Central America

We all know that Central America is actually a part of North America, but for cultural reasons we have given it it's own special designation, or rather relagated it into its own group. The cultural reasons have been eroding away for a long time now, as more and more Central Americans immigrated (both legally and illegally, but that is not what this blog is for, so lets not dwell on that) here to the US, they brought more of their culture with them and began to add to the fabric of our fair nation. They have a shared history of European colonialism, overthrowing European rule and starting out new countries. Also, with so many of their people now Americans, and with it being so close to the US, many other Americans feel comfortable with visiting there and adopting children from there. Many Americans speak or understand at least a little Spanish, which is spoken down there, so it is easier for us to add more Spanish to our vocabulary and teach our new children. Central America to the US is like Morocco, Turkey and Egypt to the British, great vacation escapes so close to their own countries.

Many of the people there are Mestizo, White people of European ancestry (mostly Hispanic,) the Mayans and other Indios/Amerindians, and some Mulattos, Zambos and Blacks descended from African slaves or imigrants from the Caribbean. And aparantly many countries in central America have large groups of Chinese as well.

For the most part, the cultures in these countries was formed by mixing European and Amerindian cultures together, giving them some spice. They all are officially Spanish speaking countries, though many also speak English as a second language.

Lets start from the bottom and work our way to the top.

Panama-famous for the Panama Canal, built by the U.S. to get ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific and vice versa. It is also where American president Bush senior decided to show an overwhelming force of power by toppling the military state and establishing democracy, showing the Americas that the US is in control here, but also displacing over 20,000 civilians and leading to a lot of poverty. Most of the people there are Mestizo, at just over 50%, with blacks and mulattos together forming the second largest group(many of them immigrated from the Carribean.) Full blooded Indio peoples are at around 7% of the population, and include seven groups: the Emberá, Wounaan, Guaymí, Ngöbe Buglé, Kuna, Naso and Bribri. White people of European blood account for almost 9% of the population and then surprisingly, at 5.5% of the population are people of Chinese descent. Spanish is the main language, though many people also speak English. Most people are Roman Catholics, with another large group being Bahai, and tiny minorities being Buddhist and Rastafarians. Indigenous religions include Ibeorgun (among the Kuna) and Mamatata (among the Ngöbe Buglé.)

To adopt, you need to be married, and have been married for at least 2 years. Sorry, no single people are allowed to adopt. Otherwise, the rules are the basic adoption rules and after a short trip to Panama, you will have a child.

Very cute Panama boys

Street boys

Native Embera people

Costa Rica-a famous vacation destination for many Americans. It has had relative peace, especially for a central American nation, and this is one of the features that attracts so many tourists and expatriots to go there. Not to mention the beautiful scenery: tropical forrests and beaches. Whites and mestizos are lumped together as one group here and make up an overwhelming majority of the population at 94%. Blacks make up 3%, Amerindians a tiny 1% and Chinese 1%. They also host many refugees fleeing violence from neighboring Central American nations, and some south American ones, mostly from Nicaragua, Colombia and EL Salvador. The majority of Costa Ricans are Roman Catholics, with some Evangelicals there (EVIL!!!) Mormons are gaining ground there (another EVIL group.) Because of the growing number of Chinses, Buddhism has gained some ground. The language there is Spanish, but some people also speak Creole, and many people also speak English as a second language (and some as a first language.)

Children under 5 cannot be adopted by foriegners, unless they are part of a sibling group, or are difficult to place children because of disabilities. They allow married couples, married for 5 years and singles to adopt. You must be there, both parents if married, at the initial stage of adopting, which can take up to 30 days. After that, they prefer you to stay until the end, but since it takes several months to finish, many people have been doing it in 2 trips.

Nicaragua-is known for its violence, the violence of several coups and of its long civil war, as well as blacks fighting with the Mestizos. Over a million Nicaraguans left the country and settled in over countries. Nicaragua and the US also have had a bumby relationship, to say the least, with the US government supporting the Contras to overthrow the Sardinistas. This all ended when the first woman president, not only of Nicaragua, but of all the Americas, was elected and began to fix her broken country. Nicaragua is one of only 4 countries in the world (though I don't consider Vatican City to be a real country) where it is totally illegal to have an abortion, there are no exceptions. Most of the people are Mestizo, with Whites being the second largest group. Blacks form only 9% of the population and mostly live along the Caribbean coasts. The last group, at 5% of the population are the Amerindians, including the Nocarao people whom the country is named after and the Miskitos. Most people speak Spanish, particularly the voseo form of Spanish. Also, each part of the country and different cities have their own dialect and it has been likened to Italy, where just going a few miles up the road you will run into a different dialect of Italian. The second most spoken language is English, which is actually mostly spoken as a first language by the blacks. Many blacks also speak Creole, showing their Jamaican ancestry. The Amerindians also speak their own languages and many Chinese immigrants still speak their language. Most of the people are Roman Catholic, but there are large numbers of Evangelists and Mormons (the 2 most evil Christian groups I know) and many Blacks are Anglicans.

