More Questions Answered

The paperwork that we missed getting state certified arrived the Wednesday before Labor Day weekend, so Paige and I made the trip back to Austin that day. Again, it was a very pleasant experience, taking no more than 30 minutes. We had it back in the mail that afternoon, and it has since arrived in Colorado. I spoke with Allison this past Wednesday, and all is good with the dossier on our part. They are however, waiting for a few documents from our social worker before sending it to D.C. She said that they are expecting that anytime, so hopefully it won't take too long. I know Beverley (our social worker) is very busy. Once it is sent to D.C., it will be certified on the national level and then sent back to IAN in Colorado. At that point, it will be sent to Ethiopia.

As I mentioned before, this is all a learning experience for me, so I asked Allison a lot more questions. Here is what I found out...

The waiting at this point, is actually waiting for a child to arrive at the orphanage. Prior to learning this, I had assumed that the waiting was just for the processing of paperwork. Of course, once a child arrives at an orphanage, it takes a few weeks before he can be referred, because he has to undergo medical testing and they have to make sure that he is truly abandoned. This is relieving to me, because I have always thought that the less time he is in an orphanage the better. However, with that being said, at least at the orphanage he will receive some sort of nourishment, and you don't know what he is or is not getting before he arrives there. I guess it could be a good thing or a bad thing.

I also learned that once a young child is referred, he is typically moved to IAN's transition home. I believe there are less children here, therefore I am assuming he will receive better care here and more love and attention. This is where he will stay until we can get him. Allison said that they do not move the older children here, until they actually pass court, because they would never want to move them back to the orphanage, in the event that something changed. The little ones however, are moved because of overcrowding in the orphanage. This is great news, because obviously we are going to want him to be in a situation where he will receive the best care.

Finally, I have joined IAN's yahoo group, and have been amazed with the camaraderie amongst the members. Of course you have people in all stages of the process. Some are still gathering paperwork, some are on waiting lists, some have received referrals and are waiting for court dates, some have passed court and are waiting for travel dates, some are traveling, and some have already returned home. The most amazing thing to me is those who are traveling to pick up their children are taking things (like medication) for people who are waiting to travel, as well as taking pictures and sending updates on everyone's children. One gentleman, who just left to pick up his child, is apparently a doctor, and is doing physicals on everyone's children. It makes me so excited to get a referral and have people do this for us, as well as to travel and get to do this for other people who are half a world away from their children. If nothing else, this whole process has reminded me of the goodness that still exists in the world today.