Monday, March 23, 2009

the good and the bad

Well, do you wanna hear the good or the 'bad' first?
Lets start with the good. We had a very busy and good weekend. We got to see some family that we don't see too often and it was a good time! Its a shame that our lives get so busy. I need to remind myself that we need to take more time with the ones that we love - and not worry if our house is spotless or if we have a gourmet meal to offer - just do it!!! Had a great time and hope we can do it again soon!!
Now for the bad. I wasn't going to write about this ... but thought i better. On Friday night the CBC "National" ran a story on Ethiopian adoption. We knew it was coming - got some warning from our agency which is Imagine Adoption. However, we really didn't know what exactly the story would be about. I am not so computer savvy and don't know how to give you a link-but if you go on the CBC site and search for Ethiopian Adoption or CAFAC - you will probably find it. Basically its allegations of fraud in certain Ethiopian adoptions, dealing with one particular agency(NOT the one we are with). Its very upsetting to me. I have 100% faith in our agency and trust that we will not have to deal with such a situation as the families in this story did. i am not going to say much more about it - i believe it was fairly one sided - but anyway. What is scary is the impact this story could have on our and other people's adoption. The focus needs to be on the children and what is best for them and i hope that this story doesn't hold up adoptions or make kids wait in orphanages for longer than they need to. Other folks have done a much better job at explaining the whole thing. It makes me very sad and tired just thinking about it. Another potential road block to having a family. I understand that the stories need to be 'heard' but i just hope its not at the expense of the children.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read that story too - very upsetting. I was thinking of you when I read it. Praying that nothing like this happens to you - or anyone else for that matter.

Karen said...

I suppose if there is anything positive about this whole CBC fiasco is that it opens the door to educate a whole lot more people as it certainly has folks outside of the adoption world talking! But I certainly share your concerns over what this may mean to the Ethiopian program. Having read the comments coming from the Ethiopian sites where the story has hit, it seems that the Ethiopian government has an opportunity, and I would suggest a responsibility, to educate the concerned Ethiopian people about the process and steps that they have introduced to mitigate the very things that this story accuses them of.

I think the long standing positive track record with this country and the fact that similar allegations are not being brought forward regarding our agency, either by Canadians or concerns by MOWA, would influence our government to not take the extreme action of suspending adoptions pending the results of an investigation or review.

Hugs coming your way!