Why Ethiopia?
*Life expectancy in Ethiopia 39 years for males and 42 years for females. The leading cause of death is communicable diseases such as malaria, typhoid, meningitis, cholera, AIDS, tuberculosis, yellow fever.
* One in ten children die before their first birthday
* One in six children die before their fifth birthday
* Woman have an average of 7 children and the maternal mortality rate is 1 in 14
* Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.
* Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over half the population lives on less than a $1 a day. The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year. Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
* Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.
* Ethiopia is home to 4-6 million orphans, or 12% of all children.
* That is the same number of children under age 18 who reside in Massachusetts, New York State, and Washington DC combined. If every parent in those places died tonight - that would be similar to Ethiopia's orphan crisis.
* More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.
* Only 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.
* Only 18 percent of children reach grade five. That means 82% of children don't.
*44% of the population is under 15 years old
*60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
*Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
*Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
*Coffee prices (Ethiopia's only major export) declined 40-60%from 1998-2002
*Severe drought struck the country from 2000-2002
first year no crops
second year no seeds
so crazy that i stumbled to this little blog from a friend's! you took our little guy's newborn pics soon after we brought him home. so of course, i immediately recognized you! congratulations on this new and exciting journey. i can't wait to see who the Lord has in store for your sweet fam!
ReplyDeleteHi, I just found your blog and I think it's awesome that your family is adopting. That's so exciting. I too long to adopt in the future.
ReplyDeleteThose facts about Ethiopia are horrendous and heartbreaking and it makes me so sad that poverty like that exists all over the world. That being said, when I started reading I expected you to talk about why you chose Ethiopia in a broader sense - why you want your son to be Ethiopian. You are about adopt a child from that culture and it is important to talk about what you love about Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people. There is so much more to a country and a culture than it's poverty. You are about to intertwine your lives with Ethiopian culture forever, this will be a country you visit again and again, this will be a community you join and there should be so many more reasons than what's what's wrong with Ethiopia for you to chose that as the birthplace of your son. You will want your son to grow up proud of his heritage and he cannot do that if the only heritage he has is all the 'wrongs' of his native home. Poverty is everywhere - Ethiopia is where your heart is.