Hi All,
Last note for tonight. We were able to share dinner with two other America World families tonight. The meal was Ethiopian and fantastic. The service was great. You should all come out to visit :). Thanks to Melissa for planning it. Thanks to Chris and Lee for bringing their gifts from Ethiopia along. It was a joyful and energy filled night.
God bless to all!
Mari
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Easier to Read Statistics on Ethiopia
Ethiopia:
Located in northeast Africa, Ethiopia is a mountainous civilization, except for the desert lowlands. A saying exists in Ethiopia: “All of our waste water runs to our enemies,” due to the fact all rivers flow out of the country. The country of Ethiopia is located in Africa, just north of the equator.
It’s a land long forgotten by the modern times, with most of the country living 2,000 years behind the developed world. People still rely on wood bottom plows drawn by oxen or simply work the ground by hand. Much of the country still hunt and forage for their survival. The lack of development, communism and civil unrest has reeked havoc over the past 40 years.
Poverty and destitution prevail throughout most of the country with average income of about $100 per year. The average person either grows it, makes it... or just doesn’t have it.
Only in the past decade has Ethiopia started developing a free market, but a war damaged infrastructure, drought and famine still plague the country as evidenced by the following
statistics: Ethiopia* USA*
Illiteracy Rate 65% <1%
Life Expectancy 42 years 77 years
Infant Mortality Rate (at birth) 10.7% <1%
GNP per capita $110 $29,080
Our adoption agency: http://awaa.org/programs/ethiopia/
Now good night... for real :)
Located in northeast Africa, Ethiopia is a mountainous civilization, except for the desert lowlands. A saying exists in Ethiopia: “All of our waste water runs to our enemies,” due to the fact all rivers flow out of the country. The country of Ethiopia is located in Africa, just north of the equator.
It’s a land long forgotten by the modern times, with most of the country living 2,000 years behind the developed world. People still rely on wood bottom plows drawn by oxen or simply work the ground by hand. Much of the country still hunt and forage for their survival. The lack of development, communism and civil unrest has reeked havoc over the past 40 years.
Poverty and destitution prevail throughout most of the country with average income of about $100 per year. The average person either grows it, makes it... or just doesn’t have it.
Only in the past decade has Ethiopia started developing a free market, but a war damaged infrastructure, drought and famine still plague the country as evidenced by the following
statistics: Ethiopia* USA*
Illiteracy Rate 65% <1%
Life Expectancy 42 years 77 years
Infant Mortality Rate (at birth) 10.7% <1%
GNP per capita $110 $29,080
Our adoption agency: http://awaa.org/programs/ethiopia/
Now good night... for real :)
CIA - Ethiopia and Where This Country Stands Now...
As of August 7, 2008
Population: 78,254,090 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)Median age: 18.1 years
Population growth rate: 2.231% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: 36.8 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: 14.49 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: NA note: repatriation of Ethiopian refugees residing in Sudan is expected to continue for several years; some Sudanese, Somali, and Eritrean refugees, who fled to Ethiopia from the fighting or famine in their own countries, continue to return to their homes (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 90.24 deaths/1,000
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49.43 years
Total fertility rate: 4.99 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 4.4% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.5 million (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 120,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis animal contact disease: rabies water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)
Nationality:
Ethnic groups: Oromo 32.1%, Amara 30.1%, Tigraway 6.2%, Somalie 5.9%, Guragie 4.3%, Sidama 3.5%, Welaita 2.4%, other 15.4% (1994 census)
Religions: Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census) Languages: Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 42.7% male: 50.3% female: 35.1% (2003 est.)
Economy - overview: Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for almost half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $350 million in 2006, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in December 2005 the IMF voted to forgive Ethiopia's debt to the body. Under Ethiopia's constitution, the state owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 3.3% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather patterns helped agricultural and GDP growth recover during 2004-07.
Agriculture - products: cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement
(as taken tonight from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html#People)
God bless all. Remember to pray for those in Ethiopia and to thank God for His generocity towards us in America.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Our process...
February 2003 - God calls our heart to adoption through a preacher on Moody's Founders Week
October 2003 - Pregnant with Malachi, we put adoption on hold.
July 9, 2004 - Malachi is born!!
February 2006 - God directs us toward adoption again. After Kent suggests that I listen to a discussion from Family Life regarding adoption. That night I went from being willing to wait a long time, to being so excited about our opportunity to adopt. I spent 2 hours that night looking for countries where we could adopt a black child from. We settled on Ethiopia as the need was great and the politics were not as difficult.
April 2006: First Conference from AWAA and ECFA for our international agency and local social worker.
July 2007: Home Study completed
November 2007: Home Assessment completed after some construction.
December 2007: Home Study sent to the Homeland Security Bureau for approval.
February 11, 2008: Mari celebrates her 33rd birthday
February 20, 2008: Kent celebrates his 37th birthday
March 1, 2008: Josiah celebrates his 6th birthday
March 2008: Homeland Security ok's our documents and the Dossier paperchase begins in earnest.
April 4, 2008: Caleb celebrates his 8th birthday
May 17, 2008: Kent graduates after 11 years taking seminary classes, MDIV
July 9, 2008: Malachi celebrates his 4th birthday
July 2007: After over 150 copies of different documents, we are ready to send our paperwork to AWAA for authentification from the US.
08/08/2008: Our documents are sent to Ethiopia! DTE baby!
I can't imagine what another year will bring!
God bless,
Mari Jaeger
October 2003 - Pregnant with Malachi, we put adoption on hold.
July 9, 2004 - Malachi is born!!
February 2006 - God directs us toward adoption again. After Kent suggests that I listen to a discussion from Family Life regarding adoption. That night I went from being willing to wait a long time, to being so excited about our opportunity to adopt. I spent 2 hours that night looking for countries where we could adopt a black child from. We settled on Ethiopia as the need was great and the politics were not as difficult.
April 2006: First Conference from AWAA and ECFA for our international agency and local social worker.
July 2007: Home Study completed
November 2007: Home Assessment completed after some construction.
December 2007: Home Study sent to the Homeland Security Bureau for approval.
February 11, 2008: Mari celebrates her 33rd birthday
February 20, 2008: Kent celebrates his 37th birthday
March 1, 2008: Josiah celebrates his 6th birthday
March 2008: Homeland Security ok's our documents and the Dossier paperchase begins in earnest.
April 4, 2008: Caleb celebrates his 8th birthday
May 17, 2008: Kent graduates after 11 years taking seminary classes, MDIV
July 9, 2008: Malachi celebrates his 4th birthday
July 2007: After over 150 copies of different documents, we are ready to send our paperwork to AWAA for authentification from the US.
08/08/2008: Our documents are sent to Ethiopia! DTE baby!
I can't imagine what another year will bring!
God bless,
Mari Jaeger
Tic Tock
Timing:
We can expect less than 10 months to wait for our referral. Then we can expect two months after to travel to Ethiopia for our little ones. We are hoping for two children if they are available.
We can expect less than 10 months to wait for our referral. Then we can expect two months after to travel to Ethiopia for our little ones. We are hoping for two children if they are available.
08/08/08 !!!
This is not just the date that the olympics start! It is also the date that we got our DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia). We are so thrilled!! God is so good, and as I am a lover of fun numbers, I think this treat was just for me. Thanks for continuing to pray for Ethiopia and their children.
God bless,
Mari
God bless,
Mari
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