Update from WHFC on Ethiopia Program

Dear Families:

I wanted to share this update with you on the Ethiopia Program. We are happy to announce that today we have received the news from Dr. Tsegaye Berhe that Wide Horizons For Children has been reaccredited to place children from Ethiopia! Every three years, the Ethiopian government re-evaluates the agencies and their work, and issues permission for them to continue working in Ethiopia. We are pleased to have received our new accreditation, and look forward to helping more children find their forever families over the next three years.

The program continues to run smoothly, with families being matched with children 3-4 months after submission of the dossier, which includes Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) approval. As we have had growing interest in the program over the past six months, and many more families sending in dossier applications, it may help you to check in with us on a monthly basis to inquire about the wait time to referral.

In terms of traveling to Ethiopia after referral, families continue to travel 4-10 weeks after being matched with a child. Each month WHFC is sending a group of 6-8 families to complete their adoption process in Ethiopia. The main aspects of the trip are to obtain the US visa for the child and meet the birth relatives, if any exist. WHFC is now requiring that adoptive families participate in this meeting, if the birth families request to meet the adoptive family. We feel that the information gained from such meetings will be instrumental to your children as they grow up. We ask that families put together a letter and photos of your family and the child being adopting to be given to the birth relatives. We have seen first hand that the birth relatives are greatly appreciative of these photos, and that it gives them comfort to see how their adopted relative will live in America.

Additionally, Dr. Tsegaye has informed us that he would like to offer families adopting for the second or third time from Ethiopia the opportunity for free room and meals at the Guest House! He is making this offer as he feels that when a family has already adopted once from Ethiopia, they are already part of the Ethiopia family! We are pleased to have such a thoughtful representative in Ethiopia as Dr. Tsegaye Berhe and hope that families will be able to take advantage of this generous offer when adopting for the second or third time!