Family Journeys Cultural Camp 2011

Registration is now OPEN!!

Date: August 8 to August 12th

3 to 6 year olds: 9am to 12:30

7 to 12 year olds: 1 to 4:40

Activities available for children over 12

About Camp:

We have outstanding Ethiopian teachers who will lead camp this year.

Activities include: Ethiopian language, dance, games, haircare, cooking, even a coffee ceremony!

Each child will receive an authentic Ethiopian outfit (*Must be registered by July 15)

A perfect opportunity for your children to meet friends and siblings with similar experiences!

To Register:

Email Liz at FJCC@adoptioninternational.net

All children must be registered by July 15th. Sign up now to reserve your space!!

We can't wait to see you!!

IAN's New Care Center

In early May, IAN kids (and their playground equipment!) were moved to a new spacious care center in Addis Ababa. The previous care center could accommodate about 25 children and the new place has space for about 35-40 kids.

Below are some shots of the exterior:

The infant room is behind the balcony (in the center of this photo).

Here is a shot of the balcony where the kids eat lunch on the tables and chairs.

The classroom is the door you see on the balcony, to the right of the slide. Underneath is a garage area that the kids like to play in because it is cool.

The toddlers/preschoolers sleep in the green building (located to the left of the building shown above).

Laundry, laundry and more...laundry!

Large cheery play yard in the front.

Additional play equipment for the kids.

Thanks to the recently traveled family for providing these photos!

Upcoming summer fun...

Family Journeys Camp is hosted by IAN but open to all families regardless of agency. It is a week long camp (August 2-6, 2010) for kids 3-18 years old adopted from Ethiopia and their parents and siblings. The schedule has just been posted and includes music and dance, crafts and Amharic, cooking and hair styling, adjustment and incorporating Ethiopian culture into daily American life. It is guaranteed to be a rewarding experience...and registration is a steal. See the links below to find out more:

Click here for the camp schedule.

Click here for further details and to register.

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Also a quick note to save the date...the 2010 IAN families picnic will be held in Centennial, CO the day after the Family Journeys Camp on Sunday, August 8. As more info becomes available it will be on the News and Updates blog.

Thanks!

Family Journeys Cultural Camp

International Adoption Net (IAN) is hosting it's first ever cultural camp, Family Journeys. It will take place August 2-6, 2010 in Centennial, CO. Read below for more details:

Celebrate our children’s heritage by joining us for our first annual summer camp for families of Ethiopia adoption. This week long camp will focus on cultural adjustment and support for youth ages 3-18 as well as parents and siblings.

This is a great opportunity for families and youth to hear about others adoption journeys, challenges and rewards. The camp is open to all families.

Who:	All families and youth of Ethiopian adoption
Where:	Joyous Chinese Cultural Center
	6940 S. Holly Circle, Centennial, CO 80122
	Map
When:	Monday thru Friday. August 2 - 6, 2010 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Cost:	$100 for first child, $50 for each additional child.

Activities will include:

• Ethiopian arts classes including dance, drumming and mask making

• Ethiopian cooking classes

• Amharic language classes

• Hair styling including a hair braiding demonstration by Mona Lisa salon

• Ethiopian games and activities

• Mommy/Daddy and me class

• Adjustment groups and lessons for children, teens and parents

• How to incorporate Ethiopian culture into American life

• Ethiopian celebration!!

• Guest speakers: To Be Announced.

If you would like to join us, please click on the “Camp Pre-Registration” button .

We hope to see you all soon!

For more information, contact Liz Bogetveit at International Adoption Net:

303-691-0808

or

elizabeth@adoptioninternational.net

Sele Enat

From seleenat.com:

Sele Enat Mahber is a combination of three Amharic words whose rough rendering is thus: ‘Sele’ means ‘in place of’; ‘Enat’ means ‘mother’ and ‘mahber’ means ‘association or society’. Sele Enat Mahber is therefore a society that works as a mother for the orphans and vulnerable children.

