Amharic Kids Blog

Out of stock? Now what?

2012-01-03T12:56:00.002-06:00

Today, can you believe, we have exactly two, TWO copies of Our First Amharic Words left in stock. It has sold like hotcakes (whatever they are), of which we are so thankful. So, the book will be out of stock on www.amharickids.com for the next few months until we get a reprint done. Yes, I said reprint.

Reprint?

I'd like to do a second edition actually, not just a reprint. That means a new and improved Our First Amharic Words." The first edition featured all sorts of kids and families in the Ethiopian adoption world. It made it fun and we all love seeing ourselves in books. So, I'm thinking a semi-crowd sourcing project for this edition. Sound fun? Get ready for a shout out.

In the meantime, I'd LOVE to hear how you think the book could be improved upon.

A beautiful adventure-continues

2012-01-03T12:53:00.002-06:00

Warning: sappy nostalgia follows.

When we adopted our daughter she was so small, barley 7 pounds at 6 months.Two years later she had leveled out at 50% on the American growth chart, and we had another daughter biologically. Life was happily under control, and my type A personality was ready to start a new adventure.

Six months of hard work followed, and lots of photo session with friends, and just in time for the 2007 Summer Mehaber we had a delivery of Our First Amharic Words. At the same time we produced both number and color Amharic Bean Bag Sets. These three products launched Amharickids.com - a registered publisher and online store. It feels like a century ago, not just 4 years ago.

What an adventure it has been - seriously HARD work, working at home raising kids (by day), working at home (by late night) and getting to know amazing people, creating, dreaming, soaking up everything Ethiopian and figuring out ways to bring that back to the growing community of people who all love Ethiopia too, mainly because of adoption. It is all exceptionally fun....even more since my kids are both in school all day and now I can work normal hours.:)

Happy New Year Everyone!

PS. The latest on Our First Amharic Words.

Photo Contest Results

2011-11-30T08:35:00.001-06:00

And the winners are....

First Place:

Sarah Stefany
Mudula Water Project

Second Place (by only one vote)

A first place donation will also be given to Children's Hope Chest because of the almost tie.

Candice Wagenleitner
Children's Hope Chest

Third Place

Janelle Jensen
Grace Center for Children and Families

Fourth Place

Scott Jacovics
AHOPE

Fifth Place

Laura Sumerhill-Coleman
Ethiopia Reads

Congratulations to all of the winners. Thank you to everyone who participated and submitted a photo. Reliving our experiences in Ethiopia and hearing about yours through the beautiful photos was a special treat. Go to our facebook page to see all 280+ photos that were submitted.

Contest Details

Do you want gorgeous photos of Ethiopia on your wall year around? The Ethiopia 2012 Wall Calendar is filled with beautiful photographs from Ethiopia.It is also available in wholesale packs of 10 for gifting or fundraising.

Voting for the Photo Contest is Closed.

2011-11-23T08:59:00.001-06:00

Voting for the Photo Contest is Closed.

Results will be tallied and released between November 26-29 via email. To include your name in the email list sign up on the front page at www.amharickids.com.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Voting Begins Now!

2011-11-15T06:32:00.000-06:00

Announcing the top 10 incredible finalists for the 2011 Amharic Kids Photo Contest!

Find all contest details here including the prizes. See all photo entries on our facebook page.

How to Vote:

Go to the bottom of this page and click on "view comments" - at the bottom of all the comments is a field for you to write your comment/vote. Votes are earned by tallying comments on this blog post. Extra votes can be earned for a specific photo if someone links/shares the photo contest on any other social media platform and lets us know that they did on their comment.
For example a comment might say: “I vote for photo (give title of image), I shared it on my facebook page and wrote about it on my blog.” This comment gets 3 votes for one photo.
Please only vote for one photo. Public voting is November 14-22, 2011.

"Harar, Ethiopia"
Kim Ewing Pasion
Ethiopian Orphan Relief

"We can make a difference in the life of One."
Candice Wagenleitner
Children's Hope Chest

"Spontaneous Eruption of Joy"
Scott Jakovics
AHOPE

"Tigray Trek"
Bekah Backman
World Vision Ethiopia

"rural southern Ethiopian village"
Sarah Stefany
Mudula Water Project

"Basket Seller, Harar 2010"
Laura Summerhill-Coleman
Ethiopia Reads

"Wisdom"
Janelle Jensen
Grace Center for Children and Families

"The center of the Mudula Market."
Liz McGovern
Mudula Water Project

"Innocence"
Janelle Jensen
Grace Center for Children & Families

"Greatest Moments"
Scott Jakovics
AHOPE

Voting only lasts until the 22nd of November. Winners will be announced after Thanksgiving, (November 24th.)

So, what is your vote?

Who is Amharic Kids?

2011-11-14T23:03:00.001-06:00

About Amharic Kids

www.amharickids.com

Amharic Kids was born out of our families' adoption journey. We adopted our oldest daughter as a baby and at that time all we cared about was making sure she ate and grew. In time, we began to look for Ethiopian cultural and language outlets knowing how crucial it would be for our daughters' future self-esteem.

In the process our whole family enjoyed the relationships we built, language we have learned and cultural tidbits we have been able to incorporate into our home life.

We created Amharic Kids to meet the need for easily accessible books, toys, and handicrafts related to Ethiopia. It all started with publishing the book “Our First Amharic Words” and our now famous Amharic Color and Number Bean Bag sets. We are now sourcing all types of products about Ethiopia, and have published more books including the 7 time award winning “Ethiopian Voices: Tsion’s Life” and “Yafi’s Family: an Ethiopian boys journey of love, loss and adoption.”

Like all adoptive families, we have always been concerned about giving back to Ethiopia. Amharic Kids gives back by sponsoring individual Ethiopian children, supporting Ethiopian food aid programs, and providing you fundraising opportunities to support your favorite Ethiopian cause or personal adoption. A large part of what we are doing is sourcing fair trade handicrafts direct from the artisans or NGOs. Being a link in the chain that empowers and gives a financial livelihood to families is rewarding beyond belief. Purchase of these products finishes the circle! All of this is the most rewarding part of Amharic Kids.

From our family to yours, thank you for your support!

For more information on Amharic Kids ( and a few old photos) visit our FAQ page.www.amharickids.com

Organizations working in Ethiopia

2011-11-14T14:15:00.001-06:00

Submitted by Jane Kurtz for Ethiopia Reads

The Photo Contest in November 2012 was amazing! It wast the first time we have done something like this and almost 300 photos were submitted in hopes of winning cash prizes for favorite organizations working in Ethiopia. Visit our facebook page and see all the photos that were submitted by clicking on photos. Read more about Amharic Kids work supporting families through fair trade handicrafts.

Here is the list of organizations in alphabetical order.

AHOPE

American World Adoption

Because Every MotherMatters (bemm.org)

Children of Ethiopia Education Fund

Children’s Heaven

Children’s Hope Chest

CHSFS

Clinic At A Time

Common River

Compassion International

Ethiopia Reads

Ethiopian Orphan Relief

Fields of Hope

Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children

Grace Center for Children and Families

Horizen Boys Ministry

Lola Children’s Fund

Mudula Water Project

Project 61

Project Adopt A Village

Project PAAV

Reach Another Foundation

Selamta Family Project

Strong Hearts Ethiopia

The Fregenet Foundation

Water 1^st Int’l

Water to Thrive

World Vision Ethiopia

Yezelalem Minch

Amharic Kids stocks many beautiful fair trade products that we source from many different organizations and individual's. Purchase of these products provides a skill, job and income- it a very beautiful way to support Ethiopia!

Christmas Ornaments - new ones!

2011-11-13T16:19:00.001-06:00

We have a tradition in our house that each year everyone gets a new Christmas tree ornament. I love looking back at my old ornaments from when I was a child and my kids already love the tradition and carefully pull out their box of ornaments each year we decorate the tree.

Our family also likes to have ornaments on our tree that represent the things we love and memories we have. Amharic Kids stocks a couple of ornaments and other Christmas items each year. They showcase Ethiopia and of course give back.

The first one is called the Star of Ethiopia.
Created by the ladies who make all of our beautiful coffee bean jewelry. This star is made using traditional, handmade, recycled Ethiopian beads...just read cool! Each bead is unique. The ladies are all living with HIV and this job creation project provides them with dignity, education, friendship, job training, a salary, the ability to provide for their kids.....so much!

The second one is called Africa Ornament in Natural. (I know a creative name.)
This beautiful ornament is made by an adoptive family working to build their adoption fund. I love this ornament because it speaks to the simple dignity something I experience every time I go. I also am going to use mine to remember our family trip to Ethiopia this year by pasting a photo of our trip to it.

The third ornament is called Love from Ethiopia.
A tiny Ethiopian cross snowflake, coffee beans, and recycled metal handmade beads - this ornaments honors Ethiopia. It is so beautiful. This ornament is made by the same ladies who make the Star of Ethiopia (the first ornament we wrote about above.). So if you want a gift that gives back in so many ways - this might be perfect.

Here are a few other Christmas items we have that give back.

Ethiopia Nativity Scene

Photo Contest has over 205 submissions so far!

2011-11-08T10:49:00.000-06:00

Celebrating the 2012 Ethiopia Calendar

Here at Amharic Kids we Celebrate and Support Ethiopia. This month we are doing some seriouscelebrating and supporting with our Photo Contest and $5 shipping. To date over205 photos have been uploaded to our facebook page. (Click on the photo link to see them all easily.) What a better way to celebrate the culture,beauty and experiences we have had in Ethiopia then to share a photo in honorof our favorite Ethiopian organization. It has been a powerful journey that hasmade us all want to hop on the next plane leaving for Addis!

Often people upload a description of what was happening whenthey took the photo – so cool. I have to say, I have grown to love facebookmore and more. What an amazing platform that allows this kind of social interaction.

Comments about the Photo Contest from facebook:

"Ihave really enjoyed everyone sharing their pictures and memories of Ethiopia!This beautiful country holds a special place in so many of our hearts! Thankyou for arranging this celebration ( : ~Ahmesugenalew"

"Manythanks, Amharic Kids, for this collection of important and beautiful photos ofEthiopia."

"Iam sad to see this contest end. I have visited this website many times each dayand everyone's photos are winners. I didn't know much about Ethiopia until mydaughter and son-in-law adopted two beautiful brothers and took me with them tobring them back to America. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity tosee for myself this beautiful country, people, food and culture. My second"trip" back was this website. Thanks Amharic Kids for the opportunityand in my opinion, everyone wins as all the charities are awesome!"

