Category - Congo

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16

Feb

Celebrating African Culture and Adoption

by MLJ Adoptions

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

About ten years ago, the landscape of international adoption began to change. Countries like China and Russia, who had been involved with international adoption for a long time, became harder to adopt from. Publicity about famine and the AIDS epidemic in Africa created new interest in the West. African orphans started coming home to interracial ...

9

Feb

Celebrating Africa Party

by Stacy Jacobs

MLJ Adoption invites You!! What: Celebrating Africa Party When: March 3, 2012, 3pm-7pm Where: Arch at Chatham 617 E. North Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 RSVP: Stacy Join adoptive families & foreign staff from DR Congo to Celebrate Africa! Food, Dance, and Music for the whole family! Please bring a side dish (African cuisine encouraged!)

30

Jan

Parenting a Special Needs Child with HIV

by Elizabeth Nelson

Representatives from Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) recently released estimates that over one million Congolese are living with HIV. Despite such high rates of infection, there are remarkably low rates of treatment, care and support. Children orphaned by parents who succumb to HIV are less likely themselves to receive healthcare and other ...

25

Jan

The Benefits of Foster Care in Congo

by MLJ Adoptions

Two months ago we welcomed home three children we adopted from Democratic Republic of Congo, a three year old boy and two girls, ages eight and ten. Already with a two year old at home, we became a family of six! Their first week home, I gave the girls the photos Sonja had sent us ...

13

Jan

Bucking trends, 2011 Brought Explosive Growth in International Adoptions to MLJ Adoptions

by Sheri Molnar

in Congo, Special Needs

Despite the down year for international adoptions as a whole, MLJ Adoptions experienced tremendous growth in 2011. Along with this growth came new programs, new staff members, and exciting plans for 2012. We placed 69 children in 2011, a 70% increase over 2010. Our program in the Democratic Republic of Congo led the way with ...

2

Jan

How Long Is The International Adoption Process?

by MLJ Adoptions

in Congo, Support Services

We hear over and over again how international adoption takes so long. Yes, it’s a long process, but often the wait and delays referenced are not accurate. I am adamant about telling the TRUTH about the wait. I am passionate about adoption and orphan care and want families to feel they can do it. But ...

27

Dec

The Importance Of Choosing The Right Agency

by MLJ Adoptions

When we first began our adoption journey, we were drawn to the idea of a pilot program to expand our family, paving the way for future adoptive families. The first agency we chose was close to our home and developing a program in a country that was a perfect fit. Something didn’t feel quite right, ...

12

Dec

Jillian Michaels Switches her Adoption from DRC to Haiti

by MLJ Adoptions

in Congo, Haiti

As you may remember back in May, Jillian Michaels, former trainer for Biggest Loser, had announced that she had started the legal process to adopt a child from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jillian explained that it was a pilot adoption program in Congo and she had commented, “I’m terrified that [the country] will close, ...

23

Nov

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving Day approaching, this week has been a time for reflection and for giving thanks for all that we are blessed with. First and foremost we all give thanks for the blessings of our families and friends. For me personally, I am grateful for a loving and supportive family who understand my time cosuming ...

22

Nov

Finding the Balance

by MLJ Adoptions

One of the most difficult challenges of international adoption is the balance between what is best for individual children and their forever families, and what is best to ensure that adoptions can continue in foreign lands that may be unstable. Of course, when we visit orphanages and see the conditions in which these children live ...

10

Nov

MLJ Supports Hope Phones Campaign to Benefit DRCongo Mothers

by Sheri Molnar

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

MLJ Adoptions is proud to announce that it will be a collection point for the Hope Phones campaign to benefit maternal and child health programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In a ceremony at George Washington University earlier this month, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary ...

24

Oct

Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

While the world is watching, in November, voters in Democratic Republic of Congo will head to the polls for the second democratic vote in decades. The National Electoral Committee has reported over 31 million have registered for this year’s vote, 6 million more than in the 2006 election. Joseph Kabila, the current residing president, has ...

10

Oct

Rumors Prove True as Ethiopia Closes Several Orphanages

by Sheri Molnar

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

Rumors have been swirling throughout the adoption community over about orphanage closures in Ethiopia. In August, the US State Department issued a statement confirming that Ethiopian government officials have closed several orphanages in the Southern Nations for unspecified reasons. According to officials in the Charities and Societies Agency office, which oversees the licensing and regulation ...

7

Sep

Just a Boy Waiting for a Home: Part 2

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

This is part 2 of Just a Boy Waiting for a Home. Check out part 1 if you haven’t read it. Inspired by his memory, when I returned home, I told the staff to move him into foster care while I looked for a home and his new family. This little boy, so helpless, was ...

6

Sep

Just a Boy Waiting for a Home: Part 1

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

Congo’s war has produced more casualties since the end of WWII. It has been the UN’s largest peace keeping mission to date. The most tragic result of any war is the toll it takes on the most innocent – the children. The orphaned children in Congo number in the millions and some reside in the ...

18

Aug

How We Will Celebrate Our Child’s Cultural Heritage

by MLJ Adoptions

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

In the two months since we received our application approval, my husband Barry and I have explored the culture of our future baby’s homeland. Before we committed to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, we learned many devastating and heartbreaking things. So we changed our focus to the things that we are passionate about. ...

16

Aug

Orphanage Care vs. Foster Care

by MLJ Adoptions

in Congo, MLJ Adoptions

MLJ Adoptions has international adoption programs in Bulgaria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Honduras, Nicaragua, Samoa and Ukraine. In each of these programs we observe children living in orphanages and in foster care. I have seen wonderful orphanages and terrible orphanages. I have observed many wonderful foster care families during my work in international adoptions. It ...

4

Aug

Goooooo Wiggins Team!

by MLJ Adoptions

One facet of our decision to adopt a daughter from the Congo involved integration of the newest member of our family into our existing family structure. We already had 2 daughters (ages 6 & 4), both adopted from China, and they have a very close relationship. Having already been sisters for 2 ½ years, they ...

1

Aug

Second Place Brickyard 400 Winner, Jeff Gordon Shares His Congo Experience

by Sheri Molnar

NASCAR drivers Paul Menard and Jeff Gordan provided racegoers with an exciting finish at the Brickyard 400 yesterday. Menard managed to hold off Gordan for his first NASCAR win. Despite the second place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday, Gordan is first in our hearts for his off the racetrack activities. Last week, Gordan ...

12

Jul

Why We Chose to Adopt

by MLJ Adoptions

Here’s the first of our client blogs from our blog contest! Children are dying from malnutrition, taken into slave labor, used for wars, and worse all over our world. To be more accurate there are 147 million children that are in these situations or in orphanages with adequate or less than adequate care. These children ...

27

May

DRCongo: Zongo Falls Part 2

Read Part 1 of this story The attraction of the Falls is not necessarily the height but the sheer force of the water plunging over the cliff. The force of the water is quite impressive and when standing on the brink, either extraordinarily exciting or, as in my case, the source of extreme anxiety. This ...

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