I read this amazing book in November and Mark is now reading it too. It is a true story about a widowed Ethiopian woman, Haregowoin Teferra, who takes in orphans (sort of by happenstance) after losing her own adult daughter to AIDS. It is truly inspirational and educational as Melissa Fay Greene weaves the history of HIV into moving stories about children and Haregowoin's journey to overcome the pain of incredible loss and the stigma associated with caring for AIDS orphans. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of whether you're remotely interested in adoption. I think it's a must read for all of us.
Friday, December 29, 2006
There's No Me Without You
I read this amazing book in November and Mark is now reading it too. It is a true story about a widowed Ethiopian woman, Haregowoin Teferra, who takes in orphans (sort of by happenstance) after losing her own adult daughter to AIDS. It is truly inspirational and educational as Melissa Fay Greene weaves the history of HIV into moving stories about children and Haregowoin's journey to overcome the pain of incredible loss and the stigma associated with caring for AIDS orphans. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of whether you're remotely interested in adoption. I think it's a must read for all of us.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
We Made the List
We had a nice four-day round of festivities with family for Christmas. It was so nice to see all of our family (my brother was home!) and spend time just hanging out.
For those of you who missed the news, we're officially "on the list" (aka. waiting for a referral). This is so exciting for us because it means we're getting closer to finding out who our baby is, and picking him/her/them up! Another 4-6 months and we'll receive our baby's information and photo. Right now the agency is estimating another 12 weeks before we can travel from the time we get the referral information, but we're hoping that time decreases as the courts catch up...hoping. Our friends just got home this week from picking up their 6 month old baby boy at the care center. He's a doll and further fuels our fire.
Today the NY Times has an article about malnutrition in children in Ethiopia. I don't include this here to perpetuate the stereotype that all Africans are all living with AIDS and are starving. Instead I include this to help us all better understand some of the incredible challenges that many children are facing when they don't get a fair shake at life based upon lack of food in their early years. I think that as Westerners, it's hard to comprehend these realities...and even harder sometimes to figure out what (if anything) we can do from half a world away. I don't want to plug WV, just because I work there, but I know firsthand that sponsoring a child can help make the world a much smaller place and can allow us to make a huge difference in a family's life, a community's life, and our own.
These problems are not insurmountable. Where there's a will, there's a way.
In case the link doesn't work (or you want the Cliff Notes), here's an excerpt from the article:
Yet almost half of Ethiopia’s children are malnourished, and most do not die. Some suffer a different fate. Robbed of vital nutrients as children, they grow up stunted and sickly, weaklings in a land that still runs on manual labor. Some become intellectually stunted adults, shorn of as many as 15 I.Q. points, unable to learn or even to concentrate, inclined to drop out of school early...Bleak as that may sound, the outlook for malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa is better than in decades, thanks to an awakening to the issue — by selected governments, anyway...Ethiopia may, in fact, have the most comprehensive program in all Africa — a joint venture with United Nations agencies that regularly screens nearly half of its 14 million children under 5 for health and nutrition problems. Since 2004, the program has delivered vitamin A doses and deworming medicine to 9 in 10 youngsters, vaccinated millions against childhood diseases and delivered fortified food and nutrition education.
For those of you who missed the news, we're officially "on the list" (aka. waiting for a referral). This is so exciting for us because it means we're getting closer to finding out who our baby is, and picking him/her/them up! Another 4-6 months and we'll receive our baby's information and photo. Right now the agency is estimating another 12 weeks before we can travel from the time we get the referral information, but we're hoping that time decreases as the courts catch up...hoping. Our friends just got home this week from picking up their 6 month old baby boy at the care center. He's a doll and further fuels our fire.
Today the NY Times has an article about malnutrition in children in Ethiopia. I don't include this here to perpetuate the stereotype that all Africans are all living with AIDS and are starving. Instead I include this to help us all better understand some of the incredible challenges that many children are facing when they don't get a fair shake at life based upon lack of food in their early years. I think that as Westerners, it's hard to comprehend these realities...and even harder sometimes to figure out what (if anything) we can do from half a world away. I don't want to plug WV, just because I work there, but I know firsthand that sponsoring a child can help make the world a much smaller place and can allow us to make a huge difference in a family's life, a community's life, and our own.
These problems are not insurmountable. Where there's a will, there's a way.
