Stand Up for Orphans!!!!!!!

I was appalled to see the movie trailer for the new Warner Brothers movie titled "Orphan". The catch phrase for the movie goes something like "There is something wrong with Esther" and of course it is a horror movie. There are enough negative portrayals of orphaned and adopted children out there and I am tired of it. It seems that every time Adoption Awareness Month rolls around some news station features real stories of older adopted children with adjustment and attachment problems, and of course the adoptive parents always claim that they had no idea what they were getting into. Then there are the movies and books, and this new one is just ridiculous, even titled "Orphan". What about all the thousands of positive adoption stories of children of all ages and sizes and ethnicity's? So if you care go the following website: http://www.orphansdeservebetter.org/ The Orphans Deserve Better Initiative is sponsored by the Christian Alliance for Orphans (http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/). You can sign a petition to send a message to Warner Brothers, tell your own positive adoption story and find ways to get involved. What are you waiting for?

Here are some facts as copied from the website:

U.N. estimate of the number of orphans in the world today: 145 million
Number of children in the foster care system in the United States: Approximately 500,000
Number of children in the foster care system waiting to be adopted: Approximately 130,000
Number of caring adults it takes to make a lasting impact in the life of an orphan: 1

The fears fanned by the movie Orphan reflect natural concerns many parents have regarding the long-term impact of adoption. How will adopted kids turn out? How would adoption affect our family? Adopted children and their futures vary as much as biological children do. But studies show definitively that the fears stoked by a movie like Orphan are not supported by the data. In fact, the opposite is most often true.

• An expansive 1994 study by the Search Institute comparing adopted teens to other teens found that:
  Adopted teens scored higher on indicators of well-being such as school performance, friendships, volunteerism, self-esteem and optimism.
  Adopted teens scored lower on indicators of high-risk behavior such as depression, alcohol use, vandalism, and police trouble.
  Compared to their non-adopted siblings, adopted teens showed no significant difference in their perception of similarities between themselves and adoptive parents in terms of interests.
  Children adopted trans racially showed no differences in terms of identity formation and self-esteem, attachment to parents, or psychological health.

Miraculous Monday

Strangely I have come to like Mondays. With Monday comes new hope that we will hear something on our adoption approval each week and it also brings the excitement of a new week of summer activities. And so I have decided to feature a organization on Mondays, for the rest of the summer anyways. More specifically a organization that works in Africa and brings hope and miracles along with it. So this weeks feature is the program "Axis of Hope" http://www.axisofhope.org/index.htm . The program is based out of the School of Education at Boston University and their own description is as follows: Axis of Hope teaches our world's youth and educators international conflict analysis, management and prevention skills. By teaching them to develop trust, compassion, and empathy for one another Axis of Hope seeks to change the landscape of conflict, and create the prospect of future peace, beginning today. A workshop was conducted in Rwanda in 2007 and the attached video is from that trip. The video also features pictures of the students with orphans at Home of Hope orphanage, the orphanage where our children may be coming from if we are approved.
Comment from Rwanda:
Hi Kari, It is so neat that you posted this on your blog because there is actually a group of students here right now volunteering at HOH with Axis of Hope! Praying that this is the week you will get some news of your approval! Torri

Simplifying our House

We have to much stuff. As I have spent the last several weeks cleaning out drawers and closets I am just amazed at how much stuff we have, and we don't even have what most would consider a large house. I never really realized just how much stuff we Americans have until going to Ethiopia. It is really ridiculous. So we are having a rummage sale this weekend. To be honest I hate rummage sales, they are alot of work and where we live you just don't make much money. People will haggle you till you can't stand it anymore. But every penny counts right now so the sale is on. I can't wait to have some of this out of my house. We are making room in our middle level living room to turn it into a playroom and then we will be able to set up the crib in our daughter's room. She is excited to share her room as she has never liked sleeping alone and most likely neither will our new son or daughter. Children sleeping alone in rooms is a very western practice. So anyways off I go to sort and price. Most likely when it is all over I will hang up a free sign and give the remainders all away.

Great Kids Video

We made a visit to the library the other day and loaded up on videos and books to keep the kids busy and to add to my Rwanda reading list. My daughter picked out a interesting video titled "Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me". I looked at it and realized that it was based on a popular children's book for African American girls. Turns out the video covers several stories centered on positive self-acceptance and in-between each story it features a real child who is somehow different but through the video the kids learn that we are all really the same on the inside. It featured a boy who is blind, a boy who takes dance class (the only boy in his class), and a child with cerebal palsy among others. I can't think of a more timely message for our kids, not only acceptance of self but acceptance and tolerance of others as well. I highly reccomend this video to everyone, not just adoptive parents. And it turns out it is only $11 on Amazon.com if you want to buy it. http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Be-Nappy-Other-Stories/dp/B0009WIE52

While We Wait..

