MINNEDOSA, Man. – From the basement of her farmhome northwest of Minnedosa, Roberta Galbraith is changing the lives of children from as far away as Russia, China and Ethiopia.
She co-ordinates international adoptions, finding homes in Canada for children whose lives might otherwise be filled with poverty and misery.
The inspiration for her work arose more than a decade ago, when she and her husband Neil were adopting two children from Ethiopia. The process of adoption was painstakingly slow and difficult, and there was no agency in Canada to assist them.
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“Sometimes ignorance is bliss,” said Galbraith. “If we had of known ahead of time how much work and effort and frustration it was going to be, we might never have done that. But because we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into as far as the paperwork and that, we just kept hammering away and were eventually successful.”
The Galbraiths, who farm northwest of Minnedosa, soon heard queries from other people interested in adopting children from outside Canada.
Roberta and her friend Deborah Northcott, who also experienced the challenges of adopting from Ethiopia, formed an organization called Canadian Advocates for the Adoption of Children, or CAFAC.
They started small, helping only three or four families adopt children from overseas each year. However, demand for their services grew steadily and they now are assisting close to 200 families at any given time.
“We’re overwhelmed by the interest and the enthusiasm of clients,” Galbraith said. “We feed off of their energy to keep us going.
“There are some days when we are blown away by the requests that we get. That drives us forward because obviously there is a need.”
CAFAC is officially licensed by the province of Manitoba as an intercountry adoption agency and charges a fee to the families it helps. However, Galbraith and Northcott can facilitate international adoptions for families from across Canada. Awareness of their service has spread nationwide, mainly through word of mouth.
Northcott now lives in Medicine Hat, Alta, where she runs a second CAFAC office. People wanting to adopt through CAFAC undergo a thorough screening and are required to attend a workshop that helps them understand the process and commitment involved in adopting a child from overseas. The costs involved are considerable, but those who apply are told upfront that enrolment does not guarantee them a child.
“Sometimes there are some hard decisions to make,” said Galbraith. “Our motivating factor has to be what is in the best interests of the child and that can be challenging sometimes.
“It’s really important that things are successful and that these children are placed in good homes and are taken care of.”
Galbraith works full time as executive director of CAFAC. Part of that work includes travel overseas. Since February, she already has made two trips to Ethiopia and will make at least three other overseas trips this year.
Her greatest satisfaction comes from knowing that she has helped children from places such as Ethiopia, China, and Kazakhstan find new lives in Canada.
There is sadness, however, in knowing that there are many other children who will never have that opportunity.
“We try to remain focused that it’s one child at a time, one family at a time for us. Otherwise, the circumstances that many of these children find themselves in would be overwhelming.”
Galbraith grew up on a farm, earned a diploma in agriculture and went on to establish a career in agricultural lending before helping to create CAFAC.
Neil works full time as an agronomist with Manitoba Agriculture, and they also farm about 1,700 acres of cropland.
They have five children between the ages of 12 and 17 who play a multitude of sports. Roberta is president of the local Rotary Club and helped coach midget girls hockey. Neil is a board member with the Minnedosa Foodgrains Bank.
“There are challenging days,” she said.
“Some days I go to bed and think, ‘thank goodness the day has only 24 hours.’ You do what you can do.
“One of the things that I draw on is the fact that I’m not afraid to ask for help and I surround myself with people who have an upbeat attitude and a willingness to put their shoulder to the wheel when you need it.”