Adoption from Nicaragua can be a headache. It is long and fraught with delays. You need to do a 6 month fostering IN Nicaragua before the adoption can proceed. I hate it when the countries do this, let's take the parents away from all they know and see if they can properly parent a child, then send them back home. They should shorten it to a month, as then allows bonding, and time to look around and see the childs native culture. Nicaragua only allows Nicaraguans and American citizens to adopt. You can be married or single, though the process takes longer for singles. Also, if a Nicaraguan citizen wants to adopt the child you are adopting, you may be bumped off for them.

Miskito kids

Honduras-was home to a great Mayan civilization, which had already declined by the time the Spanish came to conquer the land and enslave the people. While building up their infrastructure and basically prospering throughout the 20th century. They were mostly protected from the violence of Nacaragua thanks to the US presence there, but did also fight a silent war against Marxist-Leninist militias trying to gain power. Then in 1998, Hurricane Mitch destroyed a lot of the country and set them back 50 years. In 2008 floods wracked the country and then in 2009 the congress lead a coup de'etat, which was condemned by countries all over the world. The congress then suspended 5 constitutional rights to control the people and led an authoritarian government for several weeks, before the rights were restored. Most of the people are mestizo, over 90%. Amerindians make up 7% and are formed by 7 groups(the Ch'orti', Garifuna, Pech, Tolupan/Xicaque, Lenca, and the Miskito who also live in Nicaragua,) black at 2% and whites make up the last 1%. There is also a small comminity of mixed Asians. The majority of people are Roman Catholics and smaller, but growing groups of Protestants.

The adoption policies are currently in flux, and may change at any moment. But it seems that the only real policy is that children must be under 14 years old to be adopted. They can be older, but must go through the family courts, which means private adoption, which is only available for Honduran citizens. You can married or single. You can only refuse one adoption, if you refuse a second one, then your application will be rejected, so make sure you have a good reason to not accept. It must be harder than it appears though, as very few children seem to get adopted from there.

El Salvador- you have to reside in El Salvador for a year if you want to adopt, though there have been several cases where this was not enforced. Married couples, married for at least 5 years, and singles can adopt. You must be 15 years older than the child you are adopting.

Most people in El Salvador are Mestizo, at around 85%. Whites, make up around 14%. The last 1% is made up of Amerindians. Most of the Amerindians have lost their traditions, this was a result of the 1932 massacres where the Salvadoran military murdered around 25,000 peasants, many of them Amerindians. There are very few blacks, because of a law that forbid them to enter the country that was not lifted until the 1980's. There is an immigrant population of Palestinian Christians there as well, with one of there number becoming one of the nations presidents. The native language is Spanish, though many people also speak English. Most people are Roman Catholics, with the rest being Protestants of various sorts and there is a growing number of Mormons (EVIL!!!)

El Salvador has suffered from high crime rates. They blamed some of it on the US, when the US kicked out many illegal El Salvadorans and sent them home. Many of those illegals were part of a gang called the MS13 and they brought the criminal ways they learned back with them. But as they came from El Salvador, they were probably criminally inclinated to begin with. It was also a result of a horrible civil war that wracked the country for over a decade.

Guatemala-the home of the Mayan indians. One of the countries I want to visit. I almost went there years ago, when I was on vacation in the Yucatan, but unfortunatly, at the time terrorists were kidnapping Americans for ransom to fund their war with the government and I decided not to go. This civil war made Guatemala a dangerous place for many years, and they still have not fully recovered. Most of the people are Mestizo, at around 40%. Whites make up 16%. Most of the remaining people are Amerindians, mostly Mayan. There are some Garifuna (Black Guatemalans,) and some Chinese and Koreans living there. Spanish is the national language, though many people don't even learn it as a first language. Many indigenous people still speak their languages. Most people are Roman Catholics, with the second largest group being Protestants. There is a large Mormon following here, which makes since as I think this where they think their new books of the bible took place, so they would press their religion here. There are also many traditional religion followers here, mostly Shamanism.

Guatemala was a favored adoption spot for a short time here. With adoptions being easy to go through and Guatemala being so close to the US, thousands of Americans applied for and adopted children. But with so many children getting adopted, corruption and baby selling crept up and they shut down their program to put more laws in effect, leaving many children in limbo. Adoption by foreigners has not yet been reinstated.