"Iam enjoying these so much!"

A few details:

Uploading photos to facebook ends onFriday November 11.
10 finalists will be chosen and posted to our BLOG – then thereal voting begins.
See all details here.
$5 shipping in November is a good deal – get your Christmasshopping started.

What has been your favorite part of this photo contest?

November 2011 Photo Contest Official Rules

2011-10-30T20:36:00.002-05:00

Celebratingthe new 2012 Ethiopia Calendar.

How itworks.

Everyone is welcome to enter. Ifyou are under 18 please ask your parents or guardian if it is ok.

Step 1. Enter one photo, per day, per person between November1-11, 2011 on the Amharic Kids Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amharic-Kids/163336607010249.
Be sure you:
1. Name yourphoto
2. List yourname and the organization you want to win the cash prize
3. Write a fewwords to describe your photo: location, circumstances, etc.

Step 2. 10 finalists will be selected by November 14,2011. The finalists’ photographs will then be posted on the Amharic Kids Blogfor fans to vote on who they think should be the winner.

Step 3: Public voting is November 14-22, 2011. Votes areearned by tallying comments on the blog. Extra votes can be earned for aspecific photo if someone links/shares the photo contest on any other socialmedia platform and lets us know that they did on their comment.

Forexample a comment might say: “I vote for photo XYZ, I shared it on my facebookpage and wrote about it on my blog.” This comment gets 3 votes for photo XYZ.

Step 4: Winners will be announced November 26, 2011, viaeblast and on our facebook page.

Timeline.

November 1, 2011 – First daycontestants may start submitting photo’s on Amharic Kids facebook page

November 14, 2011 to November 22,2011 – Online voting for your favorite photo on Amharic Kids blog page.

November 26, 2011 –Winners areannounced through email and facebook

Rules to Enter.

Photos MUST have been taken inEthiopia.

Photographs may not have any kindof political message or leaning.

Each contestant may enter onephoto, per day of the contest.

By entering the contest, you aregiving the Amharic Kids rights to use the photo on our website/blog/facebook/marketing.

A judging panel will decide thetop 10 photos and will then post them on Amharic Kids blog for public voting.

If you are a 1-3 place winner,the organization that you choose to receive the cash prize must:

· Have a US bankaccount.

· Be currentlyworking in Ethiopia

· Be aregistered nonprofit with a 501(c)3 status

· Be anonpolitical organization

Amharic Kids reserves the rightto amend all photo contest rules or disqualify inappropriate photos.

Please do NOT enter photos that:

Were not taken in Ethiopia.

You did not take or that arecopyrighted by someone else.

Show nudity, drugs, violence, arepolitically motivated or show symbols or acts of hatred.

Include a watermark orphotographer logo.

Are illegal or prohibited. Wereserve the right to disqualify photos.

How to Submit your Photos.

Post your photos on the AmharicKids facebook page between November 1-11, 2011. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amharic-Kids/163336607010249

Give your photo a title.

In the “Description/Status Update”section, write a few words about the photo, along with your name. Please rememberto name the nonprofit organization that you would choose if you won the cashdonation. Do you know the place in Ethiopia the photo was taken? Is there astory behind the photo?

Invite all your friends to votefor your photo starting on November 14^th at:

Copyright.

By submitting photos, you give AmharicKids permission to use them. The permission includes, but is not limited to, marketingmaterials, web sites and social media. You will not be compensated for suchuse. However, where reasonable, we will give you credit for the photos.

By entering the contest, youagree to all of the above.

FAQ.

Who can enter?

ANYONE! If you are 18 andyounger, please ask your parents or guardian for permission to enter.

When do I submit my photo?

Photos will be accepted onAmharic Kids facebook page from November 1 -11.

How many photos can I enter?

Onephoto, per person, per day.

How do I submit my photo?

Between November 1-11, 2011 youcan upload your photo to the Amharic Kids facebook page. One entry, per person,per day.

When does voting begin?

Voting is open to the public, andbegins on the Amharic Kids blog on November 14, 2011.

Prizes.

1^stPlace: $150 to your favorite nonprofit organization working in Ethiopia.

2^ndPlace: $100 to your favorite nonprofit organization working in Ethiopia.

3^rdPlace: $75 to your favorite nonprofit organization working in Ethiopia.

4^thPlace: $75 value, Amharic Kids prize pack (books and fair trade handicraftsfrom Ethiopia, etc.)

5^thPlace: $50 value, Amharic Kids pack(books and fair trade handicrafts from Ethiopia, etc.)

2012 Ethiopia Wall Calendar: It’s Spicy!

2011-10-28T13:05:00.002-05:00

It is becoming annual – this is the fourth year Amharic Kids has produced a wall calendar filled with beautiful photos of Ethiopia. This year Amharic Kids has teamed up with Workinesh Spice Blends to bring a colorful primer on the spices that make Ethiopian food. The front header spread has a photo of 9 spices with a paragraph description of that spice’s history, ingredients and how it is used. Workinesh Spice Blends sells spices, coffee, injera, bread and more. They are a phone call away and ship all over the country. Call Lemlem at 952-303-6720.

CalendarDetails:

12 months based on the western calendar
Ethiopian & American holiday notations

Extra section about Ethiopianspices
Available in single quantities or wholesale packs of 10 for fundraising or giftgiving purposes

Use this calendar as a fundraiser and earn 50% immediately
Each year Amharic Kids offers the Ethiopia calendar to individuals andorganizations at a wholesale rate for fundraising purposes.

Wholesale Details:
The 2012 Ethiopia calendar retails for $11.99 each.
Your wholesale cost is $6.00 each.
Wholesale rates apply to units of 10 pieces.
Pre-purchase the calendar, then sell to your friends and family and earn 50% ofthe sale immediately.
Calendars are nonreturnable after Jan 15th 2012.

Newspapers, TV news and lessons learned

2011-10-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

It has been a crazy week. A few months ago my favoritelocal library (the one who helps me so much when I am working on a book) calledand asked me to speak about our lives and how adoption led us to publishingbooks about Ethiopia. Little did I know that the library system sends out pressreleases on their events and that led to a very descent story in our local StarTribune. It was a far less descent photoof the girls and I that I emailed to them…. and they used. It is so hard to seeon a thumbnail if everyone’s eyes are actually open in the photo. Lessonlearned!

This was the photo that I meant to send to them.

Anyway, that led to one of our local news stations comingout the following week (with 1.5 hours notice!) to film an interview with me.By that point, I had spent about 4 hours with the newspaper reporter (yes, FOURhours) and had given the speech at the library – so I was ready to go with alive interview.

I did both interviews with a little fear and trepidation.First of all, I really hate the “deer in the headlights” face I usually get andsecond, I have been BURNED by reporters putting a nuance on something that endsup sounding really bad in the community or using horrible adoption languagethat turns my stomach. I decided to beproactive.

At a certain point in both interviews I kindly talked to thereporter about how the adoption community is really sensitive about language becausewe care about how our children will perceive things. Our family has one adoptedand one biological. I explained that these children are both “my own” I wouldhate for one of my children to be labeled as adopted and the other as herown. I asked them to use the termbiological or birth child (sometimes easier to get the tongue around.) I gave other examples too. Both reporters werereally open to my request.

Yipee, lesson was learned -two more reporters are aware ofadoption language. Now, if I can just remember to open those thumbnails to makesure I am sending the photo I want.

PS. I think I did pretty good staving off the deer in theheadlights look too.

2011-09-08T11:18:00.000-05:00

Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash) is almost here. It falls on Sept. 11 this year. I long for the day we canbe in Ethiopia seeing the beautiful yellow flowers in bloom and staying to take part inthe Great Ethiopian Run (which friends have told me is mostly a walk.) I’d love to hear the sounds of girls singingto the drum at my doorstep – I’d probably give them money since I’m horrible atbaking bread. Of course eating the best Doro Wat would be bonus – it always is.

For now, we are thankful to have a large Ethiopian communityin our city that throws a big party in the park. There is always lots of food,dancing, jumpers for the kids, vendors, speechesand it is guaranteed to start 1-2 hours late (which works great for our family). My favorite part is reconnecting with friendsbut close second is watching the informal fashion show in motion. Everyonedresses up – some in their most beautiful Ethiopian dress others just try toget as much green, yellow, red on them as possible. Love it all. It is one ofthe few days each year that I get to wear my Ethiopian dress! I also love seeing how all the little girls’hair is done – it is my hairstyle tutor for the year. I have to admit tosecretly taking photos of the back of little girl’s heads to bring home and tryto replicate.

If you are able to get to an Ethiopian New Year Celebrationthis weekend, go big, layer on everything Ethiopian, bring your camera and definitelygo late.

Ethiopian Traditional Clothes for Kids

2011-08-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, we do finally have boys and girls Ethiopian traditional clothes! It has takenus awhile to figure out the best way to source them but now we have a plan.Traditional clothes are the number one item we are asked to sell, but figuringout a way to have consistent styles/sizes/supply in a quality outfit that is areasonable price AND not a shipping nightmare is quite another story. So let me tell you how we came up with theperfect fit – in lots of ways.

As most of you know we have two daughters and over the past8 years we have gotten many Ethiopian dresses in country. My girls prefer dresses with white fabric anddetail. The girls are always so excited to wear them but no matter how much Iwarn the girls to be careful the dresses have shredded holes in them sometimes in just one wearing. It is very frustrating. I did not want to sell that –talk about a customer service nightmare.

I knew that if I wasgoing to do traditional clothes they had to be sturdy and high quality – enoughto be a hand me down or get a few years out of them if possible – isn’t thatwhat all mom’s want from clothes? My search in Ethiopia for sturdier fabricwould have broke the bank especially when adding the shipping to get it out ofthe country – trust me nobody would have liked that final price. I researched lots of options - tailors in country, various combinations of securing parts in different countries, getting the whole dress from Ethiopia, getting them made here....

The answer was to replicate one of my daughter’s favorite Ethiopiandresses. I bought it in Ethiopia, it ismade out of a cotton and has beautiful sparkly trim. Outfits with similarcotton and trim are found all over Shiro Meda (the dress area). In the end, we get the trim in Ethiopia and have themmade here in the US.

