My 2 Ethiopian Girls: Children's Heaven ... Hanna Fanta

Monday, September 1, 2008

Children's Heaven ... Hanna Fanta

We met Hanna in Denver at a fund raiser she held for her teenage girls in Ethiopia. Our visit to day at Children's Heaven was just wonderful time with Hanna and these beautiful girls.

David, Hanna, Me and Tigist

Hanna with Tigist

Coffee ceremony

The girls watching some of the other girls put on a program for us.

David offered up his guitar to Hanna as she shared with us back in Denver that she wanted to learn to play.

I loved seeing the girls play with her...

4 comments:

Abbie H. said...: Hello. We don't know each other but I found you by way of a video on youtube.
I was so happy to hear that you were able to visit your sponsored child through Compassion while picking up your daughter.
We are going to start the adoption process in about a year and a half (my daughter has to be a little older for the age we are wanting to adopt). We have 3 Compassion kids, but are considering starting a sponsorship with a child in Ethiopia so that we can visit them when we pick up our adopted child. It was great to read about someone else actually doing it.

Your daughter is beautiful. I loved watching the video of your sons excitement when you told them! I was sitting in front of my laptop laughing! I loved it!

Take care,
Abbie; September 6, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Lisa said...: Dear Abbie,
I'm glad you found our blog and had a good laugh at our boys' reaction. It is quite funny. I love those boys. And since she's been home, they have not faltered in their feelings for their little sister. They absolutely adore her and will even do the dirty stuff should I ask.

I quickly glanced at your blog and it looks like fun reading. Your daughter is beautiful ...

We wish you the best in your adoption process and sponsoring yet another child. Compassion will love setting you up to meet your child, they just need I think a 6 week notice. I hope you read the post I wrote on the day we met Fatuma (I'm assuming you did). It was just unforgettable. She was so grateful to have this time with us and know that someone so far away cares so much for her. Remember the adoption process can take from 9 to 18 months, so just consider that when you decided to start your process. Ethiopia is becoming a more desirable place to adopt from and the wait time now is not that bad (mine 9 1/2 mo. others, 5 to 9 months.) But I have a feeling that the wait will increase as the months pass.

All the best,
Lisa; September 7, 2008 at 7:58 AM
Unknown said...: Hi Lisa,
We haven't met yet, but you did meet my husband and one of our sons on the playground last week. I have enjoyed reading your blog, it gives us much to look forward to when our referral comes. Hopefully we can be in touch.
Megan; September 9, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Lisa said...: Megan,
It was good to meet your husband at the park ... call me anytime. You must be so excited waiting for your referral!!; September 10, 2008 at 8:20 AM

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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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Monday, September 1, 2008

Children's Heaven ... Hanna Fanta

4 comments:

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