Last Home Study Meeting

On Wednesday we will have our last home study meeting...our social worker will come to our home, meet our daughter, and just check things out. After that, she will write up the entire home study file on us. Once we have our approved home study, we can send in our USCIS (United States Custom and Immigration Services) paperwork saying that we are in the process of looking for a child to adopt in Ethiopia, and we can send in our dossier. What is a dossier? Here is the definition from the dictionary:
dos·si·er : a collection or file of documents on the same subject, esp. a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.

It is just all the paperwork that we have been gathering for the past months including our home study. We will send our dossier in to our agency and they will look over it and then it will be sent to the government. After it is approved, they will start looking for our daughter! We will keep you updated about how Wednesday goes. Thanks for all those prayers and encouraging words.

Here is a beautiful video from Sara Groves...you may need some tissues.

Home Study...Whew.

We just got home from our home study...it went really well and was much easier then I thought it would be. Things look good and we scheduled our last meeting for Oct. 3rd. After that, the home study will be written up and we will be on our way to the next step...the dossier.
For today, we are taking a deep breath and being excited that we are almost finished with this part of the process...yeah!!!

Home Study

We have our first home study meeting tomorrow morning. I am so excited and a bit nervous. Please be praying that our words, beliefs, goals, and values will be communicated clearly. I will update after our meetings!

Facts About Ethiopia

• At slightly less than twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas, Ethiopia is the 10th largest country in Africa. Landlocked Ethiopia sits in the part of northeastern Africa known as the Horn of Africa. It shares frontiers with the Sudan to the north and west, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the southeast, Kenya to the south, and since 1993, with Eritrea to the north.
• The vast highland plateau of Ethiopia forms the heart of the country and is divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs from north to south. The highlands, with sometimes erratic rainfall, have been the home of settled agriculture for many centuries. In the lower areas, tropical cereals, oil seeds, coffee and cotton are the dominant crops, while at the higher altitudes, temperate cereals, fruits and beans are produced.
• More than 80 percent of the population is engaged in agricultural activities which are largely dependent on timely and sufficient rains. Irrigated crops account for only a very small portion of the total agricultural production.
• Thirty-five percent of Ethiopia's total population over the age of 15 can read and write.
• Only 25 percent of Ethiopia's population have access to safe drinking water.
• Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest developing countries, with an annual per capita income of $100.
• With a population of more than 60 million people, Ethiopia has among the highest infant and maternal mortality rates and among the lowest life expectancy in the world (43 years).
• Sixteen percent of the population lives in urban areas.
• About 80 languages are spoken in Ethiopia. The official language is Amharic, but English, Arabic and Italian are used in commerce.
• Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world -- at least 2,000 years.

Statistics taken from www.care.org

There is No Me Without You

I read this book a few months ago when we were still going through the process of adopting from Zambia...this book takes place in Ethiopia. If you are looking for something to read, I highly recommend this book. You can also visit the website to read more about the author, see slide shows, and read excerpts from the book.

Thank you!

Thank you for everyone who visited our new blog....I have been busy researching our new country and am excited to share some information I found. Please continue to check back, I hope to be updating fairly often.

Information

Hello! We are the Dunn Family, Andy, Brittlee, and Blakeley. We are thrilled are very excited to be going through the process of adopting from Africa! We are excited to see where God takes us on this great adventure. We originally began adopting through Zambia, but we feel that it would be better for our family to prusue an other country (you can read our Zambia adoption blog at http://www.babyzambia.blogspot.com/). After much prayer and wisdom from those who have been there...we decided to continue our process in Ethiopia.
Why are we adopting? We believe that we are called by God to pursue adoption. There are so many children in the world that need and deserve a loving family. It was estimated that by 2010, there will be more than 25 million orphans in Afirca alone!!! We started talking about our interest in adopting before we were married! We have always been drawn to Africa. In 2003, Andy and I went to Kenya on a missions trip. We knew then, that Africa would always have a huge part in our lives.
What is this Blog for? This Blog was created so you can follow along in our adventure. We hope that you will add us in your prayers. We will post how the application process is going and any prayer requests we have.
What can I do to help? First of all, Pray! We are asking for prayers for a quick adoption process, prayers that the Lord will be preparing our hearts for this new adventure and prayers that our baby will be healthy. We would be happy to answer any other questions you have! Please email us at brittlee17@yahoo.com
Thank you !
The Dunn Family