’ll try to post something soon so you know at least we all got through court ok.
Wednesday will be kind of a chill day for us, and Thursday apparently we have a final meeting with CHFS. Then as most of the other families head to the Airport to fly out with Ethioain Airlines, our family will actually head back to the SIM guesthouse because we don’t fly out until Friday evening the 21st. with Air Emirates. We would love to hear from you via email… let us know if you’re enjoying following this crazy story.
Until next time…Pete for the girls and Tariku !
I’ll tell you all about the events of today… but let me first fill in some of the gaps from the last couple days. Honestly, after writing until almost 3am on Saturday … that whole day is kind of a blur… but it was a good day. After breakfast we headed over to the CHFS Office and met with the social worker who’s been assigned to Tariku from the time he was brought there on Nov. 21st. During that meeting, went over a few other details about the transition for Tariku, and then we were shown a video produced by CHFS staff and the CHFS Journalist. The video included every detail that they could find about our son. We are so thankful and very impressed at the thoroughness of the CHFS team to get the most accurate information possible for not just our son, but also for all the other orphans in their care as well. The Journalist went to Butajira and interviewed the Farmer who first found Tariku. They even played out a reenactment of the events from the time the farmer heard Tariku crying to the time the police got involved. The journalist did a great job with the filmed interviews and helping us understand as many of the missing pieces as possible. Through those interviews and documentary account of the first few days of Tariku’s life, we were given more information than we thought was available. We are so incredibly thankful for the intentional effort by the whole CHFS team to better prepare us as a family to help Tariku learn the details of his story as he grows up. We learned a little about the farmer who found him, and that he dropped everything he was doing and got in touch with the Butajira police. Two police officers, Genet and Alemayue came back to the site where Tariku was found to do some additional investigation and it was quickly determined that until they found the birth mother or decided what to do with the little guy that Genet, one of the two officers would take care of him temporarily.
ON a short side note: Amy and I are still processing –with the help of our agency – how to best communicate Tariku’s story to our close friends and family… please be patient with us as we learn what to say… and how much to share about his story before he knows his own entire story.
Genet took care of Tariku like one of her own children. We are so grateful for the farmer and for Genet and Alemayue who made sure Tariku was safe and placed in the hands of folks who could and would care for him.
After that meeting, we all went out to the local open markets to pick up a few things… can’t wait to see how much our suitcases are gonna weigh now?! …lol… they just can’t weigh over 50lbs. After we had a good time haggling for goods, we went to a famous Coffee Shop here in Addis. Starbucks…eat your heart out. I promise you’ve never had real coffee until you’ve come to Ethiopia! There’s long told story that Coffee was first discovered and developed here into a drink. More details on that later… The Coffee show put us at almost 7pm that night so Amy and the girls and I opted to remain at the Guesthouse and eat there instead of heading out to a local hotel for dinner and dancing.
When we talked later about Saturday nights activities, most everyone was thankful for the opportunity to learn a few other Ethiopian traditions, but wished they were able to rest more because we all headed out in a caravan of Toyota Land Cruisers at 5am Sunday morning for the three hour ride south to Hosanna. Sunday morning had been carved out for everyone to meet our children’s birth families if they were able to be there.
Most of us thought we were going to be in for a very bumpy slow going ride over rough roads all the way to Hosanna, but over the last few years the Ethiopian government has worked with international contractors and their own government contractors to begin building major roads throughout the most traveled areas of the country. Maybe picture the equivalent to a wide 2 lane country highway in the US and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the road we sped south on from Addis to Hosanna. It was obvious though that even though the roads were newly paved, they were established roads from long ago because every several miles we’d have to dodge crossing sheep and goats or wait for livestock ‘driven’ by children - literally kids, most between the ages of 4-16yrs old - to readjust the herd as they guided the animals from one village to the next along the highway. It was kinda chilly on the way there. It was really dark when we left from Addis and was probably about 60 degrees, but is cold when used to dry 80+ degree weather. We didn’t see much except an incredible sky of countless stars as we sped along the desert mountain road, however, as the sun came up we did manage to catch a baboon headed into a treeline. I got a picture and some video of him just before he disappeared. It was a great experience too - heading south – because we got a better idea of how MOST of the country lives as Addis and other larger cities are just a small proportion of the people in the country. We got a chance to see small towns and rural areas and areas pretty isolated from towns it was a way to see how most of the rest of the country lives.
Of the 7 families in our group, all but two made the trip to Hosanna. We all knew it was going to be a very special but difficult time for us. We arrived at the Hosanna CHFS Office about 8:30 on Sunday morning and two or three families at a time got to meet their birth families for almost 30 minutes. Amy and I didn’t know if anyone would be there to meet us until Saturday night when we learned that they were able to get in contact with Genet, the policewoman who cared for Tariku for the first two and a half days of his life.
When we walked into the small plain room with our translator, we introduced ourselves and shared a little about us and our family. For the next twenty minutes or so we talked with Genet about the first few days of Tariku’s life, her family, and her hopes and dreams for Tariku. Genet is a police officer and her husband works in a local bank and they have two children. She explained that when the farmer brought her and a fellow police officer, Alemayue to Tariku, the three of them determined the next course of action for him. Genet readily agreed to care for him temporarily until they could bring him to someone that would provide permanent care. She gave him her child’s clothes to wear, bought milk and water for him, and made sure he felt safe and loved. She and her husband already had a six month old little girl and another small child and even though she wished they could care for Tariku permanently, they knew they could not afford to properly care for him too. It would have been too much for them, and they knew that he could be adopted and cared for by a family that would provide a caring and loving home for him. The meeting time with Genet was very special, and we will always treasure it. After we met with Genet we gave her recent pictures of our family, and of Tariku along with a map of the world showing the areas we both lived so she had an idea where we were from too. We able to get a picture of our family with Genet too.
