Anyone Reading... PLEASE SIGN: Petition to Bring the Children Home

Petition to Bring the Children Home

 

From: Janelle Benedict

To: Jean Bell (GLA)

Sent: 1/15/2010 12:12:46 P.M. Mountain Standard Time

Subject: petition to bring already-adopted children out of haiti now

 

Please circulate this petition immediately for "US Should Issue Visas to Bring Already-Adopted Children out of Haiti Now!" to as many people as possible. We are approaching 1000 signatures – the more we gather, the stronger the statement. The signatures are for use with the State Department and US Congresspersons, as a tool to push for action. A pdf of the list of signatures will be made available to any credible organization who requests it for this purpose. Should you need a copy of this petition and signatures, please email me for the latest copy.

 

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/visasforadoptedhaitianchildren/

 

Sincerely,  Janelle Benedict

Dixie's Update

It’s really 12:40 AM but I didn’t want everyone to think I did not blog on the 14th! I know that I wrote something earlier but it is NOT here! The web site monsters must have eaten it, because it has disappeared!

Today, I just want to cry! I just want to crawl into a corner and curl up for awhile. I may just have a good cry later…I think I deserve it! My hands have shook all day from stress. All of my staff said the same thing today. I think the shock is wearing off and the stress of surviving and keeping the children safe is taking its toil on all of us. The stories and photos we are seeing is so sad. Our staff has lost lots of family members. Our cook said he had 11 families members who died! Some of staff has not come to work. We are fearful for them. They live on the side of a hill in Port au Prince. Another staff member said that most of the houses in this area are collapsed. Please pray for these people. Especially for Madeleine and her family.

I finally got sleep last night and even slept through a big aftershock at 7 AM this morning. I was tired! My day started early and I have not stopped all day long. Phone calls, skype conferences, and just running the orphanage has been more than enough work today.

I think the news people will now go on to stories of things down in the city. We were their only contact in Haiti for 48 hours almost. Now they have crews of journalist arrive and they are going down in the midst of things to get first hand reports. Maybe we can stop talking on the phone now and return to our work!

Members of our US and Canadian board are coordinating relief efforts and donations are being collected to bring supplies into Haiti for the orphanage and surround area. A chartered plane is coming in on Monday with some volunteers and some supplies. We are struggling to take care of all of the babies since many of the workers have not come to work.

The international efforts will of course be centered down in the worst areas but there are people who lost their homes and family members around us. We will focus our relief efforts up here in the mountains for now and bring food, water, and also help rebuild homes here. We will also be preparing to take in more orphans as needed.

Our families from Canada, Holland, and Luxembourg are all being airlifted out of Haiti. We took the Canadian family to the airport tonight to catch a French flight. They missed that flight but the airport personell said for them to stay and they would get them on a flight out of Haiti. The rest of the families will leave tomorrow.

We continue to have aftershocks. Will it never stop shaking??? When I told my staff that they might last up to a month, they all moaned and said "NO!". They do not like them either! As I am writing this , my desk is shaking! I HATE THESE AFTERSHOCKS! I said after the hurricane that I thought that was the WORST thing and I never wanted to live through that again, but I think an earthquake has now become my number 1 least liked thing!!!!

Well, it is 1:10 AM and I need to go to bed! If you want to see some earthquake photos that Laurie took downtown, keep checking www.godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org . I just do not have time to add them to our web site PLUS we have had so many visitors to the web site that it keeps going down! So Tom Vanderwell will put them on the blog for me. You can thank Tom for finally getting these to you. I have had good intentions since Wednesday to get them posted!

I want to thank everyone who has posted on my facebook and written me emails. Even if I do not answer, know that I am reading everyone and it means a lot to know that you want to help and are praying for us. It truly does mean a lot to me! I also am very thankful for all of the donations that have come through Paypal and through the Blog site for the Haiti Relief Fund. It is a little overwhelming to think of the outpouring of funds to help the children and those effected by this disaster! Thank you!

God is good. He has protected us and we all praise him. Our nannies sing about their love of Jesus. They sing of His goodness and faithfulness. I feel so blessed to be here at this time and having the nannies minister to me through song and their total reliance on God! Makes me feel humble. I do not know if I would do as well in their shoes…

Update...

This morning brought some renewed hope…  

We are sharing in this journey with another Oregon couple (Salem) and our paperwork has been tracking together (we were both a part of the “7 Dossiers" list.)  We both have ties to La Grande, which was odd when we found out we were both adopting from GLA.

So.. we both found out this morning that our paperwork was signed by the judge (who is now dead), AND they were returned back to GLA on Tuesday.  Yes, the day of the earthquake.  One more day and it was likely all of our paperwork would have been lost in a pile of rubble.  Samuel belong to us legally, and that gives us more right to advocate for them.  And we can prove it.  THIS IS HUGE!!