The final product turned out beautiful. Here are the details:

· Standard sizing – you can see the sizing chartto compare to your child.
· Waist bands have a draw string tie and elastic –adjusts to all shapes and sizes
· Fabric is a very sturdy, very washable 50%polyester, 50% cotton. No ironing needed!
· Two Piece Outfits: Girls outfit is two pieces,skirt and top. I chose this style, vs. a dress, because the skirt can grow withthe girl – it just gets shorter – don’t worry it starts out lower calf length. The top can be worn separately with jeans tomake a super cute outfit. Versatility with clothes – always a good thing. Boyscould do the same thing with the top and wear it separately.
· Color options – lots of trim color options forboth outfits.

As you can see I have put some thought into bringing you aquality outfit that will last and even be passed down. Let me know how you like yours and if youhave time post a photo of your darling in their clothes.

From our house to yours.

Amharic for your feet

2011-07-26T15:36:00.000-05:00

I'd like to introduce you to Nini. She is the creative brain behind the popular Amharic learning HaHu flashcards. She has also produced the super fun HaHu flipflops that Amharic Kids debuted a few weeks ago. Can we say "made rush on the website?" They come in 3 fun colors (pink, orange and blue) and lots of sizes for the kids or adults.

Nini says that she has seen her own kids struggle with learning Amharic. She wanted to make Amharic letters easier to learn (flash cards) and fun (flipflops.) She did a good job and it is a pleasure for Amharic Kids to be able to support her entrepreneurial efforts.

Meeting our sponsor girls in Ethiopia

2011-03-30T12:24:00.001-05:00

The first trip back to Ethiopia with your children is very powerful. If you have followed our previous, very sporadic (sorry) posts you know that so much thought and preparation goes into the trip. The ages of the kids matters so much as you plan each day and include activities they will enjoy. You can read about our goals and planning for the trip here.

One day we did right: Meeting our sponsor girls

For years now, we have sponsored 2 girls from Ethiopia through Compassion International. The second girl we choose because of her close age to our daughters and because she lived in Addis. I knew that we’d be there at some point and thought it would be easier to meet her of she was in the city.

Compassion encourages and completely facilitates meeting your sponsor children as long as you have 6 weeks preparation time – they charge very little and keep it a safe experience for the sponsor children and sponsor families. They are fantastic.

I wanted to give my daughters a mission for this trip even though they are only 5 and 7. I really could not imagine their first trip to the developing world being totally touristy. We came up with the “School Supplies Giveaway to Ethiopia.”

The day we were to spend with our Compassion girls, started as a large van pulled up in front of our guest house and Selam, our 11 year old sponsor girl flew into my arms with the biggest smile you have ever seen. She had been picked up that morning with her mother and case worker from their village 150 kilometers outside of Addis. We drove across town to the Compassion site where Hermela, our second 7 yr old sponsor girl goes to school, gets fed, and sees a doctor when needed.

We were greeted by 270 waving hands and huge smiling faces. Compassion has over 340 projects in Ethiopia and 80,000 sponsor kids, these children were very excited to see us! I was on a high, I had to pause, my girls were very overwhelmed and needed the security of us staying close.

We went into the office building where we met sweet Hermela and her mother. My girls gave the backpack full of gifts to each of the girls. They pulled each and everything out. Before we left I had taken my girls out to buy a new outfit and gifts for Selam and Hermela – another way I was trying to give them opportunity to give. Seeing the presents being opened and their joy in receiving them was a special gift.

We moved on to opening the suitcase full of school supplies that the girls had collected from their classmates at Northside Christian School, Amharic Kids friends, and others. It filled a table to heaping and I saw the teachers eyes get big. We decided to open a few packages and hand out a few pencils and crayons to each of the 135 kids on site that day. The teachers would distribute the rest.

Salem and Hermela helped us pass out to all the children lined the courtyard. My girls took their job very seriously and had warmed up by then. All the kids sang songs and in unison said thank you in English and Amharic.

After we were invited to Hermela and her mothers house, a short distance away, for lunch. She had prepared misr wat (red lentil stew) with injera. We sat around her one room house discussing our daily routine – “What do you do to get ready for school in the morning?” or “Do you have a pet? Do you have chores in your house?” Questions that all 4 girls could answer and discuss with each other.

As an adoptive parent, this was an amazing experience. We had specifically chosen to not meet birth family on this trip. Being invited into Hermela’s house to eat with them was a way for our daughters to experience daily life – it was a huge step toward comfort in future situations.

After lunch we invited everyone to go to Bora Amusement Park for the afternoon. The kids were thrilled, all four of them – evidently bumper cars and merry go rounds are universal fun. Even the adults went on the ferris wheel. Our translator told us that Selam and Hermela would treasure that experience and go back to tell about every detail to their friends at school.

The day ended with a group photo, lots of hugs and Selam’s parting words, “Send pictures of today and WRITE ME MORE.” We will Selam and Hemela and hopefully we’ll see you again too!

Bubbles, Madness and beautiful jewelry in Ethiopia

2011-03-29T11:46:00.003-05:00

We have been working closely with the Coffee Bean Ladies for well over a year now. The HIV+ women and their children who were barely living and in seclusion are now earning a living through this project by making the most beautiful jewelry you have ever seen. They gained their fame by using coffee beans as beads and now have hundreds of designs also using many local recycled metal beads.

Here are few of the beautiful, new designs we brought back.

Jewelry drying and ready to be packaged.

On our recent trip to Ethiopia we spent the day at their project to get a better idea of how our jewelry purchases support Ethiopian families. Saturday morning is the kids club for the project. All of the workers children come and receive all sorts of support from craft times, English language help, game time, homework help, counseling, mentoring, food, etc. We brought school supplies for the project, paid for book shelves to be built for their library and caused total chaos for a morning.

The theory was to divide the group into two. One group would do sidewalk chalk with me and Caleigh and the other group would do bubbles with Paul and Samara. HA, HA, HA. I seriously tried to make side walk chalk engaging but really everyone just wanted to catch bubbles. At one point kids were getting trampled – time out! – but we got it going and they all had a blast.

Meanwhile in the building all the mothers were getting weekly training. Today’s topic was parenting but each week was different from health, finances, work life, etc.

Women gathering for training.

I really can’t rave enough about the work they are doing to provide life for mothers and their children who live with the disease. When we say that jewelry purchases keep Ethiopian families together – it is very, very real.

Preparing Our Kids for Ethiopia

2011-02-18T09:13:00.002-06:00

There is so much to think through when bringing our kids back to their birth country! Because our trip is mainly for building good memories and experiences in Ethiopia, I’m leaving the whole birth element/search out of it…but I am still feeling a little overwhelmed. I’m a list girl, so I write down everything I’d like to discuss or do in preparation when I think of it. Some of the things I have done with the girls seem to have been very helpful for them, so I thought I would share. Here is part of my list – the interesting things I hope. Remember that our girls are 5 and 7 years old – so I really wanted them to be prepared.

Talk, Talk Talk

· Talk about:

Water: we only drink out of bottles, brush teeth with bottled water, our body is not used to the water from sinks – so we cannot drink it. This seemed to really impact the girls. They have had a hard time understanding that water can make you sick.

· Clothes: We’ll wear capri’s to our knees at least, and cover up our shoulders. The days are warm and nights are cool so we’ll have to wear layers and carry around the sweater during the day. (Am I the only one who has had clothes wars with kids? I wanted to avoid that.)
· Toilets: We have to carry toilet paper because there is none in public places – sometimes there will not be water for washing hands too – so we’ll just bring wipes. The toilets will usually smell pretty bad and it is important to always try to go when we are in a place with a clean bathroom. Toilets might be different. In lots of countries, not only Ethiopia, the toilet is a hole with foot pads and you have to squat to go. (The girls LOVED it when Daddy demonstrated with an imaginary hole in our living room.)
· Greeting/Touching: Ethiopians love to kiss kids and touch them on the cheeks. It is important to be gracious and kind about that. I explained to the girls that it we do things the Ethiopian way when we are in Ethiopia or with Ethiopians, and we do it the American way when we are home. (A good thing to teach my girls – it is ok to do things different ways at different times, being Ethiopian and American is not mutually exclusive.)
· Food: the girls asked lots of questions about food. They wanted to know what is for breakfast. No cereal and milk, but lots of eggs and bread and jam and we could get some peanut butter. They love hearing about all the great pizza and drinking coke out of coke bottles too. Oh, and that we are bringing a huge stash of granola bars and they can have one whenever they want.
· Poverty: I decided to go lightly on this one. I said a few things about begging. More below.
· Amharic: I told my Ethiopian born daughter that people were going to expect that she speaks Amharic. She gulped. We talked about ways to deal with it. Simply say in English, “I’m sorry I do not speak Amharic; but I can count to 10 – do you want to hear me?” Kids are funny. She asked, “How are they going to know I am speaking English?” We have been working on our Amharic though. Helping her learn greetings, thank you, etc. (as much as we realistically can learn) is like sending her shopping with CASH. I mean, people will be delighted when they hear her speak anything in Amharic and it will win her serious points. What a self esteem booster.

What is it going to be like?

They asked this questions tons of times along with other very random questions like: Do they have curtains? Are their rugs on the floor? So we watched a couple of video’s of Ethiopia. One was Ethiopia: Africa’s Lost Kingdom and another was a video that Asnaka from CHSFS gave out one year during the EKC Summer Mehaber. Both video’s were great for showing the girls what it would be like in Ethiopia – walking on the streets, village scene’s, etc. Youtube video’s would do the same thing too.

During one video I pointed out that a child had holes in his clothes and that there are many poor people. I did not want to dwell there too long. Kids don’t see things like adults do. I did not want to put things in their minds – but hope they see more of the beauty of the surroundings in Ethiopia.

Sometimes watching the video’s was uncomfortable for me and for my Ethiopian born daughter. It can be hard to see very indigenous ethnic groups and think that “I’m from there.” It did give me opportunity to talk about all the ethnic groups with different languages, foods, dances, clothes and that they are all Ethiopian. I wanted to show them the wide range of cultures and that even though they are Ethiopian, we don’t have a deep connection to all of them. Tough stuff for a 5 & 7 year old! But so good too. Our biological daughter loved the video’s and was fascinated.

Wow, so this could turn into a book…maybe it should? I’m going to end for now, there are so many more things to write about. How to help the kids process the trip, bringing the familiar on the trip, etc. Another time.