In case the link doesn't work (or you want the Cliff Notes), here's an excerpt from the article:
Yet almost half of Ethiopia’s children are malnourished, and most do not die. Some suffer a different fate. Robbed of vital nutrients as children, they grow up stunted and sickly, weaklings in a land that still runs on manual labor. Some become intellectually stunted adults, shorn of as many as 15 I.Q. points, unable to learn or even to concentrate, inclined to drop out of school early...Bleak as that may sound, the outlook for malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa is better than in decades, thanks to an awakening to the issue — by selected governments, anyway...Ethiopia may, in fact, have the most comprehensive program in all Africa — a joint venture with United Nations agencies that regularly screens nearly half of its 14 million children under 5 for health and nutrition problems. Since 2004, the program has delivered vitamin A doses and deworming medicine to 9 in 10 youngsters, vaccinated millions against childhood diseases and delivered fortified food and nutrition education.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Isaac's Home!
Just a quick update for those of you who have been thinking and praying about baby Isaac. After 10 days in the hospital, he went home yesterday. He's now 5 pounds and breathing well...eating and sleeping are his favorite things to do. We're so grateful. I have been able to see him the last 3 days...in fact we went straight from the airport on Sunday to the hospital! Mom and Dad and the baby are all doing well. Here's a pic of them with Santa the day before going home:
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The 'real' Africa: Zambia
Though this isn't about our adoption specifically, I thought I'd send a quick update about my trip to Kenya and Zambia...
Every African country has its slogan...Zambia's is "the real Africa." I'm not quite sure what that means, but I have really enjoyed this country so far. The weather has been sunny (hot) and beautiful. A little summer in my winter is refreshing.
The real beauty of this country, however, is found in its people.
One of the reasons I was looking forward to visiting Zambia is because I spent most of graduate school exploring the ramifications of HIV/AIDS on the children left behind by the disease. Zambia suffers from a high prevelance of HIV/AIDS. Almost 1 in 5 people are HIV+ and in some regions, for example where human migration is high, the rate can climb higher than that. World Vision normally works in the most difficult places, often where prevalence rates are highest. In one community I visited, it was common to have 3-4 funerals per week due to HIV/AIDS, however in the last year or so, ARV drugs have become (more) accessible, and are free from the government. In the last few days, I've met many people living with HIV, who would be dead if it hadn't been for ARVs. Instead they're alive and able to take care of their children. I was so struck by this because I expected to see despair here, but instead I'm seeing hope. It hasn't been all roses, though...the disease has ravaged this country and left many orphans behind. It's too late for many to take ARVs (you have to be at a certain level of health) and there are only four CD-4 count machines (a person's CD-4 count is required to be at a particular level in order to take ARVs) in the country! So, there is still a long way to go on that front.
I met a grandmother who is caring for her seventeen grandchildren. Yes, 17! She was in good spirits and seemed to take her responsibilities for the children of her 5 deceased children in stride. World Vision is helping her build a house for them. Maybe this will help paint the picture a little better...
Every African country has its slogan...Zambia's is "the real Africa." I'm not quite sure what that means, but I have really enjoyed this country so far. The weather has been sunny (hot) and beautiful. A little summer in my winter is refreshing.
The real beauty of this country, however, is found in its people.
One of the reasons I was looking forward to visiting Zambia is because I spent most of graduate school exploring the ramifications of HIV/AIDS on the children left behind by the disease. Zambia suffers from a high prevelance of HIV/AIDS. Almost 1 in 5 people are HIV+ and in some regions, for example where human migration is high, the rate can climb higher than that. World Vision normally works in the most difficult places, often where prevalence rates are highest. In one community I visited, it was common to have 3-4 funerals per week due to HIV/AIDS, however in the last year or so, ARV drugs have become (more) accessible, and are free from the government. In the last few days, I've met many people living with HIV, who would be dead if it hadn't been for ARVs. Instead they're alive and able to take care of their children. I was so struck by this because I expected to see despair here, but instead I'm seeing hope. It hasn't been all roses, though...the disease has ravaged this country and left many orphans behind. It's too late for many to take ARVs (you have to be at a certain level of health) and there are only four CD-4 count machines (a person's CD-4 count is required to be at a particular level in order to take ARVs) in the country! So, there is still a long way to go on that front.
I met a grandmother who is caring for her seventeen grandchildren. Yes, 17! She was in good spirits and seemed to take her responsibilities for the children of her 5 deceased children in stride. World Vision is helping her build a house for them. Maybe this will help paint the picture a little better...
Aside from the ARVs, the other great thing I see happening here is a movement of home-based caregivers and orphan caregivers. These are people in the community who are being mobilized to reach out to their neighbors who are sick with AIDS or orphans who are unable to care for themselves. Many have been doing this for years, just out of seeing a need and responding, and others are coming to 'the rescue' now. Not to make this a WV commercial, but it's so neat to see what WV is doing to help these caregivers. They are the real heros, and we are merely assisting them with supplies like washclothes, antiseptic, gloves, soap, a notebook to keep records of patients and their status, etc. It was with so much pride that the caregivers opened their "caregiver kits" (my friend Cassie is in charge of this project!) and showed me the contents one by one. They give of themselves so selflessly. They asked for prayer for their minds as their tasks are often very emotional...caring for the dying and orphans.
