Writer/Editor

Aselefech, she/her, grew up in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and currently resides with her daughter on unceded Duwamish land. She is the co-founder of Ethiopian Adoptees of the Diaspora, and has appeared on BBC Newsday, the Helen Show, Good Morning DC (WTTG), and elsewhere. She has written for Lost Daughters, Gazillion Adoptees, and more. Aselefech has been quoted on adoption issues in The Addis Standard, the African Exponent, Afro News: The Black Media Authority, The Seattle Globalist, and InCulture Parent; she has also appeared in The Seattle Times and on NPR-KUOW. She holds a Master’s in Social Work. As a displaced person and as a social worker, Aselefech identifies as a politicized family preservationist, who dreams of abolishing the adoption industrial complex.

Writer/Editor

Kassaye is a mother, writer and advocate for family preservation and reunification. She has published articles in adoptee-centric blogs, magazines, and books in both English and French. In 2014, she co-founded Ethiopian Adoptees of the Diaspora, a virtual group for Ethiopian adoptees online. From 2016-2017, Kassaye co-produced and co-hosted “Out of the Fog”, a podcast and radio show on family separation played on CKUT 90.3 FM, McGill University's campus and community radio station.

Besides writing and podcasting, Kassaye has spoken on panels about adoption and family separation in Canada, the US and Austria. She’s also given interviews on CBC News, BBC News, BBC The Comb and others. You can find the links on her website here.

Kassaye has a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Concordia University and lives in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke), Québec with her son.

Editor

Maureen McCauley’s professional background is in child welfare advocacy. She is currently a freelance writer and editor in Seattle. Her four children, all transracially adopted, are now in their 30’s. She also has two granddaughters. Maureen is a Certified Sage-ing Leader, and an active learner/presenter on adoption and on anti-racism. She has a Master of Arts in English Literature. Maureen blogs at Light of Day Stories.

Artist (Cover art)

Nahosenay Negussie, an artist residing in Addis Ababa, received the prestigious Japan Fellowship in 2012. The following year, he graduated with a BA in graphic design from the Allé School of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Addis Ababa. Also in 2013, he became one of the founding members of Moged Fine Arts Studio. His extraordinary art has been shown at the National Museum of Ethiopia, the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa, the Radisson Blue Hotel, and Alliance Ethio-Français. He has participated in workshops and charity programs and showed in multiple group exhibitions, in Ethiopia, the United States, United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere. His work is in several private collections around the world as well.

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nahosenay/

Writer

Andi is a 13-year-old growing up in Arlington, Virginia. She is an actress,
lmmaker, and social activist.

Writer

Bethlehem is a violin major at the University of Michigan. She is the recipient of a full scholarship through the Sphinx Organization. Bethlehem has performed throughout the United States and Europe, and she loves to visit Ethiopia every few years. Bethlehem looks forward to a career as a violinist. She wrote ìReunionî when she was eight years old.

Writer

Hana was adopted from Ethiopia at the age of one. She was eight years old and just
nished grade two when she wrote this song. She lives in a large city in central Canada. She visits Ethiopia frequently to spend time with her family. She enjoys writing short stories and poetry.

Writer

Leyla Marie Fasika Angelidis was born in Ethiopia and joined the Angelidis family in Seattle as an infant. She is currently in middle school and
nds it unimaginable that some kids in her birth country donít get the chance to learn to read or go to school. She has collaborated with her family to build a library in her birth town of Bahir Dar and to support other literacy projects through a not-for-pro
t her mom founded, Open Hearts Big Dreams. She is an avid reader, aspiring writer, and more recently a spokesperson.

Writer

Misikir lives in the United States. He loves to read, write, and draw comic strips. He loves soccer, running, the outdoors, and swimming. He likes learning about history and learning about the Middle Ages.

Writer

Sehaye Luks was raised on the east coast of the United States, and is now a college student.

Writer

Zufan Bazzano is a student at Smith College in the United States and hopes to travel back to Ethiopia again to see her family.

Writer

Harmony Frimpong was born in Addis in 1992 and adopted in 1993. She grew up in Virginia. She attended Virginia Commonwealth University and earned a Master’s degree in Education. Harmony is currently a public school teacher in Lynchburg, VA. She is also a wife, and the mother of an active two-year-old.

Writer

Daniel Rosenlind was one year old when he was adopted to Sweden from Ethiopia in 1970. He is a family therapist and a psychotherapist, currently working in Stockholm, focusing on family counseling. He is one of the founders of the Adopted Ethiopians and Eritreans Organization (AEF), an organization founded in 1996 for adult adopted Ethiopians and Eritreans living in Sweden.

AEF's website:

https://aenfo.wordpress.com/valkommen/264-2/ and to the Facebook page, here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/193360274109062

Writer

Abenet grew up in the Netherlands, and while his life started upside down, fortunately that is now in the past. He can now really enjoy life, such as traveling and exploring new cultures. He has visited Ethiopia ten times so far, and has also traveled in East Asia, the United States, and many European countries. He loves to cook: only injera is sometimes a challenge! He also enjoys nature and outside activities. He can tell you from experience that when there are many obstacles in your life, there are also always solutions.