Pray that is will make a difference somehow…

Also, Merkley’s office emailed us awhile ago and said that The State Dept. is holding a meeting in DC late this afternoon, to discuss the Haitian children that are in process with American families.  Jeff Merkley's office has a staff member going to that meeting.  We may also be attending a town hall this weekend, to get a face to face with Merkley.  

Please Read

From the nurse at GLA:

 

http://heartsongsfromhaiti.blogspot.com/

 

I am so tired...

And I can’t imagine how Dixie feels. She has to be completely exhausted.

 

These past 2 days have been surreal… many adoptive parents I have talked to are feeling the same way.

 

We are all doing what we can to “matter,” to make some sense out of this. I am trying to channel my frustrations into something I can impact, in the areas where I have expertise and knowledge. But it never feels like I am able to do enough…

 

I have spent my efforts:

• On the fundraising efforts for GLA (this is of huge importance to me)…
• Helping to create key messages for other adoptive parents to use for media, government, etc… and just trying to keep them in the loop on what they can do.
• Trying to touch the media and working with others to tell their story and help raise funds for GLA.
• I have done newspaper interviewes, TV interviews and am SO GLAD that so many other adoptive parents have been able to do the same! (Check out the links on the RIGHT NAV of this page.)  We all have local stories to tell and to help connect people with real situations. Just got word that a good friend will be interviewed on the TODAY show, tomorrow morning!
• We need this attention for our fundraising efforts AND to help get attention to our plea for special Visa’s.
• And I have been on the phone with senator offices and government officials… We need help from US government official to gain approvals for emergency/humanitarian passports/visas that can be used to unite orphans with their adoptive parents in the US.
• And I have been communicating with other parents who are in my shoes… trying to make sure we are doing all we can.

Sometimes, when it quiets down… I allow myself to think about what is really happening and I go into a dark place. My son is in Haiti. The judge who signs the paperwork in Haiti has died. We are very concerned for his safety as riots are starting and given the orphanage has food/water, they may be in danger very soon.

I didn’t think I had enough “fight” left in me BEFORE the earthquake hit… how will I ever get through this?
Will I ever have a family? Do these efforts matter? I am so overwhelmed… This could add YEARS to our process…

God is bigger than an earthquake… right?

Update From Dixie

Our lawyer was able to get through to us today.  She says all of the government buildings downtown were damaged or destroyed!  She reported that Judge Rock CADET was killed in a building collapse.  

I have asked our lawyer to petition IBESR and the government of Haiti to allow all children in the adoption process to be allowed to join their adoptive families.  We are all going to need beds for orphans who have lost their family in this disaster! 

I need all of my families to contact their adoption agencies and government officials to allow these children to leave Haiti without a Haitian passport on Humanitarian or Refuge visas!  I KNOW the USA government can issue emergency passports for situations like this because they did it for me during a crisis in Haiti from a poison in a children’s fever medicine and children were dying.  We sent 11 children out of Haiti during that time and most did not have a Haitian issued passport.  Please find out if your government has such a system in place!  

(All DUTCH Families: Please work through NAS to get these children home.  They are trying to get ALL children in process and not just those finished in Parquet.  So join forces with NAS and not to confuse the issue with the Dutch Government.

Some of your dossiers are thankfully with us in our office.  Others are with other government sections and we do not know if they are intact or not.  I do know that the National Palace, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, DJI building which is part of the legalization department, National Cathedral is gone.  I do not know about Immigration or IBESR! 

PRAY, HELP...

This link has details: http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/

We have a new request and angle to our story… If we can get the current orphans home, this opens up room for new babies to enter. There will be many…

We need help to get this idea out there and give the story some life… Can you help?  Adoptive parents are all contacting government officials now.

• Dixie (the director of our orphanage) is asking us to lobby people who can phone (and phone and phone) our government asking them to accept children from Haiti on Humanitarian Visas. She is petitioning social services in Haiti to allow children in the process of being adopted to be RELEASED. http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/
• Rhyan, the volunteer at GLA right now has just posted on her blog that they are trying to push to get all the children in process of being adopted OUT OF HAITI ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS. http://www.becausehecalled.blogspot.com/

Please pray too...  God is bigger than all of this.

Okay, ask yourself a question.....

If God’s Littlest Angels is already this crowded, how are we going to handle all of the additional orphans that come to the gates in the next weeks? I’ll tell you how:

· Through the Grace of God
· The support of many of you. Go to the “chip in” widget on the right side and give what you can to help.

