Because of the last post I wrote on the DRC, I made it sound like we had made our decision on where to adopt from. I actually deleted that post a few times and almost didn't publish it because I still didn't feel 100% on that decision. Jarrod and I set a deadline to seriously pray about our decision and on our deadline day we came together and both said nope it's Ethiopia for us! We are completely letting the Holy Spirit guide us on this one! So here are some reasons why Ehtiopia is in such need right now.
Why Ethiopia?
*Life expectancy in Ethiopia 39 years for males and 42 years for females. The leading cause of death is communicable diseases such as malaria, typhoid, meningitis, cholera, AIDS, tuberculosis, yellow fever.
* One in ten children die before their first birthday
* One in six children die before their fifth birthday
* Woman have an average of 7 children and the maternal mortality rate is 1 in 14
* Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.
* Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over half the population lives on less than a $1 a day. The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year. Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
* Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.
* Ethiopia is home to 4-6 million orphans, or 12% of all children.
* That is the same number of children under age 18 who reside in Massachusetts, New York State, and Washington DC combined. If every parent in those places died tonight - that would be similar to Ethiopia's orphan crisis.
* More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.
* Only 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.
* Only 18 percent of children reach grade five. That means 82% of children don't.
*44% of the population is under 15 years old
*60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
*Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
*Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
*Coffee prices (Ethiopia's only major export) declined 40-60%from 1998-2002
*Severe drought struck the country from 2000-2002
first year no crops
second year no seeds
2 comments:
Excited for you guys and happy to be following along!
Welcome to the roller coaster of a lifetime!! I am excited to hear you are still pursuing Ethiopia. Stay strong in where you feel God calling you!! We are adopting from the DRC, but we have close friend who just brought their son home from Ethiopia. Enjoy the journey!! Feel free to stop on over our blog. www.canadianenns.blogspot.com
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