Talking to our daughter about Ethiopia

Of course in an ideal world the beautiful children of Ethiopia wouldn't have to leave their homeland in search of opportunities...in a perfect world there would be no adoption...but unfortunately we are faced with this reality. The ideal situation would be that our daughter would never have to leave her birth country, her culture, her family.  No one can replace any of this, however we can do our best to keep her ties to Ethiopia, to encourage her to be proud of her homeland and culture.

We will honor Ethiopia in our home through an attempt to intertwine this rich culture through regular family activities. Just to name a few we plan to....

• Reading her Ethiopian children books
• Having scrapbooks and dvds of Ethiopia (hopefully of the area where she was born)
• Attending Ethiopian festivals and celebrating the holidays in our home
• Cooking Ethiopian food in the home as well as eating at Ethiopian restaurants
• Listening to Ethiopian music (which already is playing in the house)
• Encouraging and maintaining relationships with other adoptive families
• Talking openly and regularly about her birth heritage
• Planning to sponsor a child so he/she can attend school
• Continued involvement in EOR to continue to give back to her country
• Participating in Ethiopian Cultural Camp in the summer
• We will purchase 18 little gifts for her in Ethiopia, one to open for each birthday
• Planning to return to Ethiopia, not as often as we would like, about every 5 or so years

Ethiopian Facts
Land Mass: 1,119,683 sq km
Covered by Water: 7,444 sq km
Lowest point: Denakil Depression -125 m
Highest point: Ras Dejen 4,620 m

People
There is an estimated population of approximately 70 million people in Ethiopia, with 80 ethnic groups and a wide diversity of languages. More than 80% of the population live in rural areas.
Ethiopia was never colonised, even though from 1935-1941 it was occupied by Mussolini’s Fascists it has remained untainted by colonial powers. Ethnic groups: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%,  Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2% , and 1% other.

Religion
The major religions are Christianity (mainly Orthodox Church) and Islam. It has been estimated that there are Muslim 40%, Orthodox Christian 40%, Animist 15%, and 5% other.

Government

Ethiopia is an independent Federal Democratic Republic, with a President as head of state, and a Prime Minister as the head of government. The constitution was established in 1994, following the over-throw of the Mengistu military dictatorship in 1991. A federation comprising nine-states with considerable autonomy were established and the first multiparty elections were held in 1995. The distinct regional states are – Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Benishangul-Gumuz, Southern Nations (SNNPS), Gambella and Harari.

Language
Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia, although outside the larger cities and towns, there are over 80 different languages and 200 indigenous dialects. The most common of these are Oromo, Tigrinya and Somali. In the northern and central parts Ethiopia different Semitic languages are spoken. Namely Tigre, Tiginrya, Guraginya and the official national language Amharic. The Sidama languages are spoken in the east and south-east. Parts parts of the south include the Cushitic-speaking peoples of the Oromos, the Afars and the Somalis. In the west and south-west are the Nilotic peoples who have their own distinctive language and culture.

Currency and Money
The local currency is the Ethiopian Birr, which is made up of 100 cents. Notes are issued in five denominations - 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 birr and there are five different coins of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents. One US Dollar is about 9 Ethiopian Birr.

Clocks and Time
There is a six-hour difference between Ethiopian and Western time. This means Western 6:00am is 12:00am Ethiopian time and 6pm Western time is 12 noon Ethiopian time. There is no adjustment of clocks for Winter or Summer Time, so there is daylight savings time. Being close to the Equator there is almost twelve hours of constant daylight. In Addis Ababa, sunrise begins at around 06.30 and sunset is about 6:45.

“In this bright future you can't forget your past.”

 ~Bob Marley