Friday, May 28, 2010
IAN Office Closed on Monday
The IAN office will be closed on Monday, May 31st for Memorial Day and will re-open on Tuesday. We hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Communication with Staff in Ethiopia
We at IAN feel that one of our biggest strengths is the “family” that has been created by adoptive parents. Parents of kids adopted from Ethiopia develop friendships and bonds with one another, and with the IAN staff, through the process. Like any positive relationship, it’s important to work hard at fostering healthy boundaries.
Recently, more and more families have been connecting with the staff in Ethiopia via email and facebook. This is a wonderful way to maintain contact once the children are home, however it has become an outlet for families to contact the Ethiopia staff directly with requests and questions about their adoption.
IAN’s policy guidelines state that families must work directly with their coordinator at the IAN United States office, not with the Ethiopian staff.
Being contacted directly by families greatly increases the workload on the Ethiopian staff, who are already so busy. Even those of us in the US office refrain from emailing more than once daily. IAN has worked very hard at creating a system within the agency to provide the best possible service to the families, and as the agency has grown by leaps and bounds, it is even more important to utilize the system we have in place.
Thank you for your respect on this matter. As always, our goal is to provide the best service possible to both children and families.
Recently, more and more families have been connecting with the staff in Ethiopia via email and facebook. This is a wonderful way to maintain contact once the children are home, however it has become an outlet for families to contact the Ethiopia staff directly with requests and questions about their adoption.
IAN’s policy guidelines state that families must work directly with their coordinator at the IAN United States office, not with the Ethiopian staff.
Being contacted directly by families greatly increases the workload on the Ethiopian staff, who are already so busy. Even those of us in the US office refrain from emailing more than once daily. IAN has worked very hard at creating a system within the agency to provide the best possible service to the families, and as the agency has grown by leaps and bounds, it is even more important to utilize the system we have in place.
Thank you for your respect on this matter. As always, our goal is to provide the best service possible to both children and families.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Ethiopian Election Impact on IAN
As many of you know, Ethiopia is preparing to hold elections on May 23. Results of this election will be announced on June 21. We anticipate that this election will effect IAN families in two ways:
1.) Travel: The state department has issued a travel advisory for citizens traveling to Ethiopia between May 23 and July 1, 2010. After the last elections Ethiopia held in 2005, there was an outbreak of violence. While measures are in place to prevent this occurance, it is possible, and IAN advises families to take the following measures:
a. Avoid large crowds, public gatherings, and try to avoid being out and about after dark.
b. Do NOT travel outside of Addis Ababa during this time, especially to the southern regions.
c. Register with the US embassy in Addis before you go.
d. Monitor local media and internet while in Addis to stay aware of any dangers.
e. Consider purchasing oversees travel insurance.
IAN is in constant contact with our Ethiopian staff, and we all still feels that travel is reasonably safe if these precautions are taken, but will have an additional waiver for families to sign if they are traveling during this time.
For more information on travel advisories please visit travel.state.gov or ethiopia.usembassy.gov.
2.) Processing referrals: During this time, court officials are extremely preoccupied with election business and are not available to process paperwork that allows children from outlying regions to be transported to Addis and become available for adoption. This has been a large part of why referrals have slowed down recently, and we look forward to things picking up again after May 23, although it may take a few weeks for things to return to normal.
If you have any questions, please contact your coordinator. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.
1.) Travel: The state department has issued a travel advisory for citizens traveling to Ethiopia between May 23 and July 1, 2010. After the last elections Ethiopia held in 2005, there was an outbreak of violence. While measures are in place to prevent this occurance, it is possible, and IAN advises families to take the following measures:
a. Avoid large crowds, public gatherings, and try to avoid being out and about after dark.
b. Do NOT travel outside of Addis Ababa during this time, especially to the southern regions.
c. Register with the US embassy in Addis before you go.
d. Monitor local media and internet while in Addis to stay aware of any dangers.
e. Consider purchasing oversees travel insurance.
IAN is in constant contact with our Ethiopian staff, and we all still feels that travel is reasonably safe if these precautions are taken, but will have an additional waiver for families to sign if they are traveling during this time.
For more information on travel advisories please visit travel.state.gov or ethiopia.usembassy.gov.
2.) Processing referrals: During this time, court officials are extremely preoccupied with election business and are not available to process paperwork that allows children from outlying regions to be transported to Addis and become available for adoption. This has been a large part of why referrals have slowed down recently, and we look forward to things picking up again after May 23, although it may take a few weeks for things to return to normal.
If you have any questions, please contact your coordinator. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Registration for camp now open!
