What Does the Future Hold for Ethiopian Orphans?
17 April, 2011 | By Meron Tekleberhan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
years peaking last year at approximately 2500 last year. However,
in spite of unflagging interest from Western adoptive parents in
Ethiopian orphans, these numbers are expected to be relatively
lower this year. This will be primarily due to the new directive from
the Ethiopian government ministry responsible for Inter-country
adoption, The Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs.
This Ministry took the initiative to reduce the numbers of children
being adopted internationally by as much as 90% to weed out
alleged abuses in the procedures of some adoption agencies and
orphans. Allegedly children with living parents have been
fraudulently put up for adoption by unscrupulous operators. Such
illegality and bad incidences of human trafficking have beset
adoption in Asia and other African countries.
This directive was met with mixed emotions. Some who resent the
increasing numbers of children leaving our borders applauded the
government for taking the stand. One such an advocate is Ato
Tewdros, who bristles with nationalistic sentiment.
“I get angry when I see infants being torn away from their homeland
and their people before they can appreciate any of it. I understand
the reality of our national poverty and the social effects of
HIV/AIDS. But I still believe that there is something we can do as a
nation to keep our children from being raised in a foreign society to
which they will be always alien to some degree.”
Ato Adane,* who formerly worked for an orphanage that catered
to children awaiting International adoptions agrees that there should
be stricter government control of International adoptions but for
very different reasons. He feels that the huge sums of money that
exchange hands over each adoption have resulted in greed amongst
all parties involved; adopting agencies and orphanages.
“I worked for a faith based orphanage for three years. I was in
charge of creating profiles for each child, from which the agencies
worked. My boss, who was also one of the founders of the
orphanage, told me that Americans paid close to $20,000 for each
child. The way he described this sum and the cut the orphanage got
made me uncomfortable from the beginning. I felt that it was wrong
to discuss the children as items for sale. I was also concerned
because it didn’t seem the children were cared for properly. I knew
that the agencies we worked with contributed more than 80,000
Ethiopian Birr a month for their care but there were days when the
cook was unable to prepare dinner because the food had run out.
Please understand that I cannot corroborate any claims of financial
wrongdoing by the management because I was never in charge of
that side of things. I’m just stating my observations.”
Ato Adane is worried that the delays that will be cause by the
recent government directive will cause children to stay longer and
longer in institutions. “I fully support the government controlling
illegal operators but it is also a sad thing that children are being
forced to stay in orphanages for longer periods of time. The
government needs to make sure that children in orphanages are
properly taken care of. This is especially going to be a concern if
funds from adoption agencies dwindle with decreasing numbers of
adoptions overall.”
Ato Thomas* currently working with one of the few internationally
licensed adopting agencies working in Addis feels that the move by
the Ethiopian government to decrease the number of international
adoptions to such a dramatic degree was rash and unnecessary.
“There may be some illegalities with small local operators attempting
to facilitate private adoptions. This, however, is not the case with
international agencies that have global reputations to protect. Our
agency for example is licensed in the United States. It rigorously
adheres to the laws and regulations of that nation as well as the laws
of the countries it operates in. It is hard to imagine that agencies with
such extensive worldwide experience can resort to fraudulent
practices in this particular case”
There is an increasing emphasis on local adoptions, as an alternative
to international adoptions, being made by the national media and
local NGOs. Most Ethiopian cultures don’t have a tradition of
formal adoption although that there are suggestions that such
practices existed with the Oromo people from antiquity. Although
many people take in and raise orphaned or impoverished relatives
there are usually clearly marked boundaries. These children could
be well-cared for or treated as unpaid house help, but they are
rarely recognized as official members of the family.
Such tendencies of bias in favor of biological children still make
people wary about adoption. This is especially the case for children
who are absolute strangers as those who are up for adoption in the
orphanages are bound to be.
W/zo Maeza, married mother of two, cringes at the thought of
adopting a child, expressing opinions that are shared by many other
Ethiopians.
“I think I’m being honest when I say that I don’t think I can treat an
adopted child the same way I do my own. I have a blood bond with
my own that was formed in the womb. I understand that someone
has to take care of the very many orphans in our country but I think
it would be better if infertile people adopted instead of those who
already have families disrupting their life.”
W/zo Martha and Ato Yohannes, who adopted one toddler and an
older child after years of battling infertility, are saddened by this
attitude.
“We were made to feel shame for our inability to conceive. We
almost isolated ourselves from the society because we hated to hear
the incessant questions and useless pieces of advice. We were
haunted by pitying looks and some people even felt that our
marriage was doomed to break up over this. When we finally
decided to adopt our two children from their sole guardian, an
elderly grandmother, we were ecstatic. We fell in love and bonded
with them almost overnight, they were as love-starved as we were.
We didn’t even consider the social consequences.
But almost all our relatives thought that our desire to take in strange
children was a symptom of our desperation. They cautioned that
strangers can never be blood and flesh and that we should always
keep that in mind. We’ve cut all connection with some of our first
cousins because they insisted on treating our children as little
beggars, one even went as far as to order our older child around.
There have, however been some friends who have been incredibly
supportive and enlightened about the whole thing.”
With local adoption still in its infancy and international adoption
expected to take a hit, someone should be asking what is to happen
to the millions of Ethiopian Orphans.
___________________________________
Meron Tekleberhan is Addis Ababa based reporter for Ezega.com.
