Background Questions

Last April when Grant and I were in Boston and we were getting to know Aliyah’s parents (see the post “Why Ethiopia” to learn more) we were very inquisitive about their experience and we were asking them all sorts of questions to learn as much as we could. One question that we asked was in regard to Aliyah’s background and what information they had concerning why Aliyah had been available for adoption. Their answer was that this information needs to be Aliyah’s to share if and when she is ready. It’s best for an adopted child to learn about their history from their parents at the appropriate time.

This idea was also brought up in the pre-adoption class we attended and in many adoption books that we’ve read. After much thought we’ve decided that we will take this same approach with our child. We do understand that this could create some awkward situations but we know people will understand. We still want you to ask us about the process but we appreciate your understanding that some information will be kept confidential.

Since specific details won’t be given, keep in mind that poverty is the underlying factor that determines why children are not able to be raised by their birth family (see the post “Why are Children Available from Ethiopia” and the New York Times article to learn more).

Thanks again for being part of this journey with us! Please continue to pray for the health and safety of our soon-to-be baby. Blessings, Anna

Parenting Class

Parenting Class:
Anna and I attended a parenting class at Children’s Home Society and Family Services on Saturday morning. This class was very general and was just two hours. In my case, it was good that it only covered the basics because I would have gotten lost very quickly if it was an advanced level course. I’ve never changed a diaper in my 31 years and I’m going to enjoy the next few months of keeping the streak alive. The class did give a basic overview of the diaper-changing process but we fortunately didn’t have to practice on a real live specimen. Also covered were nutrition guidelines, safety, sleep patterns, and illnesses.

Travel:
We don’t know when we will be traveling but we expect it will be within the next few months so we’ve begun thinking about that a little more. As long as we’re going to be in Africa, we think we should take advantage of the opportunity by seeing more of Ethiopia than just Addis Ababa. If we go early, we would probably just go 3 or 4 days early since we’ll be very anxious to get to the care center to meet our baby! One idea we’re considering is a trek in one of the national parks in the Simien or Bale Mountains. If anyone has been to Ethiopia, we’d love to hear your recommendations for where to go or what to do. Here are a couple of tourism / travel links:
http://www.ethiopiatourism.com/
http://www.ethiopiaemb.org.cn/tourism1.htm

It’s not my room anymore!
I’m still getting accustomed to what used to be my office now being the nursery. Anna’s done a great job of reorganizing the closets to make everything fit with one less room. However, I still find myself walking into the wrong room when I’m getting dressed in the morning.

Thanks for reading,
Grant

Sammy and sister

Sammy and three-year old sister, Bernadette

Grant and I spent the afternoon with a wonderful family who has recently adopted a son, Emanuel Samson, from Ethiopia. They have five children by birth and five adopted children. I think we got to meet all ten, but I may have lost track! Mom and the oldest daughter traveled in January to pick up Sammy so we were able to gain their insight regarding travel and many other things to expect while we’re in Addis.

We also got to see video of the Children’s Home Society Care Center in Addis! The children were beautiful, the care center was clean, the cribs were new with nice bedding. It was definitely reassuring to know that our child could at this very moment, be well taken care of in such a nice setting.

Thanks again for being part of this journey with us! – Anna

Washington Post article

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post yesterday about Ethiopia. It doesn't mention orphans or adoption, but it does describe present day Ethiopia and looks back at Ethiopia's rich history.

The article can be found at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18935-2005Apr1.html

Naming

Occasionally we are asked about names and what our plans are for naming our child. Traditionally, the names given to Ethiopian children are significant and are given several days after the child is born so the parents can choose the most fitting name based on things such as the baby's personality or appearance. We would like to honor our child’s birth family by somehow incorporating our child’s given name into their full name.

If our child’s given name is easy to pronounce and wouldn’t be too difficult to live with in the US, we may consider keeping their given name as their first name. If it is more difficult to pronounce, we would consider moving their given name to their middle name. We would then select a new first name with ties to their Ethiopian heritage. When we ate dinner with my Ethiopian coworker and his girlfriend a few weeks ago we learned that biblical names are very common in Ethiopia.

If interested, Anna pulled off a handful of traditional Ethiopian names and their meanings off of this website: http://www.20000-names.com/male_african_names_02.htm. There are a lot here, but it may give you an idea of the significance of people’s names in Ethiopia. Here is another link with a shorter list and just Ethiopian names: http://www.ethiotrans.com/ethiopian_names.htm.

Note: Amharic is the primary language spoken in Ethiopia.

Female Name
ABEBA: Ethiopian female name meaning "flower."
ADINA: Amharic of Ethiopia word sometimes used as a female name, meaning "she has saved."
ALITASH: Amharic of Ethiopia female name meaning "may I not lose you, may I find you always my precious." May be shortened to Tash.
AMARA: In the legends of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) Amara is the name for paradise. Also, "amara" is a Kiswahili word meaning "urgent business."
AYANA: Ethiopian female name meaning "beautiful flower."
AZMERA: Male and female name in both Amharic and Tigrinya languages of Ethiopia. It means "harvest."
BERHANE: Female and male name in the Amharic and Tigrinya languages of Ethiopia which means "my light."
DESTA: Amharic of Ethiopia unisexual name meaning "joy, happiness."
FANA: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "light."
KIFLE: Ethiopian name meaning "my class."
LISHAN: Amharic name meaning "award, medal."
MAKDA: Ethiopian version of Hebrew Magda, meaning "high tower" or "woman of Magdala."
MISRAK: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "east."
NISHAN: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "award, medal."
SEBLE WENGEL: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "harvest of the New Testament."
SELAM: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia unisexual name meaning "peace."
SISAY: Amharic of Ethiopia unisexual name meaning "omen of good things, a blessing."
TERU: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "good." This name is most often used in combination with other names, as in TERUWORQ, which means "good gold."
WAGAYE: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "my sense of value" or "my price."
WUB: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "gorgeous, beautiful."
YESHI: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "for a thousand."
ZENA: Ethiopian name meaning "news" or "fame."

Male Names
ABEBE: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "he has flowered/flourished/grown."
AFEWORK: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "one who speaks only of pleasant things; one who does not speak of bad or evil things."
AMAN: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "peace." It is often used as a nickname.
AMARE: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "he is good looking."
BEKELE: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "he has grown; he has come into being."
BERTA: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "be strong, be vigilant, persevere."
DANIACHEW: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "you be their judge, arbitrate between them."
DAWIT: Ethiopian name referring to the biblical David, meaning "beloved."
HAGOS: Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "joy, happiness."
ISKINDER: Amharic of Ethiopia version of Greek name Alexander meaning "defender of mankind."
KALEB: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name referring to the biblical Cain.
KELILE: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "my protector, my gate."
LEBNA: Ethiopian name meaning "heart" or "soul."
LEMA: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "cultivated, developed."
MARKOS: Ethiopian name referring to the biblical disciple, Mark.
MELESSE: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "he has returned something."
MENELIK: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "son of the wise man" or "what will he send?"
MIRUTS: Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "he who has been chosen."
NEGUS: Northern Ethiopian name and royal title meaning "king, emperor."
RETTA: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "he has triumphed, he has won."
TEFERI: Amharic and Tigrinya of Ethiopia name meaning "one who is ferocious, one who is feared by his rivals."
TEGENE: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "my protector."
TESSEMA: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "he has been heard, people listen to him."
TEWODROS: Ethiopian version of Greek Theodore, meaning "gift of god."
ZERE: Amharic of Ethiopia name meaning "the seed of, the descendent of."