Camp Registration is open for all families interested in joining us for an exciting week of Ethiopian games, culture, and friends!! This is a great opportunity to meet other families and learn about Ethiopia!! Please visit our website at http://adoptioninternational.net/camp.shtml. You will find registration forms, the camp schedule and details of events. If you have any questions, please contact Liz Bogetveit at Elizabeth@adoptioninternational.net or 303.691.0808. We are very excited for our first camp and hope to see many families from all over the US!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
New Care Home Open!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Still More Referral Acceptance!!!
Two more precious four year old boys have found their forever family today!! Congratulations to the happy family who accepted their referral!
This family was on several wait lists so the movement will be as follows:
-Infant girl: everyone after #41 moves up one spot.
-Infant boy: everyone after #25 moves up one spot.
-Toddler girl: everyone after #15 moves up one spot.
-Toddler boy: everyone after #5 moves up one spot.
-Sibling: everyone after #17 moves up one spot.
As always, please contact your coordinator if you have questions.
This family was on several wait lists so the movement will be as follows:
-Infant girl: everyone after #41 moves up one spot.
-Infant boy: everyone after #25 moves up one spot.
-Toddler girl: everyone after #15 moves up one spot.
-Toddler boy: everyone after #5 moves up one spot.
-Sibling: everyone after #17 moves up one spot.
As always, please contact your coordinator if you have questions.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
One more referral today!!!!
One more happy family accepted a referral for a 3 year old boy today! Congrats!!
Four more referrals!
We are very excited to announce again today that four more referrals have been made! Three 3 year old boys have found homes along with a 3 year old girl!! Congratulations to all of the happy families!!
We have a lot of movement on our lists today, so if you would like to know your current number, please contact your coordinator tomorrow.
We have a lot of movement on our lists today, so if you would like to know your current number, please contact your coordinator tomorrow.
Referral!! Lists move!
We are happy to announce that a referral was accepted today for two year old twin girls!
Everyone below #12 on the infant girl moves up one.
Everyone below #2 on the siblings list moves up one.
Congratulations to the happy family!!
Everyone below #12 on the infant girl moves up one.
Everyone below #2 on the siblings list moves up one.
Congratulations to the happy family!!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
May Update!!
Hello IAN families! We have had a very exciting last few months filled with a few changes in Ethiopia, new orphanages, new staff members and very exciting referrals. Check out our referral numbers so far for 2010!!
January: 4 babies
February: 5 Children (2 babies)
March: 8 Children (2 babies)
April: 6 (3 babies,triplets)
As you know, we have started work with two new orphanages in Addis Ababa. We are very excited to be working with these orphanages and are expecting new referrals soon! We have three and four year old boys looking for families so please let your coordinator know if you would like to get more information. We hope to place these children and avoid placing them on the waiting child site!
POLICY UPDATE: There are new policies regarding independent travel and meeting birth families while in Ethiopia. IAN has put a temporary new policy in place, starting now regarding meeting birth families. IAN has implemented this temporary policy to protect the families, children and all future Ethiopian adoptions. We would like to remind families to respect the policy regarding giving money or gifts to birth families as this is not allowed and could potentially change Ethiopia’s policy on international adoption. IAN’s temporary policy will be enforced until we update our current policy. Adoptive parents who are interested in meeting birth families can do so only if:
1. The birth family travels to Addis.
2. The meeting must take place in the IAN office.
3. Our IAN facilitator must supervise the meeting.
We have a wonderful volunteer donation coordinator who is helping with needed donations for our care center in Addis. If you are interested in donating, please contact Charisa Knight at gcknight@verizon.net or 540.294.4849.
We look forward to a very exciting new month! If you have any questions about the new policy or are interested in the boys looking for homes, please contact your coordinator!
January: 4 babies
February: 5 Children (2 babies)
March: 8 Children (2 babies)
April: 6 (3 babies,triplets)
As you know, we have started work with two new orphanages in Addis Ababa. We are very excited to be working with these orphanages and are expecting new referrals soon! We have three and four year old boys looking for families so please let your coordinator know if you would like to get more information. We hope to place these children and avoid placing them on the waiting child site!
POLICY UPDATE: There are new policies regarding independent travel and meeting birth families while in Ethiopia. IAN has put a temporary new policy in place, starting now regarding meeting birth families. IAN has implemented this temporary policy to protect the families, children and all future Ethiopian adoptions. We would like to remind families to respect the policy regarding giving money or gifts to birth families as this is not allowed and could potentially change Ethiopia’s policy on international adoption. IAN’s temporary policy will be enforced until we update our current policy. Adoptive parents who are interested in meeting birth families can do so only if:
1. The birth family travels to Addis.
2. The meeting must take place in the IAN office.
3. Our IAN facilitator must supervise the meeting.
We have a wonderful volunteer donation coordinator who is helping with needed donations for our care center in Addis. If you are interested in donating, please contact Charisa Knight at gcknight@verizon.net or 540.294.4849.
We look forward to a very exciting new month! If you have any questions about the new policy or are interested in the boys looking for homes, please contact your coordinator!
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