Amharic {and the language barrier}

As we approach the final stretch in our adoption process (we travel the first week of October for court!!)  I am painfully aware of the fact that we know ZERO Amharic.

Does anyone out there know how/much and what words will be the most helpful.  Our daughter is just learning Amharic herself and is just 26 months old.

Any advice or helpful hits regarding language and the barrier that we will face is welcomed and NEEDED.

So far, I have discovered this site and it looks pretty good!:
 
Amharic Kids is a great resource for Ethiopian adoptive family's. It was born out of a family's adoption journey.

It's got great Ethiopian cultural and language (Amharic) information and helps as well as books, toys and other items related to Ethiopia and Ethiopian adoption.

For those of you needing to brush up on your Amharic (like us!), click on Amharic to find a awesome Pronunciation guide. From there, you can click on the Words & Alphabet links for sound clips of common words and phrases.

COURT DATE {YAY!}

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!  

WOW...What a suprise!  Kristen called this morning with a court date! (two actually).  We still have to wait until after the rainy season, but our MOWA date is September 30 and our Court date (the one when we travel AND get to visit baby girl!) is on October 12! This means we will travel October 10th-17th!

It is the best news to actually have DATES!!!!  Now we can really focus in on all the to-do's around the house and in preparation for baby girl's homecoming!!!!  (which will be 2-6 weeks after we pass court)

** Side note:   This is a picture of me looking SUPER EXCITED (taken yesterday).  Jordan said "look excited" when taking my picture to promote our Simply Love/Africa T-shirts!  We are selling them to raise money for our travel expenses and humanitarian aid for orphans in Ethiopia!

Now...not only am I excited about our T-shirts...I'm SUPER EXCITED about our court dates! 

What an amazing surprise!  

REFERRAL!!!!!!!

She is more beautiful than we could have ever imagined!!!  WORTH EVERY SINGLE SECOND!!!!

25 months...big brown eyes, sweet litte lips...spunky personality!

More details soon...

WE ARE OVER THE MOON!!!

Do Something. Now.

Do Something Now from Children's HopeChest on Vimeo.

To get involved in helping the widow and and the orphan, visit hopechest.org for more information.

TOMS!

 

Buy Shoes. Give Shoes. Help Us. (Click on shoes!)

We've Partnered with Tom's Shoes!

When you purchase a pair of shoes from Tom's Shoes they give a pair to a child & (When you click from our website) Tom's will give us 10% of the sale amount towards our adoption costs! 

More Information about TOMS One for One commitment:

TOMS simple One for One commitment to give a pair of new shoes to children in need around the world with every pair sold is revolutionizing the way consumers shop; with TOMS, shopping equals giving. TOMS One for One business model transforms our customers into benefactors, which allows us to grow a truly sustainable business rather than depending on fundraising for support.

This One for One model has encouraged conscientious consumers to purchase and give more than 400,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need in just four years. 

PJ's For Orphans {Humanitarian Aid}

Humanitarian Aid Items (more info...)

We have decided on clothing items for our humanitarian aid items that we will take along with us when we travel to Ethiopia. So far, we have purchased over $300 of sweet, soft and oh-so cute pj's and one piece outfits sizes 3-12 months for both girls and boys!....SO FUN!

We are also starting to collect fun treats to take along to the orphanages that we will be visiting like sunglasses, bubbles, stickers, coloring books and small toys.

Junk Posse Jewelry {Support Adoptions}

Tracy of JunkPosse makes THE MOST AMAZING jewelry!  AND...

She is donates a percentage of the sales from several of her Africa adoption necklaces to benefit the adoption travel expenses for Josh and Amy Bottomly (Ethiopia or BUST) and others...

I am super excited because my parents (thank Mom and Dad...) ordered me a special necklace for my birthday.  It's going to be so awesome..... (will post a picture when I get it!)  Anyway...