Belize-I spent a summer down there doing an Archaeological dig at Caracol with my professor some odd years ago. From what I saw, the coastal areas were inhabited by mostly blacks and the the inland was mostly the latino and indio peoples. Belize is different from the other Central American nations in that it was colonized by the British and not the Spanish. It was part of the British Empire, as British Honduras, but when it gained independence in 1964 it started calling itself Belize to differentiate itself from Spanish Honduras. At 34%, mestizos make up the largest group. Kriols, which seem to be a mix of Mulattos, Zambos and full Blacks, make up 25%. Kriols are thought to be the face of Belize. Whites/Spanish make up 15%. The Mayans make up 11%. The last largest group is the Garinagu, which are mostly black, but also have some white and Indian ancestry. Surprisingly, there are large groups of German speaking Mennonite farmers living there. There are some Asians, mostly Chinese. There are also large groups of Americans living there. Belize is the only country in Central America where Spanish is not the national language. English is the official language, though most people can barely speak it. Kriol is the main language acually used and is their form of Creole. Spanish is widely spoken as well, considering their neighbors and many Mayan and other indigenous languages are spoken as well. The people are mostly christians, with Roman Catholics and Protestants being the largest. Jehovahs Witnesses and Mormons are also trying to spread out and convert everyone (EVIL!!!!)
There is a lengthy list of requirments to adopt from Belize. First, you have to have a year fostering period with the child in Belize. You have to be at least 25 and 12 years older than the child to be adopted. Married couples and singles can adopt, though single men cannot adopt girls. You cannot have a criminal record (which is rare in America these days.) Also, the court requires a note of suitability from a welfare office or other competant authority, of which I have no idea what this is. I would guess this is already part of your home study.

Kriol boys

Garinagu boys

Mexico-borders with the US, is the source of most of the US's latino population and also the majority of illegal aliens. Much of the Southwestern part of the US once belonged to Mexico, but the US claimed it as the spoils of war, and naturalized the citizens living there, bringing in a huge number of Hispanic and Latino peoples. It would make since that we would want to adopt from there since we share so much already. Sadly each state sets its own rules for adoption and so adopting from there is a long confusing process. Though with the implementation of the Hague convention, things are supposed to be getting easier, and more streamlined. Some things that are common are that they want you to have a 6 month fostering period in country, though a judge may waive this and they do this from time to time. You can be married or single to adopt, must be over 25 years old and 17 years older than the child.

Since many people in the US already know a lot about Mexican history, I will not go on about it. Most of the people are Mestizo at around 75%. The second largest group are the Amerindians at around 15%, who have 62 different groups. Rounding it out are a small population of Whites, followed by Blacks and then some Asians. I remember when I was in Europe I met this guy that looked as Asian as you could get and I was surprised when he started speaking to me in perfect Spanish. He told me he was from Mexico. I guess I should have known better. They speak Spanish there, a Mexican version that is far different from European Spanish as American English is to British English. They also have some indigenous languages and many people have also learned to speak English, though this is usually in places where many tourists visit or where many American expats and returning immigrants live. Most people are Roman Catholic, with some Protestants there.

Next, I will work on the Caribbean.

Africa part 2

This part of Africa also holds many White Africans, descendents of European colonists and settlers. But after years of being used and abused, of being controled by the white colonists has left many Black Africans bitter. Now that the power is in their hands, they have decided to abuse many of the white people that did not leave when these colonies became independent countries. Violence and abuse is commonplace for many of them, and many flee each year back to their ancestral homelands, or to other African countries that are more friendly to whites, like South Africa. Still others dig their heels in and refuse to move, refuse to be intimidated and are trying to wait out the violence until the hate and bigotry ends and they can live in peace. But Africa seems to always have problems with other races, whether they are white colonists, or other kinds or Black Africans, or even other religions. It will be a long time before they finally learn to stop being bigots. Look at America, it took forever to get to the point we are now, and there are still too many bigots here, but we are still the the most multi-cultural and multi-racial country on the planet. And if you think that these White Africans are not real Africans, think again, as you are living in a place that is not your ancestral homeland either(if you are American or Canadian,) so since they were born and raised there, and were integral to forming the country, they have all the right to be African.

There are also a small number of half Asian young adults and children in Africa now. When Taiwan sent much aide to Africa, they also sent many young male volunteers, who aparently couldn't keep it in their pants and fathered hundreds of children on the local woman. They did the typical thing of abandoning their children, not accepting them, leaving the kids to grow up in a place that does not easily accept them. This from volunteers that were supposed to help the local people. I cannot say how angry I am to hear about how they did that, especially when I lived in Taiwan for year (just came back 6 months ago actually.) Here is one of the articles that talks about it. http://www.g21.net/asia29.htm While what these men did was abhorant, Taiwan is one of the only mostly pagan countries that regularly donates and sends volunteers abroad. If you want to work with a donation program and hate that almost all the ones in America are Christian ones, then check out some Taiwanese ones. If you are interested in adopting a half African-half Chinese child, ask your adoption agency if they know where they are or do good old fashioned detective work.

Africa is always in need of help and donations to get away from the violence of being left berefit by their former European empires. Here is one website I came upon where you can help the children. It is a Christian group, but still it is helping a child and even if you don't want to help since they are Christian, then I hope this inspires you to look for another non-religious group that helps children, or maybe you could start one since you are interested in African adoption.
http://reviveafrica.com/index.php

Note: Whenever I mention Animists, Indigenous religions or Traditionalists, that all means that they are pagan of some kind or another.

