Adoption Advocates International and Layla House!

Here is a description of Layla House from the Adoption Advocates Website. This is the agency we are using www.adoptionadvocates.org.

Layla House and Adoption from Ethiopia

Layla House is a child care facility operated by Adoption Advocates International, an agency licensed in Washington State and an NGO with authority from the Ethiopian government to arrange adoptions of orphan children with qualified and loving American parents. Located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Layla House is a compound composed of four smaller compounds, situated on a hill side in a nice residential area of the city, with lots of space for outdoor play for the children.

Babies and young children are cared for in the upper compound, The buildings form a U shape with a court yard in the center where little ones can play safely. In the morning on nice days, the babies are brought outside into the courtyard as well. There are several sleeping rooms and during much of the day babies are in the main room watching the activity and being held for each feeding. Children, ages three to six, attend preschool classes each day where they sing, play games, do crafts and begin learning their ABC’s. There is plenty of staff to meet the needs of each child. One person weighs and measures the babies on a regular basis and assures that they get to their medical appointments for immunizations and check-ups as needed. Older children may visit younger siblings and some older kids like to come and play with the babies and small children.

The AAI office is also located in this area. Records are kept on the children and early stages of the processing of adoptive family’s dossiers takes place in this office, as well as bookkeeping and other office tasks.

In the lower part of this area is the kitchen, which is a traditional Ethiopian kitchen in many ways but boasts a few innovations such as screen doors, vents over the stove, and a stainless steel sink. Children receive a balanced diet and they are allowed to eat as much as they want, a luxury in this country.

Below this area there are sleeping, bathing, and dining areas for the older children. Children sleep in bunks in small groups with a housemother near by at night. Each child has possessions of his own and a place to keep them. He is responsible for making his own bed and keeping things tidy. Again, buildings are arranged in a U shape with a garden area in the center. This is the place for quiet outdoor play. The dining room can be used for play during rainy weather and there is a TV and VCR for the children in the dining room. They watch American children’s videos. Children often gather in the dining room to play games and sing as well.

Next to this compound it the soccer field and space for active play. Also children enjoy playing basket ball and other active games, and this is where the P.E. classes are held.

The lower compound has the temporary school house. This is a house that had most of the interior rooms removed to create larger classrooms. It is adequate but not ideal and there are plans to build a new school house once funds are available. Here children have classes in math, science, English, Amharic, and geography.

While at the Layla House, the children are prepared for life with their new adoptive families. Learning conversational English is emphasized and the children learn to sing songs in English as well as to count, name the colors, and recognize letters of the alphabet. Children like to study the map of the U.S. to see where their new families are located and where their friends are going to live. They have their first experience with crafts, and puzzles. Volunteers and visiting adoptive parents are encouraged to spend time with them playing games and reading to improve their skills in English. They learn Western table manners and how to eat with a knife and fork. A young man comes to teach sports and they play soccer and other organized games. During free time they like to play basketball, hopscotch, jump rope, and marbles, just like kids anywhere.

The children have chores to do and they earn that in American families they will be expected to help in the kitchen, with cleaning and laundry. They go on field trips and they have experienced horse back riding, bowling, eating in a restaurant, and even camping. A special treat is a visit to the shoe shop for new shoes and a stop for ice cream on the return trip.

Meanwhile, adoptive families are sought for the children. Staff from Adoption Advocates International visits the children and takes video and photos. Medical information is gathered. The Ethiopian social worker meets with the child and often makes visits to the extended family and neighbors to obtain information on the child. All available information is shared with prospective families. When a family makes a commitment to a particular child, they prepare a Welcome Bag for the child containing a T-shirt, small gifts and a photo album to acquaint the child with the new home and family. This is a happy day indeed for each child as they eagerly examine the family photo album, check the toys, and wear the new shirt from their new family with pride.

For the families, the adoption process usually goes quite smoothly. The requirements for adoptive parents are few. Singles women or couples, with children or without, are accepted. The fees are some of the lowest for international adoption.

Each adoptive family must have a homestudy done by a licensed agency or social worker and must apply to the Bureau of Homeland Security for a visa for the child. Families must agree to spend time learning about Ethiopia and its rich history and culture. They must commit to participating in the post-placement services of their agency or social worker and they must agree to send letters and photos annually until the child reaches the age of eighteen years. Families must prepare a dossier of documents with the help of Merelene of Adoption Advocates International and this dossier must be stamped at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC before being sent to Ethiopia. Once in Ethiopia, the dossier is translated and submitted to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, children’s department, for their review and approval.

When permission is given for the child to be adopted by the family, the files are submitted to the court. After the adoption decree is given, the adopting parents may travel to Ethiopia to apply for the visa and take their child home or the adoption decree can be sent to the U.S. for visa approval and the child escorted home by AAI staff or escorts. Total time varies, and usually ranges from four to six months from the time the dossier reaches Ethiopia.

All children are tested for HIV at the clinic recommend by the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia as they come into the Layla House. They are tested again just before leaving Ethiopia. All children are tested for Hepatitis B and venereal disease and they are screened for TB. They are given routine medical exams and immunizations.

Adoption Advocates International, a U.S. licensed adoption agency, has worked in the area of foreign adoption since 1983. AAI has been approved by the Ethiopian government to arrange adoptions since 1997.

Ethiopian adoption is less expensive than adoption from some countries, the process is well defined, and the children are basically healthy emotionally and physically. Another thing many families who have adopted from Ethiopia enjoy is the sense of community they form with other families with Ethiopian children. An email group is open only to families adopting from Ethiopia through AAI. Families share the joys, challenges, tips, and stories.

If you would like to receive further information including a fee schedule and application, please send your mailing address to linaai@olympus.net and request an Ethiopian adoption packet. Once you have sent your application, you can request a copy of the video of available children, which is updated regularly, you may order it by email at the same address. You will be billed $10 to cover the cost of copying and shipping. One adoptive mother’s comment on the video recently was, "The videos of the waiting Ethiopian children are strikingly different from the videos one sees of the institutionalized children in Russia and the former Soviet bloc countries: they are running on a lawn together, playing soccer, petting a dog, or putting on a Christmas pageant with costumes, props, and memorized lines. As a waiting parent, I have gotten art-work, including a Mother's Day card, from the little girl whom we're adopting! I've was able to send her gifts and then I get back photos of her opening her gifts. I get reports of her having gone on field trips to experience bowling, horseback riding, and the American hotel's indoor swimming pool. She is taking English lessons and she has a P.E. teacher. Having adopted previously from Eastern Europe, I can tell you truly how astonishingly different it is. The biggest difference: virtually all these children started out as treasured members of their birth-families, were orphaned by war or AIDS, are themselves healthy, and retain the joyful start in life they were given by their late parents and grandparents."

If you cannot adopt an Ethiopia child but you would like to help AAI continue to provide care for these youngsters or to provide care for an orphan who is able to remain with extended family if they have a small amount of financial support, please request information on how you can sponsor a child.

The needs of children in Ethiopia are great. It is a country rich in history and tradition but an orphan child, without relatives to care for him, is not likely to survive to adulthood. Can you make room for one of these beautiful children in your family?