Jan. 1 - Meeting Yabsira

We first met Yabsira Monday morning when we went to the orphanage, hung out there only a short while, and then returned with our new son to the guest house. We also got to meet his older brother, Nahom, who is about 6 years old. Nahom has significant special needs and is not being adopted at this point (see Reflections on Nahom below). Yabi is 2 1/2 years old. He was initially a quiet boy with a great temperment that he showed the whole first day. He acted like he was ready to go with us, was reserved and not a bit fussy as he observed his new strange family that spoke some foreign language. We just wondered what was going through his mind. Fortunately, he is a cuddler and loves to be held and squeezed. He was probably more of a cuddler and a bit more reserved that first day since he had a cough, cold and fever, which went away in a few days. He put out his hands to be held and went to each of us. Once when I had been out a bit, I returned to the room and Yabi came over to me and put out his arms to be held, then pointed to the book on the table and wanted me to look at it with him. He sure knows how to win a father’s heart. He ate well and slept well on the first day. Smooth sailing.



















Reflections on Nahom
When we first received the referral for Yabsira, we were told that he has an older brother, Nahom, who is significantly impaired. The adoption agency was not recommending that Nahom be adopted, but they were committed to meeting his needs and they would be exploring options for him. This weighed heavy on us, especially on Kim, who is a special education teacher. We had decided early in the adoption process that we would not consider a special needs child since providing this type of care both at home and work was more than we were willing to take on. If we did not take Yabsira for adoption, the agency told us that they would refer him to the next waiting family, and Nahom would still be in the same situation, which is separated from his brother.

Even though the the decision to adopt only Yabsira did not feel right at first and was hard to reconcile, we decided to move forward with this and see how things unfold. We told the agency that we're also committed to being involved in Nahom's life and providing support in some way, even if from a distance.

Nahom is a special little guy. He usually has a smile on his face and gives hugs freely. He can also be high energy as we found out after spending some time with him. The staff indicate that he did not seem to notice when Yabsira left and went with us.

We found out while in Addis and in talking to the adoption coordinator there that the adoption agency applied for and will be receiving a grant in about one month to start an orphanage for special needs children. In addition to orphans, it will also serve some children with special needs who live at home. The agency hopes to start this programming and have it handed off to another organization that can run it for the long-term. Nahom and some other children at the current orphanage would be placed there.

This certainly seems like a positive step in the right direction and one that we feel good about for Nahom, and the other children who would benefit from this service. It is also something that we (Kim) could potentially be involved with. In our short clips of processing time, we've talked about coming back for short-term volunteering. Helping out at a special needs orphanage could be a way to do this and stay connected with Nahom. Like we said, we have mixed feelings about only adopting Yabsira, but feel like that is what we can offer at this point. We want to be open to the possibilities and see how things unfold.