My 2 Ethiopian Girls: First Of Five Adoption Classes

Friday, January 11, 2008

First Of Five Adoption Classes

Tomorrow we go to our first of five adoption classes that are required by law. International requirements are 24 hours and domestic is only 16 hours. So five hours tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it because anything that has to do with our adoption and moving closer to getting them home is good for me. This is what they will cover tomorrow...

Parenting a child of different culture/racial background
Culture and Identity
Multi-culture family
Understand social /medical history information
Culture background and history of the child
Sign language with baby
Infant care including basic care and feeding, shaken baby syndrome

Should be fun!

8 comments:

Debbie said...: Just saw your blog, Let us know how the classes are. We are praying about adopting a little girl from Ethiopia, We have a 3 yr old daughter from Guatemala and 3 bio kids, 2 of which are married. But its great!!!

God bless!
Debbie Wankel; January 11, 2008 at 9:58 PM
Unknown said...: I first heard of your story on You tube and was so touched at your boys reaction. I am following your story and hope things move fast for your family so you can bring your little ones home. Cant wait to read more.
May God Bless your Family
Sarah Goeken; January 11, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Lisa said...: Debbie,
The class today was really helpful. Solidifies what we should be aware of with adopting a child of a different race. Really helpful info.
Lisa; January 12, 2008 at 2:21 PM
Lisa said...: Sarah,
I'm glad you found us on Youtube and checking out our journey. It's so funny you say that 'cause at our class today, we went out to lunch with one other couple who talked about a youtube clip of boys finding out too...and we all had a good laugh when they found out that it was OUR boys on that clip. Small world. Thank you for your warm wishes.
Lisa; January 12, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Debbie said...: I just watched the You tube too and cried and cried!!! Oh my goodness my kids were excited but not like that!! I am so happy for your family!!

Debbie; January 12, 2008 at 2:28 PM
Lisa said...: debbie,
Ohhhhhh! Good to hear your kids were excited about your adoption too. Isn't it fun to tell them? We are probably not taking them with us topick up the girls, but it's on our minds if we should. We know that this is going to be a powerful week when we're there. Not sure!; January 12, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Anonymous said...: I found your blog last month and I'm so excited for you!
Question: are these adoption classes specifically required by your state or is this standard for any US citizen requesting adoption?
Thanks, and God Bless.
(Now I'm off to find your story on You Tube!)
Carissa in Alabama; January 16, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Lisa said...: Hi Anonymous (Carissa in Alabama),
Our classes are mandatory for the state of Colorado. We have to take 24 hours of classes in order to complete the requirements. Good luck to you and stay in touch.; January 19, 2008 at 6:55 PM

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Welcome to our Site ... This is our Journey of our Adoption from Africa and our Life in Denver.

This journal (blog) is about adoption, our change of life from California to Denver and our little girl who we have adopted from Ethiopia. Our daughter came home to us after 9 months of tons of paperwork and she has come home to us on August 18th, 2008.

I highly encourage you to post comments at the end of any post if you'd like. I update every few days, so sign up to be emailed each time I post something new. It's a great way to keep updated.

So far, this has been an amazing journey. The adoption process is more "stuff" than you can imagine leading to what has been an incredible change in our lives. This journal is from my heart to you the reader and to our daughter whom we just recently met. It is also dedicated to the biological parents of our adopted girl who may or may not be alive. I do know that Tigist was placed in a safe place to be found by police, who then took her to an orphanage. In doing so, they saved her life! I applaud her Mother and/or Father's courage in the decision to offer their child a life full of opportunity. They decided to put her up for adoption by relinquishing her in such a way. This is such a touchy subject, yet very personal to both the biological parents and us. We will always honor them in the lives of our daughter...they will never be forgotten! That....I can promise.

Where we are in the adoption process....

We picked Tigist up in Addis Ababa August 9th, 2008. She is home, healthy and very happy!

We passed court on June 23rd 2008, traveled on July 31st, met Tigist on August 9th, and arrived home on August 18th.

What has changed is that we are not adopting two girls, which is what we started out attempting to do, but ended up with one amazing little 2 yr. old. Just another reminder how this process can be so unpredictable.

Why does our blog title says 2 girls...well, we sponsor a very sweet 12 year old girl in Ethiopia and have adopted another. So even though we weren't referred 2 girls as was the plan, the title coincidentally still applies to Our 2 Ethiopian Girls! One here, one there! We eagerly await the letters and pictures Fatuma sends us and we send letters and photos too.

The meaning of the Ethiopian flag

(adapted from a Yahoo group web posting and Unicef-Ethiopia)

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world, and the only African country that has no history of colonization. Upon their independence, many African countries adopted the colors of the Ethiopian flag - green, yellow and red - that became known as the Pan-African colors.

The official flag of Ethiopia consists of three equal and horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands.

The significance of the colors on the Ethiopian flag are interpreted to have a connection to the Holy Trinity, as well as the three main provinces of Ethiopia. The red stripe stands for power, faith and blood. The yellow strip symbolizes peace, natural wealth and love. The green stripe represents the land and hope.

The yellow pentagram on the blue disk, also known as the National Coat of Arms, is a symbol of the current government; it is intended to reflect the desire of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia, as well as of its religious communities, to live together in unity and equality. The star represents unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity, and the blue disk represents peace.

My 2 Ethiopian Girls

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Friday, January 11, 2008

First Of Five Adoption Classes

8 comments:

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