Sunday, November 2, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Home Study
I just got an email from our home study agency telling us the copy is in the mail today!!! That means we can start sending out our grant applications this coming week!!! Please pray that the grants will be successful!!!
Monday, October 27, 2008
A couple new pictures
While we're waiting for adoption stuff, I figured you might want to see how big the boys are getting. Time goes by so quickly!!! Braden will be 3 at the end of Nov. & Tanner will be 1 in about 2 weeks!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Please pray for the people of Africa & that He'll have His hands on our little one!
My heart shatters to see things like this, but we forget so quickly that people are living like this every day of their lives....Please pray!!!!
Video
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/news/issue.cfm?id=2396
(I took this article off of another family's blog that also adopted from Ethiopia)
New Report on Ethiopia's Green Famine from Sodo
Ethiopia's 'green famine' takes its toll
October 15, 2008
SODO, Ethiopia (AFP) — Okume Ochubo's tiny plot of land in southern Ethiopia is lush with waist-high maize sprouts and other crops, but she and her seven young children are struggling to feed themselves.
"We cannot survive without food aid, we collect assistance whenever it is available," she said, as two of her children jostled under the shadows of giant eucalyptus trees.
"We are praying to God for a better situation," the 40-year-old farmer added, her voice barely audible under the breeze of swaying maize leaves.
Okume is one of millions of people in the Horn of Africa nation -- a country with a long history of extreme food shortages -- who are at renewed threat of hunger as a result of failed and delayed rains.
The British charity group Oxfam announced last week that the number of Ethiopians in need of emergency food aid had risen from 4.6 to 6.4 million since June, as rising food prices and drought continued to compound the crisis.
But in Wolaytta district, some 330 kilometres (200 miles) south of Addis Ababa, and most surrounding areas, it is a crisis of a different kind.
The region is known for its diverse crop varieties, and a recent downpour of rain since August has turned the valley into a sea of green.
But the area's apparent fertility is deceptive. Rains fell at the wrong time, reserves are dwindling and 50 percent of the area's two million inhabitants are facing what aid workers have labelled a "green famine".
Prior to that, not a single rain drop fell for eight months, leaving farmers with dwindling food reserves, while plunging the entire region into one of the worst droughts it has ever seen.
"It certainly is one of the worst in Wolaytta's history, probably third to 1984 after 2003," Abraham Asha, representative of the US-based charity group Concern, told AFP.
"Had it not been for the quick response of the government and NGOs, the disaster would not have been averted," he added.
At least a million people died in the 1984 famine, with the then dictator Haile Marian Mengistu accused of concentrating scarce resources on the lengthy conflict along the border with what is now Eritrea, and the 2003 crisis left 14 million Ethiopians in need of food assistance.
The current Ethiopian government under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been criticized for spending too much of its budget on the military and not enough on guaranteeing the basic needs of the population.
The authorities also expelled several aid groups operating in the Ogaden region, where government troops have since last year cracked down on a rebellion, further deepening an alarming humanitarian situation there.
At the height of the drought in April, Abraham said hundreds of children in several districts suffered from stunted growth and weight deficit.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said up to 12 percent were diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the area at that time.
Experts blame numerous factors for the chronic food insecurity behind the facade of green fields in Wolaytta and the rest of southern Ethiopia.
High population density of up to 800 people per square kilometre and a system of small-holdings have always exerted huge pressure on the land.
"Resources are being exhausted and population is increasing. The region has to take drastic measures such as voluntary resettlement to curb the burden," Abraham said.
Government officials on the other hand, are banking on high yields as a cure for the problem.
"In this district, productivity is far from satisfactory. Farmers here produce only 20 quintals of yield per hectare when other nearby zones produce up to 80," district administrator Hailebirhan Zena told participants in a recent meeting.
"We are focusing on increasing yields through irrigation. It is no secret that Wolaytta lies in proximity to several rivers," he said.
