Spotlight on Ethiopia
By V. Galiatsatos, PhD
Ethiopia is a beautiful country situated in Eastern Africa near the Red Sea. It is one of the oldest countries in the world and was the home of the Queen of Sheba. Today, Ethiopia's 67 million people are among the poorest in the world. Infant and maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world, leaving thousands of children orphaned and in need of loving families. The numbers of orphaned children continue to increase as the diseases of poverty cause the premature deaths of parents.
In 2002, Americans adopted 105 children from Ethiopia. What's involved in adopting a child from Ethiopia? According to www.ethiopiaadoptions.com only four U.S. adoption agencies are approved by the Ethiopian government to complete international adoptions of Ethiopian children (this fact is confirmed by the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa). Before you use any adoption agency or adoption facilitator, please do your research! To adopt a child from Ethiopia, you must complete a homestudy and prepare a dossier. Your adoption agency will submit everything to the Ethiopian government. The adoption committee of the Ethiopian CYFAD will review your file and determine whether or not you are eligible to adopt from Ethiopia.
Once you are approved, you will receive a child referral. After you accept referral of your child, your adoption agency will handle the paperwork and red tape in Ethiopia. The adoption agency will then arrange to have your child escorted to the U.S. and your waiting arms. You can also travel to Ethiopia to bring your child home. Healthy infants and children of all ages, including sibling groups, may be adopted from Ethiopia. Twins — and even triplets! — are somewhat common in Ethiopia! Special needs children are also available.
Married couples, single women and single men may adopt from Ethiopia. Adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old. Travel to Ethiopia is not required. From the time of your initial application until you bring your child home takes an average of eight to twelve months.
Cultural Facts About Ethiopia
Eating
The Ethiopian diet generally includes lamb, goat and fowl. Ethiopians do not usually eat pork, turkey or ham. Common foods include injera, a fermented bread made of teff flour (a native grain), and wat, a spicy stew made with beef or chicken. Strict religious dietary and fasting customs, especially for Muslims, also influence the diet. Many people survive on grains alone.
Amharic hosts take pride in offering guests the best meal they are capable of providing, and guests reciprocate by leaving some food on the plate to indicate that the host more than adequately provided for them. Food is eaten with the fingers of the right hand, never the left.
Socializing
The Amhara place great emphasis on formal but very courteous greetings to both friends and strangers. Shaking hands with one or both hands is common between members of the same sex. Friends often embrace each other formally but warmly. There is no physical contact when members of opposite sexes greet each other.
The Amharic home is generally a highly private and personal domain, and it is not usual to visit without an invitation. When visiting a home for the first time, a small gift is in order. Visitors are expected to accept any refreshments or food offered.
Recreation
Leisure time is generally spent at home. Individual games of skill such as board games and races are the most popular forms of recreation. Soccer is the most popular sport.
Holidays and celebrations
Ethiopia traditionally follows the Coptic calendar, although business is conducted using Western time and calendar standards. There is a seven-year difference separating the Coptic and the Gregorian, or Western, calendars (for example, 1998 is 1991 in Ethiopia). Also, the 24-hour day begins at sunrise, not midnight. Christmas begins the year — it falls on January 7. On Christmas, a special game is played by some Ethiopians that is not played at any other time of the year. Similar to field hockey, "ganna" is said to derive from an old story that shepherds, brimming with joy to hear of the birth of Jesus Christ, spontaneously used their hooked staffs to make up a game that expressed their happiness. The Epiphany, or Visit of the Three Magi, is celebrated on January 19. Victory Day is on March 6, and Patriots' Victory Day on April 6. Good Friday, the Friday preceding Easter, is a holiday in Ethiopia, and Easter, called "Fasika," is the most important holiday of the year. Labor Day is observed on May 1. The Ethiopian New Year, called "Enkutatash," follows the end of the rainy season, when flowers, having been well watered, are in bloom. Children gather the flowers on this day and go singing from house to house, depositing small bouquets. They hope to receive a handful of roasted grain in return. Revolution Day is observed on September 12, and Saint Michael's Day, November 8, comes at the end of the harvest. Ethiopians attend special services at churches consecrated to Saint Michael. Afterward there is singing and dancing, and it is possible for young men to find their future brides at these festivities.
