Hello All, this is Nicky’s sister, Ena. I am posting for Nicky because, as you know from Jrock’s post, she is currently en route to Ethiopia with our Mum.

First of all, thank you to all for your heartfelt thoughts and prayers (atheist or otherwise ;~D ). They are very much appreciated. Nicky and Jrock’s family are all a little shell-shocked at the moment, to say the least. Just a few days ago we were celebrating finally getting through court, and thank goodness they did!

Nicky and Jrock are both holding up remarkably well. Those of you who know them know that Nicky’s first instinct was to leap to action…which is why she will be the first among many to arrive in Ethiopia to claim her daughters. Jrock is being…well, a rock! Where Nicky is action in the face of chaos, Jrock is the calm in the eye of her storm.

Secondly, the real reason I am posting. Nicky would probably articulate this much more clearly than I, but here we go…

As many of you will have seen, the first of many articles around the Imagine fiasco has hit the web: the Globe and Mail came out with it this morning. If you haven’t seen it, here is a link:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/adoption-agencys-bankruptcy-devastates-families/article1217223/

While the article speaks to the monetary loss that many couples are facing in the wake of Imagine’s bankruptcy announcement, it does little to speak to the emotional loss of those couples in the pre-referral and referral stages of adoption. Our hearts go out to all of you.

It also fails to speak to the situation that families that have passed court now find themselves in. Nicky is lucky, in many ways. She can stay in Ethiopia as long as is necessary for Sugar & Spice to get their citizenship documents. Obviously this isn’t preferable, as it is hard both financially and emotionally for everyone involved. Jrock doesn’t know when he will be able to meet his daughters, and Nicky is essentially going to be a single mom in a foreign country! But many families will risk losing jobs the longer they have to stay in Ethiopia, as well as dealing with the rest of this. And from what I understand, it isn’t just families adopting from Ethiopia that are affected, either.

While I know that many of you are as shell-shocked as we are, or dealing with the possibility of an incredible loss, I want to urge all of you to follow Nicky’s lead and take action. Please write to your MP, Canadian Immigration, and whoever else you can think of to urge the government to support these families by ensuring a speedy process for those who have been through court. We are asking that in the wake of this devastating announcement by Imagine, they issue emergency passports and visas to all of the children who have been through the court process.  This would allow families to minimize the long-term impacts, both financially and emotionally, of this chaotic time. I am also urging the government to put priority on these cases in the citizenship process in order to minimize the wait for families wishing to bring their children home and have this all put behind them.

These children are already vulnerable and have experienced great loss. Allow them to come home as quickly as possible to start building their new lives with their loving parents.