Ethiopian Ties - Culture, Travel, Adoption & Identity

02/05/2024

Thank you to everyone who joined our webinar last night! We've had an incredible time with our webinar series this year and have learned so much together. We hope you've enjoyed it too!

In exciting news and as a great way to wrap up our winter/spring webinar series, join our Owner and Director, Dr. Tanya Kaanta, as she explores trauma, chronic illness, and healing in relation to adoption. 🌟 Don't miss out on this insightful session!

Register: https://bit.ly/maytanyawebinar

24/04/2024

Calling all adoptees passionate about supporting heritage and community! African/Caribbean Heritage Camp is seeking enthusiastic counselors to join their team and make a meaningful impact.

If you're interested in sharing your unique perspective, fostering cultural pride, and empowering campers, they'd love to hear from you! Learn more here: heritagecamps.org/heritage-camp-counselor/

ACHC needs young adults to support a fun and meaningful camp experience for the 200+ campers who are coming to camp this summer! ANYONE 18+ who enjoys working with youth, learning, and having fun in the Colorado mountains can join us, please share with your networks. More here: heritagecamps.org/heritage-camp-counselor/

17/04/2024

🕖 Reminder: Join us tonight at 7 PM CST for our "Pre- to Post-Trip: Gathering Your Support Team" webinar!

But wait, we have more! 🎉 We're thrilled to announce our upcoming May webinar featuring the fantastic duo that is Kimiko Kawabori and Kari Grady Grossman!

📅 Save the date for this awesome FREE webinar.
Date: Wednesday, May 1st
Time: 7:00PM CST
Register here: https://bit.ly/AncestralWebinarSignUp

05/04/2024

08/03/2024

Happy International Women's Day to all the incredible souls out there! Today and every day, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and diverse stories of EVERY woman. Here's to honoring every unique journey and embracing the power of inclusivity and equity for all!

Adoptive Family Travel - The Ties Program has always been a woman-owned and operated organization. We are proud to be guided, supported and led by visionary women who bring empathy, support, and inclusivity to heritage travel. Cheers to ALL the incredible women who have been part of our trips, supporting adoptees' journeys along the way! 💖🌍

31/01/2024

Hello Ethiopian Ties!

Check out our latest updates and help us plan for the future: https://conta.cc/3SthR3N

Stay tuned for more information, and in the meantime, feel free to reach out with any questions! Email us: [email protected]

28/09/2023

For adoptees, our lives don’t begin at placement- our lives begin in utero/at birth. However too often I work with adoptees who were raised in spaces that only fully honor the parts that include adoptive family, seemingly forgetting whole chapters that influenced & impacted our worldviews and challenged our senses of safety.
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“She never had a family until us.”
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“He couldn’t miss birth family, he’s never met them.”
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“You’re being too sensitive, not everything is about adoption.”
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These are examples of phrases- that I have repeatedly heard over the years, that are forgetting the chapters before adoption. These are the phrases that ignore implicit memory, that are rigid rather than curious. These are the phrases that forget we must be looking at adopted children and their experiences through the lens of grief & loss.
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How might our perspective shift about big, challenging behavior , big complicated feelings, struggling to find identity,
High risk behaviors, search & reunion, and other big topics if we were to slow things down and get curious about grief and how it bubbles under the surface - a key factor in all of these.
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For many adoptees, this grief is some of the biggest to hit the system. Often occurring in the most vulnerable developmental stages, which also means it’s occurring in preverbal, pre- explicit memory making phases. How (understandably so) disorienting. We cannot underestimate the impact this has.
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Of course things feel hard when you have lost so much. Of course things feel isolating when there are no solid answers. Of course things feel disorienting when loved ones raise you and will not acknowledge what came before as if it’s a secret, or something to be ashamed about.
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When children are adopted the wholeness of them is adopted, the wholeness of them deserves love & the wholeness of them needs attunement.

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03/08/2023

https://conta.cc/3Kp6428

Exciting things are happening at The Ties Program. For 30 years, we have strived to take international adoptees and their families on extraordinary birth country experiences. We have loved every minu

13/07/2022

The Dibaba Sisters, from Ethopia, the fastest family on earth. They are the only siblings in recorded history to hold concurrent world records, and have 4 Olympic gold medals, 2 silvers, 3 bronze and 15 world championship

28/06/2022

An important read.