Courtesy
17 April, 2011 | By Meron Tekleberhan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Judging from the large
numbers of American and
European adoptive parents
and their Ethiopian children
on the streets of Addis
Ababa it is no surprise that
Ethiopia is one of the most
popular adoption
destinations in the world.
years peaking last year at approximately 2500 last year. However,
in spite of unflagging interest from Western adoptive parents in
Ethiopian orphans, these numbers are expected to be relatively
lower this year. This will be primarily due to the new directive from
the Ethiopian government ministry responsible for Inter-country
adoption, The Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs.
This Ministry took the initiative to reduce the numbers of children
being adopted internationally by as much as 90% to weed out
alleged abuses in the procedures of some adoption agencies and
orphans. Allegedly children with living parents have been
fraudulently put up for adoption by unscrupulous operators. Such
illegality and bad incidences of human trafficking have beset
adoption in Asia and other African countries.
This directive was met with mixed emotions. Some who resent the
increasing numbers of children leaving our borders applauded the
government for taking the stand. One such an advocate is Ato
Tewdros, who bristles with nationalistic sentiment.
“I get angry when I see infants being torn away from their homeland
and their people before they can appreciate any of it. I understand
the reality of our national poverty and the social effects of
HIV/AIDS. But I still believe that there is something we can do as a
nation to keep our children from being raised in a foreign society to
which they will be always alien to some degree.”
Ato Adane,* who formerly worked for an orphanage that catered
to children awaiting International adoptions agrees that there should
be stricter government control of International adoptions but for
very different reasons. He feels that the huge sums of money that
exchange hands over each adoption have resulted in greed amongst
all parties involved; adopting agencies and orphanages.
“I worked for a faith based orphanage for three years. I was in
charge of creating profiles for each child, from which the agencies
worked. My boss, who was also one of the founders of the
orphanage, told me that Americans paid close to $20,000 for each
child. The way he described this sum and the cut the orphanage got
made me uncomfortable from the beginning. I felt that it was wrong
to discuss the children as items for sale. I was also concerned
because it didn’t seem the children were cared for properly. I knew
that the agencies we worked with contributed more than 80,000
Ethiopian Birr a month for their care but there were days when the
cook was unable to prepare dinner because the food had run out.
Please understand that I cannot corroborate any claims of financial
wrongdoing by the management because I was never in charge of
that side of things. I’m just stating my observations.”
Ato Adane is worried that the delays that will be cause by the
recent government directive will cause children to stay longer and
longer in institutions. “I fully support the government controlling
illegal operators but it is also a sad thing that children are being
forced to stay in orphanages for longer periods of time. The
government needs to make sure that children in orphanages are
properly taken care of. This is especially going to be a concern if
funds from adoption agencies dwindle with decreasing numbers of
adoptions overall.”
Ato Thomas* currently working with one of the few internationally
licensed adopting agencies working in Addis feels that the move by
the Ethiopian government to decrease the number of international
adoptions to such a dramatic degree was rash and unnecessary.
“There may be some illegalities with small local operators attempting
to facilitate private adoptions. This, however, is not the case with
international agencies that have global reputations to protect. Our
agency for example is licensed in the United States. It rigorously
adheres to the laws and regulations of that nation as well as the laws
of the countries it operates in. It is hard to imagine that agencies with
such extensive worldwide experience can resort to fraudulent
practices in this particular case”
There is an increasing emphasis on local adoptions, as an alternative
to international adoptions, being made by the national media and
local NGOs. Most Ethiopian cultures don’t have a tradition of
formal adoption although that there are suggestions that such
practices existed with the Oromo people from antiquity. Although
many people take in and raise orphaned or impoverished relatives
there are usually clearly marked boundaries. These children could
be well-cared for or treated as unpaid house help, but they are
rarely recognized as official members of the family.
Such tendencies of bias in favor of biological children still make
people wary about adoption. This is especially the case for children
who are absolute strangers as those who are up for adoption in the
orphanages are bound to be.
W/zo Maeza, married mother of two, cringes at the thought of
adopting a child, expressing opinions that are shared by many other
Ethiopians.
“I think I’m being honest when I say that I don’t think I can treat an
adopted child the same way I do my own. I have a blood bond with
my own that was formed in the womb. I understand that someone
has to take care of the very many orphans in our country but I think
it would be better if infertile people adopted instead of those who
already have families disrupting their life.”
W/zo Martha and Ato Yohannes, who adopted one toddler and an
older child after years of battling infertility, are saddened by this
attitude.
“We were made to feel shame for our inability to conceive. We
almost isolated ourselves from the society because we hated to hear
the incessant questions and useless pieces of advice. We were
haunted by pitying looks and some people even felt that our
marriage was doomed to break up over this. When we finally
decided to adopt our two children from their sole guardian, an
elderly grandmother, we were ecstatic. We fell in love and bonded
with them almost overnight, they were as love-starved as we were.
We didn’t even consider the social consequences.
But almost all our relatives thought that our desire to take in strange
children was a symptom of our desperation. They cautioned that
strangers can never be blood and flesh and that we should always
keep that in mind. We’ve cut all connection with some of our first
cousins because they insisted on treating our children as little
beggars, one even went as far as to order our older child around.
There have, however been some friends who have been incredibly
supportive and enlightened about the whole thing.”
With local adoption still in its infancy and international adoption
expected to take a hit, someone should be asking what is to happen
to the millions of Ethiopian Orphans.
___________________________________
Meron Tekleberhan is Addis Ababa based reporter for Ezega.com.
Courtesy
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