I received news via another blog that the individual at MIGEPROF whose job it is to review dossiers for approval has taken a few well deserved days off work. So I am not expecting that we will hear anything until next week or perhaps later. We do have plenty to do this summer. I have a endless list of projects and summer activities to keep everyone busy and happy. I do love summer! Today we had our first beach day at a local lake with a gorgeous view of the mountains. And home project #1 is complete. We took my son's huge bin full of mixed up LEGO'S and sorted them into organizers so now he can actually find what he is looking for! You know they don't just come in simple blocks anymore. I was amazed at all the tiny pieces and some of them the only of their kind in the stack. But he knows just which piece he wants for his self-designed projects.

O.k. Please Pray

I am getting anxious that we have not yet heard any news regarding our file in Rwanda. I am also anxious for the families who have been waiting for their referrals. But mostly I am anxious for the orphans of Rwanda. I know how a infant's brain is impacted by living in a institutional setting (It's not good) and I know what happens when they sit in cribs most of their day. I also know that there are families waiting patiently to provide loving homes to these children. This breaks my heart but I also trust and truly believe that the government of Rwanda as well as those who run the orphanage are doing all that they can to protect their country's vulnerable children and to ensure their futures. I hope that they will choose for us to be part of the plan for one or two of these orphans. It's not about the best time for us anymore, it's about the best time for the children, for their brains, their hearts, their muscles, their spirit. We are waiting and we already love them more then I can describe. So I am asking that you please pray, but not necessarily for our family, but for the children who are now living in orphanages in Rwanda. Pray that their caregivers receive the resources to meet their needs and the information to decide their fate, because the healthy development of a child cannot wait.

International Day of the African Child

Today, June 16th is International Day of the African Child.
On the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto protests, when thousands of black schoolchildren took to the streets under the South African apartheid regime, the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) dedicated a day to the honour of these brave actions. It is also a day to fight for the cause of children in trouble: the AIDS orphans, child soldiers and empoverished youth who will inherit the continent.

The Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion in Rwanda honored the day with the following activities, as copied here from the Ministry's website:

To support the visited orphanage (Noel Nyundo) and the school by offering them a water tank;
To sensitize pepole at the grassroots level on the community work day (Umuganda), Saturday, May 27, 2009. Included in the dialogue on the welfare of the child, it is recommended to discuss on the nourishment of the child, family planning, sanitary etc.
Broadcatsts on radio and television which have started on June 10, 2009. In these radio and television broadcasts, topics like vaccination of children, HIV/AIDS testing of children, and the use of clean water will be discussed. At the district level, district and partners are recommended to provide activities that aim at supporting families in need and helping them.

Give the Gift of Life for Father's Day

This Father's Day your can send a e-card to your father telling him that you have made a donation to "Charity: Water" at http://www.charitywater.org/. A $20 donation provides clean water for one person for 20 years, a $100 donation provides clean drinking water for a entire family of 5. 100% of the donation goes to freshwater projects in a developing nation and your dad can pick the country that it goes to. Why does clean water matter? 1.1 billion people or 1 in 6 do not have access to clean drinking water and 4,500 children die every day from water related diseases.

Graduation Pictures

Over a month ago I walked through the graduation ceremony for the graduate school to receive my PhD degree. Looking back on it, it seems like a whirlwind as it was a very busy time of the year at work and home. Now that I am reflecting back it seems more real that I am actually finished and capable of carrying the title "Doctor". And I am proud (and defensive) of the fact that I am a Doctor who helps people just not with a knife or medication!

Adoption News

I received good news today that our updated adoption documents were sent via FedEx to Rwanda today. I also received the following information from a fellow adoptive parent who is assisting others with learning the private adoption process in Rwanda:

"My POA has told me that the new requirements are not really holding things up. The office is extremely busy with other events scheduled soon that the MIGEPROF is in charge of. We were told that there is no time to really look at dossiers until the 16th ."

So based on these two updates I am hoping that perhaps our newly arrived documents will trigger a review of our dossier about the same time that MIGEPROF has time to get to the dossiers. Time will tell.........

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!!!!!!!

O.k. it was nice at first to have lots of rain and a green yard but enough already! One of the reasons I love Colorado is that the sun shines more days a year here then in California. But this year may be a exception. I was so excited three weeks ago when it was the end of the school year and time for me and the kids to enjoy some well earned time at the pool and beach. Unfortunately, it has been cloudy and cool for most of the last month. I checked the weather forecast today and it is the same prediction for a another week. I am tired of clouds, afternoon tornadoe warnings, hail, and thunderstorms. The vegetables in my garden are not looking to great but I feel alot worse for the acres of vegetable and wheat crops on the local farms that have been lost from hail damage. It is all starting to seem a little strange. To take a peek at some of what Colorado has experienced this week visit YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5kwQNTxYeI&feature=fvw

On another note, the Lord does work in mysterious ways. Today he sent me a message that I need to slow down, be patient, and enjoy my summer despite everything else that is going on around me.