Despite the number of hungry Ethiopians doubling since April and aid agencies reporting a funding shortfall of 260 million dollars (190 million euros), chronic malnutrition has stabilized in the region.
Yet local residents remained pessimistic. The September harvest is thought to be enough to stave off starvation until December but unless reserves last until February, millions will be on the brink again.
"It will happen again as not enough stocks will last until then. It is even expected to be worse next year," Abraham said.
Aid organizations have warned that Ethiopia -- one of Africa's poorest countries and its second most populous -- on the brink of a major famine to that which killed millions in the 1980s.
Video
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/news/issue.cfm?id=2396
(I took this article off of another family's blog that also adopted from Ethiopia)
New Report on Ethiopia's Green Famine from Sodo
Ethiopia's 'green famine' takes its toll
October 15, 2008
SODO, Ethiopia (AFP) — Okume Ochubo's tiny plot of land in southern Ethiopia is lush with waist-high maize sprouts and other crops, but she and her seven young children are struggling to feed themselves.
"We cannot survive without food aid, we collect assistance whenever it is available," she said, as two of her children jostled under the shadows of giant eucalyptus trees.
"We are praying to God for a better situation," the 40-year-old farmer added, her voice barely audible under the breeze of swaying maize leaves.
Okume is one of millions of people in the Horn of Africa nation -- a country with a long history of extreme food shortages -- who are at renewed threat of hunger as a result of failed and delayed rains.
The British charity group Oxfam announced last week that the number of Ethiopians in need of emergency food aid had risen from 4.6 to 6.4 million since June, as rising food prices and drought continued to compound the crisis.
But in Wolaytta district, some 330 kilometres (200 miles) south of Addis Ababa, and most surrounding areas, it is a crisis of a different kind.
The region is known for its diverse crop varieties, and a recent downpour of rain since August has turned the valley into a sea of green.
But the area's apparent fertility is deceptive. Rains fell at the wrong time, reserves are dwindling and 50 percent of the area's two million inhabitants are facing what aid workers have labelled a "green famine".
Prior to that, not a single rain drop fell for eight months, leaving farmers with dwindling food reserves, while plunging the entire region into one of the worst droughts it has ever seen.
"It certainly is one of the worst in Wolaytta's history, probably third to 1984 after 2003," Abraham Asha, representative of the US-based charity group Concern, told AFP.
"Had it not been for the quick response of the government and NGOs, the disaster would not have been averted," he added.
At least a million people died in the 1984 famine, with the then dictator Haile Marian Mengistu accused of concentrating scarce resources on the lengthy conflict along the border with what is now Eritrea, and the 2003 crisis left 14 million Ethiopians in need of food assistance.
The current Ethiopian government under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been criticized for spending too much of its budget on the military and not enough on guaranteeing the basic needs of the population.
The authorities also expelled several aid groups operating in the Ogaden region, where government troops have since last year cracked down on a rebellion, further deepening an alarming humanitarian situation there.
At the height of the drought in April, Abraham said hundreds of children in several districts suffered from stunted growth and weight deficit.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said up to 12 percent were diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the area at that time.
Experts blame numerous factors for the chronic food insecurity behind the facade of green fields in Wolaytta and the rest of southern Ethiopia.
High population density of up to 800 people per square kilometre and a system of small-holdings have always exerted huge pressure on the land.
"Resources are being exhausted and population is increasing. The region has to take drastic measures such as voluntary resettlement to curb the burden," Abraham said.
Government officials on the other hand, are banking on high yields as a cure for the problem.
"In this district, productivity is far from satisfactory. Farmers here produce only 20 quintals of yield per hectare when other nearby zones produce up to 80," district administrator Hailebirhan Zena told participants in a recent meeting.
"We are focusing on increasing yields through irrigation. It is no secret that Wolaytta lies in proximity to several rivers," he said.
Despite the number of hungry Ethiopians doubling since April and aid agencies reporting a funding shortfall of 260 million dollars (190 million euros), chronic malnutrition has stabilized in the region.
