Well, it has been a very long time since I last blogged. I haven't really had anything positive to say and found it very difficult to share.
The past few months have seen changes and new rules and new delays with the Ethiopian adoption process. There really wasn't anything else to report other than this is going to take longer and I was getting tired of saying that.
Last week we received some more disturbing news. The Ethiopian ministry that oversees all adoptions has decided to limit the number of adoptions processed daily from 50 to 5, a decrease of almost 90 per cent. The reason for this is to reduce instances of fraud and reduce case workload in an ministry that is understaffed. I am not sure what all the children who will remain in orphanages for extended periods of time or those that have no where to live are supposed to do. What a tragedy for all the children. While a change in rules to benefit and protect the children and remove any agency that participates in fraud is a good idea, limiting the work that reputable agencies are able to do is a tragedy.
This new plan would increase the wait time for families with referrals (matches with children) to approximately one year and for those who are still on the waiting list (us) there will be an untold delay if it even happens at all.
The last week has been very stressful and exhausting. The not knowing what is going to happen is the hardest thing to deal with. We have no idea what to do or where to go from here. I feel like the rug has been pulled out from underneath our feet. I keep telling myself that everything happens for a reason, but, I am still looking for the reason! If everyone thought that this change would make a difference I would be able to accept the change, but, the children will be the ones who will suffer. How many of them will never know the love of a forever family and how many of them will not survive.
Through all this, we have been trying to hide all of this from Ainsley. She knows that we are upset but not why. I just don't know what to say to her especially as I really don't know that much at all either.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I will keep you up to date as I find out more!
Bonnie, Jim and Ainsley
