Dossier Leaves U.S.!! (Day 1, Week 1)

We just received an email from our case manager, and CWA has received our authenticated dossier!! They will be sending it to Ethiopia TODAY! I believe as soon as it is officially sent, we will be transferred to the actual waiting list. So, fellow blog-stalkers, today begins the count-down to referral. As I mentioned last week, I will be posting various info on Ethiopia for your learning pleasure. Let the waiting begin!!

Location: Eastern Africa, west of Somalia
Capital: Addis Ababa
Area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Elevation: lowest point: Danakil Depression (125 m)
highest point: Ras Dejen (4533 m)
Geography: landlocked - entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; the Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T'ana Hayk (Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia; three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean
Population: 85,237,338 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)
Median age: total: 16.9 years; male: 16.6 years; female: 17.2 years (2009 est.)
Religions: Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census)
Languages: Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census)

(information courtesy of: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html)

PS. I might be posting more frequently than once a week, so feel free to check back soon! :)