Yet local residents remained pessimistic. The September harvest is thought to be enough to stave off starvation until December but unless reserves last until February, millions will be on the brink again.
"It will happen again as not enough stocks will last until then. It is even expected to be worse next year," Abraham said.
Aid organizations have warned that Ethiopia -- one of Africa's poorest countries and its second most populous -- on the brink of a major famine to that which killed millions in the 1980s.
Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."
This is the passage I keep reading in my head over & over again!
I received an email from our case worker about a week ago with the answer to my question of "How much do we owe just to send our dossier out to Ethiopia?". His response.... $11,100.00.
This is a little discouraging. Apparently we need to send in the international fees before our agency will send out our dossier which is $7,000.00. For some reason I thought I read somewhere in our paperwork that that didn't have to be sent until a referral was made, but I was wrong! I filled out grant applications, but can't send them out until we have our hard copy of our home study to send along with them. Needless to say, all is at a stand still right now. It's hard for me to look at our paperwork knowing that it's pretty much all set, but we can't do anything with it until we find $11, 100 somewhere.... Unfortunately our money tree in our backyard ran out a long time ago!
Please pray that God will provide!!! & for my patience as well!!!
I received an email from our case worker about a week ago with the answer to my question of "How much do we owe just to send our dossier out to Ethiopia?". His response.... $11,100.00.
This is a little discouraging. Apparently we need to send in the international fees before our agency will send out our dossier which is $7,000.00. For some reason I thought I read somewhere in our paperwork that that didn't have to be sent until a referral was made, but I was wrong! I filled out grant applications, but can't send them out until we have our hard copy of our home study to send along with them. Needless to say, all is at a stand still right now. It's hard for me to look at our paperwork knowing that it's pretty much all set, but we can't do anything with it until we find $11, 100 somewhere.... Unfortunately our money tree in our backyard ran out a long time ago!
Please pray that God will provide!!! & for my patience as well!!!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Home Study Completed
Well, I was able to talk to our social worker yesterday for almost a 1/2 hour. Our home study is complete! & better yet... We passed!!!
We're now into the waiting game. Our social worker's supervisor is correcting & notarizing our home study, then sending it off to immigrations. We have to complete our I-600A & send it in to immigrations as well. We then have to wait for a date for our fingerprinting. While waiting for our fingerprinting, our dossier is pretty much ready to send to D.C. for authentication. When we get the certified copy of our home study we can start applying for grants. We still need about $4,000 to complete everything I've listed above. Please pray for patience as we wait on all of this, & also that God will provide the $ we need to further our process.....
One step closer to our new little one!!!!!
We're now into the waiting game. Our social worker's supervisor is correcting & notarizing our home study, then sending it off to immigrations. We have to complete our I-600A & send it in to immigrations as well. We then have to wait for a date for our fingerprinting. While waiting for our fingerprinting, our dossier is pretty much ready to send to D.C. for authentication. When we get the certified copy of our home study we can start applying for grants. We still need about $4,000 to complete everything I've listed above. Please pray for patience as we wait on all of this, & also that God will provide the $ we need to further our process.....
One step closer to our new little one!!!!!
Monday, October 6, 2008
God is AWESOME!!!!
Just wanted to share what a wonderful day it has been!
I went to check the mail this morning, and found an envelope with $582.00 in it marked "Adoption Fund". I have no idea who it was from. I do know they had to have slipped it into our mailbox personally because it wasn't stamped or addressed. I also got an email from our Home Study Agency telling us that we weren't required to do their training because we're doing enough with our Adoption Agency. The lady let me know that we could drop $300 off of our total because that's how much they charged us for their training. So God provided almost $900.00 for our new little one just in 1 day! He's GREAT!!!!!
P.S. If you're reading this, & you're the person who dropped off the money in the mail....
THANK YOU!!!!! Thank you sooo much for allowing God to use you in this way!!!