18/06/2022

https://ethiopianadoptionconnection.org

Beteseb Felega | Ethiopia Family Search: A grassroots effort to reunite family members separated by adoption. Hundreds of free database searches solved. An American NGO registered to operate in Ethiopia.

05/12/2021

05/11/2021

Jaclyn Skalnik, aka on Instagram, speaks from a place of experience. In her early 20's, she participated in a Ties trip with her family. She then went on to earn her MSW, led an international adoption program, traveled as Ties travel staff, became a parent, and ultimately opened Adoption Wellness.

Most international adoption programs require parents to travel to the country. Parents, what did you experience when you were in your child's country of origin? Did you experience cultural differences? Were you out of your comfort zone? Did you explore new foods? Did your brain fatigue after hearing a different language? I ask you to pay attention to what you felt while in your child's country, but also, what you did to learn. This minute window offers you a glimpse of the adjustment your kids go through when transplanted to their new country. I oftentimes hear adoptive parents complain about their trip; it was smelly, dirty, poor, etc. Please use judgement when speaking about your child's country. What you say may be interpreted as a reflection of them. Children growing up outside of their culture will feel disconnected and can only rely on what they hear about it from others. Listen, we have smelly, dirty, poor areas here too - so let's be culturally sensitive while also acknowledging the beauty of their country.

Speak early and often about a visit, save $ for it and make it a priority. Your children depend on you to provide them with resources to make connections to their birth culture/country. If your child is reluctant, it may be because it was introduced to them too late. "We're going to take you back to China next summer" vs. "We're going to visit China next summer" are two very different phrases. As parents, the language we use is critical. Talk with your children about what they want to do and see during a visit. Will the whole family travel? Do they want to travel with other adoptees? Do they want to visit tourist places or spaces connected to their life before adoption (orphanage, etc.)? Talk about their expectations of the trip, not yours.

Adoptees need time to prepare for and unpack from a homeland trip. Please make sure they are supported to share their feelings. They deserve an opportunity to visit where they are from as it can really fill in the blanks. Eating takeout from the local Chinese restaurant once a year does not cut it for "exposing them to their birth culture."

19/10/2021

10/10/2021

When children learn the world is random and unpredictable, they move into a state of protection. We all do it. It’s natural.
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When children have experienced attachment trauma, they have been taught that caregivers can be random and unpredictable and their response of self protection often plays out in behavior and relationships. However, regardless of how they respond- caregivers must be intentional and devoted to how attuned and sensitive they are in creating moments of connection for children.
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It’s these moments of connection that fuel attachment and feelings of felt-safety. It is within these healing spaces that children can find a sense of worth and belonging.
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Children who are living from the lens of protection need the presence of connection.
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I see you showing up for the hard and uneasy. I see you creating spaces that enhance peace and validate pain. No one said it was easy. You are not alone 💛

27/07/2021

Picture of the Day

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07/07/2021

From Adoption Learning Partners: We know that parenting isn’t always easy. We know that even with the pandemic lifting, parents and families could benefit from resources and support. Last summer, ALP bundled together many of our most popular webinars in new, limited-edition packages and offered them at a significant discount. These packages proved so popular that we are bringing them back this summer.

We began with Parenting Playbook: A Guide to Behavior, Discipline and Attachment, a collection of three webinars featuring experts from Theraplay®. Now we are featuring Effective Family Communication, two webinars which each feature popular coach, trainer, and author Tina Feigal:

https://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/promotions/webinars.cfm?utm_source=ALP+Users+2&utm_campaign=66edc36e2a-socialmedia_downloaders_2_2-20-18_COPY_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c58a898c93-66edc36e2a-118400585&mc_cid=66edc36e2a&mc_eid=77db675d57

We know that parenting isn’t always easy. We know that even with the pandemic lifting, parents and families could benefit from resources and support. Last summer, ALP bundled together many of our most popular webinars in new, limited-edition packages and offered them at a significant discount. The...

29/06/2021

Plan ahead! Colorado's African/Caribbean camp will once again be IN PERSON in 2022. June 9-12. Yay!

https://www.heritagecamps.org/african-caribbean-heritage-camp-2/

African Heritage Camp & Caribbean Heritage Camp connect adoptive families with cultural experiences, experts on adoption, & families sharing experiences.