Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Monday, September 28th, 2015
New York (TADIAS) — The Board of the Ethiopian Adoption Connection (EAC) announced that it will be participating in the upcoming Cultural Exchange Family Day in New York City hosted by the Ethiopian Social Assistance Committee (ESAC).
“Ethiopian Adoption Connection is a free, grassroots effort to unite family members separated by adoption. EAC is an internet database containing adoption information provided by individuals who were adopted, adoptive families, and birth families who are looking for each other,” EAC said in a press release. “Full name and contact information is kept confidential unless and until a match is confirmed and then only released to involved parties.”
“The organization’s goal is to assist anyone wishing to make contact including Ethiopian mothers and fathers, adoptive parents, and adoptees,” the press release added: “It is a volunteer project and is free to use. Founder Andrea Kelley started the database as the result of an ongoing ten-year search for her own child’s family.”
Andrea’s two children, age 13 and 15, are also scheduled to perform traditional Ethiopian music on violin and cello at the NYC event on October 9th. Organizers of the Cultural Exchange Family Day, which takes place on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, say their event further features food and a coffee ceremony. In addition to Andrea, the Board members of the Ethiopian Adoption Connection include Kalkidan Alelign, Manyahilishal Madebo, Tracey Chambers, and Rachel Wentworth; Advisory Board members Rebecca Demissie and Alison Aucoin; and a special Advisory Board of adult Ethiopian adoptees. The group will be present at the New York gathering next week to provide information to attendees.
“After just a little over a year in operation, EAC has made eleven matches, helping Ethiopian adoptees to make contact with their families in Ethiopia,” the press release said. “The first match the organization made was the result of an Ethiopian father reaching out on Facebook.” EAC added: “His little boy had been adopted to a European family a few years earlier. Through EAC’s network of contacts all over the world, they were able to locate the adoptive family and provide assistance with translating so the Ethiopian father could communicate with them. He reported, “We started direct connection with the adoptive family. They sent me recent pictures and his current conditions.”
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For more information on Ethiopian Adoption Connection, visit ethiopianadoptionconnection.org.