Cameroon-Cameroon is one of the few countries that prefers older parents. They prefer at least one person in a married couple to be older than 40, or one person to be 35, but you must be married for 19 years to the same person, or you may have the age requirement waived if you have a medical certificate claiming infertility. If you are single, then you need to be 40 or older. Once you have identitified the child you want to adopt, you can gain custody of that child. You will need to stay in Cameroon for a 3 month period to foster the child while they see if you are a good match, afterwards you may begin the legal procedures. These procedures can take a long time, so be prepared to stay in Cameroon for 6 months up to a year. They really need to streamline this process more, especially with more foreigners adopting there lately. There is also a recent problem with fraud/scam artists, claiming to be from orphanages and soliciting you for money to adopt a child, they are fake. Make sure you check with the Cameroon Misitry of Social Affairs before you do anything, like send any money or take any children.

Cameroon actually got its name from the Portuguese explorers who first came there, saw so many prawn in the water that they called it "Rio dos Camaroes" meaning River of Shrimp, so Cameroon means shrimp. The northern part of the country once held the Islamic Andamawa Emirate, which in the 19th century had a jihad to wipe out all non-Muslims (history shows that this happens whenever there is a large group of Muslims together.) The Germans took over soon though and this ended the jihad as they were forced into servitude of the Germans. After WWI, Cameroon was split between the French in the north and British in the south. Many Nigerians came over to Southern Cameroon when the British ruled, as they were both part of the Empire. The British took care of the south, giving it what it needed to stabilize and modernize, while the French did not take care of the north, letting unrest and radical parties run rampant, until they finally declared independence from France in 1960. Southern Cameroon united with the north a year later to form the Republic of Cameroon, but the president that led the country to independence took complete authoritarian control and suppressed other political parties from rising becoming the leader of the sole party. He later left his successor in charge and while his successor first tried to reform and become more democratic, a coup d'etat led him to become like his predecessor. Finally the economic crisis of the mid 1980's led to full reform and democracy. Though the country had made great strides, it is still occassionally faces violence, and has problems. The former British colony of Southern Cameroon wants to break away and become its own country now and are pressuring the government. There are 2 official languages in Cameroon as a result of its past, English and French. There is also a pidgin lanuage of mixed English, French and local, which is gaining popularity. The south has more teachers and better education, though the literacy rate is high throughout the country.

The northern part of the country still has muslims. Though they are not as violent as they were in the 19th century, they do occassionally harass and discriminate against non-Muslims. They form about 20% of the population. In the South and West, Christian missionaries made headway and converted a great many people, with around 40% of the poplutaion now. Many of these Christians believe in evil Witches (the Christian version of them anyway,) and get hysterically violent about it. The government has outlawed violence against supposed witches, though people still get killed over it. That leaves the other 40% of the population as still pagan, being one of the highest I have seen in Africa. In the north are the Kirdi people, who got their name from the Muslims as a derogatory term. The name roughly translates as "pagan" and the people take great pride in the fact that they held onto their beliefs and never converted to the Islam.

Niger-is a very difficult country to adopt from, so hard that no children seem to have been adopted from there in over a decade, which is when they changed the laws making it so hard. You have to be resident in Niger through the whole process, which can take years to complete. I won't even go into it here, as I doubt there is anyone that would be willing to put up with it. The harder policies seem to have been drafted as this is a majority muslim country, at 90%, and muslims do not allow adoption (though since their prophet was adopted, I do not understand why.) This country is where the bad "N-word" from America came from, refering all American blacks as Niger's, as if they were from Niger, which later had the 'G' changed to the hard form making it a new and foul word.

Nigeria-the most populous country in Africa and the Eighth most populous in the world. It can be hard to adopt from Nigeria, as the law says non-Nigerians cannot adopt there, but this has been inconsistant as non-Nigerians have been adopting from there and seems to vary from state to state. Each state has different requirments. This may be a result of being mostly Muslim in the north, where they have put Sharia law into state law, causing many problems. In the southwest, Christians and Muslims live together, while the rest of the country is Christian, with most focused in the East. There are some traditional religions around in small numbers, namely the followers of Yoruba, which has become a part of the American religious scene for many blacks and latinos, and has spread into the panpagan belief system of America. The age requirements vary but tend to be around 25 years old, and they want you to be 21 years older than they child. You can be married or single. If you are single, you cannot adopt a child of the opposite sex (special cases may allow though.) Nigeria also houses large foreign populations of British, American, Chinese, Japanese, Indian (who brought Hinudism with them,) Greek, Syrian, Lebanese and Cubans (who defected from Cuba after Castro rose in power during the Cuban Revolution.) Many of whom are employees of oil companies. A note about Nigeria is that is has one of the lower rates of HIV/AIDS infections in Africa. There education system has decayed and is full of problems. The official language is English, as a result of being a former British colony, and also because there are so many different ethnic groups that speak different languages, many learn their ethnic language at home and in the community, but English in school and in business, politics, etc...

