It was really amazing to meet all the children in our House 2 House sponsorship program in Wonji and Adama… And to learn more about their communities and families. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and are inspired to sponsor a child too!  Read more…

Today we spent several hours at Faya Orphanage. Read about our meetings with the director, how the kids are doing and cared for, and see pictures of the lovely children! We also have an important question for sponsors… You can answer the poll on the vulnerablechildren site, or leave a comment here, since the comments aren’t working over there for some reason.

Read more… http://vulnerablechildren.ca/2012/05/02/faya-orphanage-in-adama-question-for-faya-child-sponsors

When we were visiting our House 2 House families in Guder, we also met with two women, the secretary and treasurer from the local Sunrise Women’s Enterprise Association.  … It was awesome to see such enthusiastic young women taking leadership in their community to change their lives! Read more!

Today we went shopping at the shiromet at the base of Entoto Mountain in Addis. We had lots of fun…But my mom still complained that I was a woman on a mission. I agreed! Not only did I have some shopping for the family to do, I also was buying lots of beautiful scarves, bracelets, hoodies, etc. for our Vulnerable Children fundraiser when we get home. T was also out shopping today, and she scored some roasted coffee beans to sell (to go along with the green beans I purchased in Nakemte. See a preview of our fundraiser sale here.)

The problem with traditional clothes is that they tend to (literally) fall apart at the seams. So today I was shopping with an eye for stitching.

I got two lovely dresses for my girls. Their others are falling apart, and they wear them several times a year. Spice, the white and black one is for you…just like mine! And Sugar, the yellow one is for you, it has the same stitching as your sister’s!

I also got a traditional outfit for a three year old boy… we still haven’t heard any news about our April matching meeting in Lesotho. But I thought it would be good for “the new guy” to have Ethiopian clothes when we go to parties, too.

I got a cool hoodie for myself…it’s a new style and it actually really suits me. I also got some bracelets. For Jrock I got the beginning of our coffee set. He wanted me to buy a traditional pot and these are the cups I chose to go with it. Cute, eh?

Lastly, I got two suits for the girls. They’re the latest traditional clothes style, and I thought they would e good for winter Ethiopian events. You girls can choose which on is for whom. They are the same except that they each have a different pattern on the stitching.

After shopping until we dropped (Thank you, thank you, Sintayehu, who negotiated for us and drove us around.) We tried to find my favourite tibs restaurant near the university. Well, I think we may have ended up in the wrong place, but it turned out that the sheep tibs (and I am NOT a mutton fan) were the second best meal I’ve had so far. Only second to the Nakemte Mate Resort omelettes. Tomorrow we have meetings and then we are off to Dukum to see my friend M’s family, and then on to Adama/Nazret. I can’t wait to see Meseret and the new Faya Orphanage digs!

Mom and I just had a restful night in Seattle and we are on our way
this morning to Ethiopia. In case you are wondering about the picture
above, that is the only way I can sleep in the same room with my mother!
And I thought you would find it amusing. T left a day before us,
routed through China. We are both reminiscing about our last trip to
Ethiopia together and how different this one is. We have four huge
checked bags full of donations – thank you to everybody who donated
medicine, toys, toothbrushes and shoes! And Tawnya had a huge bag as
well, including the laptop we scored for Faya Orphanage from BC Tree
Fruits.

I think all of us have different goals for this trip. T said
she’s looking forward to meeting all the people she’s been working with
over email for the last 2 years. Mom is looking forward to meeting the
kids and their guardians in the House 2 House program. As our update
lady, she knows all their faces, but she is looking forward to seeing
their smiles in person. She is also very interested to meet the
guardians of the kids… She says that they are the real heroes in our
program, taking care of vulnerable children who are often extended
family. Mom says they deserve our respect and she’s excited about
meeting them, especially the grandmother who takes care of the little
boy she sponsors. Of course we both have personal goals for the trip,
but that’s another story.

As for me, I think I’m really happy about meeting with our Ethiopian
partners and figuring out so many details that are hard to explain while
on the phone. I’m looking forward to meeting the government officials
and the folks at the HIV clinic who refer our families, checking in with
the families and seeing what their needs are, and really understanding
the whole system. We’re also doing exploratory work on this trip- we’ve
been thinking of starting other programs like micro finance and small
plot gardening, and I’m very interested in hearing from the families
what they think would be most beneficial to break them out of the
poverty cycle and enable them to care for their families self
sufficiently. The other goal for the trip is to work out kinks with our
updates and to figure out some more Vulnerable Children oversight and
engagement measures as our projects and activities continue to grow.
We’re considering hiring a (very) part time administrator in Ethiopia,
and have candidate interviews planned for next week.

