how much more waiting?????

So around the middle of March Ethiopia stated that they were only going to process 5 adoptions a day.  They were doing 50 adoption a day which meant I would get a referral for a child around 8-12 months after my paperwork reached Ethiopia.  Well the slow down meant that my adoption could be pushed back up to 4 years before seeing my child's face.  I asked my adoption agency if they have any updates from Ethiopia and this is what I was sent. 
    "So far, we have not witnessed any slow down in processing of the referral or the court hearings.  However, there are rumors circulating that MOWA will slow down to 5 cases a day soon (this has been the "threat" all along but it is just now be carried out). We are taking the process day by day to see how it will play out with our future families.  We hope to continue to receive MOWA letters in a timely manner after the first court hearing.

We have 4 families traveling in Ethiopia right now and three more that leave this week to meet their kiddos and attend court!"

So in my naive thought process the longer they keep processing 50 a day the shorter my wait will be when they start processing 5 a day.  So all in all this is pretty good news.  My paper work has been in Ethiopia for almost 6 months now.  If the process stays the same then I could get a referral for my baby in a couple of months.  This is the only real update I have for now.  I will keep checking in monthly with my agency to see when Ethiopia is actually going to slow down. 

more later
Jessica

This is one of my favorite Ethiopian adoption videos!!

Another one of my favorites.  I could post a hundred of these videos, but I won't post anymore video until I get to post my own. 

jessica

Ethiopian facts

I have not posted anything in over a month because I don't know anything new.  I sent an email to the agency today in order to see if they can give me an update.  While I am waiting for them to respond I thought I would post a few facts about Ethiopia.

Facts about Ethiopia

Total population: 77 million

The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year. Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.

Ethiopia is home to 5 million orphans

More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.

Literacy rate: 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.

Only 18 percent of children reach grade five.

Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.

1 Birr = 100 cents

Main exports: Coffee, hides, oilseeds, beeswax, sugarcane

Major languages: Amharic, Oromigna, Tigrinya & Somali

Major religions: Christianity & Islam

Life expectancy: 46 years (men), 49 years (women) (UN)

I will post more later when I get an update.


jessica