Writer

Hirut currently lives in Minnesota with her husband, Yirgem and their two children. Hirut has traveled back to Ethiopia, her beloved country, more than 10 times and hopes to move back with her family. She is a member of the Ethiopian community in the Twin Cities and one of her favorite activities is going to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church every Sunday with her family. Hirut is always grateful that she was not separated from her four brothers - they were adopted together. She dedicated her essay to her four brothers.

Writer

Melaku Kelley was a lifelong homeschooler who is now a junior at the University of Kansas studying political science. As a cello student during grade school and high school, Melaku participated in music festivals throughout the United States, including three summers at the Sphinx Performance Academy. He hopes to have a job managing international affairs in the corporate sector. Melaku enjoys visiting Ethiopia often. He wrote Unf
inished Reunion when he was ten.

Writer

Meazi Light-Orr attends Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, CA. She hopes to fi
nd joy in her life and continue to pursue work in service of others. Instagram: @kids_for_kololo

Writer

Anonymous is an Ethiopian adopted to the United States.

Writer

Kiya was born in Ethiopia and moved to Tallahassee, Florida, in 2010. Throughout her school career, sheís been an eager learner and active participant in school and community service activities. Kiya has been on the Presidentís List (all A grades for 2+ semesters) at college, majoring in Public Health, in hopes of eventually applying her talents and education in Ethiopia.

Writer

O.S. loves God, nature, and spending time with family and friends. She is blessed beyond measure.

Writer

Helen Rose Samuel was raised in the southern United States in a big family that now includes nieces and nephews.

Writer

Jenny currently lives in Sweden and works as a nursing assistant. She is also a theology student at a Swedish university, studying during weekdays and working nights and weekends. She believes it is a blessing to be able to help people.

Writer

Raji grew up in South Australia where she completed a degree in psychology, and now works to support families to repair from con
ict. In 2019, Raji travelled back to Ethiopia to meet her birth family for the rst time in over 20 years.

Writer

Samrawit grew up in New England, and she continues to keep in close contact, as best she can, with her family in Ethiopia.

Writer

Sara lives in Sweden. She has an academic background as a social anthropologist, and has long had a dream to study Ethiopian biological parents in international adoptions and their understanding and experience of international adoption. She has not yet been able to get any funding for this project.

Writer

Sarah Mignote Solomon grew up in Minnesota, United States, with her mom and two younger sisters. She has a degree in Physical Therapy. She wants to be a light to the world wherever she goes. She wants to share her life experience and her love of Jesus with others to give hope because life is too short to be sad.

Writer

Tamieka is an Ethiopian-Australian adopted from Addis Ababa in 1997 by a 2nd generation English/Irish/Australian couple. She has no information about her birth family nor the circumstances that led to her relinquishment, only that she was brought to a missionary orphanage as a baby. One day she hopes to search for and nd her birth family.

Tamieka wants to help encourage young adoptees to empower themselves, manage the issues across the various stages of life, and help reduce feelings of isolation which are so common amongst adopteesóshe wishes to be the person she would have wanted while growing up. (From Inter Country Adoptive Voices)

Writer

Heran Tadesse is a repatriated adoptee, raised in the Netherlands from age three, and who has resided for 11 years in Addis Ababa. She is the mother of three children, an environmentalist with a degree in Tropical Forestry, a certied yoga teacher, a published writer, a poet, an event organizer, a breastfeeding counselor, an empowerment coach, a roots searcher, a social entrepreneur, and a co-founder of the rst Waldorf-inspired daycare and family center in Ethiopia.

Writer

Damien (Adane) grew up in France. He is now a high school physical education teacher and is working on a degree in sociology.

Writer

Mekdes lives in France, where she grew up.

Writer

Mike Davis started life in Ethiopia, then moved to the United States with his adoptive dad, a United States Army o
cer. Mike was deported back to Ethiopia in 2005. We are hopeful that citizenship will soon be granted by the United States Congress for all international adoptees, including Mike, so that he can come home to his family.

Writer

Mumasiquery grew up in France and she is now a librarian and the biological mother of two wonderful boys!

Writer

The author’s pseudonym is based on a 1759 novel by Samuel Johnson about a prince in Abyssinia, also known as the Ethiopian Empire. The author grew up and lives in France.

Writer

My name is Vincent Pro
ffit, adopted from Ethiopia to France in 1998. I am currently an anesthesia-intensive care intern (medical resident) in Caen, Normandy, France. As I really enjoy writing, I volunteered to share the story of my adoption. I would like to work later in NGOs and/or help improve access to healthcare in Ethiopia.

Writer

Hanna Wallensteen, born in Addis Ababa in 1971, was adopted to Sweden the same year. She works as a licensed psychologist in Stockholm, where she lives with her husband and children. In her practice Hanna has specialized in minority stress, racism, and the various experiences of transnational adoptees. Hanna is still searching for her biological relatives, as of December 2021.