Praising......Still Waiting.....but all the more....PRAISING!

I HEARD FROM OUR AGENCY TODAY!!!  Thank you, Lord!  I prayed that I would hear this week and that it would be a good time for me and the girls......I was driving so it was perfect!  Had a wonderful conversation with my case worker and my heart was uplifted.  I am so thankful for how hard these girls are working and how hard the agency is working to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.  In the conversation I also learned I had not been recieving any of the updates that the agency has been sending out.  Sooo....much is happening that I did not know.   My weeks would have been different had I been updated, but I know I would not have learned all that God has taught me so I am thankful!  Nothing is concrete or confiirmed but here are some updates so far:

Ethiopia – Update 3/14/11

Various blogs and listservs are reporting that the Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs has announced a revised plan which includes the processing of 20 adoption cases per day.  While Joint Council has also been provided with this information, it is our understanding that no decision has been made or announcement published by the Government of Ethiopia.

We believe that it is premature to speculate on the intentions of the Ministry but rather seek to continue to partner with the Government of Ethiopia and use this opportunity to increase child and family protections while continuing intercountry adoption.  Joint Council fully supports the government’s efforts to increase the capacity for regulatory oversight of service providers, strengthen the review of each adoption case and expand social services to Ethiopian children and families.

Dr. Jane Aronson Open Letter to Pres Clinton

Dr. Jane Aronson, Founder and CEO of Worldwide Orphans Foundation and Joint Council Board Member, has issued an “open letter” to former President Bill Clinton where she pressed for stronger diplomatic efforts to reverse the Ethiopian government’s recent decision to halt international adoption in the country.

Aronson urged President Clinton to step in as a U.S. statesman to help negotiate between the Ethiopian government and American adoption agencies and parents, as he helped to secure the release of young journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee from North Korea.
A strategic plan for the de-institutionalization of orphaned children and community building is required to ensure the care and well-being of millions of Ethiopian orphans, stressed Aronson. “The Ethiopian government’s concerns must be addressed, but so must the concerns of the waiting parents and most of all, of the children.”
She said WWO and other nongovernmental organizations were prepared to sit down with Ethiopian government officials and large international NGOs like Unicef to assist the government in providing concurrent planning to strengthen adoption and social welfare infrastructures and to fill in the gap to ensure transparency in the adoption process.

The full letter can be found by clicking here.

All for now!

Suzanne