Do you have experience bringing your kids back to their birth country? Do you have any post trip advice for all of us? We’d love to hear.

What to read, or reread before heading to Ethiopia?

2011-02-15T09:00:00.001-06:00

I think I have read or at least skimmed just about every book on Ethiopia. I have bookshelves FULL of books about Ethiopia. So for our upcoming trip, I thought I'd pull a few books and brush up. Here is what I read and a few things I highlighted.

Culture Smart: Ethiopia
A fast read and a refresher course on leaving my culture at home.

When passing a funeral, slow down and bow respectfully toward the coffin.
Eating in public should be avoided unless you are prepared to share.
Ityopyawinet, the Amharic word for the distinct quality of being Ethiopian.

Amharic Phrasebook

Don't leave home without it. The Lonely Planet Guidebook has a few Amharic words in it too but this is by far handier. I have been working with our girls on a few words. It's hard, language does not come easy for us - but always worth the effort. I think that the more simple every day language we can practice - especially my Ethiopian born daughter - the easier it will be when we are there.

Lonely Planets: Travel with Children

Not overly helpful, but a good reminder that if the kids want to sit and watch the ants build roads for a 1/2 hour then do it! They will have far different things that make lasting memories.

Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid

This book is not a travel help - but a very interesting book for those of us around in the 80s during Live Aid who have come to be deeply connected to Ethiopia. Packed with insider information and personal interviews from Ethiopians who lived through it, the book gives a great narrative. The book is imported (to the USA) from Britain and therefore is not worth it for us to sell it on Amharic Kids - at least until it comes out in paperback. But you can get it on Amazon.

My Fathers Daughter, by Hannah Pool

An amazing book about a girl from Eritrea who goes back to meet birth family for the first time as a 30+ year old. So insightful and reinforces that we want our children to have multiple experiences with Ethiopia instead of one major trip back.

What am I taking on the plane?

Cutting for Stone - a little embarrassed to say I have not read it yet.

Thinking of traveling back with your kids? A few thoughts.

2011-02-05T20:55:00.000-06:00

There are SO many questions when you think about going back. When to travel? How old should the kids be? How will we be received? Should we visit birth family? Is there a volunteer project we could help with? Not to mention all the details of where to stay, how to get around, where to go and the biggy – How much does all this cost?

It seems that we are hearing of more and more families seriously thinking about traveling back to Ethiopia – I suppose we are at that stage in the Ethiopian adoption timeline (6ish years in.) As food for thought, I decided to type out a little bit about our decision making in the last few months – we travel to Ethiopia in a few weeks.

We decided to travel right now, with our kids at 7 and 5yrs – because we see a window of opportunity emotionally. What do we mean by that? Well, our oldest had been adamantly against going to Ethiopia when she was 4 and 5 yrs old. Since then, we have had good friends with children her age who have gone for two weeks and come home again. She heard their stories, saw the pictures and received a cute gift. I know it showed her what “travel to Ethiopia” really means – you go for a visit and then you COME HOME again.

Now, both kids are positive about going. Our second daughter is totally on board and says, “I really want to see what Ethiopia is like!” Of course it will be a totally different experience for her than for our Ethiopian born daughter. They are such good friends – I know that being together in Ethiopia will provide safety.

I don’t know if that window will stay open into adolescents – I’m afraid that fear of the unknown or just a preference for the consistency of life might take over. So our number one goal for this trip is to build wonderful memories and experiences of Ethiopia in a way that dispels fear and makes it a place that is familiar. Because of that we decided from the beginning that we were not going to do any deep emotional things and told our girls that right away – read birth family meetings. That will be for another trip – when she is older and better able to articulate feelings.

What are we going to do when we are there?

It might kill me, but we are planning on spending some time at the pool – yup, flying all the way to Ethiopia to go to a swimming pool. Crazy. But, the kids love swimming and they are already looking forward to that. Hey, we fly to Mexico to go swimming in the winter too, right – so maybe it's not THAT crazy. Swimming fits the goal – good memories of things the kids love.

Wonchi Crater

We’ll also be doing other touristy stuff, which I have never taken time for on other trips like the museum’s, and Bora Amusement Park. We are going out of town for a few days – maybe to Wonchi Crater, we’ll see. Of course, you have all heard about our school supplies drive – we will be spending a day with our Compassion International Sponsor girls and all the kids in their project. It was important to us to include the girls in some kind of “giving back” but as it was their first trip I did not want it to be too overwhelming. I know Compassion is going to be a safe place for them to start seeing the impact they can make.

There is so much to think about when you do finally take your kids back. I’ll try and write more about how we are preparing the kids later.

For now, have you traveled back? How did you decide to go? Considering going, what is holding you back?

I have to go pack.

This is so fun! – Books, Travels and School Supplies

2011-02-01T11:25:00.001-06:00

Who does not love a new pen or the smell of new crayons? I get a little jealous of my girls at the beginning of the school year when they get all their new school supplies. We are having a blast collecting school supplies from all sorts of great people who want to share the gift of new school supplies with a whole bunch of kids at one of Compassion International’s projects in Ethiopia when we go visit next month. Amharic Kids sponsors Hermela and Salem through Compassion and we are so excited to meet them in person. The girls and I went out to the Children’s Place and bought them each bright colored outfits with underwear and socks – we have backpacks for them and other goodies. This is so fun!

Half of the school supplies will go to the “Coffee Bean Project.” Amharic Kids has sold so many of their designs and have gotten to know them really well. Along with the job creation for the HIV+ mothers (making the beautiful jewelry that we all wear), they have an after school project for the kids. Amharic Kids is going to be donating the cash for them to have book shelves made for the books that have been donated and are currently sitting in stacks on the floor. This is so fun! We hope to help them organize their library while we are there too.

What is it like in Ethiopia?

Facebook friends have heard already, we are working on a new book called “V is for Visiting Ethiopia.” Every one of the books we have published or products we have produced are because as an Ethiopian adoptive family we would like to have that resource for our family…that is what started Amharic Kids in the first place.

All of our kids adopted or not, love to see excellent photographs of other lands – especially Ethiopia. When life provides opportunity to travel back it is very emotional and can be scary. We think a simple book filled with photographs of the typical places that a family would visit on a trip back would help to relieve the stress kids feel if they are traveling. Our girls keep asking us, “What is it going to be like in Ethiopia?” We hope this book will answer some questions for your kids.

I love working on new book projects –and doing an alphabet book using photography is so fun! I have my running list of what we could do for each letter of the alphabet:

A – airplane, anbusa (lion), Addis Ababa

B – basket, bus, barter, beautiful, buna (coffee), birr

C- cold, coffee, countryside, concert, cotton, chai (tea), coke(from a glass bottle), church, cross

D- donkey, dress, dancing, dabo (bread), drinking water

E – embroidery, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airlines, Entoto Mountain
Z- Debra Zeit (thanks Matt!), zir zir (loose change), zonked (as in exhausted)

See, isn’t this fun!

I need some idea’s for:

Any thoughts?

Ethiopia Here We Come - Compassion International

2011-01-18T13:01:00.000-06:00

Right around Christmas break the girls asked us point blank, "Are we going to Ethiopia? ARE we?" We looked at each other and giggled nervously realizing that the secret had leaked some how. We told them yes, we were going to Ethiopia in a couple of months.

Our girls are young, the oldest, adopted, is 7 and the younger, our biological daughter is 51/2. We had decided to wait to tell them until closer to the trip to give them less time to think about it. It is going to be their first trip to Ethiopia.

There is a lot to talk about regarding our trip and the super cool book project we are working on but that is for another day.

Photo from the Compassion International webpage.

When I answered the girls that yes, we were going to Ethiopia - I told them all about how we were going to be able to visit our two Compassion International sponsor girls. They got so excited. When we picked our second sponsor child, a couple of years ago, I had specifically picked a girl the same age as my oldest daughter and who was in a project in Addis Ababa knowing that we would be able to go and visit her.

School Supplies Giveaway to Ethiopia
I asked the girls if they would like to collect school supplies for all the kids at the project where our sponsor child is and then we could bring it with us and give it to them when we see them. Oh, boy - were they excited. We discussed who we could invite and how we could let people know. I'm telling you, my 5 and 7 year old got the hang of a marketing plan! They discussed hanging posters at school, what they would look like, and where they would hang them. SOOO cute. They named the project: "School Supplies Giveaway for Ethiopia". Oh, I could squeeze them.

So the cat is out of the bag, and we are so excited to meet our sponsor girls - bring them gifts and lots of school supplies. "It is better to give than receive." This is what life is about - joy in giving back.

Has your family done something to give back? We all want to hear.

Buna with Shortbread

2011-01-03T14:36:00.000-06:00

We got a great mention in a news article this week. The Tricity Herald did a story on a local family who adopted from Ethiopia. They mentioned how the kids school teacher used our book "Our First Amharic Words" to help one of the new children teach her whole class how to count to 10 in Amharic.

"Rahel decided if she's going to count in English, we're going to count in Amheric," Armitage said with a laugh.

Nothing like making my heart glad! I love to hear the stories of how our books are used. One Mom told me about how they had Our First Amharic Words sitting on the table when she first got home with their new Ethiopian son. The book became an ice breaker for her new son with his siblings. He began teaching them the Amharic words in the book and having them repeat after him. How special!

I named the book "Our" because it was our whole family who was trying to learn Amharic. That is also why you see children of all ethnicities in the photographs - I used the whole family in the photographs including the biological and children adopted from other countries. Adoption brings us together as a family and we each take on some of each others identity. In our family we say that each one of us is American/Ethiopian/Scottish (my husband is Scottish). We all will identify with each of those ethnicities. We love it - and it is so fun incorporating language and culture into daily life. At our house, we have buna with our shortbread.

While I'm talking about this book - we are starting to think about reprinting "Our First Amharic Words." I'd like to expand it and include more photos of families demonstrating the words. It is always fun to have your photo in a book, right?! What do you think of a "submit a Word with photo" contest for the book. Which words need to be in it? Love your feedback.

Author of Yafi's Family writes about their journey

2010-12-16T13:17:00.000-06:00

Intro: Yafi's Family has received great reviews from places like Kirkus, Midwest Book Review and Adoptive Families Magazine.

Yared, Linda's son and the inspiration for the book.

The origins of Yafi’s Family started as a gift for our son Yared in the form of his adoption story. I wrote his story for him, to help him understand the events in his life, to help connect him to his distant memories and to hopefully help him be a little closer to finding peace within.

