Ghana official takes tour of local adoptive homes
Ghana official takes tour of local adoptive homes
Submitted by the Tribune on August 12, 2009 - 7:33am. News
Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter
Cody, adopted by Sam and Maria Hansen-Quine of Lynden, meets Ebenezer
Amartefio (right), the Ghanaian official who approved his adoption
from an orphanage run by Ramona Testa (center). The Lynden barbecue
event last Wednesday was just one stop among many on Amartefio's U.S.
trip.
LYNDEN — Over the last several years, Whatcom County families have
opened their homes to dozens of foreign orphans from countries as far
away as China, Ethiopia and Ghana.
While the countries have differing policies in place regarding??
international adoption, there is no slowdown in demand from United
States families seeking to adopt from foreign countries. Because of
this, Ebenezer Amartefio, a regional director of the Department of
Social Welfare in Accra, Ghana, decided to take a tour of some of the
U.S. homes that have adopted children from his country.
Amartefio’s region is where the Beacon House orphanage ministry??
(where 11 Lynden children used to live) is located and he is
responsible for signing off on every foreign adoption application in
order to make it official.
On Wednesday, Aug. 5, Lynden played host to Amartefio as well as??
Ramona Testa, the native Italian who started the Accra Beacon House
orphanage.
Testa had already accompanied Amartefio to other areas in the U.S.??
where concentrations of families with Ghanaian children live.
Along with regular touring activities, Amartefio had the opportunity??
to meet with city officials, including Lynden City Councilman Gary
Bode and Lynden Chamber of Commerce Director Gary Vis.
Testa said the trip was important to Amartefio’s office since??
decisions to approve foreign adoptions can normally only be made based
on a social worker’s home study of the family making the request.
“Not everyone is for international adoptions,” Testa said, a fact??
which makes Ghana’s support important to the families seeking to
adopt.
Some of the concerns Testa cited from critics are issues related to??
cultural integration. However, Beacon House does several things to
take the edge off of these difficulties. First, Testa asks the
adoptive parents to meet with the biological parents in Ghana before
finalizing the process, in order to help them understand what kind of
family the child is leaving.
Second, Testa encourages parents to seek out other parents in their??
area who are interested in adopting, increasing the likelihood that
Ghanaian children will again meet old acquaintances from their village
or orphanage.
“Many are from the same areas back in their old country,” Testa said??
of the Lynden children. “Now they are all neighbors again.”
Dave and Carrie Blaske, of Lynden, were doing their part locally to??
promote Testa’s vision when they began the His Kids, Our Homes
ministry in 2007 with other families to promote foster parenting,
sponsorship and adoption locally.
The Blaskes themselves adopted several Ghanaian children and??
continue to head up the adoption-awareness ministry, which has
recently helped bring at least 20 children from Ghana alone to the
Pacific Northwest.
The adoptive parents try to stay in close contact in order to??
provide a sense of community and help each other with similar
problems, Testa said.
“It’s like a little Ghana here in Lynden,” Testa said at the??
barbecue. Other communities with multiple adoptions are located in
Anacortes, San Francisco, Charlotte, N.C., and several areas of Texas.
Amartefio said that, in general, support for adoption in his nation??
is strong, although less so for international adoptions. On the other
hand, special-needs children and older children aren’t sought after
and this causes a burden to social services if willing foreign
families aren’t considered.
Amartefio spent his time in Lynden collecting stories, meeting with??
families over a barbecue and learning first-hand about the new culture
to which the children must adapt. He said the trip has convinced him
more than ever that international adoptions should continue.
“It’s been very successful,” Amartefio said. “I see a lot of??
selfless people with the children’s best interests at heart. I have no
regrets for sending children to the U.S.”
Even with one stop left on his journey before visiting his sister in??
New Jersey, Amartefio said nothing could dull his enthusiasm for what
he had seen.
“Even if the rest of the trip is bad, the trip was a success,” he said.??
E-mail Mark Reimers at?? reporter@lyndentribune.com.