Well, that's a snapshot of my trip so far. One week to go...it will go fast and soon I'll be home to be with my nephew and sister! I'm going to try to really soak this week in because it's probably one of my last (maybe my last) trip for awhile since we're going to have a baby soon!!!
Our dossier was accepted this morning...so we're officially on the waiting list. Hooray!
Introducing Baby Isaac!!
It is with overwhelming joy that we announce the birth of our nephew, Isaac Joshua Richter, born yesterday, December 9th at 5:45am, weighing just 4 pounds 11 ounces and 17.5 inches. Baby Isaac was born 4 weeks early because it was determined on Wednesday that he wasn't getting the nourishment he needed anymore being inside my sister. Rachel was induced on Friday evening and Isaac was born the next morning.
We would covet your prayers for baby Isaac's health as he's not able to breathe on his own yet. Pray that God would heal his little body quickly, that he would be able to move out of the incubator and into my sister's arms. Pray for peace for our family, especially Rachel and Gregg, as we deal with this unexpected early delivery. It's expected that Isaac will be in the hospital for another 2-3 weeks. We're so thankful that Rachel's health is good. Pray that Isaac's out of the hospital to celebrate his first Christmas with us!
Sadly, I missed the labor and delivery as I'm in Zambia still...but am so grateful that my sister did well and persevered despite the very difficult circumstances and uncertainty of everything. My mom and Gregg were a great help (I hear). From here, I get to support them through prayer...
Isaac Joshua means "One who laughs, Jehovah saves"...and we believe that he will soon be a laughing baby boy whom the Lord has saved!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Dossier On Its Way!
This is my first post...ever...so I hope it goes well.
Okay, so it hasn't gone well. I just typed up several paragraphs and tried to paste in a picture, the browser crashed, and I'm back to square one. I guess you can say this is my second post now...ever.
I sent off our Dossier on Saturday, and it's supposed to arrive at the adoption agency Tuesday morning. This is a very exciting time because once they approve the dossier, we get on the waiting list. We've been told the wait is between 4-6 months to get our referral, which is the baby photo and medical/family history, which is usually somewhat brief from what we've been told. FYI on the dossier, its a compilation of forms, letters of recommendation, letters from the police, from the bank, from our employers, birth and marriage certificates, our homestudy, and the list goes on. It turned out to be a 46 page document!
I will also be sending out our Immigration forms next week. At that point, major paper pushing will be over...at least for 6-8 months.
I'm home alone for two weeks as Sarah visits Zambia for work. She briefly stopped thru Kenya to visit some friends and one of our sponsor children and then arrived in Zambia yesterday. I get the days confused because they're 10 hours ahead there. God has blessed us with several phone calls though, and that has been a treat. Who knew twenty years ago that I could be talking to my wife in southern Africa while waiting for a bus at the Transit Center, without that terrible trans-continental delay!! I am amazed at the technology that makes that happen.
You may wonder where Zambia is, so here's a map. This is the infamous picture that crashed my first attempt at a post on our blog.
Sarah will be back on the 17th of December...so look forward to her first post following her adventures in Zambia. I'll try to keep things updated until then...from which we'll both be updating the blog :)
Okay, so it hasn't gone well. I just typed up several paragraphs and tried to paste in a picture, the browser crashed, and I'm back to square one. I guess you can say this is my second post now...ever.
I sent off our Dossier on Saturday, and it's supposed to arrive at the adoption agency Tuesday morning. This is a very exciting time because once they approve the dossier, we get on the waiting list. We've been told the wait is between 4-6 months to get our referral, which is the baby photo and medical/family history, which is usually somewhat brief from what we've been told. FYI on the dossier, its a compilation of forms, letters of recommendation, letters from the police, from the bank, from our employers, birth and marriage certificates, our homestudy, and the list goes on. It turned out to be a 46 page document!
I will also be sending out our Immigration forms next week. At that point, major paper pushing will be over...at least for 6-8 months.
I'm home alone for two weeks as Sarah visits Zambia for work. She briefly stopped thru Kenya to visit some friends and one of our sponsor children and then arrived in Zambia yesterday. I get the days confused because they're 10 hours ahead there. God has blessed us with several phone calls though, and that has been a treat. Who knew twenty years ago that I could be talking to my wife in southern Africa while waiting for a bus at the Transit Center, without that terrible trans-continental delay!! I am amazed at the technology that makes that happen.
You may wonder where Zambia is, so here's a map. This is the infamous picture that crashed my first attempt at a post on our blog.
Sarah will be back on the 17th of December...so look forward to her first post following her adventures in Zambia. I'll try to keep things updated until then...from which we'll both be updating the blog :)
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