Two Ethiopian mothers who are sisters are searching for their children adopted to Spain and Italy. The children’s names are Haylish / Hailish, Nigisti, Selamawit, and Samrawit. The ages and years of adoption are listed below. Both women, Asefu and Workey, were struggling to raise their children. Both were poor, single mothers. They were approached by people who told them that they could guarantee their children better lives if they gave them up for adoption. The women were assured by people operating the Fenot Lewogen Orphanage that the adoptive parents would send pictures and regular updates about the children to them. They were also told that when the children turned 18, they would come to Ethiopia and visit their birth family. So they gave their children up for adoption. After the adoption, the promises that were made were not fulfilled. The pictures and updates were very infrequent. These women are begging to know about their children. They have not heard anything about their kids or seen any pictures in years. There are some post adoption photos on file. All the children were in Finot Lewogen Orphanage.
መረጃውን ያስገባው / Submitted by ጓደኛ Friend Helping Two Ethiopian Mothers
ስለ ህጻኑ(ኗ) መረጃ / Child’s Information
የህጻኑ(ኗ) ጾታ Gender of Child ወንድ Several children from the same family adopted to
different countries and families. There are three girls and one boy. Detailed information below.
የህጻኑ(ኗ) ብሄር / Ethnicity of Child ትግሬ Tigray
የህጻኑ(ኗ) የልደት ቀን(እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር) / Year of Child’s Birth (Western Calendar) There are four children born to two sisters, Assefu and Workey. Two were adopted together and the other two went to different homes/countries. Haylish, Nigisti, and Selamwit are siblings. Samrawit is their cousin. Samrawit loved her cousins and wanted to get adopted to be with them. All the children were born in Korem, Tigray and all were in Finote Lewogen Orphanage before adoption.
Haylish Tesfaye is a boy born in 2003 and adopted in 2007 to Spain at age 4. His Ethiopian birth mother is Assefu. He is the older brother of Nigisti (with whom he shares the same father) and the half brother of Selamawit. Haylish was born in Korem, Tigray.
Nigisti Tesfaye is a girl born in Korem Tigray in 2004 and adopted in 2007 to Spain in the same family as Haylish. She was 3 years old. Her Ethiopian mother is Assefu. Nigisti is the full sibling of Haylish and the half sibling of Selamawit.
Selamawit Hagos is a girl born in 2006 and adopted to Italy in 2009 at age 2 or 3. Her Ethiopian birth mother is Assefu and her father is different from Hailish and Nigisti. Selamawit was born in Korem, Tigray in November 2006. She entered the Fenot Lewogan orphanage at around 1.5 years. She spent about 9 months in the orphanage before being adopted by an Italian family. She moved to Italy on May 5, 2009.
Samrawit Hagos is a girl born in 2004 and adopted by a Spanish woman (probably a single woman) in Spain in 2008 at age 4. Her Ethiopian mother is Workey. Samrawit was in Finot Lewogen before being adopted. She was born in Korem, Tigray. Samrawit is the cousin of the other children.
ለማደጎ( ለጉዲፈቻ) ያልተሰጡ ሌሎች ልጆች ካሉዎት፣ ለማደጎ( ለጉዲፈቻ) የተሰጠው ልጅ ሊያስታውሳቸው የሚችላቸው ሌሎች ህጻናት ካሉ ተጨማሪ መረጃ ይስጡ / Additional information (other children not adopted, other children the adopted child may remember) The older children will probably remember each other: Haylish and Nigisti might remember his cousin Samrawit Hagos, who he grew up with. Nigisti might remember her cousin Samrawit Hagos, who she grew up with. Samrawit might remember her cousins Haylish and Nigisti, who she loved and wanted to live with.
የልጅዎን ታሪክ እንዴት ለጉዲፌቻ እንደተሰጠ በአጭሩ ይንገሩን / Adoption Story
ልጅዎ ለማደጎ( ለጉዲፈቻ) / The child was የተሰጠው በፈቃድዎት / Given Voluntarily
ህጻኑን(ኗን) ለ ማደጎ( ጉዲፈቻ) የሰጠው ሰው ስም / Name of person who gave the child for adoption Haylish Tesfaye, Nigisti Tesfaye, and Selamawit Hagos were given by their birth mother, Asefu D. Samrawit Hagos was given by her mother Workey because she missed her cousins and wanted to be with them, however she is not with them. The women were told they would get regular pictures and updates about the children. This has not happened.