I went to check the mail this morning, and found an envelope with $582.00 in it marked "Adoption Fund". I have no idea who it was from. I do know they had to have slipped it into our mailbox personally because it wasn't stamped or addressed. I also got an email from our Home Study Agency telling us that we weren't required to do their training because we're doing enough with our Adoption Agency. The lady let me know that we could drop $300 off of our total because that's how much they charged us for their training. So God provided almost $900.00 for our new little one just in 1 day! He's GREAT!!!!!
P.S. If you're reading this, & you're the person who dropped off the money in the mail....
THANK YOU!!!!! Thank you sooo much for allowing God to use you in this way!!!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Money received for home study!!!!!
God is so good!!!! The church voted last night on giving us the $5,000 employee adoption benefit, & it went through!!! That will take care of the whole home study process, & some of the next phase after that. Thank you so much for all your prayers, but please don't stop. We still will need about $12,000 or more to get our new little one here, not to mention all our travel expenses to go pick him/her up in Ethiopia. After our home study is complete we can start applying for grants so we'll pray that those will be successful! Thanks again & we'll keep you all posted!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Home Study
So our home study appts. are all set up. We have them the 15th, 17th, & 19th of Sept. Please pray that they all go well. I talked to our social worker for a while last night. She's very pleasant & of course recognized our last name. The funny thing is we can't officially start the home study until our $1,000 is received by the agency so we're looking forward to seeing how God will provide. Please keep us in your prayers while we journey through this next phase......
Monday, August 11, 2008
Prayer for Ethiopia!
I just wanted to post a couple of things that were sent to me.....
Please pray for Ethiopia & even though we don't know our new little one yet, please keep he/she in your prayers as well. My heart brakes knowing that such things are happening not only to Ethiopia, but the rest of the world as well. It kills me even more knowing that our child is living this out right now. Please pray for God to put His hands on Ethiopia to start the courts up sooner. There are many families just from our agency that are now just waiting for their court dates, which means many many children have homes already they just have to wait for the court to send them out of these devastating situations...
Video
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/08/05/geissler.ethiopia.famine.ITN
Email we received from our case worker
Dear Families:
Ethiopia is now experiencing their annual rainy season, and this impacts much of their daily lives. Roads that were somewhat accessible before are now all but washed away, and transportation is challenging. We can all imagine daily life for those who must endure this season every year.
The judges of the Federal Court are now beginning their two month leave, and are expected to return in late September. Only a few more court cases will be processed this week. A few cases have already been scheduled for court in mid October. We do not expect to receive any new news of court dates until early October.
We realize that many of you are wondering what will happen during the next two months. It seems like an eternity to wait, most especially if you already have a referral. It is our prayer that the next two months, and beyond, will pass with ease, peace, and comfort, both for the children and for all of you waiting mommies and daddies.
............................
We expect at some point that the Foster Care facility in Addis will become filled to capacity with waiting children. When this occurs, the children in the orphanages will remain there until the courts open again, adoptions receive approval, parents receive Embassy appointments, and travel to Addis to get their children. This will create open spaces at the Foster Care facility to begin moving in children from the orphanages once again.
Please pray for Ethiopia & even though we don't know our new little one yet, please keep he/she in your prayers as well. My heart brakes knowing that such things are happening not only to Ethiopia, but the rest of the world as well. It kills me even more knowing that our child is living this out right now. Please pray for God to put His hands on Ethiopia to start the courts up sooner. There are many families just from our agency that are now just waiting for their court dates, which means many many children have homes already they just have to wait for the court to send them out of these devastating situations...
Video
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/08/05/geissler.ethiopia.famine.ITN
Email we received from our case worker
Dear Families:
Ethiopia is now experiencing their annual rainy season, and this impacts much of their daily lives. Roads that were somewhat accessible before are now all but washed away, and transportation is challenging. We can all imagine daily life for those who must endure this season every year.
The judges of the Federal Court are now beginning their two month leave, and are expected to return in late September. Only a few more court cases will be processed this week. A few cases have already been scheduled for court in mid October. We do not expect to receive any new news of court dates until early October.