Sadly violence is a part of life in Nigeria. Recently many muslims rioted when the Miss World pagent came and got so bad, they had to move it to London. Apparantly they rioted when a reporter made some comment, killing over a hundren men, women and children. Nigeria also was home to the infamous 419 crime, also called the Nigerian Scammers, where they would ask you to send a little money to help them get their inheritance, and you would get a portion of that inheritance, or some other B.S. that stupid and greedy people would fall for. I still get those stupid e-mails. Also, there is a beleif in evil witches here, as it is in much of Africa. Even children get accused of this and face horrible consequences. If you are going to adopt from this country, do your pagan duty and adopt a child witch, save them from a life of pain and give them a nurturing home. I don't usually advocate this, the save the kids thing, as it makes you feel like the kids is indebted to you, but this is life or death for these kids. Here is an article about it: http://www.steppingstonesnigeria.org/node/18

Accused Child Witches of Nigeria

Hyena Trainer

Traditionalist

Benin-I can find no information on adoption from this country, though I know of a couple people that have adopted from there, they were probably living there at the time and were able to navigate through the system.

Togo-to adopt from Togo you must be married for 5 years and one spouse must be over 30 years old. Or you may be single, but over 35 years old. They also do not want you to already have kids living in the home, and if you become pregnant before the adoption is completed, they will terminate the adoption. You will need to get authorized from the Minister of Child protection and this authorization lasts for 5 years.

Togo is a small country that was once a colony of France. Over half the people are followers of traditional religions (pagan) with the rest split between Christian and Muslim. This is one of the highest percentage of pagans in Africa. It's pagan culture and beautiful landscapes have inspired their art.

Togo Fetishes

Burkina Faso-is a hague country. There are no residency requirments, you must be 15 years older than the child. You must be married for 5 years and priority is given to childless couples. Singles are almost never allowed to adopt, but the occassional single does do it, though I don't know how.

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country that was a former colony of France. It is now the 6th poorest country in the world. The country is majority Islam, with Animistic Pagans the second largest, followed by Christians. Though the people say they are 50% Muslim, 50% Christian and 100% Animist, showing that they are highly tolerant and even the Muslims and Christians still value the old ways. The Muslims even built the Bobo-Dioulasso Mosque as a place for people of all faiths to gather and work together, being one of the few places that Muslims seem to be highly tolerant and are not going jihad on the other peoples all the time.

The Bobo-Dioulasso Mosque

Ghana-before you are allowed to adopt, you must have been resident in Ghana for 3 months, though the courts can waive this(they can, doesn't mean they will.) You must be married to adopt internationally. Single men are not allowed to adopt at all, and single women can adopt if they are citizens of Ghana. You have to be at least 25 years old and 21 years older than the child. It can take a year for the adoption to be completed, but you do not have to stay in country during that time (the child does though.)

Ghana was once a colony of the British Empire, and was the first sub-Saharan colony to gain independence from them. As a result of being a colony of the UK, English has become the official language, though numerous other native ethnic languages are used as well. The colony was called the Gold Coast, but when they gained independence they decided to use the name of an old Kingdom as the new countries name. It is home to the Ashanti people, who produce many cultural art peices that Americans associate with Africa as a whole, including their textiles (kente cloth) and Ashanti wood carvings and kings stools. Ghana is home to former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan. They are mostly Christian, with some Muslims and a few traditional religionists.

Ashanti Chief

Cote D'Ivoire(Ivory Coast)-while in English we could just call it the Ivory Coast, they want to use the French version of the name and discourage the English name. To adopt you need to be married for 5 years, both of you must be 30 years old or older and be 15 years older than the child you wish to adopt (not that hard when you are already 30.) I can't find any information about Singles, but since they are not mentioned and Africa tends to look down upon single parent adoption as a whole, I would hazard a guess that they do not allow single parents to adopt. Now the hard part about adopting here is that you need to have a 6 month foster period with the child. That means you need to live there with the child. They can waive this period though, if you can prove that you have met the child, are providing care for them and why you cannot be resident in Cote D'Ivoire for the 6 months.

As you can tell from the name of the country, it used to be a colony of France and still have close ties with it. There are White Africans here, descendents of French colonists (as well as some Spaniard ones.) Though a large group of them fled after violence in the 1990's. It was once a prosperous country, but hit some turmoil after the economic crisis of the 1980's. Since then, there has been problem after problem, with renegades, rebels, militias, warlords, etc... This also led to the horrible fate of child soldiers being used, something that seems all too common in Africa. These kids are too young for this and their lives have been shattered by the violence they have witnessed and perpetrated. In 2007, with the aide of Frech troops there to patrol the streets, a peace treaty was signed between the government and the rebels, seeming to bring peace at last.

A little over a third of the people are Muslim, another third are Christians(mostly Roman Catholics) with Animists making up half of what is left and non-religious people making up the other half. Also, there is an education problem there now, with most woman being illiterate and many elementary school aged children not in school. The national language is French, but many other indigenous languages are used as well.

