Incentives 2023: how did the completed projects proceed?

Adoption Support Center believes it is important to support aftercare projects. That is why we launch an annual incentive call with which we want to give aftercare projects a substantive and financial boost. In October we launched the 2024 call. But how did the 2023 projects actually go? Earlier this year we provided an overview of the projects that emerged as winners during the previous round. As the end of the year approaches, it's time to take a look back at some of the completed projects! What did they organize and what motivated them to commit themselves to organizing it?

Diversity Beauty Wellbeing Day - by CAFE

CAFE is an interest group that brings together adult adoptees from all countries of origin, first parents and adoptive parents. People with a foster care background and donor children are also welcome with us. From a critical view of the enforcement of children's and human rights within the transnational adoption system, we stand up for the rights and well-being of our target group. We do this by thinking about policy regarding adoption, denouncing abuses, organizing informative events and contact with fellow sufferers.

With the help of the incentive from Support Center Adoption, we organized our annual Wellbeing Day, which this year had the theme "Diversity Beauty". Adoptees were informed about the care of all skin types and afterwards a make-up workshop was provided.

There is a great need and demand from people with colored skin as to which care routine they should apply. In a mainly white society, there is little information available in the field of beauty and care for this target group.

A survey among the participants afterwards revealed only very enthusiastic and positive responses. We have a positive feeling about the organization of this event, which went very smoothly and where we greatly enjoyed the personal contact among fellow sufferers in a cozy and airy setting.

We already have a lot on the agenda for 2024. There will be a lineup day in early January in collaboration with AFC , a new Wellbeing Day is planned and Yung will travel to South Korea for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ruling. So we know what we are doing :-)

Connecting with my IDea - Adoption Switch Connects

Adoption Schakel Connecteert is a volunteer organization that is committed to the parties in the adoption triangle. For this event we mainly focused on the well-being of adoptees. We, An-Li Mus, Sheela Grammens and An Sheela Jacobs, are the representatives of this collective.

We organized a meeting day for adoptees where adoptive parents were also welcome. Various speakers provided some explanation about:

• the importance of research in adoption
• what is identity and what impact does this have on adoptees who have been torn away from their country of origin
• the importance of the connection with food and culture from the country of origin
• crea workshop: adoptees were invited in a safe setting to talk about their experiences while being creative
• story/testimony about photography and how the adoption story can be incorporated into it

We organized this event because we still feel the need for peer contact with adoptees in a safe setting. We have been able to make better contacts and meeting each other in real life increases everyone's sense of security.

The event went very smoothly, but it was just a little too short. There was room for everyone's opinion and views on adoption (partner of an adoptee, adoptive parents, etc.), we are proud of that!

We will certainly organize more meetings in the future. We will remain active on a small scale and will again focus more on online sessions.

Back to the roots - Zemed Care

Zemed Care ('zemed' means 'family' in Amharic) is an interest group that has two different goals.

First and foremost, Zemed Care was founded to represent and support Ethiopian adoptees in the search for their roots. We achieve this goal by building a bridge between Ethiopia (country of origin) and the current place of residence of the adopted person. We are primarily there for Belgian adoptees, but there are no boundaries per se.

In addition to reuniting families, we also focus on creating a safe meeting place for Ethiopian adoptees. We do this by organizing events and meetings in Belgium, especially in Flanders.

We organized our very first event with the help of the incentive. The goal of this event was to create a first meeting where culture is celebrated and recognized, in an accessible way. This way everyone had the opportunity to participate. The main goal was to connect people, share experiences and maybe even make friendships. The event was all about 'for and by us'.

Zemed Care originated from the enthusiasm of Ethiopian adoptees. That is the main driving force behind the organization of the event itself. Its origins come from our own need for a meeting place - a space where no explanations are needed, where inappropriate questions are avoided, and where we can celebrate our culture in an authentic way. This represents the realization of a long-cherished ambition: a safe haven infused with fun.

The event was more than an ordinary meeting; it marked a milestone as the very first experience together where we not only enjoyed each other's company, but also shared each other's stories. The course of the event was extremely positive and successful. There were definitely some last minute obstacles and a lot of stress in the organization. So I couldn't immediately grasp what a great evening it was. That Saturday evening marked the starting point of a unique community, formed by and for all of us.

Our aim is to organize multiple events in the future, with a minimum of two per year as a feasible goal. With a larger team and a larger budget, we can be even more ambitious. Our vision includes not only quantity, but also diversity in the nature of activities, so that we can appeal to a broad audience. The initial success of our first meeting confirms the demand for such initiatives. However, as the number of Ethiopian adoptees in Flanders exceeds 900, we realize that there is still a lot of work to be done to offer everyone an inclusive place. We are up for the challenge and look forward to growing our community.

Network of Bolivian Adoptees received an incentive for developing its own website. They are still busy with this and hope to launch the website in the spring of 2024. Keep an eye on our social media if you would like to stay informed about this!

Update 6/2/2024: The NOBA website has been launched! You will find completed activities & projects, inspiring practices and (soon) knowledge tools. Thanks to the incentives, NOBA was also able to develop a new logo. The logo is based on the Gate of the Sun, a monument in Tiwanaku, Bolivia, and reflects the identity of NOBA, an organization supported by the community.

Untold Asian Stories and Adoptionpedia are postponing the second connection day for young adoptees to 2024 due to their busy schedules. We will also communicate about this as soon as more details are known.