Ethiopian adoption teleconference

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time on a government run teleconference addressing Ethiopian adoption. The call ran from 9-3 and was open to the public. Many of the speakers were government officials (US embassy, USCIS, etc) and others included a social worker, an international specialist pediatrician, and more. Going into the call I was a bit anxious, fearing what the government was going to say and worst of all, would they push to shut down adoptions. You just never know what people are thinking. I was pleasantly surprised that most of what they said was very positive and no they don't want to shut down Ethiopian adoption. Many statistics were given and most of the speakers said they wished to build on adoption and the great things happening with it, while making orphanages less horrific and reducing risks of fraud and corruption. They discussed humanitarian aid and educating the Ethiopian people of ways to provide for their families without necessarily rushing to give their children up for adoption. All in all I agreed with most of what was said and was encouraged to see how many people were working to improve things in Ethiopia, while making adoption safer and more efficient. After the call was over, I learned that the US embassy in Addis Ababa has now made appointments more readily available (every Wedn. vs. every other) and made some other changes which should reduce our wait time between court and embassy by as much as 2 weeks. Great News! Finally, I noticed on AWAA's blog that there have been 8 Ethiopian referrals so far in January and the referral for the toddler boy was 4 months after DTE. We just passed the 2 month mark. I am in awe of how fast things are moving. In the mean time, I will do some more blog stalking, praying, chatting on the wonderful yahoo group, and looking into baby sign language. I would be happy to hear any suggestions on a good book or site for this. One of our friends who adopted many years past mentioned how great baby sign language was, especially for toddlers. Frustration grows when we can't communicate. Basic sign language is easy to learn and can be used until our son learns English so he can communicate with us his basic needs and wants. Have a great day and don't forget to take time to enjoy God and all of his glory.