Liberia-does not seem to have any parent requirements to adopt. So, it would seem to be pretty easy, but there are child requirements. Basically the child needs to be cleared by a social worker for adoption. This seems to be the easiest of Africas countries to adopt from. Sadly though, there have been a number of cases where the adoptive parents have terminated their parental rights (I don't know why, stupid people probably were totally ignorant about international adoptions and thought the child would worship them for saving them from being primitives and whooops they didn't do that, so sorry, it didn't work out, go into American foster care while we look for a kid that will do whatever we want like a mindless robot. I've got a couple words for these stupid people and they aren't nice...) and stopped allowing adoption for almost all of 2009. In December of 2009, they started to allow adoptions on a case by case basis.

Liberia is different than the other African countries in that it was not a colony of Europe or an independent African kingdom first, but was founded by freed American slaves, who returned to Africa. The slaves were a mix of different African peoples in America, so they were not a homogenous ethnic group. They settled in this land and named it Liberia, meaning liberty and formed a society similar to the American one they left behind. They were treated as Americans by the local Africans (and the British living and trading nearby) and were often hostile to each other. Liberia has kept close ties to America since it was created. In the 1980's, a miltia nade up of indigenous peoples rose up in a coup and mudered the president while he slept, taking over the country. They adopted authoritarian rule and this led to 2 decades of strife and civil war, which only finished a few years ago with the democratic election of the first woman president(or any head of state) in all of Africa.

Almost half the people are still followers of Animist religions, with almost another half being Christians, leaving the rest as Muslims. English is the main language used, but there are numerous other languages used as well. An interesting note is that quilts are well known works of art there, brought over from the freed slaves of the Southern states, and are often given as official government gifts to foreign dignitaries, one was even presented to JFK and sits in his museum collection, so if you decide that Liberia is the place your child is, then make sure you get a quilt for him/her when you go there.

Sierra Leone-has no age or marriage requirements, but they do require a 6 month residency and that you personally appear in court for the adoption proceedings. This is a not a law though, so you may be able to get it waived by the High Court.

It's name means "Lion Moutain" in Italian, though it was given by exploring Portuguese. It has the sad distinction of being the home of the slave port, where many African slaves were held and shipped off to Europe and the Americas. Later, after many slaves were freed in England, they decided to ship them back home instead of having to support them (how very kind of them, thats sarcasm by the way.) They colonized the area and ran into problems with the indigenous peoples there. Britian used Sierra Leone as a base for it's African Empire until it gained independence in the 1960's. Like all the former colonies, gaining freedom led to problems with government corruption, protests, revolution and civil war. Currently, the Colombian drug cartel is using Sierra Leone as a base to ship its drugs to Europe and many people fear it will soon become a narco-state. But, the government has been stabilizing and will hopefully be stable eough soon to eject these fiends. They also have problems with diamond smuggling andare working to correct that as well. Their Blood Diamonds are well known in the world now, but since the civil war is over, they are trying to have their much tarnished image removed.

The official language is English, being a former British colony, but other indigenous languages are spoken as well, with Krio(a kind of Creole language) spoken the most widely. They are mostly muslim, with animists the second most populous and Christians rouding it out. Though they are mostly muslim, the protect their freedom of religion and will not tolerate any abuse.

Child Soldiers

Guinea-also called French Guinea or Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from Guinea-Bassau (see below.) There are 2 types of adoption in Guinea, simple and pleniere (full). Simple adoption is a guardianship, but does not severe they ties to the birth family, and can be revoked. As such, it does not qualify enough for a visa by the U.S. embassy. A pleniere adoption is the way to go, but you must still be careful for the first 30 days after adopting, as the pleniere can be revoked within that timeframe. After that, you are free and clear. Married and single people can adopt, you must be 30 years old and there must be at least 15 years difference between your age and the childs. If married, you must have been married for at least 5 years.

Guinea was a French colony until independence in the 1980's. Since then it has been in the hands of violent oppresors and only just this year(2010) has finally been allowed to have a free election. Let's see how that goes. They are mostly muslim, at around 85%, with around 10% Christian (of various dominations) and the last 5% as Animists. There are also small groups of Hindus, Buddhists, and Taoists there. Sadly, Jehovah's Witnesses are there as well and go around trying to convert everyone. They speak French, but also many local languages.

Guinea-Bassau-also known as Potuguese Guinea. I can find no information about adoption from this country. I saw on the embassy website that they do give out adoption visas, but I can't find any information about what the country rules and requirements are. If you want to adopt from here, contact the embassy and ask. I did this numerous times when I was looking for information to adopt a second son in Asia. The people here are 50% muslim, 40& traditionalists and 10% Christian.

Tanzania-you must be a resident of Tanzania to adopt from there, there are no exceptions to this. You can be married or single. Single men cannot adopt girls. You mist be at least 25 years old and 21 years older than the child you adopt.

Since almost no one is able to adopt from Tanzania, I will not post it's history or other things here. Just that the country seems to be evenly split between Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists.

