My colleague over at Ethiopia Adoptions was recently ruminating on the poverty in that country. Russia is not nearly as badly off as Ethiopia, but the economic differences between the United States and Russia have shocked many people on their adoption journeys.

According to the CIA Factbook, Russia's per capita income in 2006 was an estimated $12,100. That puts Russia 81st on its list of all countries by per capita GDP, but far ahead of Haiti (#187, with a per capita GDP of $1,800) and Ethiopia (#215, $1,000). The U.S., is, believe it or not, ninth on the list, with a per capita GDP of $43,500 for 2006.

Unlike Ethiopia and Haiti, Russia has made dramatic gains in its well being since the economy bottomed out in 1998. According to the CIA, Russia posted its eighth straight year of growth in 2006, with an average annual gain of 8.7%. The gain for the U.S. was 3.4% for 2006, according to the CIA. The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting piece today on the economic gains made by Russia's middle class.

Russia now has millionaires, and even billionaires. I worked for Forbes' magazine's Web site from 2000 to 2006, and it was stunning to see the growth of Russia's super-rich on Forbes' list of the world's wealthiest people: There were 33 Russian billionaires (out of a total of 746 super wealthy) on the list in 2006. Roman Abramovich was the closest to the top, ranking eleventh with a net worth of $18.2 billion.

But it still has a great many poor, and you will see them on your travels, and you may be left with a strange feeling of helplessness. I, and perhaps you, don't encounter many poor people in our daily lives in America. We don't see beggars (including children) and homeless people.

While I was reporting on business in New York City a few years back, I often traveled to some of the more impoverished neighborhoods, seeking out the entrepreneurs who were going to get them back on the high road (and some did). Maybe that gave me some perspective when I went for my first adoption in 1999.

One adoption will change the life of one child, but most of us are concerned about much more than that. That's part of the reason why my list of the most important things to know about your adoption agency--which I am posting soon--includes taking a look at the agency's philanthropy for other orphans. Sometimes, money for food and heat can make all the difference.