ህጻኑን(ኗን) የተቀበለው ድርጅት / Organization that received the child Fenot Lewogen Orphanage
ህጻኑን(ኗን) የተቀበለው ግለሰብ ስም / Name of person who received the child Letay
ህጻኑ(ኗ) ለ ማደጎ( ጉዲፈቻ) የተሰጠበት(የተሰጠችበት) ክልል, ዞን, ከተማ / Region, zone, town where child was given Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
በጉዳዩ ላይ የተሳተፈው የፖሊስ አባል / Police Officer involved with the case None
የኃላ መረጃ ወይም ቀድመ ታርክ / Background information or story Both women, Asefu and Workey, were struggling to raise their children. Both were poor, single mothers. They were approached by people who told them that they could guarantee their children better lives if they gave them up for adoption. The women were assured by people operating the Fenot Lewogen orphanage that the adoptive parents would send pictures and regular updates about the children to them. They were also told that when the children turned 18, they would come to Ethiopia and visit their birth family. So they gave their children up for adoption. After the adoption, the promise that were made were not fulfilled. The pictures and updates were very infrequent. After the lady who owned and operated the Fenot Lewogen Orphanage (Letay) shut down the orphanage and moved to Germany, and the mothers lost all contact with their children. They have no information about how to contact the adoptive parents and their children, as all information was kept by the Fenot Lewogan Orphanage. They are begging to know about their children. They have not heard anything about their kids or seen any pictures of their kids in years.
ስለ ህጻናት ማሳደጊያ ድርጅቱ መረጃ / Orphanage and Care Center Information
የህጻናት ማሳደጊያው ስም / Name of orphanage or care center Finot Lewegon Orphanage
የህጻናት ማሳደጊያው ተወካይ / Representative of orphanage or care center Letay Gebrekidan and Gebyawu (owners/directors)
የህጻናት ማሳደጊያው ያለበት ወይም የነበረበት ከተማ / City/Town of orphanage or care center Addis Ababa
ስለ የህጻናት ማሳደጊያው ተጫማሪ መረጃ / Additional information about orphanage or care center
The orphanage is now closed. The owners and care workers are all scattered and there is information that the main owner, Letay, has fled to Germany. They have not disclosed any information so the birth mothers and families have been left in the dark.
ስለ ማደጎ(ጉዲፈቻ) አስፈጻሚው ድርጅት መረጃ / Adoption Agency Information
ማደጎ(ጉዲፈቻ)ውን ያስፈጸመው ድርጅት / Adoption agency that processed the adoption A Spanish agency
ማደጎ(ጉዲፈቻ)ውን ያስፈጸመው ድርጅት የኢትዮጵያ ተወካይ / Ethiopian representative of adoption agency
Letay Gebrekidan and Gebyewa
ህጻኑ(ኗ) ማደጎ(ጉዲፈቻ) የተሰጠበት(የተሰጠችበት) ሃገር / Country to which child was adopted Spain and Italy
ኢትዮጵያዊ ቤተሰብ /የወላጅ አድራሻ ማለትም፤ ወረዳ፣ ቀበሌ፣ የአካባቢው ልዩ መጠሪያ ስም፣( ለምሳሌ ቦሳ ቃጫ፣ ቆንቶ፣ ጉልጉላ ወዘተ) በአቅራቢያ ያለ የመንግስት ተቋም ( ለምሳሌ ጤና ጣቢያ፣ የቀበሌ ጽ/ቤት፣ ትም/ቤት ወዘተ) የአካባቢው ሁኔታ( ተራራማ ፣ ሜዳማ፣ ጨፌ ወዘተ) በአካባቢው ያለ የህዝብ መገልገያ ( ለምሳሌ ገበያ) አካባቢው ከዋና ከተማ ያለበት አቅጣጫ (ወደ ሰሜን፣ ደቡብ ወዘተ) እንዲሁም ከዋና ከተማ ያለው ርቀት / Location of Ethiopian family including Woreda, Kebele, specific area name (Kacha, Konto, Gulgula), any government facilities near the area (health center, Kebele office, school, etc.) landmarks (mountain, flat area, etc), public facilities (market), direction from main town (north/south/east/west), distance from main town, etc. Addis Ababa