Please take a minute to visit Junk Posse Jewelry and consider purchasing one of her beautiful pieces.

Justice For All {Her Song}

T. James wrote this song early in our adoption journey. We can't wait for the day when our daughter Justice can dance to her song!

We hope that it blesses you and fills your heart with compassion for the orphan.
Justice For All
Written by T. James

You had a picture and we had ours
it was selfish
not selfless
but after seeing where they live
hearing them pray for
someone to save them

I say go and don't look back
cause I cant wait to see her face
I say go and don’t look back
I cant wait to see her face

Even though they've got dirty hands and feet
they've got the purest eyes
hearts that want to be free
Even though they've got dirty hands and feet
they've got the purest hearts
and their eyes will set you free

So I say go and don't look back
I cant wait to see her face

Her name is Justice
yes it's true
she's my sister

Her name is Justice
yes it's true
and I love you
Her name is Justice
yes it's true
Her name is Justice
Yes it's true

it's Justice for all
Justice for all
Justice for all
it's Justice for all

So I say go and don’t look back
I cant wait to see her face
see your face

Humanitarian Aid {Donations Welcome!}

When we travel to Ethiopia to pick up baby J. Gladney requires that we bring $200 worth of humanitarian aid items for orphans in Addis Ababa. We would like to bring more! ALOT MORE!

Here is the list of the immediate needs of the orphanages and foster care facilities that we will be visiting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:


1. Infant clothing (new); Boys and Girls; sizes 0-12 months.

2. Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers, Extra Large Case – Size 1, 2, or 3; $37.99 each (no tax or shipping on http://www.1800diapers.com/. Use Referral Code: THCE5959 and get $2.00 off the order) Even though diapers are readily available in Addis, it is more expensive to purchase them there and they tend to leak.

3. Huggies Natural Care Wipes (Unscented); 576 count; $19.99 ***no tax or shipping on http://www.1800diapers.com/

4. Nestle Good Start Supreme DHA/ARA; powder; 25.7 oz. can; $27.99 per can ***no tax or shipping on http://www.1800diapers.com/

5. A + D Original Ointment, Diaper Rash and All-Purpose Skincare Formula; 1 lb.; $9.49 on http://www.drugstore.com/.


6. Purell Hand Sanitizer NXT Refill, 1000ml Item # 2156-08EA $10.95 http://www.cwimedical.com/purell-hand-sanitizer.html

7. Purell Hand Sanitizer NXT Dispenser, Item # 2120-06EA $9.99 ea. http://www.cwimedical.com/purell-hand-sanitizer.html

8. Lubrisilk, 16 oz. Item # 00166PEA $8.50 ea. http://www.cwimedical.com/lubrisilk.html

9. Baby bottles; small and large size Gerber plastic bottles preferred (solid colored bottles that come in a multi-color pack of bottles). Replacement nipples for the bottles are also needed.

JUSTICE JARS! {Pray, Give, Help}

These are JUSTICE JARS!

We have been busy making these cute little jars using recycled jars of all shapes & sizes, decorative papers, stickers, threads, buttons, bling, glue, paint, and a whole bunch of love!

Over the next few days & weeks we will be delivering JUSTICE JARS to friends and family.

It is our hope that JUSTICE JARS will serve a three-fold purpose:

1. As a tangible reminder in your home to prompt you to pray for our adoption process, our daughter Justice and for the millions of orphans world-wide.

2. To collect donations to help with the travel costs to Ethiopia.

3. To raise money for humanitarian aid items that we will hand deliver to orphanages that we will be visiting while we are in Ethiopia.

Now that I have seen... {Drawn from water}

Let your heart connect to this...

Word Mosaic : {Justice}

Why Ethiopia?

• One in six children die before their fifth birthday

• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old

• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years

• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia.

• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa

• In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)

• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.

• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.

• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.

• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.


"Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. Surely you will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them"

Psalm 10:17-18

Every little bit helps

sssss
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