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Ethiopia Program News
December 23, 2013
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| | State of the Program |  | |
Dear Friends,
In this season of thankfulness, I wanted to express my thanks to each of you. After 5 months as the AAI Ethiopia Coordinator, I just want to add a big thank you to all of our recently completed, in process, and alumni Ethiopian adoptive parents. I have been warmly welcomed and supported by each of you and even after a relatively short time in this role, I can report that adoptive Ethiopian families are really an amazing bunch! You ferociously love your kids, advocate for their needs, and are gentle Mamas and Papas to each of their tender hearts as well. It has been so delightful to cheer for you as you complete each step of the adoption process, advocate if/when things get "stuck", and hear the stories of each child and family through your post placement reports, phone calls, and emails.
Thank you for being so generous and welcoming to me. I really, really love my job and love working with each of you! Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
Jessica Shriner, Ethiopia Coordinator (360) 452-4777 - Mon, Thu (360) 774-1294 - Tue, Wed, Fri |
| | Help Support Children and Families | |
 This holiday season, consider giving specifically to an Ethiopia Sponsorship Program. As an adoption agency licensed to operate in Ethiopia, we are obligated to sponsor children and families. In our ongoing efforts to keep adoption costs as low as possible, we do not collect enough funds to cover our sponsorship obligations and rely on your generous support instead.
We sponsor programs that provide educational opportunities for girls, children with special needs living in their homes and in orphanages, and low income children and families referred to AAI for sponsorship through MOWA. We are also obligated to continue supporting the good work of Opportunity House being done by Sele Enat at the former Layla House site. You can give to any of these sponsorship programs easily and securely online through Network for Good. Be sure to select the sponsorship program you wish to support in the drop down menu so we can be sure to direct your gift to the correct program.
You can also choose to give directly to the Ethiopia program or give an unrestricted donation that will be used where most needed. One specific need for Ethiopia I was recently made aware of is a $1,000 repair to one of our AAI vehicles in Ethiopia. If anyone wishes to give specifically to this need, please indicate that in your gift. Thank you for your generosity and for remembering us this holiday season!
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| | Featured Waiting Children | |
We continue to have children waiting for their forever families in our Ethiopia program. Maybe you or someone you know could be a perfect match to love, support, and care for one of these children.
 These brothers lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. They were taken in by their uncle, but because he was unable to care for them due to financial difficulties, he decided to place the boys for adoption. The older of the two (left in picture) is about 14 or 15 years old and is HIV+. He is a well-mannered young man and is described as a "leader." He does well in school and his favorite subject is English. The younger brother is about 13 years old and has tested negative for HIV. He enjoys playing soccer and watching movies. As they keep getting older, the time for them to be referred to a forever family is imminent. Please carefully consider whether you or someone who know may be the right family for these two special brothers. 
This boy is 4 years old and has cerebral palsy. He also seems to display some features of autism. He was one of a set of triplets and was abandoned at 10 days old because he was sick. He enjoys playing with objects, particularly cell phones. Although he does not interact much with the other children, he is gentle with them. He would do well with a family who was committed to caring for him and helping him learn.
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| | Post Placement Reports | |
 As you know, post placement reports are vitally important to the Ethiopian government and to any relatives desiring updates on adopted children. Every adoptive family of an Ethiopian child is required to write reports annually through their child's 18th birthday. Please help us by finding a time to write a current 2013 report for every Ethiopian child in your home in the next month, if you haven't already done so.
We are interested in receiving accurate information of how each child is faring in their current family. We don't expect this to be all rainbows and giggles, as we all know that parenting traumatized children can be a messy, difficult process at times. We do want to know your child's strengths and current challenges. We want to rejoice with you in their triumphs and share realistic pictures of their current life journey with the government, sending orphanage, and interested relatives. With almost 2,000 children adopted from Ethiopia through AAI, it will take me a very long time to call or email each one of you to ask for current reports. Please help us by proactively completing a post placement report for each of the precious treasures you have been lovingly parenting. We look forward to receiving a flood of reports and reading updates on the progress of each child!
To complete a post placement report, go to our website and click on the green Post Placement Report button. You can either download a hard copy to fill out or complete the whole report online. Thank you for your help with this giant task!
If you aren't sure if your reports are current or have any other questions, please contact Johanna or Jessica. We would be happy to help!
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| | Celebrating 30 Years | |
 AAI is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and we're commemorating this milestone with an international cookbook with recipes from 30 of the countries from which we have placed over 4,400 children. Thank you to everyone who has already placed their orders; you've helped make this project a great success! If you haven't ordered your copy yet, do so today! Click here to download the order form. Completed forms can be mailed or emailed to our office, ATTN: Kathy Sculley. Cookbooks are $30 each, plus $5 per shipping address. The recipes are delicious yet simple, great for home cooks and seasoned chefs alike. Information about AAI's history and pictures from past adoptive families are also included in the cookbook.
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Adoption Advocates International
709 South Peabody Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362
(360) 452-4777
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