Ethiopia’s Enat Alem,DanAdopt, and Mercy, Mercy Film

We mentioned Enat Alem in our Analysis of ACT’s Fruits of Ethiopia report here. At least Children’s Hope , Gladney, and AAI (Michigan) were US agencies associated with this orphanage. AAI (Michigan) is still actively placing children from Ethiopia and is still often recommended by PAPs on adoption forums. This once again shows how there is no effort whatsoever to deal with US agencies when issues come up. Amazingly, US agencies always come out squeaky.  Denmark at least has the capacity to shut an agency out of  a country. US agencies just move to another part of the country.

For a summary of what US entities can and can’t do with unethical orphanages and how agencies spin the issues, see our post here. See our predictions from May 2011 on how the  US Government was not really going to act in Ethiopia here.

A Danish documentary following a family adopting that is called Mercy, Mercy-the Price of Adoption was released a few months ago. A YouTube video subtitled in English has been removed, but you can see the description of the documentary at their website here.

Synopsis: “The fate of two families cross paths on the African continent in Ethiopia, at a goat market where child-traders and western adopters gather. A Danish couple, HENRIETTE AND GERT, are to adopt 4 year old Masha, and her 2 year old brother, Roba, from their African parents, SINKENESH AND HUSSEN. Each family has their own motive for choosing adoption – The African parents wish to secure two of their children’s future with material wealth, as well as economic compensation.
For the Danish family, adopting is about fulfilling a long wanted dream of having children, as well as the notion of saving these children from their dying parents. Sinkenesh and Hussen wish to establish a long lasting contact to Henriette and Gert. But their hope of an extended family  and economic compensation dissipates, as Gert and Henriette neither brought presents, nor lets the couple say farewell to their children at the airport. In the middle of it all we find a representative from the adoption agency, who neglects to enlighten either party of the others’ diverging expectations. Both families become stressed, grief-stricken and divided as a consequence, and not only they, but also the two children, who were supposed to be the object of the aid, are affected, and now flown out of the country.
The Director, Katrine W. Kjær, is with them on the entire journey. In Ethiopia, along with the two couples, she meets the harsh realities behind the latest decade’s adoption boom. In poverty stricken Ethiopia, the number of children adopted to the West, has multiplied rapidly in the last few years. Foreign adoption agencies pour into the country, private children’s homes pop up everywhere, and hopeful parents-to-be flock to in anticipation. There is a lot of money in adoption, you see.
In Africa, Sinkenesh and Hussen slowly come to the realization that they have been deceived. The adoption bureau DanAdopt has not kept its promises, and they neither get to remain in contact with their children, nor do they receive the promised help.
Back in Denmark the problems start unfurling for Masho, and for Gert and Henriette. The strong willed Masho is sucked into a detrimental process of treatments, psychologists, foster parents and doctors. In the end, the newly made parents, being under continuous growing pressure, must give up.'”

Denmark Stops Adoptions from Enat Alem in November 2012

“Fact-finding mission finds multiple violations of laws regarding the treatment of children.

A recent visit by members of Ankestyrelse, the national social appeals board, to the Enat Alem orphanage in Ethiopia revealed conditions so deplorable that the social and integration minister, Karen Hækkerup  (Socialdemokraterne) has instituted an immediate and seemingly permanent halt on adoptions from the home.

Inspectors returned from their mission with tales of children deprived of food, basic care and medical treatment. According to the Integration Ministry website, the home has since 2009 sent 20 children to be adopted in Denmark through the agency DanAdopt.

Adoptions from the home were suspended last November due to reports of problems at the institution.

In a letter sent to DanAdopt, Ankestyrelse and Hækkerup it said that the orphanage’s operation was “contrary to fundamental ethical principles’.

“We must be absolutely sure that the children we accept have been released for international adoption, that the adoption is best for the child, and that all opportunities at home have been investigated,” said Hækkerup.

The letter stated that Enat Alem was operating in violation of existing Ethiopian regulations.

Mette Garnæs, a consultant to DanAdopt, told Politiken newspaper that the agency was unaware of the home’s conditions.

“We’ve never observed that children did not have food or supplies,” Garnæs said. “We are therefore quite shocked.”

Danes saw an example of the questionable conditions at Enat Alem in the recent film ‘Mercy, Mercy – adoptionens pris’ (Mercy, Mercy – the price of adoption). The film followed the excruciating adoption process of a child named Mashos. There are scenes showing the orphanage’s director promising the girl’s biological parents that she and her brother would receive excellent educations in Denmark and then be sent back to Ethiopia to help her biological family.

At the time the film was shown, DanAdopt explained what appeared to be the director’s outright lies as “cultural differences”. Hækkerup said that DanAdopt’s explanation does not excuse the “unethical and unacceptable” behaviour.

DanAdopt announced that it agrees with Hækkerup’s decision and is “looking with utmost seriousness” at the new information.

The appeals board stressed that it is not finished with its investigation and that additional information and charges may be forthcoming.

The letter sent by Ankestyrelse to DanAdopt is here, in Danish.”

Social minister stops adoptions from Ethiopian orphanage

[The Copenhagen Post 3/1/13 by Ray Weaver]

International Adoption Reader blog has good commentary about privacy issues with documentaries like these. See it here

Adoption Middleman Speaks Out About Harvesting After DanAdopt Banned from Placing Children from Ethiopia

Just last week, the middleman gave an interview.

“On Friday the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs imposed a ban on adoptions from Ethiopia through DanAdopt after a group of women complained that they felt pressured to give their children up for adoption. The news programme 21Søndag has since revealed that a number of adoptions through DanAdopt employed the use of middlemen to coax the women into giving their children up for adoption, which is in violation of the Hague Convention.

Convinced families Gimma Kebele worked at DanAdopt’s children’s home, Enat Alem, until it was shut down by the authorities. But in addition to working on the night shift, he also worked to identify children suited for adoption. This involved canvassing the village and talking with families to convince them to give their children up for adoption. “Enat Alem used middlemen to convince the parents to give up their children for adoption. They coaxed the parents by telling them that the children would have a better life and a good education,” a source told 21Søndag about Gimma Bekele’s job.

Lucrative job Gimma Kebele himself says that he was involved in 145 adoptions through Enat Alem. He also said that working as a middleman was quite lucrative. For each child he provided to the children’s home, he received between DKK 75 and 110, which is a lot of money in Ethiopia. By comparison, his monthly salary for working the night shift at the children’s home was about DKK 150. But according to the responsible office for the region, many of the parents never understood that adoption meant that they would never see their children again. “They did not know what adoption meant because they were pressured and tricked. They were promised many things,” said the official.

Illegal to profit from children Prior to the closure of the Enat Alem children’s home, DanAdopt sent 21 children to Denmark for adoption. The agency told 21Søndag that it was unaware of the use of these middlemen. Profiting from dealing in children is a crime punishable with imprisonment.”

[So that leaves his involvement in 124 adoptions to other countries using other agencies!]

Adoption middleman speaks out

[DR 4/8/13]

REFORM Puzzle Piece