We realize that many of you are wondering what will happen during the next two months. It seems like an eternity to wait, most especially if you already have a referral. It is our prayer that the next two months, and beyond, will pass with ease, peace, and comfort, both for the children and for all of you waiting mommies and daddies.
............................
We expect at some point that the Foster Care facility in Addis will become filled to capacity with waiting children. When this occurs, the children in the orphanages will remain there until the courts open again, adoptions receive approval, parents receive Embassy appointments, and travel to Addis to get their children. This will create open spaces at the Foster Care facility to begin moving in children from the orphanages once again.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Social Worker Assigned!!!!
Hey Everyone,
It feels like forever since I've been able to give an update on our adoption process, but we finally can!!! We just got a letter in the mail from MAPS today telling us our social worker has been assigned & our home study will now begin. The home study itself should take about 6 weeks to complete. Please pray that this will all go smoothly, & that our social worker will be an awesome match for our family. Please also pray for our financial state.... we need about $500 to continue on with this phase of our home study. We know God will provide in a miraculous way!
Anna
It feels like forever since I've been able to give an update on our adoption process, but we finally can!!! We just got a letter in the mail from MAPS today telling us our social worker has been assigned & our home study will now begin. The home study itself should take about 6 weeks to complete. Please pray that this will all go smoothly, & that our social worker will be an awesome match for our family. Please also pray for our financial state.... we need about $500 to continue on with this phase of our home study. We know God will provide in a miraculous way!
Anna
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Financial Support
Hi Everybody!
I've had a few people ask how they could help us financially... You could either send it to us at 129 Summer Street, Auburn, ME 04210 which would help us with the next phase that we don't have money for, our home study. You can also send it through Christian World Adoption (CWA) which would be tax deductible since they are non-profit. (This can't help us with the home study as we have to go through a different agency for this) All you have to do is go to cwa.org, click donate now on the right bottom of the page, & fill out all the info. There is a spot where you can specify the family's name so 100% of your donation will go straight towards our adoption process. You could also send in a personal check to the address on their website, but remember to send in a letter with the check to specify that you want your donations to go towards Joshua & Anna Cousineau's adoption. Thank you so much for allowing God to use you in this way. As I said, Josh & I can't afford this, but knowing this is a call from God, we know He will provide, and if He does by using you......Thank you so much for being a part of that!!!!!
Anna
I've had a few people ask how they could help us financially... You could either send it to us at 129 Summer Street, Auburn, ME 04210 which would help us with the next phase that we don't have money for, our home study. You can also send it through Christian World Adoption (CWA) which would be tax deductible since they are non-profit. (This can't help us with the home study as we have to go through a different agency for this) All you have to do is go to cwa.org, click donate now on the right bottom of the page, & fill out all the info. There is a spot where you can specify the family's name so 100% of your donation will go straight towards our adoption process. You could also send in a personal check to the address on their website, but remember to send in a letter with the check to specify that you want your donations to go towards Joshua & Anna Cousineau's adoption. Thank you so much for allowing God to use you in this way. As I said, Josh & I can't afford this, but knowing this is a call from God, we know He will provide, and if He does by using you......Thank you so much for being a part of that!!!!!
Anna
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Contracts completed
We've signed & sent our contracts, both to CWA & MAPS. We're now just waiting to hear from both to find out our next steps.......
Friday, July 4, 2008
Making our decision
Josh & I have always talked about adopting. We looked into it about a year ago, but all the agencies we looked into required both applicants to be 25. Neither of us were, so we just kinda set everything aside, and put it behind us for a while. When my 25th b-day came around, I started looking into it a little again. I contacted 1 agency that told me we could send in our application when Josh turned 24 1/2, and then by the time he actually turned 25 we would be well on our way. We were pretty happy about this response, so we furthered in prayer. I mentioned to Josh that I felt very strongly about adopting from Africa, and he agreed that sounded good. We talked about it, and decided there was no earthly way we could pay for an adoption so we prayed that God would open our eyes at what He had in store for us.
