Duni's trip to Ethiopia

Duni is our Family Coordinator for our adoption. She basially does it all for us - all we do is send her the paperwork and then we wait.... and say "yes! We'll accept this referral!!!!" and then travel to pick up our son (of course with much time in between each event!)

Anyway, she visited Addis Ababa Ethiopia recently to hire more in-country staff, consider other orphanages to partner with, and really just see all that goes on as far as the adoption process in-country rather than at the corporate office in VA.

So here is her email update to the Ethiopia waiting families (of wihch we are part of- there are 90 of us!!! We are somewhere around family #35 or #40 I think.)

Dear Families,

My one month stay in Ethiopia was long but productive. It was beneficial to me to be able to learn the in country process to better equip myself in assisting families during their adoption. It was also wonderful to meet and play with the older children and actually get to hold the little ones. Seeing these wonderful children was what I needed to give me a renewed sense of purpose and urgency to ensure that they are united to loving families in the shortest time possible. Most of all, meeting the children gave me a new appreciation and respect for those that have and continue to open their homes and hearts to children from Ethiopia.

My main reason for traveling to Ethiopia was to find ways to better the program, and as it grows, to ensure that we grow along with it to meet the new demand.

Finding new orphanages to partner with was of the utmost importance, and most of my time there was spent traveling outside of Addis to tour different orphanages. I am excited to announce that we were blessed to establish a new partnership with Gelgela Orphanage. They are located a few miles from our Transitional Home and have already referred children to our agency. Gelgela orphanage is expanding its projects (education & children sponsorship) in southern and northern Ethiopia. We are honored to support them in their new sponsorship program in Gojam (North Ethiopia).

As most of you know, adoption from Ethiopia has grown popular in the past year. In the last two years the number of adoptions from Ethiopia by US citizens has increased by 100%. While there were only a handful of US adoption agencies working in Ethiopia two years ago, there are now over 30. Most people are attracted to the program for the same reason; compared to other countries it has proven to be the quickest and there is a need for adoptive families as there are many orphans. Because of this increased interest families should expect to wait longer for a referral than some of the families who adopted a year ago when the number of prospective adoptive families applying to the Ethiopia program was not so high.

Of course such growth in the program and striving to meet the demand is not only a challenge for agencies but also for the Ethiopian government and adoption officials. As an Agency we are also responsible in ensuring that all the children have the correct paperwork and are true orphans in need of a home before accepting them to refer to families.

I was able to meet with officials and listen, as well as discuss ways to continue facilitating smooth and successful adoptions from Ethiopia. Meeting with them also opened my eyes to the different problems and set backs they have at the office as they don’t have the resources a developed country has. One such problem is power outages through out the city.

As most of you know, power is currently rationed throughout Ethiopia because of the lack of rain. There is no power two to three days out of the 5 business days. This has caused all processes to slow down. For instance MOWA cannot write recommendation letters to court on some days because of power outages resulting in rescheduling of court dates. Or the Vital Statistics office cannot issue a birth certificate because of the same problem. Families should expect some delays after a referral and leading up to travel because of these reasons.

The current wait time for both infant girls and boys is 7-9 months after DTE date. The wait time is also 7-9 months after DTE date for toddlers and children up to 5 years old.

The wait time after referral has also increased. Families should expect to travel 8-12 weeks to travel date after receiving a referral. If families receive a referral between August 7 and October 7 (During Court Closure) then they should expect to travel 12-16 weeks after a referral.

Even though the wait time has increased, I have all the confidence in the adoption officials in Ethiopia and they are doing all they can with the limited resources they have to process the adoption cases in a timely manner.

I thank the Lord for each one of you and for giving you the desire to adopt from Ethiopia. May He continue to guide you and give you perseverance as you wait for your child.

In Christ,


Duni Zenaye
Africa Program Director