Zambia-they want you to reside in Zambia for 12 months, but you can get the courts to reduce this time to a 3 month fostering, talk to a lawyer or your adoption agency about getting that done. You can be married or single, single men cannot adopt girls, and you must be 25 and 21 years older than the child you wish to adopt.

Zambia was a colony of the British and was the home of Victoria Falls and the place where the famous explorer David Livingston was living (as in "Dr. Livingston I presume." said by Stanley,) and he still has a city named after him there, even after the black Africans decided to change the English names of their cities to African ones. Zambia used to be part of Zimbabwe, together they were called Rhodesia, with Zambia called North Rhodesia and Zimbabwe called South Rhodesia. It later gained independence and broke off to form its own country called Zambia.

Many White Africans and Expatriot Europeans live in Zambia still and since Zimbabwe is still attacking their whites in retribution and retaliation for colonial rule, Zambia invited many of them to immigrate over and set up farms there instead, and many have accepted. There are also over 80,000 Chinese and many Indians living there as well. Zambia also has many refugees from other African countries, fleeing war and violence. Their official language is English, but they speak numerous local African languages as well. They are predominantly Christian there, with various denominations, even some synchratic Churches (meaning they took Animist ideas and fused them with Christian ones.) A small minority of Muslims and some German Jews live there as well. An interesting note is that a staple food there is maize/corn, which was originally from America. Zambia has its share of problems, such as severe poverty and AIDS, but their openess to accepting refugees and White Africans makes it a country that I would prefer to be in for the time it takes to adopt there.

Zimbabwe-adoption by foreigners is hard and they do not like interacial adoption, so if you black, then it will be easier, but you still have to jump through all the loops. They don't like white people too much there. You need to be a resident or citizen to adopt, though you can have this waived by the Ministry of Social Welfare (very rare.) Married couples and single women may adopt, you must be 25 and 21 years older than the child. You must also have a clean criminal record, so nothing on it at all (very hard to find in modern American, not because we are lawless, but because civil disobedience has been part of our culture since the 1960's.)

Zimbabwe was a colony of the British, called Southern Rhodesia. They gained freedom and have been killing people ever since. The goverment massacres protesters and has advocated violence against White Africans, forcing many to flee to Zambia or emmigrate to Europe, leaving a population that was once almost 300,000 to about 10% of that now, between 30,000-50,000 left. It is known for its abuse of human rights and for its violence, especially against women and whites. The government is corrupt and their economy has been so mismanaged that it barely exists at all. This has led to around a quarter of the whole countries population fleeing to other countries. Though English is the official language, barely anyone actually speaks it, using Bantu(local African) dialects instead. Most of the people are Christian with Ancestral Worship being the second most populous religion.

Angola-the only rules they have are that you be at least 25 and 16 years older than the child. The problem is that the beaurocratic process takes forever in Angola, so a year to several years to finish the adoption. They are revising their rules now and it will probably be harder to adopt, but more efficient, so faster. Consult an attorny from the beginning to get through this process.

Angola was a Portuguese territory from the 16th century until it gained independence in 1975. It then immediatly had a civil war which lasted until 2002. It has the worst life expectancy and infant mortality rate in the world. They have small populations of White Africans, mostly of Portuguese descent, expatriot Europeans, mixed race/multiracial peoples (they actually outnumber the White Africans) and Chinese (they are all over Africa, I think they are taking over, lol.) They are mostly Christian, and of those mostly Catholics thanks to the Portuguese. The second largest group is Traditionalists. The main language is Portuguese so brush up on your "Olá. Como vai você?"

Sadly, like other African countries, they believe in evil witches and often accuse children of being them. These children are cast out of their homes and villages if they are lucky or put to the old witch trials of fire or water if they are unlucky. Do your pagan duty and adopt these poor children and give them a proper, nurturing pagan home. Here is one newpaper article: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/child-witches-the-victims-of-african-wars/2007/11/16/1194766965629.html

Ah, the talking bottom is even known here

Accused Child Witches of Angola

Namibia-intercountry adoption is illegal in this country. If you (or your spouse) are a citizen of Namibia, then you can adopt.

Botswana-requires several months, up to a year, of fostering by the adoptive parents before the adoption can be completed, that means a lengthy in-country stay, estimated to be up to 2 years for the fostering, adoption and visa process to be completed. This makes adoption rare there, so rare that the US state.gov website does not even have Botswana on the list of countries that you can adopt from. You can be single or married and you must be 25 years old or older (your spouse too if you are married.) Because the residency is a huge issue, I will not post anymore on this country, except that there is a larger White African population here, as well as a huge Indian African population here and that the people are mostly Christian with Indigeneous being the second largest and Islam and Hiduism after.

Mozambique-you must be a resident of Mozambique to adopt. They also want you to have a 6 month fostering period in-country before you can complete the adoption. If the court thinks you will leave the immediately after the adoption, they will move to block the adoption. Also, they require placement reports until the child is 21 years old (the oldest I have ever seen.) They are currently considering changing the adoption laws, hopefully making things easier. They also have some White Africans, mostly of Portuguese descent, Indian Africans, Arabs and a small group of Chinese. A third of the people are Christian, another third are Muslim, with the last third split between Indigenous and other religions (like Hinduism.)