When I went to Sarah McNelly's (our church administrator) house to do our taxes, I called Josh very excitedly to tell him we were getting enough back to pay for the first stages of an adoption (sign #1).
A month or 2 later, Braden & I were grocery shopping, and we passed a little black boy about Braden's age. I, of course, stared for a minute because he was so stinkin' cute. I smiled and walked away. They again passed us down another aisle of the store, when he & Braden caught eyes. Extremely scared of what Braden would say, I told him to stop staring. Braden pushed me away. I again told him to stop staring, and Braden still staring at the little boy, said to me "so cute, Momma!" I agreed, and almost cried. I was a little nervous about how Braden would be with an adoption because Maine has a very low diversity rate. He doesn't see very many colorful people. After our encounter with the little boy, I knew Braden would be fine. (sign #2)
As I looked into different agencies, income was one of our problems. I had 3 agencies respond back telling me we made just barely below what we needed to make to qualify. I told Josh, and I was quite upset. Josh called me from work the next day, and told me something really good happened. Sarah told him they were making a few changes to the staff's salaries. Josh asked her how much that would put him at for the year, and her answer put us just to where we needed to be in order to qualify for the adoption. (sign #3)
After all this, we decided God was preparing the way for us so we started looking into different agencies to pick "the one". We narrowed it down to 3. We knocked one out because we felt we needed to go through a Christian agency & it wasn't. As I looked further into the other 2, I read that Christian World Adoption only required 1 parent to be 25 for some countries. One of those countries was......Ethiopia! There was no question about it. Josh & I both agreed to go with them & start the process right away. We sent our pre-application in.....Accepted! We sent our application in with the fee......Accepted! We did our orientation, and that went really well. We sent all our legal docs to CWA (Christian World Adoption) and have started working on our home study docs & forms.
There's our story! As we do more, and have more to post about, we will....Thanks for joining us, and thanks ahead of time for your prayers.....
Anna
When I went to Sarah McNelly's (our church administrator) house to do our taxes, I called Josh very excitedly to tell him we were getting enough back to pay for the first stages of an adoption (sign #1).
A month or 2 later, Braden & I were grocery shopping, and we passed a little black boy about Braden's age. I, of course, stared for a minute because he was so stinkin' cute. I smiled and walked away. They again passed us down another aisle of the store, when he & Braden caught eyes. Extremely scared of what Braden would say, I told him to stop staring. Braden pushed me away. I again told him to stop staring, and Braden still staring at the little boy, said to me "so cute, Momma!" I agreed, and almost cried. I was a little nervous about how Braden would be with an adoption because Maine has a very low diversity rate. He doesn't see very many colorful people. After our encounter with the little boy, I knew Braden would be fine. (sign #2)
As I looked into different agencies, income was one of our problems. I had 3 agencies respond back telling me we made just barely below what we needed to make to qualify. I told Josh, and I was quite upset. Josh called me from work the next day, and told me something really good happened. Sarah told him they were making a few changes to the staff's salaries. Josh asked her how much that would put him at for the year, and her answer put us just to where we needed to be in order to qualify for the adoption. (sign #3)
After all this, we decided God was preparing the way for us so we started looking into different agencies to pick "the one". We narrowed it down to 3. We knocked one out because we felt we needed to go through a Christian agency & it wasn't. As I looked further into the other 2, I read that Christian World Adoption only required 1 parent to be 25 for some countries. One of those countries was......Ethiopia! There was no question about it. Josh & I both agreed to go with them & start the process right away. We sent our pre-application in.....Accepted! We sent our application in with the fee......Accepted! We did our orientation, and that went really well. We sent all our legal docs to CWA (Christian World Adoption) and have started working on our home study docs & forms.
There's our story! As we do more, and have more to post about, we will....Thanks for joining us, and thanks ahead of time for your prayers.....
Anna
Starting The Journey
Here is the place that Anna and I will journal and keep our friends and family in the loop of what is going on with our adoption process.
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