Well, we’re now off to the airport. We should be arriving in Addis Ababa tomorrow.

Thanks for following along! Read more about Vulnerable Children

Nicky

Grandpa enjoys some injera

4 days to go?!?!? Where has the time gone? And I am SO not ready…

It’s the worst season of the whole year at work, I’m single-parenting for a month, we had 4 surprise dentist visits and a surprise $1500 brake job on the truck this week…. etc, etc… and I admit – I’ve been completely overwhelmed. So much that I had a good cry on the phone to my mom on Saturday. Then she saved the day by coming on the bus Sunday morning from Creston (and my dad came from Vancouver where he was working) and they helped me out for the last 2 days. Now I’m only 1 day behind, and not three!! thank goodness!!!

Tonight when I ran over to my friend M’s house to get her to stick me with my Twinrix shot (she’s a nurse) and pick up stuff for her family in Ethiopia, she surprised us with some supper for the night. Yeah! I may be swamped, but I am sure looking forward to the trip!!

Now enough “free time” – I’d better get back to work! Be sure to start visiting the Vulnerable Children Society blog on Sunday, as I’ll be blogging there throughout our trip!

Spice recuperating from the second of four dentist visits this week. That DOES mean 4 milkshakes, on the plus side.

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My permanent post in from of the computer, trying to get everything ready!!!

When Jrock and I were first deciding to adopt, we, as many adoption newbies, considered open adoption as a threat to our new family. We didn’t chose Ethiopia because of its distance away – but we definitely bought into the idea of orphaned children with no familial ties and only a vague possibility of living birth family. Of course, adoption is full of surprises, and our daughters have a vast contingent of living, breathing family members in Ethiopia… and we are so lucky and blessed to have an open adoption with our daughters’ Ethiopian family. What scared us as soon-to-be adoptive parents, now, is the greatest gift for our daughters: family and connections.

To many of our readers who know us offline, this isn’t exactly a shocker. But I rarely, if ever, have posted anything about our daughter’s family on this blog. So it may surprise you that I’m writing about preparing to meet with them next month, as I take a couple days aside out of my trip for Vulnerable Children.

Jrock and I have been very protective around our daughters’ connections and past history. We pretty much only share it with a small circle of family… our parents, siblings and two close friends, who for individual reasons, are excellent professional resources. For now, until the girls are much older and can understand the implications of what they share, their Ethiopian family’s details are part of our private family. However, I can certainly share about my process as an adoptive mom preparing for our upcoming visit.

We have what I call a mediated relationship – we don’t just call each other up on the phone. Of course there are language and technical barriers on the way. But we frequently send pictures and letters to the girls’ family, and we know that they get these updates on a regular basis. Occasionally we get pictures back but there is little information, and our girls need more. They are asking for more.

Jrock and I had a chance to meet with our daughters’ family a couple of times in Ethiopia three years ago. The meetings were awkward and wonderful and horrible all at the same time. Realistically, I should expect the same for this trip. But the optimist in me hopes differently. I hope that the family we’ve met before will recognize me and know that we’ve made good on our promises. I’m looking forward to them meeting my mom, as I think she automatically will be welcomed as an elder. My bags will be full of trinkets from Sugar and Spice for their extended young family members. We hope to capture pictures and videos of the family in action, and carry back tidbits of information that the girls ask about all the time. I hope we get some questions answered, and hope to bring lots of stories home. Most importantly, I hope to set up a mailbox and buy a bunch of stamps and envelopes so that they can receive and send letters and pictures to my girls, and our communication becomes easier.

We’re not starting from scratch, but I hope we can pick up a few pieces and find a few missing links.

I’m now trying to prepare for the trip (donations, vaccinations, etc.) but part of that preparation is getting the girls up to speed. I’m so excited myself, it’s hard not to get them revved up! but I also keep saying “IF we can meet so and so, I will ask…” “IF I meet so and so, I will give them these photos…” I don’t know if I’m managing to control their expectations or not. I hope so, but suspect not. We’re all too excited.

As for myself, it all will be a gift. The time with our Ethiopian family will be a gift I will live with my mom, covet in my heart, and share a million-fold with my girls and my husband. And hopefully soon, the girls will be able to go themselves and make those connections in person.

In the meanwhile, I have 10 photo albums to print, teeny gifts to buy with the girls, and adult gifts to puzzle over. (What can I bring from Canada that will be culturally appropriate, fit for a family visit, but not be construed as flaunting my wealth???)

