A few people have asked me if Ethiopia is completely off. The best answer I can give is "I don't know."
I am still on the wait list with my placement agency. My documents are currently all up-to-date. We have recently received news that WHFC is in the process of working with more orphanages in the northern regions of Ethiopia. That should be good news.
However, since the MOWA news in March, the following things have happened, causing me to lose a little faith:
1. The placement agency has increased fees again. Last year it was $500; this year $2500.
2. A day or two after news of the increase, I received an email stating that my case manager was leaving WHFC. Her last day was the next day! I understand there is turnover -- this is actually my second case manager to leave -- what disturbed me was not only the timing related to the fee increase but also that there was such short notice in the announcement related to her last day.
3. And perhaps the most discouraging news, is that in the month of May there were only 4 referrals. In June, there have been none. Compare that to last year when there were 11 and 10, respectively in the months of May and June.
I'm honestly not sure what it all means or what I'm supposed to feel. Since this process started 13 months ago, I have always felt very connected to Ethiopia. And I can sometimes picture what my child would look like. Now, I think I just feel completely neutral. I have no feelings about Ethiopia right now.
With new paths ahead, I need to refocus my mind and re-visualize (lessons from the Fertility Guru) what my child will look like.
I think it was about $2,500 last year too. Seriously... I still feel for you. I can't imagine sitting through two or three of those huge fee increases.
ReplyDeleteWhich case manager is leaving? We are on our second, who is a big improvement over our first, but I don't want to try out a third!
ReplyDeleteI felt like the situation with Andrea leaving was very odd - announcement from Lisa, the day before her last day? Made us wonder what was going on. Very different from when Maria left. Anyway, I'm with you on that - now we're moving on to yet another case manager. The referral numbers are SO much lower than last year - less than half at this time last year. It is all discouraging, and then you add in the extra kick in the pants of increasing fees (again). If we weren't so far into the process, I think we would be looking at other options, too. I'm glad you are exploring your options; it can only help in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI looked -- Jennifer is right. It was a $2500 increase last year, as well. It didn't seem like that big of a deal then...
ReplyDeleteLaurie...there is positive news to come out of our agency. I'm not home at my computer to share notes with you, but I can do that next week when I'm home. It's the first time I've felt encouraged in months.
ReplyDelete