Posted by Tom: http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/

YES, Samuel was in this group…

Oregonian Story: Local Newspaper

http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2010/01/beaverton_couple_thankful_boy.html

I think it will go into print media tomorrow…

Afternoon Updates: 1/13

I haven’t left my bed today (I am pretty sick) but somehow I have still managed to stay completely busy with phone calls, emails, interviews, comms outputs, etc… 

We have a lot of people out there helping to promote the 1000 x 1000 campaign, which makes my heart so happy!  I can’t talk at all… lungs are horrible.  But I feel like with an internet connection and email, I am doing my part to make a dent (or trying my hardest…)

Oregonian (newspaper)
Interview with Wendy, we should be seeing the internet and print version of that soon. 

CNN
Signed over rights to some of our home videos…

Received an update from a parent-friend who is at GLA in Haiti now
Jill: Thank you for your prayers.  I know, as terrifying and emotional as this has been, I am SO thankful that we could be here with Mikey when it happened, I think it is easier to be here and know that they are ok.  Chancelet is in the group of kids that are outside with their nannies today.  So we have seen him all morning, toddling around with big smiles :)  I am doing ok, trying to hold it together and NOT lay on the floor and cry.  I was already dreading leaving Mikey but now so much more so.  Our flight was scheduled for tomorrow but who knows what will happen with that.  It is hard being away from Ritchy, if only there was a way to have both my boys in my arms right now.  

Thanks for your prayers, and your fundraising efforts.  We will definitely be PayPaling a donation once we're home.  Melanie

Whitney called from Senator Merkley’s office
She let me know that we would most likely not see an improvement with our file… that this would probably add time to the process, but she would let me know if anything changes.  I am just trying to get some attention to this issue and see if we can make a difference with special visa’s, etc…  They need room in the orphanages for babies who need medical attention.

Contributions
People are amazing!  They are really coming through and helping GLA out by donating to this fund.  This is incredible.. one person forwards the message to another 20-50 people and SPARK.   The funds are so needed… please continue to help if you can.  And if you have made a donation, please let me know!

I am also encouraging other adoptive parents to reach out to their local media.  We have worked up some key messages to help with this effort.

Volunteer Thoughts

She is there right now…  she is strong.  Here are some of her latest thoughts:  http://www.becausehecalled.blogspot.com/

Waiting

My knees went weak when I heard the scream, the wailing of one of our nannies who had finally had contact from her family. Her agonized cries found our ears, "toutmoun, toutmoun" is what she said, "everyone, everyone" I was frozen on the spot. And then I heard, "Mesi Jezi!" over and over again. "Thank you Jesus" She had been told that her entire neighborhood has collapsed. Her house where her children had been was gone, but somehow, a miracle from God, everyone in her house is alive. Most of her friends and neighbors are not. It makes no sense, but today we cry with her, tears of joy for a family saved, tears of grief for the ones lost and we sit in wait for those who still don't know.

Friends and Family: Haiti needs your help.

Friends & Family –

 

Haiti needs your help.  You have a real connection with Samuel Chancelet & GLA.  You can make a difference.

 

Dixie (GLA Director) has been updating us and she said they will be assessing everything this morning to see where they stand.  She was also interviewed yesterday and is on the Today show this morning.   Also, by total surprise Joe and I were on our local TV news last night, regarding Haiti earthquake/GLA/adoption, which got picked up by CNN.  Not sure what will come of it, but if there is a way to help make a connection with people, then we will feel good about doing it.

 

While God’s Littlest Angels has been spared the worst of it, many other people in Haiti are not so fortunate (some being GLA family members.)  GLA is still in need of water, fuel, food and materials to repair the building; the staff is also very concerned about the logistics and continued ability to support their operating requirements.  They also anticipate a great need to reach out to the community and help those around them by giving them food, supplies, building materials - and even being ready to take in babies who are in need of medical attention. 

 

GLA is in the unique position to help.  Right now.  And they don’t have to wait to arrive in Haiti – they are there, now.  Given they are a credible organization and have registered nurses, medical supplies, a generator and links to the outside world, they can have an immediate impact in Haiti (and aid those in need.) However, there is great responsibility with these actions and also the need for funds to support them.

 

GLA is launching what they are calling the 1000 x 1000 campaign (1000 people who get 10 friends to donate $100… we can all make a big difference together.)  I am one of those 1000 people who is being asked to help raise $1000 for GLA/Haiti.  I want to do this.  I have a direct relationship with GLA.  I have a child in Haiti.  This is a way I can make a difference.  Would you help?

 

If you are willing to give $100+, it will go a long way in helping GLA meet its goal. 

Your money:

·               Will allow them to care for the babies (my baby)

·               Will help treat those in need in the community

·               Will help GLA take in children who need urgent care.