I spent an hour the other day in Superstore worrying about skirt lengths and head scarves, wanting to make a favorable impression. Because, you see – these people, some of whom I have met, are my family too. Or, rather, I feel like they are my daughters’ family but I want them to be mine too. I want to be accepted like I am in my Canadian Ethiopian community… I want to “fit in.” I guess if I feel like I belong, then the pieces will align and all of us will belong together – not just our daughters belonging to us and our daughters belonging to them. But all of us – together.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

FAQ: I haven’t used any kind of birth family finding service, so I can’t help any of you with this. Because we traveled to Ethiopia during the bankruptcy, we met directly with our family and have direct connections still.

so this is dedication! I just had a tube put in my eardrum so I can fly to Ethiopia next month. All I can say is that it hurts. It’s not supposed to hurt, but it does. So I’m sitting in the parking lot trying to overcome my nausea so I can go home.

Why the tubes? Remember that ear infection at Christmas? Well my ear canal never relaxed and I’m almost guaranteed to get a rip roaring ear Infaction if I dOnt get a tube put in. So tubes in – another box checked off.

Ps: I’m going to Ethiopia for Vulnerable Children Society – read about my trip

me!!!

I’m super excited. I’m going on a whirlwind, jam-packed 2 week trip in the middle of April to check out all of our (Vulnerable Children Society’s) Programs and projects. I’ll also be meeting a couple of the children I sponsor, and meeting with directors of other NGOs working in Ethiopia.

And a super cool bonus…. On the spur of the moment, my mom has decided to come along with me. You may remember how, almOst three years ago, my mom up and got on a plane with me on 6 hours notice to pick up the girls. Heck – what are we going to do with a whole month to plan?!? Lol

I’m super excited , and will be sure to bring you all along for the ride. Hopefully you will stay tuned to see Vulnerable Children’s amazing work, and connect with some of the Ethiopian families in our programs. Stay tuned!

Folks – I am SO please to announce this! We’ve worked REALLY hard to get to where we are at, and I thank so many of you for sponsoring and donating over the past year and a half. If you have been waiting for Vulnerable Children to become a charity and start issuing tax receipts – the wait is over!!! Please consider making a donation or sponsoring a child today! ~ “Nicky”, aka President of Vulnerable Children Society

Reposted from: Vulnerable Children Society

Vulnerable Children Society is proud to announce that we are now a registered Canadian charity! This means that we are now able to offer tax receipts to our wonderful sponsors and donors.

For clarity on the difference between a non-profit society and a registered charity, click here.

Tax receipts will be offered for donations or sponsorships over $30 starting on March 1, 2012. As a small volunteer-run charity, we have decided to use CanadaHelps.org to facilitate our sponsorships and donations. This means a small increase in our internal administration costs, which we consider a very reasonable expense for the receipting service provided.

NOTE: Sponsorships and monthly donations must be made through CanadaHelps in order to receive tax receipts. We simply don’t have the people-power to keep track of all our monthly donations any other way. One-time donations over $30 received via “check in the mail” will receive a tax receipt on an annual basis.

Existing Sponsors

For existing sponsors, we are asking you to visit our CanadaHelps page (just click the link to the left!) to set up your current sponsorships on the new system.

Once we have received notice of your sponsorship set-up through CanadaHelps.org,  we will cancel your previous PayPal agreement.

Note: ONLY monthly sponsorships through CanadaHelps.org will receive tax receipts!!! The tax receipts come directly from CanadaHelps.

Instructions to set up your existing sponsorships on CanadaHelps:
#1 Click the box below

#2 Select “Repeating Donation”
#3 Add the amount of $35 for Community Child and Faya Child sponsorships, or $75 for Community Family sponsorships. You can only do ONE monthly payment to VCS through Canada Helps, so if you sponsor more than one child, please add the total of the sponsorship amounts together into one monthly amount.
#4 Add a start date of March 1, 2012 and an end date of “never.” Press continue.
#5 Complete your monthly donation. You will receive your tax receipts directly from CanadaHelps.

Note: Please click the button that shares your name, address and email with the charity, as we really want to know who you are and be able to send you updates on the child and newsletters!
Thanks so much!

We are SO grateful for your support to date, and so pleased that we can now offer you the benefit of tax receipts. Thanks a million times over!!! for your graciousness over the past year and a half.

New Sponsors / Donors

For new sponsors who have been waiting for Vulnerable Children Society to gain charitable status and be able to receive tax receipts, the wait is over! Please visit the following pages to learn about our amazing sponsorship and donation opportunities:

• Sponsor an Ethiopian child to survive and thrive in their own community, through the House 2 House program!
• Donate to Vulnerable Children Society, and enable amazing projects such as Faya Orphanage for HIV+/HIV- children, caregiver training, educational supplies for vulnerable rural Ethiopian children, food aid for drought relief, and much more!