Why Ethiopia?

I imagine people wonder how adoptive parents choose how they are going to adopt: domestically (privately or through foster care) or internationally.  When Brad and I first felt called to adoption, we pursued adopting a waiting child in the foster care system.  Every system has its pros and cons, but after we'd been licensed about a year, I started feeling a call towards international.  We knew a few people who had adopted internationally or were in the process.  Honestly, we thought adopting through the state would be quickest way to get our newest family member, but we started realizing that isn't necessarily the case.  We were truly touched by the foster children we were blessed to have in our home and our experiences have helped equip us for our upcoming adoption, but we also felt like one door after another closed for us in terms of finding a child through the foster system.  We started praying more about God's will for our family and still felt our call was to adopt.  Once we settled on international adoption, it was time to decide where.  After praying and researching our options (every country has different requirements), we decided Ethiopia was our call.  While we are still learning about Ethiopia and the people and culture, it is heartbreaking and startling how desperate the circumstances are there, especially for the least of these: the orphaned children.

According to a survey by UNICEF in 2011 (most of these numbers have shown great improvement in the past 10+ years):

• 1/11 children die before age 5
• 90% of the population doesn't treat their drinking water and in rural areas, 98.3% don't have access to drinking water on the premises, with over 62% having to travel 30 minutes or more to get water
• 95.2% in rural areas have no electricity
• 47% of the population is under 15 years old
• 19% of households have foster children and 12% have orphans (lost one or both parents)
• 52% of females and 38% of males NEVER went to school
• Literacy rates: 38% of females and 65% of males
• 27% of children aged 5-14 have been involved in child labor and <2% were paid
• Median age of 1st marriage: 16.5 years old for females and 23.1 years old for males
• Women average 4.8 births
• 77% of married women have the potential for a high risk birth
• Only 34% of women received prenatal care; 10% of births are delivered by a skilled provider
• 21% of newborns were classified as "very small" and 9% as "small" (only 5% are weighed)
• Just 24% of children 12-23 months old are fully vaccinated
• In children under age 5, 44% are stunted (too short for age), 10% are wasted (too thin for height) and 29% are underweight (too thin for age)
• 4.6 million children have lost one or both birth parents (total population is 73.8 million)

So if you were wondering why Ethiopia, I would ask, why not?

Psalm 68:5-6 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families. . .