Lisa Is a project coordinator for From HIV to Home.  This program’s primary goals include:

* partnering with in-country, community-based HIV+ orphan care sites
* and connecting waiting HIV+ orphans with adoptive families

Lisa is also the mother of 634 11 children, several adopted from Ethiopia.  Lisa writes an amazing blog,  A Bushel & A Peck, about raising her children.  Her focus on the adoption of the older child is  particularly inspired.  She marries grace and good humor with thoughtful advice (her own learning curve) about parenting.  I learn something new (and valuable) every time I read.  If you haven’t met Lisa before, please give her blog a visit.  You’ll be glad you did.

Thank you Lisa, for being a unique and helpful voice in our community.  Your hard work brings me ever closer to becoming the parent I want to be.

Paige

Finally… Finally I am going to Ethiopia. $%^?? !!! I am not ready. I am leaving in 1 month. Haven’t got my final immunizations…. haven’t checked the climate…. and have not even considered what to pack. Hope that I make it to the airport. The planning never seems to work out for me. This is the second time I have planned this trip. I seem to recall the last time around I was more prepared. At that time I was ready… tons of free time on my hands. Now I am in a VERY different place. This time I will be travelling with EOR board members and leaving my family at home.

My previously planned trip fell to pieces when I gave birth 4 short days prior to departure. My sweet husband had to go pick up our 7.5 month old daughter without me. I have dreamed of going ever since.

I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I have a few of the major preparations complete.

1. CHILDCARE- A mother in law to help my sweetie with the cyclone sisters (3 and 2.5 years old).
2. TIME OFF- 2 weeks off from catching babies (midwife).
3. TICKETS- I think??? Kim said she bought them, but I haven’t seen the credit card bill yet.

Overall, I am feeling nervously excited. I am thrilled to finally visit the country my sweet Meron was born in. I have seen thousands of photos, read a armful of books, and viewed hours of videos. Guessing that actually being there will be an amazing and life changing experience. Damn. That reminds me- I need to get my camera fixed too. Add it to the list.

The nervous part of “nervously excited” includes the fact that I will be so far away. This trip puts my previous trip to Europe to shame….”Very far” on so many different levels. Distance, culture, and wealth just to name a few. I am also nervous about visiting the orphanages. My heart is generally open and I often allow myself to feel deeply. The children will move me. I know it.

Well, I have one month to prepare. I am sure I will be packed, immunized, and at the airport on time. I certainly will miss my sweet family, my cozy house, and the general flow of my daily existence. Perhaps when I return my eyes will be more open and my drive to improve this earth in any small way will be refueled.

Lauren

We are so excited to share that our Art Cards for 2009 are now available for purchase!

Need a gift for a teacher, babysitter, a grandparent who has everything? We have the perfect gift!! Our second series of note cards, designed by Ethiopian children, are now available for purchase. Each card is a high quality folded style notecard, printed on heavy card stock, with a bio of the artist on the back of the card.

All the proceeds will go towards EOR projects! If you would like to purchase please contact kim@ethiopianorphanrelief.org and mark a few things off your shopping list! These cards would also make great holiday cards.

Here are a few sample of the style of cards available. The Tsegereda series has six notecards and is $12.00, The Africa and watercolor series have 8 cards each and are priced at $15.00.

A HUGE thank you goes to Barbra at Paper Rabbit Designs in Portland, Oregon. Barbra has been an amazing supporter of EOR since the beginning. She shares her talent and design in printing our cards! Her generosity is amazing and we love her!

Kim

The tibs, like the rest of Astrid Meklit’s birthday party, were a success.  I followed the recipe pretty carefully, although when it was time to dice the green pepper, I noticed mine had gone missing.  My rotten children ate the dish before it was cooked, or at least the green pepper part of it  Luckily, the dish did not seem to suffer for it–it was declared delicious by many, including the guest of honor.

It was so much fun to get together with the people my 3 year old adores–there were other Ethiopian kids, some playgroup friends, and of course lots of adults to make sure all of the tibs and ye messir wat was eaten.   We are so grateful to know so many other Ethiopian adoptive families, to be friends with so many Ethiopians.  Although a life in Ethiopia spent with her first family is preferable, I’m happy that the life my daughter lives is filled with people who share her heritage.  Melkam Lidet, Meklit konjo–you enrich our lives in so so many ways….

