2. We have signed with two separate adoption agencies. One agency is located on the East Coast. They will be doing all the work with that "small country in Africa" and will find and place a child with us. They will help us get the proper papers to the right places and will have representatives working with us when we are overseas. They are our "placing" agency and will be the one we work with most closely after our homestudy is complete. The second agency is based in Austin and has social workers all over the state of Texas. They will assign us a social worker to do our homestudy. They also will provide us with our required education and visit us for our post-placement visits once the child has joined our family. They do the hands-on things that require a closer agency.
3. We are requesting a child under the age of 5, so it is most likely that we will receive a toddler or preschooler. We will not know the age or gender until we get a referral, and, even then, the age may be a loose estimate. Girls are often easier to place than boys, so it is more likely that we will receive a referral for a boy.
5. We need to learn French. It isn't likely that our child will speak French, as it is usually taught in school as an official language and not spoken as much among the people. It will be helpful to learn some French because there's not a lot of English being spoken in "that small country in Africa," and we will need to communicate on a very basic level, at least, when we are there. I'm now mad that I got rid of that Muzzy French set I once got from freecycle. French was never a language that interested me, so I am going to have to start with no knowledge at all. Then there is the language that our child will understand. I'm not even sure how to find materials to help me learn some basic words in that language. I am thankful for the internet where you can find almost anything!
6. What will we call "The Moore Four" when we are no longer a family of four???
4 comments:
You'd be better off learning Swahili or Lingala once you find out what part of the country they're from - not all families there speak French, when I went, most of the people spoke Lingala in Kinshasa.
(I found your blog via the yahoo list for the country you're adopting from)
We aren't adopting from the DRC anymore because our agency did not feel we had enough of that type of travel experience. But you make a very good point. It does make more sense to try to learn the language of the region because the child AND the people will be speaking that language. Thanks for the advice!!
I seriously wouldn't spend much time learning another language. EVERYONE we traveled with said that within four months, their adopted children (ranging in age from 2-8) remember NONE of their native tongue! Isn't that crazy? Unless you plan (which you may be) on continuing to speak that language on a very regular basis, I bet your new one will pick up English faster than you can believe.
I know you have followed our journey. I will be praying for a much smoother transition...
I know there is no way we would pull off speaking the language in our home. I just would like to have enough of the language to get around a bit in the country and also greet our child, etc.
And Lindy, it has been great following your journey. I KNOW the transition won't be easy. I know our child will have a lot of baggage and pain, and that will effect how he/she will relate to us. Your honesty about your process is one of the reasons I am trying to live through this year in the present, enjoying the ease of our current life and really enjoying my children. I know that our lives will never be the same and pray that one day that will be a great thing but also realize that it very well could be really tough for a while, even a long while. Thanks for sharing all you do. I hope I will do the same.
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