Sele Enat Mahber is a legally registered association under the country’s law by the Ministry of Justice, under registration number 896, on 3 August 2002. It is a humanitarian, non-profit making, local NGO initiated by an expatriate and a native humanitarian for the good cause of mitigating the suffering of single mothers and orphans.

VISION
To see a society wherein orphans and vulnerable children get their daily necessities, love and care, and be free from misery and hunger.

MISSION
To alleviate the unbearable suffering and heartbreaking life loss of orphans and vulnerable children by providing them with their basic needs while keeping them in the community (within their extended family kins), and by processing for adoption at home and abroad for those who do not have close family kins. (The latter will be kept in an orphanage for a while).
To build the economic capacity of single mothers by providing financial support for income generating schemes (IGS) through pity loans and counseling on small trades so that they will be able to keep their children on having a decent life.

TRACK RECORD
At its fledgling stage in 2003 SEM started assisting 8 promising students (per year) of Jima University (JU) by providing them with pocket money to sustain their stay in the university and pursue their study up to graduation. Consequently, SEM has been able to witness the graduation of 2 medical doctors. (3rd round)

Out of a limited fund obtained from the Swiss partners, SEM has been able to materialize the provision of seed money (by way of loan) for 40 single mothers to enable them to be economically self reliant by engaging themselves in small income generating activities. 80 mothers already trained (20 per year)

Subsequently in 2004 SEM has also been able to attract other donors such as the Diplomats’ Wives in Ethiopia, who donated a total sum of birr 102,000 Birr (12,000 USD) to support 20 more mothers in a similar scheme. The Swiss donation revolved for additional 20 single mothers and so do we hope the Diplomats’ Wives donation to revolve for similar more beneficiaries.

So far, in general, SEM has enabled 60 single mothers to be self-reliant. Additional 60 single mothers already took loans in the same scheme.

Photos of Sele Enat from IAN families:

IAN Feedback Request

In case you missed it on the IAN Yahoo group forum or the News and Updates blog, IAN is asking for feedback regarding your experience with them. Please read this post for more details.

Additionally, if you are member of either the EthiopiaAAR or EthiopiaAdopt Yahoo groups there are places within those sites that you can leave comments regarding your experience(s) with IAN. Within EthiopiaAAR, you can add a record to the database called "Rate Your Agency." There is currently only one family's experience with IAN. Within EthiopiaAdopt you can add your information to the database called "Agency information." Currently there are 4 families that are available for private contact who have used IAN.

Thank you!

IAN - Team Ethiopia

The other day I was speaking with Courtney, at IAN, and I started to think about the important part she is playing in my life and how little I know about this person , who is literally the gateway to my child. I know it is her job to have access to the deepest, darkest secrets within my home study, but somehow it doesn't seem fair that I only know her by her voice and the 10pt Arial font of her email. I know there are a number of us, in states outside of CO, who will never have the opportunity to meet our IAN representative. So, after much coaxing, I was able to obtain these photos of the IAN Ethiopian staff. I hope everyone enjoys getting a glimpse of the person on the other end of the phone line.


BTW....as a special treat Gabre, the beautiful daughter of Leah Reeves (IAN's Texas Adoption Coordinator) is included in these photos, along with Leah's handsome husband, Scott.



Top Photo: Courtney, Scott, Leah, Gabre, and Aneata.
Bottom Photo: Gabre and Joan

Welcome to the IAN family blog!!

This blog was created to connect families who are united through IAN (International Adoption Net) and the children of Ethiopia. This blog is not written or managed by IAN staff; it is the idea, and creation, of a few families going through the adoption process. Our hope is to provide a fun environment for families to share their stories and, of course, to provide photos of their beautiful children.

We invite all IAN families to participate in this blog. Please leave a comment if you have any questions, concerns or content ideas and we will get back to you.

Enjoy!!!