Amharic Kids

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FAQ

Why has Ethiopian adoption grown so fast?
Ethiopian Adoption Data
How did you choose adoption to grow your family?
Tell us more about yourselves
What does Amharic mean?
How did Amharic Kids start and what exactly is Amharic Kids?
Why did you write Ethiopian Voices: Tsion's Life? How did it come about?
What is your favorite part of the book?
How did you find Tsion?

Why has Ethiopian adoption grown so fast?

Ethiopian adoption is relatively new and has seen a tremendous surge since 2003. The surge is due to a number of factors. In 2003, the government of Ethiopia restructured and streamlined the adoption process making it reasonably predictable and smooth. Also in recent years, China has added restrictions on eligibility and other countries have closed international adoption entirely.

Ethiopian Adoption Data

Year	# of adoptions to the US
2000	95
2001	158
2002	105
2003	135
2004	289
2005	441
2006	732
2007	1255
2008	1725
2009	2277

Source www.adoptivefamilies.com

How did you choose adoption to grow your family?

We knew since before we got married that we wanted to adopt and hopefully have one biological child. We chose to adopt from Ethiopia because Stacy had fallen love with Ethiopian children while working in South Korea for an NGO that was involved in child sponsorship in Ethiopia. The timing was right, just as we felt led to start our family; we heard that an adoption agency in our home town had started a program in Ethiopia.

We adopted our oldest daughter, Samara, (which means “Protected by God”) in 2004, when she was 6 month old. We traveled to Addis Ababa in July 2004 when we met her for the first time. She had been well cared for and loved. We were new parents and were overjoyed and maybe a bit overwhelmed with trying to figure out whether she was hungry or tired and how we were going to give her a bath in the kitchen sink of the guest house we were staying in.

Our daughter was very tiny at 6 month, weighing just over 11 pounds; but with each doctor visit, she climbed the growth chart until in less than 1 year she had leveled out at a very satisfying 50th percentile. She is a joy and delight and in the most amazing ways has changed our lives forever. Twelve months after Samara came home, we had Caleigh biologically. The two are best friends and play together like a charm…we hope it lasts.

Tell us more about yourselves.

Stacy spent her early years in Wisconsin and teen years as a missionary kid in Tanzania, East Africa. Her love for travel, adventure and sense of principle led her to take several jobs in Africa and Asia after college. One job, anchoring and producing a television show in Tanzania, led her to meet Paul who was working for Operation Mobilization on a book ship that traveled the world and happened to stop in Tanzania. Paul, who hails from Scotland, grew up in a small fishing town on the east coast of Scotland. After 3 months of dating on the beaches of Tanzania, Paul sailed off on the ship leaving Stacy wondering, “Will I ever see him again?” It was meant to be; after a year in Ireland, Stacy doing an MS in Humanitarian Assistance and Paul working they were engaged. Paul and Stacy, with their two gorgeous girls, Samara and Caleigh, live in Minnesota and travel whenever they can…which is not often enough.

Paul and Stacy are a perfect pair to run Amharic Kids. Paul takes care of the technical and financial responsibilities and Stacy writes and publishes the books, manages the online shop and markets the business. With one full time job, two full-of-questions girls, extensive Ethiopian adoption community volunteer work and Amharic Kids, the couple keeps very, very busy.

What does Amharic mean?

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia. There are over 80 languages spoken in Ethiopia.

How did Amharic Kids start and what exactly is Amharic Kids?

Shortly after Samara came home we stopped worrying about her growing and started looking for Ethiopian cultural resources. But, there was nothing –period, it was unfair! Looking at the plethora of websites, shops, and language books for Korean, Chinese and Latin American adoptive families -- something had to be done.

We started by publishing the book, “Our First Amharic Words” and creating the Amharic Language Color and Number Bean bag sets. In July 2007 we launched www.amharickids.com and introduced it to the world at the annual Minnesota Ethiopian Kids Community Summer Mehaber. It took off! We sourced other products of interest to Ethiopian adoptive families for the web shop and were soon shipping all over the world.

Amharic Kids is a LLC that has a web shop and is a publisher of books related to Ethiopia. We are the only web shop and publisher dedicated to providing resources for Ethiopian adoptive families.

Why did you write Ethiopian Voices: Tsion’s Life? How did it come about?

Ethiopian Voices: Tsion’s Life (SEE yon) is the story of an eleven year old Ethiopian girl. She talks about her life and her country. Stunning photographs bring the reader to Tsion’s house, school, church, dinner table, and more. Informative cultural facts are included.

The book was born out of need. The first need was to answer the Ethiopian adopted child’s question: “What would my life have been like if I had grown up in Ethiopia?” Another was to expose the greater public to Ethiopia in a way that changed old perceptions of a country filled with only starving people. We also saw a need for a new type of nonfiction country book that went the extra mile by using commissioned photography to follow one person’s life, included their thoughts and opinions and taught a few words of their language. Finally, I saw a void in the book world; libraries have plenty of books on many other African countries, but almost none on Ethiopia even though some say there are 200,000 Ethiopian in the US.

What is your favorite part of the book?

My favorite pages are also a good example of how we met our goals. The pages show through stunning, intimate photo’s how much we are alike and yet how different. The reader gets a real sense of Ethiopia.

The pages tell about Tsion’s great grandmother and grandmother. A full page photo of Tsion and her Great Grandmother show them cheek to cheek with Great Grandmother closing her eyes in love and Tsion beaming, the caption reads, “My great-grandmother tells me to study hard, keep good friends, and obey my parents. I love her very much!” The next page shows her grandmothers peeling potatoes – the narrative text tells us that this is their means of income, by turning their little house into a mini restaurant each night.

The photos are stellar – the love between Tsion and her Great grandmother shines forth, everyone can relate to that. Then, we get a glimpse of the struggles of daily life in Ethiopia. The page also teaches how to say grandmother and shows how it is written in Amharic.

How did you find Tsion?

It was a miracle! Through amazing circumstances, we were introduced to Erlend Berge, a freelance photographer from Norway who happened to be working in Ethiopia for 4 months. Within one week of meeting him through email, I had worked out a book outline and listed all the photos that I needed and specific research done. Erlend worked with an interpreter and located Tsion and her family and spent two weeks with them photographing and interviewing. When all was finished, Erlend mailed the photos and emailed the data. Then I got to work: writing, editing, and designing. It was truly a 21st century project. I hope to one day meet Erlend – he was great to work with. Check out his website www.erlendberge.no. Currently, he is working on the photography for another book about Nepal.