Long before we were blessed to have Yared join our family, my husband Tom and I, had decided that we wanted to provide our child with as much of his history as we could. As it turned out when Yared joined our family at the age of four, we were provided with a brief report that held two short sentences of information which covered the four years of his life. Half of this information, we later found out, was actually incorrect.

Linda Pettitt, author

When Yared had been with us for six months we had planned for one of us to return to Ethiopia to trace Yared’s roots and search for any living relatives. We felt that it was in Yared’s best interest for him to stay home with me and his father would conduct the search. We had no idea what Tom would find out, if anything. We wondered if Tom would travel all the way to Ethiopia and to the area of Yared’s birth to find a dead end. We were prepared for this possibility, that this journey’s result could end with a collection of photos from Yared’s birth place and the possession of a few boarding passes. Maybe one day in the future we would be showing them to Yared while explaining how his Dad did his best for him to find out about the first four years of his life.

Fortunately Tom’s search turned out to be a successful and amazing journey. He felt as though the universe had lined up for him and a greater power had guided him step by step until he found his way back to the village that had once been Yared’s home. Tom found Yared’s grandmother Aberash, a grandmother shattered with the grief of relinquishing her grandson. It had been so hard on her not knowing where Yared had gone and what had become of him. Through a translator Tom discovered the events in Yared's early life and Aberash heard all about Yared’s life with his family in Australia. It was a healing experience for everyone. Tom now held the knowledge of the ‘missing’ years of Yared’s life, Aberash felt at peace with her decision and the community was happy for Yared and what his future could hold for him.

After I had written Yared’s story for him I was encouraged to share the story with others. Yared has kept his own story for himself but Yafi’s Family is what evolved from it. It is a gift from the heart from myself and from everyone involved who put so much into making it what it is. It is a gift for all families to share with their children. I truly hope that this story provides children with a connection of some sort. I hope it gives families the opportunity to have discussions and for children to feel able to ask questions. I hope readers gain something from this story that is meaningful and special to them.

Cheers,

Linda Pettitt

author of Yafi’s Family: an Ethiopian boys journey of love, loss and adoption

Giveaway #5 Dreaming of Ethiopia?

2010-12-14T20:53:00.002-06:00

Monday’s question about, How will you decide if and when to go back to Ethiopia struck a cord with you. We received so many comments – a bunch of people waiting for finances, many have gone back on mission trips already, a lot of people very excited for their second adoption to be able to go back. Here are a few excellent answers from facebook, you can see comments on the blog post too.

We're considering a trip this spring. I've had my son for about 18mo and I think he'll be more apprehensive about it if we wait much longer (he's 10).

when our son, who has been home for just over a year, feels secure enough not to think we may not bring him back to the US when we leave. and is more strongly bonded to us. and can understand why he no longer lives in Ethiopia.

I've already been back, but I'll take my daughter back when she is a bit older and I feel she can emotionally handle the experience. Don't know how I will decide when that will be, but I'm sure I'll know when I know.

I'd go right now if I had the money for airfare--and keeping going as often as possible. My son and I went a couple of years ago, when he was 3, and we had a fantastic trip.

We have not gone back, but can't wait! But need to get to the point where both kids can carry their own luggage!

I guess we are going to determine that by our son's "readiness". I think we will just know when the time is right. I didn't get the opportunity to travel with my husband to bring our son home so this trip will be very emotional and important to me. Looking forward to sharing these experiences with him and our whole family.

Today’s question lets us dream together of going back. When you go back what and where must you eat, what do you dream of seeing, which organization would you like to volunteer with, what do you dream of buying?

I can’t wait to hear all of your answers, it is so fun to dream and plan and pick each others minds about what to do when traveling. My answer, at the risk of sounding WAY snooty, is that I can’t wait to hit the Moroccan Bath House again. That place rocked my world (and the scar tissue in my neck) for $12. Of course, my real answer is that I can’t wait to see all of the friends we have made, many of which are the artists who make the beautiful handicrafts we sell.

A quick caveat, I understand that a trip to go back always has thoughts of birth family contact. Since that is such a touchy subject let’s stick to all the other wonderful reasons we love traveling back to Ethiopia.

Today’s Prize: Coffee Bean Trinity Necklace with an Ethiopian Cross pendant and matching 2 strand bracelet. Oh, so beautiful.

Don’t forget, follow this blog and invite friends to join Amharic Kids facebook for Monday’s final Celebrate and Support Giveaway #7 – the two winners will get $150 given to each of their favorite charities working in Ethiopia.

Giveaway #4 Going back to Ethiopia?

2010-12-12T19:44:00.000-06:00

We are into our second, and last week of the Celebrate and Support Giveaway. 3 fun gifts are in the mail and another 3 are waiting for this week’s 3 giveaways. The next three giveaway’s have a question for you to answer here on the blog or on facebook and this week they are all around the theme of traveling back to Ethiopia. The final giveaway is next Monday and will ask you about your favorite charity working in Ethiopia. Two cash prizes of $150 will be donated to the winners favorite charity!

Before I get to today's question, let me say that you guys really liked the Amharic question – so many people responded with Amharic words that you have incorporated into your daily lives. From Selam and ciao (Hello/Goodbye) to bunna and chai (coffee/tea) to the all time favorite ishi (sure, yes, maybe, hopefully) and to the very endearing term that Tracy wrote about adding conjo (special) to the end of her child’s name. Many more on facebook.

Today’s question is: How long since you’ve been back to Ethiopia? Or, How will you decide if and when you will go back?

Enter by answering the question here, on the blog or on facebook, become a follower of the blog or repost and let us know.

Today’s Prize is a beautiful coffee table book filled with photographs from each region called: Africa: natural spirit of the African continent.

Giveaway #3 Know any Amharic?

2010-12-09T20:29:00.002-06:00

We have come to the end of the first week of the Giveaway. Giving presents at Christmas time is so fun.

Giveaway Question #2 was: Tell us about a piece of Ethiopian history that has caught your attention.

Some awesome answers from facebook were:

the part of ethiopian history that captured my attention? a simple day 7 something years ago, on a mountain in the north (sekota) where my daughter was born...

I am interested in the medieval-type castles of Gondar and the beautiful art and churches there. My interest stems from our son's connection to that area.

I love the book written by Pedro Páez, the first European to see and describe the source of the Blue Nile, on the XVII century

I love that Ethiopia's history can be traced back to Biblical times and that ET is the only African country to not have become a colony of another country. I love the story of the Ark of the Covenant being located in Lake Tana... I just simply love Ethiopia!

The winner of the Ethiopian potholders is: Christy – who can bake in style knowing that these hotpads were made from start to finish by disabled men and women in Addis Ababa.

Today’s Giveaway: Comment or post on Facebook an Amharic word you know with its English equivalent. Don’t worry about how to spell the Amharic word – everyone does it different anyway. If you have any words you use in daily life post those! My favorite Amharic word is buna (coffee) yes, it is used daily.

How do you get entered to win? Post your answer here, on Facebook, follow this blog or repost and let us know.

One lucky poster will win a set of books – Amharic Kids books and a few others too.

3 more giveaway’s next week and then the grand finale will be Monday the 16^th with a giveaway of $150 for two of your favorite charities that work in Ethiopia. Don’t miss it – be sure to friend us on Facebook or follow this blog.

One more thing. A (really good!) surprise giveaway is coming on Sunday exclusively for Facebook friends. Hint: Can you ever have enough Buna?

Giveaway #2 of the Celebrate and Support Giveaway

2010-12-07T20:13:00.001-06:00

The Winner Is

Wendy Parmenter Vrieze won her family the cool Ethiopian puzzle by posting what she was most thankful for. Check your inbox Wendy! We got some great responses to the "What are you thankful for?" question on Facebook and the blog post– our lives are rich and full and we truly have SO much to be thankful for.

History Wednesday

The Queen of Sheba (Makeda) from Ethiopia heard about the wisdom and riches of King Solomon and traveled to Israel to meet him. They fell in love and she bore a son named Menelik –it was the start of the deep connection Ethiopia has had with the Jewish faith. So much so, that since that time there has been an Ethiopian Jewish remnant called the Beta Israel or House of Israel, who in our current history have been going back to Israel.

You don’t need to be a history major to love today’s question, because we all know a little something about the history of Ethiopia.

Today’s question: Tell us about a piece of Ethiopian history that has caught your attention.

Details of how to win. Be sure to answer the above question in your comment here or on Facebook.

Today’s Prize: two handmade embroidered hot pads. Each one has a black loop ring on the corner to hang so you can use it as a wall decoration if you want. One has a deep green color theme and the other is mocha brown’s. They are really beautiful and come from a nonprofit that provides jobs for physically disabled in Addis Ababa.

Have you started thinking about which charity that works in Ethiopia you are going to nominate for the final grand prize giveaway?

New Book, New CD

2010-12-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

"Congratulations, you are a positive statistic." Lull Mengesha keeps it real, very real as he writes to college students of color who attend PWI's - that is, Predominantly White Institutions in his new book The Only Black Student. An easy read for the busy college student or the busy parent of small kids wanting to gain perspective for when their kids are older. Lull has received quite a following since writing his book. Check out the video below of Lull being interviewed on New Day. Be sure to keep Lull on your radar, I'm sure we will be hearing more of him.

Gigi's new CD just released this month.

Gigi, the princess of Ethiopian sound (thats my take :) has just released a beautiful new CD called Mesgana Ethiopia. Here is part of Culture Mob's review. "The new release (October 19, 2010), Mesgana Ethiopia, was recorded live and features a good mix of African tradition with experimental touches that this time, thankfully, enhance the music without domineering it. The diversity of Ethiopian music makes it a logical step to include sounds from the whole world. It’s fair to call this world beat or global fusion. The album is actually credited to Gigi with Material."

Celebrate & Support Christmas Giveaway

2010-12-06T06:50:00.001-06:00

In the spirit of gift giving, we have organized a giveaway that will make 6 special people and 2 excellent organizations a little bit happier this Christmas season. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next 2 weeks (7 giveaways total) we will post on this blog and on Facebook a question for you our friends to answer. The questions are to help us celebrate and hopefully learn more about Ethiopia together. 1 person will win the prize for each question by posting their answer to our blog or facebook page. What can I win, you’re asking? We picked out some good stuff that we think you’ll love – we’ll post a photo of the prizes each day.