My daughter’s birthday party is in a few hours, and while we ordered lots of our favorite Ethiopian food from our friend, Tiru, I decided that I would make my own tibs for the event, with some help from this handy recipe:

ETHIOPIAN BEEF TIBS

Beef (about 1 pound, free range/organic steak if you can get it, any cut will do)
1 large onion
1 green bell pepper
Berbere spice blend (buy online, at local international grocer, or make a substitute with 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon ginger powder, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1 teaspoon dry basil, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon ground clove all mixed in a bowl together)

Cube beef into small cubes, about 1/2 inch square. Marinate meat for a few hours in awaze sauce (1 tablespoon berbere, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon red wine–I used a red wine vinegar/balsamic vinegar mix because we don’t drink). Saute onion, sliced or diced, in enough vegetable oil to cover; tradition is to use 1/2 cup of water, adding more as needed until onion is soft. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

Lower heat, add beef and thinly sliced or diced bell pepper, turning regularly, until cooked through, about another 10 minutes. If cooking dry beef, cook in separate pan first, then add to onions and bell pepper. If using marinated beef, go ahead and add to already sauteed onions with bell pepper.

Season again with 1 tablespoon berbere and a splash of red wine or vinegar. Saute another 5 minutes until liquid from wine cooks out.

This is the first time i’ve tried to make anything Ethiopian.  I’ll let you know how well it was received after the party.

Paige

Hello loyal blog readers. Thank you Paige for such a warm introduction and welcome. I’ll be blogging every Friday this month as part of our push to get at least one blog entry per day. So, like Paige said, if there’s something in particular you’d like to hear about, please feel free to leave a comment.

I’m going to start my blog posts with some commentary from my friend Laurie Lazar, who spent two months in Ethiopia this spring volunteering for our partner organization, Children’s Heaven. Laurie wrote some very interesting things about Ethiopia, so I thought I would share them with you. Thank you, Laurie, for sharing your thoughts and insights.

Food

One of the beloved foods in Ethiopia is raw meat called “Kifta”; a steak tartar type dish. Cow, camel, or goat meat hangs in open store windows and customers walk up and order a piece. A piece – resembling a rare cut of fillet minion – is cut right in front of them, and then served up immediately. Dipped in lemon juice and berberie, a blend of firey hot spices, this is a favorite throughout Ethiopia for those who can afford it.

Another treasured food in Ethiopia is injera! Injera is not only a kind of bread—it’s also an eating utensil – in fact the only eating utensil.

In Ethiopia and Eritrea, this spongy, sour flatbread is used to scoop up meat and vegetable stews (wats). Injera also lines the tray on which the stews are served, soaking up their juices as the meal progresses. When this edible bed of injera is eaten, the meal is officially over.

Injera is made with teff, a tiny, round grain that flourishes in the highlands of Ethiopia. While teff is very nutritious, it contains practically no gluten. This makes teff ill-suited for making raised bread, however injera still takes advantage of the special properties of yeast. A short period of fermentation gives it an airy, bubbly texture, and also a slightly sour taste. Injera is the main staple of every meal in Ethiopia which is why Ethiopians will dry it and crumble it in order to have it when traveling.

I hope this is of interest to some of you. Stay tuned for more about Ethiopia!

Shawn

Last year we were pleased when Shawn Rodda lent her expertise and considerable organizational skills to our first Art for Ethiopia event in Denver.  We were even more pleased when Shawn accepted our invitation to join Ethiopian Orphan Relief Inc.’s board.  In the coming weeks, she’ll be adding her own stories to EOR’s blog, but I wanted you to meet her first.

Shawn is a construction and real estate attorney based in Boulder, CO. She received her undergraduate degree from Penn State University and her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law. She and her husband, Justin, brought home their daughter,Lidya, from Ethiopia in May of 2008. In addition to Lidya, Shawn and Justin are parents to Nittany, a ten year old Golden Retriever. Shawn in an active member of the Colorado Ethiopia Adopt group, and enjoys hiking, camping, skiing, playing with Lidya, and all things Ethiopia.  She continues to serve on our Art for Ethiopia committee, and along with Katie Bell, Shawn is a member of our grant team.

Thank you, thank you for joining us Shawn.  Your plate was so full before you joined EOR, but you’ve managed to squeeze us in too.  Go wonder Woman, GO!

Paige

Paige

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While we’re putting all of our ducks in a row, looking for guest bloggers, filling in the schedule and the like, I have a question for all of you. What can we tell you?  What are you looking for when you come to visit the site?

I know when we began our Ethiopian adoption journey almost 4 years ago, I was hungry for information about Ethiopia, Ethiopian adoption, raising African children in a larger African-American community, etc. The pickings were much slimmer 4 years ago–there were fewer bloggers, fewer organizations, etc.  I found some favorites of course, looked carefully at a variety of international-adoption focused blogs, and was thrilled when I found gems, like the blog written by the woman who volunteered for AAI.  Over the last 4 years, a great deal has changed.  With so many agencies and so many more Ethiopian adoptions, there are many more resources to choose from.  Although we won’t be the sole voice of information, we’d love to be a reliable source for information.

So tell us, what would you like to know?

Paige

There’s a tradition in the blogosphere–in November, crazy people think it’s a good idea to post something daily.  30 posts in 30 days.  I’ve decided that EOR should join in.  With lots of board members and lots to talk about–we should have no problem filling the next 30 days.

It’s National Adoption Month–let the good times roll!