After meeting with Genet, all of the birth parents’ met together with all of we adopting parents for a short ceremony. We read a prayer to each other that was translated for both of us to read and understand. When the prayer was finished each of the birth parents lit a candle and gave it to each of the corresponding adoptive parents as they kind of spiritually gave over their children to us.
We’ve learned recently that everything from the video that we’re provided, to the connection that we’ve shared with birth parents, along with the very special ceremony we shared on Sunday – that that is all very unique to our agency and to Ethiopia. Evidently, no other agency goes into this much detail. We have all been more impressed with CHFS as the days have passed. Now we know why this agency is so highly regarded and respected by not just folks in the US trying to adopt from Ethiopia and other countries, but their reputation precedes them as children are brought to their care centers from all over the county because families know that as difficult as it is to give up their own children or a member of their extended family, they will be provided the best love and care available! After that time together we were all pretty ‘drained’ but just before the ride back to Addis from Hosanna we were able to visit another satellite orphanage run by CHFS. Again, everyone of the children there were loved and cared for in a special and individual way.
You know, when Amy and I first looked at CHFS, we were a little bit hesitant because there was some additional costs associated with working with them. However, after seeing how they not only care and provide for our children, but SO many more… I don’t know if I’ll ever recommend working with a different organization!
We got back Sunday evening and most went to bed early to prepare to pick up our kids on Monday morning to spend half the day with them here at the guesthouse!
Today - Monday (3/17) was a great experience… at least for most of us. I’m really glad that the agency only allows us a half day at first to spend alone with our kids because especially the older kids can have an incredibly difficult time adjusting. For us, we had a great morning with little Tariku. He was a little baffled by the idea of leaving the familiar sights and sounds and smells of the orphanage, but his wimper died down in a short while as we held him close. He is really enamored with his big sisters, and he loves the carrier we got for him too. We all went up to our room and laughed and played together. We even got to feed him a bottle and put him to sleep for a little bit before we left to bring him back.
Most of us had a great experiences this morning, but I’m sure the parents with older children would really appreciate your extra prayer. For older children the transition is many times much more difficult, especially if the older child remembers their birth family. Can you imagine… consider a child almost 3 years old, Mom (or Dad) finally admits to herself and the rest of the family that the only way she can love her child the best is to give it up for adoption. That is not uncommon here. It is hardly ever a quick or easy decision. Sure there are some parents who die young from various reasons, or some moms who die during childbirth (that almost always would not if in the US, Europe or Canada). Many times parents come to the point that they love their kids so much that they want them to have a better life so desperately; their prayer becomes: God please provide a loving home for my child to have the life that I wished I could provide. I wish it didn’t happen either but it does… what can we… what can you do about it?!
After we dropped off our kids back at the care center, we headed off to visit two places. First a womens’ and baby’s hospital and then a school – both funded and operated by CHFS sponsored staff. This hospital was not completely up to Western Standards in many ways, but it is the most state of the art facility in the area right now, and they are raising the standard of care as they bring on more trained staff and doctors. The Supervising Doctor that gave us the tour of the hospital was so excited that we were there and was so glad to show us the entire facility and its capabilities. It was a huge privilege to see how far they’ve come in a short time. They’ve only been open since October 2007!
After the hospital tour we headed over to an elementary school funded largely by CHFS. More and more there are individual investors and companies that fund it as well. The great thing is that they are able to keep the tuition about a third of what other comparable schools charge with the same level of education that other schools like them provide. As I said, I am even further impressed with CHFS for not just caring for our children in the care centers but investing into their communities in such orchestrated and intentional ways!
After that hospital visit we went to visit the Ethiopian National museum. One of the premiere exhibits there is this skeleton they call “Lucy” don’t ask me why they call it Lucy … maybe it was named after the archeologist… I donno. Anyway “Lucy” is supposed to be the oldest known homo sapien skeleton on the planet. You know you’d think that the silly thing would be behind more than a sheet of plexi glass in the basement of a museum in a country that struggles with their own security. I guess the real skeleton is in Houston, TX …”on tour” – I guess they’re trying to find similarities in early humans, in Texans. … who knows. I guess “lucy” will come back to Ethiopia some time. We had fun taking all kinds of pictures of Ethiopian history and archeology stuff. I must admit… T’was kinda cool.
When we got back from another long day, a few of us took a walk over to a local pizza joint… yeah it WAS good pizza. It was good to decompress some too….
The next couple days will be jammed packed for us, so I’ll write as soon as I’m able. Tomorrow, all of us go pick up our kids from the orphanage, and go to the local court to finalize the final Ethiopian documents releasing them into our permanent care. It will be a long day, and depending on a few things, it could be a stressful day. CHFS does an incredible job, but sometimes things change it seems almost at the drop of a hat in this court system. We’d appreciate your prayer for all of us as we get through court tomorrow. I’ll try to post something soon so you know at least we all got through court ok.
Wednesday will be kind of a chill day for us, and Thursday apparently we have a final meeting with CHFS. Then as most of the other families head to the Airport to fly out with Ethioain Airlines, our family will actually head back to the SIM guesthouse because we don’t fly out until Friday evening the 21st. with Air Emirates. We would love to hear from you via email… let us know if you’re enjoying following this crazy story.
Until next time…Pete for the girls and Tariku !
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