Burundi: Program Overview
In an effort to better serve our families, and the millions of children worldwide in need of a loving family, American Adoptions has partnered with Americans Adopting Orphans to offer international adoption services in Burundi.
To learn more about this unique partnership, click here.
Burundi is a small country located in Central Africa just south of the equator, and was formerly part of the Belgian Congo. Bordering Lake Tanganyika, the headwaters of the Nile, and Rwanda, source of the violence between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes, it is incredibly beautiful and incredibly impoverished. Now a stable democratic republic with open elections, Burundi has made incredible strides since gaining its independence in 1962, and establishment of its democracy in 2005.
Because of the recent civil wars, the spread of AIDS, and general poverty there are far too many children in the orphanages who desperately need a family. More boys are available than girls. In some cases children as young as 6 months of age are available to be adopted. Sibling groups are available. There are many truly orphaned children over 4 available to be adopted because of the civil war that ended 4 years ago. Burundi is open to adoption by married couples and single women. They prefer that adoptive parents be at least 30 years of age and have been married for 5 years, but exceptions can be made.
Burundi is a member of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which means that the highest ethical standards must be met for each adoption. Americans Adopting Orphans works exclusively with the Orphans Adoption Association of Burundi (OAAB), a Non-Governmental Organization approved by the government of Burundi to complete adoptions.
The OAAB send information about available children to our agency, which we then make available to adoptive families who have completed their home studies. Your family may select the child or sibling group they wish to adopt, and submit a request for the child(ren) through the OAAB. Typically travel takes place in 2 – 3 months, and the trip is usually 2 weeks in Burundi, and 1 week in Nairobi Kenya (where the US Embassy there issues your child a Visa to enter the United States). The children of Burundi are generally healthy and well cared for in orphanages and foster homes, and are tested for HIV/AIDS before being referred to a family.
Burundi represents a particularly exciting opportunity for adoptive parents. It is rare to find a country in such great need with a central government sufficiently well organized and compassionate to complete ethical adoptions. It is our understanding that Americans Adopting Orphans is the first, and so far only, agency placing children from Burundi for legal international adoptions.
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