Here is the part we are really excited about: on Monday December 19^th, the last day of the contest the question is going to be about your favorite Ethiopian charity. Two winners will be chosen and each of their favorite charities will receive a $150 donation from Amharic Kids. So cool, huh? We’ll keep you posted on the details for that.

Details, Details, Details: Here’s how you enter.

1. Comment on the blog post
2. Become a follower on our blog – be sure you let us know that when you comment
3. Comment on our Facebook page
4. Repost the contest question - let us know you did

Do all 4 things and you get entered 4 times. No purchase necessary to win. Each question will run for 2 days, until the next question is posted.

Lets Get Started!

Monday’s question is sort of a warm up. We know Thanksgiving (here in the USA) is just past – but in our house we try to practice thankfulness every night before bed and it is especially easy around the holidays.

The question is simply: What are you thankful for?

No need for deep philosophical comments! Every night my kids say they are thankful for their bed and cozy room. As for me, my list would be very long but at this moment I’m thankful 8 inches of snow on the ground (we are based in Minnesota, USA) which means cross country ski season has started.

Today's free giveaway prize is direct from Ethiopia, a handmade wooden puzzle of an Ethiopian village scene. It is approximately 12inches by 12 inches, so a good size. Use it as a puzzle, use it as wall art - it is a fun reminder of Ethiopia.

Addis Foto Fest 2010 - First Annual

2010-12-03T08:38:00.000-06:00

Fitsame, a good friend and author of Abeba Goes to Bed, Counting Addis Abeba and Little Lion's Bedtime is sponsoring and on the organizing committee for the first annual Addis Foto Fest 2010.

The exhibition runs in December at various locations throughout Addis and the the line up of photographers looks amazing. Most of them are from Ethiopia with a few internationals. Check out the very professional website and if you are going to be Addis in December be sure to check it out.

PS. A quick heads up - we are cooking up an amazing line up of free giveaways for next week - be a follower of the blog or Facebook friend to win free stuff.

Pottery Ornaments straight from artisans in Addis

2010-11-16T19:02:00.003-06:00

Kechene is a part of Addis Ababa known for poverty. There is a belief that some people turn into hyenas at night and go around the streets eating whomever they see. yikes! Kechene is also known for its many artisans such as weavers and traditional pottery making.

In the midst of Kechene there is a large compound where mostly women come to work their pottery trade and get a fair wage in a nonprofit cooperative. It is hard to find, but once we left a very crowded street and went into the large corrugated metal building it was easy to see why these women prefer a cooperative to earn a wage instead of going it alone. Here they worked together, honing and perfecting their skills. A cooperative manager overseas and helps to find markets for the products including showing us around the large storehouse/shop. I was in heaven. Huge pots, jabena's galore (Ethiopian coffee pot), tea sets, pitchers, all ink black with subtle variations of brown depending on how the item had been fired.

Amidst all the beautiful pottery I found 3 Christmas ornaments! We worked out the colors to paint them and agreed to pay extra if they would paint ETHIOPIA on each one. Their manager, a slight 5' lady with a leg brace because of polio represented her people well. We put a down payment on it all and worked out all the transportation details - which in fact are extremely costly and complicated.

We left Kechene on such a high that comes from the deep satisfaction in knowing that the people we just met were making a living wage. It sounds so trite but you and I know the reality - buying a whole bunch of ornaments from artisans in Kechene, Addis Ababa will ensure, at least for now, that those parents won't have to decide which child will be placed for adoption because of poverty. It is real.

Of course, the Christmas tree ornaments are beautiful too and it was so fun to find them! Christmas is a time to be thankful and we love hanging them on our tree because it reminds us of our gratitude for Ethiopia - a country with a very special place in our hearts.

Faces of Vanishing World by Joey L.

2010-11-14T20:28:00.001-06:00

Joey L. ...I didn't know his name either but then again I'm not a famous actress or multi million dollar rock star....they evidently know him as the AMAZING photographer that I just learned he is. I do have something in common with him...I love Ethiopia too.

Joey L. went to Ethiopia last year and photographed the Lower Omo tribes. These are the tribes that live in near the Lower Omo river and are "endangered" because of the dam and water supply as well as modernization. Because he is famous, millions (he says) saw the photo exhibition of his trip in New York City. Thats cool!

Well, unlike most travelers - he went back to the Lower Omo a year later loaded with huge prints to give to the people that he had photographed as well as a documentary film crew to record it all.

The documentary available from his website as a download or DVD is called: Faces of a Vanishing World. His website for it has a fantastic trailer, and Joey L.'s blog which is immensely entertaining and tells all about the gang sized brawl he got into outside a pub in Addis as well as how he thinks he is actually married now.

You can also see another great trailer here.

OK, so are you as amazed as I am? I just love finding cool people...and us normal people, doing really interesting things in Ethiopia.

Bean Bags Transliterated

2010-11-09T12:00:00.000-06:00

They are back! After over a year, we got it all together and the Amharic Number and Color Bean Bags are in the house. We are feeling a little nostalgic, it was the bean bags and Our First Amharic Words that got Amharic Kids started - just over 3 1/2 years ago. They were also the impetus for the original orange and blue website. Yeah, that is gone.

Over time we have gotten questions particularly by Amharic speakers about why we spelled words the way we did on the bean bags or in Our First Amharic Words. They are asking about transliteration - or the process of writing in Roman characters the words of another language - particularly a language that is written in a different scripts such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Amharic. That is our definition and let me say now - we are not linguists which is why when it came to the Amharic dictionary all the double dots, swooches, tiny little marks were just intimidating to figure out and learn how to pronounce.

Transliterating Amharic is an art not a science. There are no standards that say when you see a particular Amharic character this is how you would write it in Roman characters (English). This is the reason that we often see names spelled differently - you adoptive families know exactly what I am talking about.

Sometimes there are words that are usually transliterated in the same way; Yellow is such a word. It is often written as bicha. Clearly, bicha - pronounced as it is written - sounds like a swear word.

Knowing there was no standard and you could see a word spelled 5 different ways, our solution was to come up with a way to write the sounds of the Amharic letters so that when a native English speaker reads it - it would be very close to the correct pronunciation. Pronunciation was the highest priority.

We tested our system on many, many different native English speakers - many who had no interaction with Ethiopia and found it to be really pretty good. With our system we wrote yellow as "beecha". Nobody had a problem with the correct pronunciation then. Yeah. It worked.

So, that is the answer to why we spelled the words on the bean bags the way we did. Thought you might be interested in that behind the scene's info.

A side note about the bean bags: We have to tell you, it would only be fair, that while we are fully stocked right now, this is the last time we will be producing the bean bags. I know, sad. Why, you ask? Well, honestly - they are very labor intensive and so when this set is gone - they will be worth $1K each on ebay - so stock up! Ha.

Winner of the Latte Military Hat

2010-11-08T20:37:00.000-06:00

We have a winner of the "wanna win a hat" contest. Meghan Walsh of Madison Wisconsin won the hat. There she is with her family. You are clearly a hat girl Meghan - the perfect winner! There is a hat coming your way.

Thanks everyone for taking part in our first online contest - it is so fun to give away free stuff. I have a whole shelf of cool extra products and tid bits from Ethiopia - so get ready we might turn into the contest King.....free stuff is always good right? While we are on the subject of winning things - If you could win one thing from Amharic Kids (that we sell :) ) what would it be?

Jewelry - beautiful jewelry

2010-11-02T11:49:00.002-05:00

From the same nonprofit that makes the coffee bean jewelry comes two new designs - The 5 Strand Silver Necklace, and the Ambesha Necklace. We love them both. Did you know that beads are generally made by farmers in the countryside from old metal such as car parts and weapons? Each one is handmade and unique. This also explains why at planting and harvesting time, it can be very hard to find the exact beads you are looking for in the merkato. Each farmer/artisan has their own styles that they like to make and sometimes design their own crosses.

We have a few other new designs to, including the Child's Tri-Color Cross Necklace. Are you crafty? Make your own jewelry? We recently stocked single Ethiopian cross pendant's for your creative pleasure! Check out: The Single Cross Pendant, and The Single Straight Cross Pendant.

Our Children's Story

2010-10-28T08:15:00.001-05:00

Just came across this amazing article by Lie Ruby. She writes for the New York Times Motherlode about how she deals with public questions about her 3 Ethiopian adopted daughters. It is well written and interesting and once again gives us permission (not that we need it) to say, "Why do you want to know?"

The article also reminded me of how useful a book like Yafi's Family can be. We started Amharic Kids from the beginning because we wanted resources for our family that were not out there. Yafi's Family is another book that we needed and our adoptive world needed.

Sometimes when our children's story is difficult, or maybe our child is just more introverted and not a talker it is hard to know how and when to talk about birth family or their story. Yafi's Family gives you space to simply read the story and maybe that will be it - but on another occasion it will spark a conversation or give you a question to ask your child like, "Do you ever wonder what your birth Mother looked like, as Yafi did?"

Just as we know it is important to protect our children's story from strangers and give them the power to share when they choose, it is important to provide opportunities for them to talk about that story in the safety of family space. We really hope Yafi's Family will help you carve out that space in a comfortable way.

New Ethiopian Military Hat

2010-10-26T10:54:00.000-05:00

We just got in the new Latte Military Hat! It is so trendy and fun. We love things that show our connection to Ethiopia and are a conversation piece with anyone around us who might be from Ethiopia or have traveled there. Get yours today!

Wanna win a free hat? Here's how:

-You can enter this giveaway up to 3 times:-

1.)Leave a comment and let us know what Amharic Kids products have been helpful for your family.

2.)Follow us on facebook, leave a comment.

3.) Follow us on this Blog (our Amharic Kids Blog) and leave a comment.

Have you seen all the new products that were recently put up on the site? Most all of them are fair trade handicrafts straight from Ethiopian artisans. It is fair to say that when you buy these items as your Christmas presents, families in Ethiopia are able to buy theirs too. We believe deeply in job creation and advancement as a sustainable way out of poverty for the people of Ethiopia and are working toward that goal.

2011 Ethiopia Calendar is finished

2010-10-19T21:46:00.001-05:00

The 2011 Ethiopia calendar is beautiful! So many fantastic images I have to tell you all about it - but I think that will come in stages this week. For now, if you are interested in using it as a fundraiser we have the basic details up on our website. Of course, the calendar is also available as a single item. Oh, and there are a bunch more of the monthly photo's up in the shopping cart for you to see.

