Ethiopia, Day Two

Our second day, we walked to our agency's compound and had a tour. There are offices for the staff, Wanna House (an area housing babies up to two and a half or three years old) and Layla (school/children's home for the older children). All of those are situated on a very small piece of land behind the large blue gate in the picture.

We had been told to be ready for leave for court at 1:30, but shortly after our tour, we were told our court time had been moved to "right now." Five families piled into a very small van and drove thirty minutes across town to the High Court. Once there, we waited in a large waiting room with 25 or 30 other people, some were familiar faces that we had met on the airplane. One by one, each of the couples were called in for a very short conversation with the judge.

The judge was a beautiful, soft spoken woman behind a desk piled with files. She had us sit in chairs adjacent to her desk and then her quiet questioning began. She asked us if we had children at home and if they were aware of the adoption. She asked if we knew any other families that had adopted Ethiopian children and if we had been educating ourselves about Ethiopian culture. The only question that was difficult to answer was if we had prepared ourselves to deal with issues regarding raising a child of a different race. We said that we had begun to prepare ourselves and she said that there would certainly be some challenges.

Before we went in to see the judge, our lawyer told us that we would not pass court. All of the families in our group were missing the recommendation letter from Ministry of Women's Affairs, a government agency that facilitates adoptions in Ethiopia. It was disappointing but not altogether unexpected. Adoption is an exercise in patience. : )

When we finished with the judge, she told us that our file would be reviewed again on November 24th and that our agency could represent us at that time so that we did not have to come back. It was very simple and seems a little crazy that we had to fly around the world for that three minutes. But since we got to see our sweet angel, see where she is living and fall in love with her . . . it was SO worth it!!