Starbucks and Your Garden

I learned something new today at Starbucks of all places. I swung in with the kids to pick up a treat for myself before spending the afternoon watching the kids jump on inflatables at the Jump In play place. Anyways to get to the point on my way out the door I noticed a bin filled with large bags of used coffee grounds labeled "Grounds for Your Garden". I asked about it and apparently Starbucks bags their used grounds and gives them away to be used in your garden or compost. I never knew that coffee grounds are a great source of nitrogen! So I grabbed my bag and of we went. Here are the recommendations for the use of coffee grounds as fertilizer from the Starbucks website (http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost.asp):


Coffee grounds can provide a valuable source of nutrition for your garden. The proper amount to be used depends on the condition of your soil and what you are growing. Check with a local gardening expert or your local parks to see what is best for your garden. Here are a few general tips:

Applying coffee grinds directly to your garden:Coffee grounds can be applied directly as a top dressing to acid loving plants like blueberries, hydrangeas, and azaleas (acid loving plants thrive in areas where rainfall is common in the warm season). Adding brown material such as leaves and dried grass to the mulch will help keep a balanced soil pH.
Mixing coffee grounds in your compost:Coffee grounds act as a green material with a carbon-nitrogen (C-N) ratio of 20-1. Combined with browns such as leaves and straw, coffee grounds generate heat and will speed up the compost process. Don’t make your coffee grounds more than 25% of any one pile’s content. To counter the acidity of the coffee grounds, consider adding 1 teaspoon of lime or wood ash for every 5 pounds of coffee grounds in your pile.
Using coffee grounds in your worm bin:Worms fed with coffee grounds and other vegetarian materials will flourish.

Hail Storm

We have had a bad week for weather in our area of Colorado. There have been tornadoes touching down all over the place this week with several along I-25 in the Denver metro area. Every afternoon for the last three days we have had severe thunderstorms but today caught us a bit by surprise. It was 5pm and the kids were off in the new van for our son's baseball practice and I was off to Jazzercise when it turned dark, the wind came and then the rain and hail. At first I was not to concerned because the hail was really small but just as we all returned home there was 1/2 to 1 inch size hail that had pounded down on our cars, house, and our lovely green yard. The damage was minimal so I am not complaining, as a tornadoe did touch down just 30 miles south of our house. Here are some pictures I took just yesterday afternoon to document the growth in our Xeriscape garden and here is our front yard at 5:45pm today. I think it will take awhile for the poor plants to recover from being bombed with balls of ice. The hood of my car however, I don't think it will regrow paint.

Back Home

We had a nice trip to Minnesota. We were able to see Tensae's biological cousin whose adoptive family was in our same travel group to Ethiopia. It was by pure chance or perhaps fate that we traveled together and learned of our children's heritage. I am so happy that they will be able to stay in contact with one another as they grow. It amazed me on this visit just how much more they look alike, sound alike, and even run alike. They are a beautiful and resilient pair. We were also able to see my eldest sister as she so graciously offered up her house for our visit with Tensae's cousin and family despite my sister having to drive out of town for work the same night. The kids loved seeing their eldest cousins who are in their 20's and like little moms to them whenever we visit. While at my sister's house Tensae was able to overcome her fear of their very large but lovable Saint Bernards.

And of course they got lots of time with their paternal grandparents who we stayed with and lots of visits from their friends in small town Minnesota. The kids even got to visit a working farm, see the pigs and ride the tractors.

But of alas we could not make a trip to the Minneapolis area without a stop to the Mall of America. Now I am not a huge fan of malls and I very seldom buy clothes at them but my son LOVES Legos and biology. So we had a fun-filled day on Saturday before leaving on our evening flight. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, walked through Underwater World (A underground aquarium at the mall which Discover Channel rated as the best Shark experience), and played with the piles of Legos at Legoland. And I managed to get away with only buying them one souvenir each, a stuffed stingray for Tensae (Which also made a great pillow on the airplane!) and a container of Legos for Ethan at LegoLand. If you ever visit a LegoLand store they have this great thing were the kids can pick out exactly which Lego pieces they need and for a flat price you fill up a round container. And if you put them together and fit them just right (Which takes about three times of filling and then re-organizing since it is not a square container!) you can get a lot of Legos for a very good price. The kids did great on the plane and we were blessed to come home to a extremely green yard and blooming flowers. The grass seemed to enjoy a week with no dogs and tons of rain. In the five years we have lived in CO I can't remember ever a spring with this much rain. According to this website we are not even in a drought this year: http://drought.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.html And so yes (I say this because we were asked in MN) we do have mosquitoes and even a ditch full of chirping frogs in CO.

No News is Good News?

Our dossier has been in Rwanda now for 8 weeks. There are other families waiting ahead of us and I am praying for them, that we may all find peace and patience with this process. There is a possibility that our paperwork may be on hold untill our new documents arrive to Rwanda but in actuallity we just do not know either way. I am reminding myself that these processes are here for a reason, to ensure the legitimacy of international adoption in Rwanda and to protect the children from potential corruption. And so we continue to wait with loving and anxious hearts.