Yafi's Family is on sale - 3 days only.

2010-10-12T21:58:00.005-05:00

Our first sale on Yafi's Family is good for the next 3 days.
$13.95 now .....$17.95 later.

Deborah Gray - long time contributor to Adoptive Families Magazine and author said this about the book:

This lyrically written story is a welcome addition to the adoption literature. I particularly like the careful attention given to a child's Ethiopian experience. The illustrations alone are well worth the price of the book. This will be an valuable aid in helping children understand and value their Ethiopian roots. Parents will appreciate the ease with which the book evokes meaningful discussions within their families.

Deborah Gray, MSW, MPA, Nurturing Attachments, author of Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents, 2002, Updated 2009, and Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Trauma and Neglect, 2007, Perspectives Press.

Mission Trip Giveaway - super cool tshirts!

2010-10-11T06:57:00.000-05:00

In February, you could be headed to Ethiopia to love and care for children! Kari Gibson at mycrazyadoption.com is giving a way a free mission trip to Ethiopia. Her tshirts are very cool. Check out all the details. and ...would anyone like to babysit in February?

2011 Ethiopia Calendar

2010-10-06T11:59:00.000-05:00

The 2011 Ethiopia Calendar is coming soon. The images are spectacular this year! We will be offering it wholesale, same as other years, for families or organizations who want to use it to raise funds for their personal adoption or favorite Ethiopian charity. It will also be for sale individually on our site. More details to come.

Music - fresh, modern, Ethiopian

2010-09-30T08:46:00.003-05:00

There is some very interesting, very beautiful music coming out of the Ethiopian community! We get requests for Ethiopian music all the time - but with itunes it just does not make sense for us to stock CDs. Wow - has the world changed. So for now I'll just pass on the gems I find.

I just discovered Meklit Haderro - she is from San Fransisco and released her debut album this spring called "On a day like this..." Meklit was recently reviewed in the Minneapolis City Pages where they said this: "On On A Day Like This, she follows a knockout version of the Anthony Newley show standard "Feeling Good" with a lovely traditional Ethiopian tune and her own blazing funk-jazz workout "Soleil Soleil."

Another band that I would love to see in person is Debo Band. They mix Ethiopian and western instruments and musicians, Ethiopian dancing and voice together - beautiful! They have won awards and are touring the US - I hope they come to my city.

We all love Shea Butter

2010-09-28T09:25:00.001-05:00

What would we do without Shea Butter? The BBC did a great photo essay on the process of growing and making Shea Butter in West Africa. The photo's are excellent - you'll enjoy!

Amazing Images of Ethiopian Jews

2010-09-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

I just ran across the work of Atalia Katz who spent a few weeks with the Ethiopian Jews. She has done photo exhibits of her work at various art studio's and museum's. Right now her work is on display at the Madelyn Jordan Fine Art through Oct. 30th.
Early this year, Zone:Contemporary Art held an exhibit and also published The Box called "Voice of Ethiopia" which contains personalized prints from Atalia's trip. I got all excited, but then saw the price tag. Until I have a spare $3K they kindly posted some of the images and I reposted a few here. Isn't excellent photography so awesome! Love it.
Speaking of excellent photography - we are working on the 2011 Ethiopia Calendar and it is going to be full color - beautiful!

Cool Ethiopian company - SHOES

2010-09-10T12:50:00.001-05:00

Who doesn't love shoes, really. Add to it that they are 100% Ethiopian materials, made in Ethiopia from an Ethiopian owned business that is working in an environmentally sustainable way and you have SoleRebels. They are the coolest shoes ever with a so many trendy styles. Next time we are in Ethiopia we will be sure to stop in for a visit. And believe me, if we had the man power to do it - Amharic Kids would love to stock these shoes - deciding which styles to stock would difficult, they are all so cool. In the mean time you can get them at Amazon.

The founder of SoleRebels, 30 yr old, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu has recently been invited to speak at the Former President Clintons Global Initiative Meeting this month. You can read about it here.

Yafi's Family reviewed in Kirkus - This is big news!

2010-09-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

I just heard this morning that Kirkus (an important book review publication) will publish a review of Yafi's Family in their upcoming September 15th issue. It is wonderful news because librarians and school media center buyers work off of these reviews.

Here is what they say:

Yafi was born in Ethiopia and remembers living with his Grandma Elsa before moving to the orphanage where his new family found him. In this straightforward tale of interracial adoption—Yafi is black, his adoptive family white—Yafi describes his early life and how he felt when first adopted, adding texture through the mention of Ethiopian food and culture. Colorful watercolors depict Yafi’s present and memories, while soft brown paintings portray the deceased mother he can’t recall. Yafi’s adoptive family is open and encouraging, which helps Yafi find a solution; while he doesn’t have photos of his Ethiopian family, he can make a picture himself, and he does, drawing both his adoptive and birth families. In this last, childlike drawing, the characters are hard to identify and at first glance appear to be all white. Still, this is a tender tale of the power of family that presents a positive example of how to address the topic of birth parents in a reassuring manner. Inspired by the author’s experience of adopting a son from Ethiopia. (Picture book. 5-7)

Other great news today: I finally got a hold of Aster Belay the author/publisher of the best Ethiopian cookbook available called Recipe of Love: An Ethiopian Cookbook. She was in Ethiopia for the last year (the reason I could not get a hold of her and get more books.) Anyway, she is back and shipping me more books so it should be in stock again soon. Thanks for your patience to everyone who emailed about it.

Favorite New Hair Care Product

2010-08-28T23:39:00.001-05:00

I had heard about the Tangle Teezer months ago on the hair yahoo group - but never took the time to order it from Britain. Recently I got the hair brush and am in awe! I use it for myself and both my Ethiopian born and biological daughters. We all love it! Tangles come out with a fraction of the tugging, pain and time that it took before. I can not recommend it enough. Just had to pass that on.

Yafi's model was Gabriel

2010-08-04T20:39:00.000-05:00

Our family had the greatest weekend ever at the EAKC Wisconsin culture camp. It is the third year we have attended. Our girls 5 and 6.5 love it too because they are free to roam the campus with their friends - shooting hoops, or playing in the sand and then swimming with Dad (sometimes Mom :) ) about 5 times in 2 days. Parents love connecting with each other and being apart of great workshops.

So a bit of intro: Jan Spivey Gilchrist the illustrator for Yafi's Family uses model's as a basis for the characters in her artwork. We had searched for a family in the Chicago area (where Jan lives) that had an Ethiopian son and 2 older biological sisters - we found it and via phone/email connected them with Jan. I had never met the little boy who modeled for Yafi or his sisters.

Sitting around the fire at culture camp I looked up and there was Yafi, his name is Gabriel. Without a doubt - the cutest little boy ever. It was so fun to meet him after working with the artwork of his resemblance for so long. The next day we had a table at the merkato and were happily telling everyone about our new book when Gabriel ran up. He grabbed a book, took off the dust jacket and plunked himself down right in the middle of the crowd and sat looking through every single page pointing out himself and each of his family members. The cutest thing ever! His sisters who are in the book did the same thing only in a bit more of a dignified 8 and 10 year old way. They all loved it, and we are so pleased. We had to share the photos of their family.

Interrupted Delivery Service - ship to Britain

2010-08-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

Two Shipping Notices.
1. Orders received from August 8-23 will be shipped on August 24th.
2. If you are based in Britain or Ireland you can get greatly reduced shipping by choosing "Royal Mail" during checkout. We will ship your order in Scotland and you will only pay a domestic shipping fee. This is a huge savings. Offer ends on August 7, 2010.

Christmas shopping for jewelry...for you!

2010-07-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Today I met with Tamara - there she is amidst loads of jewelry. Tamara has spent the last 4 years in Ethiopia helping to build a nonprofit that supports poor women many with HIV. It all started by identifying the women in the Entoto area and then finding a handicraft that uses local materials and was beautiful enough to sell locally and internationally. Tamara is part of a team that have trained the women from the bead stringers to the managers on how to run the organization. In her words, "I'm trying to work myself out of a job."

Tamara is also from Minnesota, our home state, and is back for a wee while. So I got to hang out with her today. One of the things we discussed was what new jewelry we could bring to you, our wonderful customers for this Christmas season. We sat amidst 100s of necklaces and bracelets that she had brought from Ethiopia and let our creative mojo go to town to make up a new piece or two for Amharic Kids. How cool is my job?! (Well, not so cool when I have to do invoices and accounting.)

So, I am thinking no coffee beans this time. We still have the very popular Trinity Bracelet and Necklace plus the Antique Slider Necklace available on our site. So maybe this time we would go with just metals? What do you think? My favorite is nickel but they also have some cool stuff in mixed metals so it is a tri color look. I really love that too. These photos are bad, sorry. I took them in the evening tonight so the lighting is not great - but maybe you can get the idea.

Oh, and if you have not seen them yet - Tamara designed a little Child's Ethiopian Cross Necklace for us. It is darrrrrling! And we have a unisex slider cross necklace on a black cord. Perfect for that hip Dad, teen son or casual Mom day. The length is fully adjustable so it can be a choker or worn long.

Let me know what you think about the new jewelry for Christmas. Remember if you do buy any of these items you can be sure that your purchase is creating jobs for women in Ethiopia which allows them to provide for their family and never have to beg or worse make the decision to place a child for adoption because they cannot support them. A purchase cannot get any better than that, can it?

Jane Kurtz - we are grateful.

2010-07-27T22:02:00.000-05:00

You know Jane Kurtz, her love for Ethiopia and her 30+ award winning children's books. She is a fascinating person and someone the Ethiopian adoption community is so grateful to for her many children's books about Ethiopian legends, such as Fire on the Mountain and The Storytellers Beads. She also co-founded Ethiopia Reads an amazing organization (worth your donation) that builds and stocks libraries in Ethiopia.

Jane graciously endorsed our new book Yafi's Family. Here is what she wrote:

Strong words and pictures show the wrench of leaving Ethiopia behind, the love and adventures that greet adopted Ethiopian children, the questions and determination of the children themselves. I'm so glad this book is available for parents, children, siblings, and schools.

Jane Kurtz, award-winning author of 30 books for children and co-founder of Ethiopia Reads.

Check out Jane's blog where she gave a shout out for Yafi's Family and writes about her recent trip to Ethiopia.