Madagascar-is a Hague country now, so those rules apply. Also, you need to have a trial fostering period of one month in Madagascar before the adoption can continue. It can take 4-6 months after the foster period before the adoption is finalized. You must be present at the final court preceedings. Only married couples can adopt and one of them must be 30 or older. After the adoption, they require regular progress reports until the child turns 18. I would think with them accepting the Hague convention that single people would be allowed to adopt, but I guess not.

Madagascar is an interesting country and is now famous for the movie made with it's name (about the African animals that get stranded there) and as the home of the lemurs, the evolutionary predecessors of the monkeys apes and us. It also holds 5% of the Worlds plant and animal population, most of which are native only there. It is an island country off the coast of Africa. It was a favorite haunt of pirates in the old days, even American ones. It was port for Portuguese traders, a British colony, and a French colony (they even fought in the French Army during WWII) before gaining independence. The people there are descendents of both black Africans and Austronesian (South East Asians/Pacific Islanders) with a little Indian, Arab and European thrown into the mix. They speak the native Malagasy language, as well as French, though with globalization, English is becoming more common there as well. Half the people are Animistic/Ancester worshippers, with Christians forming around 40%, Muslims make up aroun 7% and Hindus the rest.

Malawi-was made famous when the American pop singer made headlines when she adopted her son there. They require you to be a resident, though they don't have a clear definition of what a resident is and they also prefer for you to foster the child for 18 to 24 months before the adoption is finalized. Most people thought it was a law and when Madonna adopted without going through the fostering stage, people went into uproar, but she did not bribe them or do anything illegal, as it is not a law. Married and single people can adopt from there. You must be at least 25 years old and 21 years older than the child.

Malawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality rate. AIDS/HIV is very high here. It was once a British colony and was linked with Rhodesia(Zimbabwe and Zambia,) until it broke away later and became independent in the 1950's. There are some White Africans and Asians living there still, thought the overwheliming majority is Black Africans. They are mostly Christians with 12% Muslim, 3% Indigenous and another 4% claiming no religion. English and the native language, Chichewa are the official languages.

South Africa-has 2 systems for international adoption. One is for resident aliens to adopt and requires you to be resident for 5 years. The other one is for countries that have agreements with South Africa, which America sadly does not have. That means that unless you are resident there, you cannot adopt if you are American and since this blog was mostly made for Americans, I will not continue with any more info except that 78% of the people are black Africans, mostly of Zulu descent (famous for routing the British) a little over 9% are white Africans, 9% are mixed/multiracial and almost 3% are Asian/Indian. An overwhelming majority of them are Christians. South Africa has high crime rates and high violence. Because of this (and some social problems) many White Africans are emigrating out of South Africa, but many whites and Asians are also immigrating to South Africa(not enough to replace those leaving though.) It is strange as when most people think of South Africa, they think of the White Africans, to loose that is to loose the worlds perception of them.

Lesotho-a small country located inside South Africa. Currently only four countries are allowed to adopt from there, the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden. They require a 2 week, or more, fostering period in country. This is not only to bond with the child, but also to learn about their country and culture. You must be 25 years old and 21 years older than the child. They have complicated family laws about who has rights to the child, so be sure to check that out thoroughly first. Otherwise this seems to be a rather simple place to adopt from. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes the next big country to adopt from, hopefully it won't get as bad as Guatemala when it was the big one. The people are mostly black Africans of the Basotho ethnic group. There are also thousands of White Africans, European expats and over 5,000 Chinese. They are over 90% Christian, with all other religions making up the other 10%. It has the second highest AIDS rate in the world right now and as such most of the people are young now as much of the older generation has passed on due to the disease. This has left much of the labor to the children, creating a child labor problem. Lesotho is different in other countries in that women are more literate than men here, meaning they tend to be more educated. The main language is Sesotho, with English as a second official language.

Mountain boys

Shepherds

More shepherds

Swaziland-is another small Kingdom/country located within South Africa. It has few requirements for adoption, married couples and singles can adopt, you just need to be 25 years old and 25 years older than the child you are adopting. Also, when you complete the adoption you CANNOT take the child out of the country for 1 year, unless you get permission, in writing, from the deputy prime minister. This is the kicker, though adoptions have risen, from 1 a year, to 11 last year, showing that he does give permission. The people are mostly black Africans of the Swazis ethnic group, with some Zulu and White Africans. The official language is SiSwati with English spoken as a secondary language. Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the world. The HIGHEST! There is much worry that if things don't improve the Kindgom of Swaziland won't exhist much longer. They also have the lowest life expectancy in the world, half the worlds average. Most people are Christian, though it seems to be a synchratic Church system with animist ideas incorporated and even the divine king idea. Indigenous religion is the next largest, with all other realigions rounding it out at the last 1.5 %.

The Swazi people