Soccer Balls

2010-07-27T21:36:00.001-05:00

The Ethiopian Soccer Ball was all the rage at this years EKC Summer Mehaber. We sold out in a few hours, so we told everyone to go to our website because we did have some at home but that we did not thing we'd be able to get more. Well, I recently talked with Genet the woman who created and had the balls made. She had originally told me that she thought she would sell out of everything at a few events she was going to in July. Evidently that did not happen and so she does have more in stock. The good news is that it does seem like they will be available for awhile yet.

Yafi's Family is in the house

2010-07-17T15:21:00.001-05:00

Our new book, 2 years in the making, Yafi's Family: an Ethiopian boys journey of love, loss and adoption just came from the printer. It turned out beautiful, absolutely beautiful! I am so proud of it.

Many people worked very hard on this book. We had adoptive parents and adult adoptees read the book, plus adoption professionals, and the book professionals that I hired (editors, etc) are all apart of the Ethiopian adoptive world too! It was so cool how that turned out. The illustrator, Jan Spivey Gilchrist is world famous! She has won a Coretta Scott King award and illustrated over 50 books. She did the book for far less than she normally gets because she believed in how important this book is and wanted to give it as a gift to all the children adopted from Africa. She is a special lady.

Melissa Fay Greene, you all know her, wrote a touching foreword for Yafi's Family. Read: you will cry. Her last book, There Is No Me Without You, rocked our adoption world and is still THE book everyone in the adoption world should read. Her foreword talks about her own children's search for birth family and her responses. It is wonderful.

Linda Pettitt is the author. She and her family live in Australia. The book was inspired by her families adoption experience. She sees this book as a gift to her son and the Ethiopian adoptive children of the world...but really all the children of the world who will get a bigger picture of adoption.

The book is officially released (available on Amazon, and/or any book shop) in September. Until then we are selling it too.

We have gotten a few really special endorsements already:

“A truly beautiful story, one I would happily share with my adopted daughter and biological son. This story reflects the reality for many adoptive children and the varied emotions they experience. What a wonderful resource to be able to share, and one I will be very excited to recommend to adoptive families.”

Gaylene Cooper, President, Australian African Children's Aid and Support Association Inc

"Yafi's Family is a wonderful story to share with all children who have been adopted, as through the story, permission is given to a child to the concept of continuing to belong to two families. It is a marvelous tool to continue to educate a child of their adoption journey and I am sure this will become a popular book with our adoptive families."

Mandy Birch, Adoption Services, Australian Government

The conversations this adoptive family has with their son about birth family rings so true to life. Although this book is about a child from Ethiopia, it will resonate as much for my Haitian son as it will for my two Ethiopian daughters. I am happy to recommend this book to all families with adopted children.

Julie Valentine, Founder and Director of Adopting.com and African Cradle Ethiopian Heritage Camp Coordinator

Jane Kurtz, author of over 25 books and co-founder of Ethiopia Reads

Sad Story, new book

2010-07-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

Just read an article in the economist about a new book coming out this September. The Economist article is part book review and part new story.

The book is:
Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid. By Peter Gill. Peter Gill covered the famine of the 80's during the Live Aid era and writes this book as a follow up 30 years later - not an encouraging report. I'm particularly interested in it since I spent 3 months of Grad school writing my thesis on how the media effected the Ethiopian famine in the 80s - an interesting "coincidence" given our lives now.

The book comes out in the USA this September- we'll be sure to stock it.

Ethiopian Soccer Tournament Fun

2010-07-15T23:48:00.001-05:00

Our time at the soccer tournament was fantastic (even if mobile blogging failed - sorry). Here are a few posts I was trying to get up live.

Damtew, a very cool guy, is selling Amharic Kids books here at the soccer tournament. Everyone is starting to gear up for Friday and Saturday the biggest and last two days of the event.

We are at the ethio soccer tournament and just met the inventor of Sinzero the doll! How cool is that. He says to hang on to any doll you have because they are not being produced anymore bec of political and economic reasons. Sad. But, the Sinzero childrens DVD is available and very popular (coming to Amharic Kids soon)! It has Sinzero dancing w famous Ethiopian singers in famous places. Fun!

We also caught up with tons of great people, like Nolawi Petros, owner of Bernos. Bernos now has kids tshirts, very cool! I have this one and love it.

We brought home some cool Ethiopian art inspired air fresheners, on is of a meskel cross and another of a traditional scene, for your car or home. Fisum, a young Ethiopian entrepreneur created them, had them made and was introducing them at the soccer tournament. It is so fun to meet people with the guts to try their idea's and then help them sell their product.

Just for fun, we took some time to create our own Amazing Race Challenge 130 feet up in the Redwood forests of Northern California. You can't see my face...a good thing because I was so scared I did not breath the entire way across the zip line.

Off to the Ethiopian Soccer Tournament

2010-06-30T20:22:00.003-05:00

We are leaving tomorrow for the Ethiopian Soccer Tournament that started this week. It is always a great time to feel the Ethiopian pride and see how many ways the colors green, yellow and red can be worn. Personally, we eat more tibs during the soccer tournament then the rest of the year – one of our favorite Ethiopian dishes (and easy to cook too!)

We won’t have a booth for Amharic Kids at the tournament, but we love going and meeting people – especially all of the new entrepreneurs that are debuting cool products that they have created. Last year, we met Genet and stocked her Ethiopian soccer ball. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring you some new products in the coming months.

We’ll bring you updates from the soccer tournament while we are there over the 4^th of July – (that is if we have AT&T coverage in California ) so stay tuned!

(Photo from last year's tournament in Chicago.)

New Fair Trade Crafts Just in

2010-06-28T13:42:00.000-05:00

I’m giddy! We just got a shipment of new handicrafts from Ethiopia – jewelry, handmade paper, embroidered items and more. Here is a quick sneek peak image of a few things. Everything is quality made and so beautiful. It takes time for us to get it all sorted and up on the website but we’ll try to get a move on it. We should have more Palm Wood Art soon.

Advance Copy of Yafi’s Family is here!

2010-06-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

I got 3 advance copies of Yafi’s Family: an Ethiopian boys journey of love, loss and adoption from the printer. It looks totally amazing! We printed this book in South Korea and so while the full order of books sits on a ship for 3 weeks (pray for no Tsunami) they send 3 copies by air mail so I can see what it looks like right away. I’m thrilled. It turned out great – even better then the proofs. We should be getting them all by the beginning of July and will be debuting it at the EKC Summer Mehaber on July 10 in Minnesota. If you’re coming, we’ll have a special on – buy Yafi’s Family and get a free Explore Ethiopia Coloring book. We’ll also be at the Wisconsin Culture Camp the last weekend of July.

First three endorsements of the book:

Gaylene Cooper, President, Australian African Children's Aid and Support Association Inc

Yafi's Family is a wonderful story to share with all children who have been adopted, as through the story, permission is given to a child to the concept of continuing to belong to two families. It is a marvelous tool to continue to educate a child of their adoption journey and I am sure this will become a popular book with our adoptive families.

Mandy Birch, Adoption Services, Australian Department for Child Protection

Julie Valentine, Founder and Director of Adopting.com and African Cradle Ethiopian Heritage Camp Coordinator

All Spiffed Up And Ready To Go!

2010-06-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it is about time, right? When we started Amharic Kids by publishing Our First Amharic Words and making Amharic Bean Bags (coming back this fall) we were all about kids and toys and wanted our logo and website to reflect that. Bright orange and blue fit then – but we have changed, a lot in the last 3 years.

The new logo was partially designed by Solomon. He did an excellent job on the cross. Why a cross you ask? The Ethiopian cross with it’s many designs from various regions is quintessentially Ethiopian and represents the creativity of the country. We are excited about expanding to stock more and more fair trade handicrafts. It also represents faith in Ethiopia and by using it as our logo represents our own faith in Jesus. We are grateful that He has chosen to use us and thankful for His guidance and direction. We see Amharic Kids as a tool of Jesus love for orphans and the poor. Amharic Kids products build self confidence and identity in Ethiopian born children living abroad and it is part of the chain that empowers Ethiopian families to be self sustaining so they never have to make an adoption decision based on poverty.

So, the orange had to go and after our recent trip to Ethiopia we got tons of wonderful photo’s that just had to be used. We took a TESFA trek (we cannot recommend it enough!) up in the mountains around Lalibella where most of the photos were taken. We feel the new site gives visitors a glimpse into life in Ethiopia through the photos and feels much cleaner, calm, and well, professional. Three cheers for my wonderful husband who is able to take my idea’s for design and turn them into code that works. I’m grateful to him. And I just have to say; we finished the website the weekend school got out – so now more time for the pool this summer! Yeah.

I’d love to hear what you think of the new site and logo.

Praise

2010-06-04T20:22:00.014-05:00

We are always so thankful to hear how Amharic Kids is filling a gap for resources about Ethiopia. We really appreciate your feedback. Here are a few of the comments we have received recently.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful work you do the help adoptive families keep their children's roots alive! -Erika P.

Your products have been invaluable to us. -Chris

THANK YOU for providing this wonderful service to us and other families! It is so important! -Erin M.

Thanks for your products; they are a wonderful way of keeping Ethiopia in our lives from day to day! Thanks to the beanbags, my 2 1/2 year old knows all her colours and can count to 10 in Amharic, - hey and so can I! -Sherrie, Canada

I can't tell how much it meant to me to read about your work and to view the items listed on your website! Having just adopted a three year old son from Ethiopia in January, I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of resources for us to encourage and integrate his culture with ours. THANK YOU for providing this wonderful service to us and other families! It is so important! -Erin M, Washington

"I love the new Ethiopian Art Cards."

Thank you so much! We have been thrilled with everything we have ordered from your site!

Meg G.

First Things First

2010-05-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

I've broken the blog ceiling and decided it was time to jump in...you our customer deserves it. So much has been happening here at Amharic Kids that it is only fair to have a place to answer all the questions and keep you more informed (and hopefully excited) about what is coming up.

The biggest news is that we have a new book coming out. It is no secret, it's been on our front page for a while now. It is called Yafi's Family: an Ethiopian boy's journey of love loss and adoption. We have been working on it for 2 years now....serious heart and a lot of energy from a lot of people have gone into this book.....and it should be out in just a few weeks. We can hardly wait! You will be hearing much more about Yafi's Family soon. For now, enjoy Memorial Day weekend if you are in the US.