·               Is also TAX DEDUCTIBLE

Please DONATE $100 TODAY:  Earthquake PayPal Fund  (click on this link)

1.     This is not a time to be shy or remain anonymous.  If you donate, let me know. 

2.     Share with others and help get the word out!

3.     And if you would prefer to send a check, please let me know and I will give you those details.  Email me with any questions you have…

If there are opportunities to support GLA out of this horrible tragedy, let's figure it out.  Every dollar will directly impact the aid in Haiti. 

GLA Employee Update

Update from James:  (He Lives at GLA)

I was just getting home from school I was in the house about 5 mintues before it happened, wow I swear I thought the ground was going to open and swallowed all of us cause the house litteraly tipped over and swang back and forth, in the area where my school is alot of building collapsed, some schools collapeds, I don't know about my school if it collapsed or not its about 10 minutes from the palace. And my mother's collapsed while she was inside but THANK GOD she escaped with no problem just my little sister that got hurt. wow it is very crazy down here, and most of my class mates are from the area down town that got hit the most I really don't know what to do man, everything my mother had is all gone from that house, and i can't get through to my class mates to see if they are ok or not. I hope they are I will keep you update ok. pray for us!!

Dixie's Post: 1/12/2010 (Earthquake Details)

3 January 2010 1:20 AM

At a few minutes before 5 PM on 12 January 2010, a large earthquake hit Haiti. The center was a few miles south of Port-au-Prince. On the map, it looks like we were not far from the center here at the orphanage if you draw a straight line between the center of the earthquake and the orphanage. We have heard that the gravel pit across the valley from us partially collapsed which we have worried about for a long time!
As things started to shake, I knew it was an earthquake and I jumped up trying to get out of my office. Items were falling off my bookcases and even the monitor of my computer fell off my desk! Many of my good glassware fell out of the hutch in the dining room and food that was being cooked for the children flew off the stove and landed on the kitchen floor! Statues fell off the shelves, items in the pantry fell too! But not 1 egg was broken out of 6 dozen sitting on the pantry floor! Kids fell, staff fell to the floor because the house swayed so much!

Dr. Claude was out in the driveway playing basketball and he said that the orphanage swayed about 2 feet back and forth for 30 to 40 seconds! he was afraid that the building would fall! Thankfully, the building stayed standing and John cannot find any cracks in the walls which is pretty amazing!

All I could do was pray that the house would stay standing! John was yelling at us all to get in a doorway, but we could not walk! Finally we got into the doorway and stayed until the major shaking stopped. Everyone went outside after the earthquake. We had multiple tremors after the big one. They came about 10 minutes apart and last a long time! the staff refused to return to the house and eventually, we brought all of the children outside and put blankets on the ground.

The internet phone has not stopped ringing. BBC, NBC, the Today Show all have called multiple times! It is 1:45 AM now and they are still calling! I am so exhausted but we do not want to go to bed. The nannies came in at 10 PM but we had two strong after shocks about midnight and the nannies and babies are sleeping outside on the ground on blankets! It is cold tonight. The temperature is about 60 degrees if not colder! I pray that the cold is not too cold for them!

My son, Mark, was at school in Port-au-Prince when the quake happened. His school is on Delmas which is one of the worst hit areas. A missionary family finally was able to bring him home about 10 PM. They said that there were multiple houses down that you could see from the street. Caribbean Market was destroyed along with so many other buldings! Walls were collapsed and there are dead people lying under them! Please pray for Haiti and for all of who are here! We had 8 visitors come today. What a welcome, huh?

We continue to have aftershocks. We have had 3 in the last 5 minutes! I have never heard of aftershocks like we are having! They are almost continuous and lasting for a minute or more each time! I do not like this!

We will know more hopefully in the morning. I do not know if I will sleep tonight or not! I will post photos later on Wedneday. I am just too tired right now to post photos!

More News

Holli Marie Bickel:  GLA, CO Springs

No one at GLA is injured, PRAISE GOD! A huge mess, aftershocks hitting every 10 minutes or so. They have moved all the children outside from under the building. Please pray the aftershocks cease quickly and we can begin to start clean up. Also please pray for the families of our staff as we are getting some very negative reports about the state of their homes.

Haiti Earthquake

Thanks to those of you who have written/called regarding the earthquake in Haiti… Obviously we are pretty upset by this news; our hearts are truly with the people in Haiti, GLA and we feel devastated for what has occurred (not to mention the concern we have for our son.)

We have received word from the orphanage as follows: http://www.glahaiti.org/


NOTICE: WE ARE FINE AFTER THE 7.3 EARTHQUAKE. THE HOUSE SWAYED AND SHOOK. KNOCKED DOWN PEOPLE, KIDS, THE FOOD OFF THE STOVE FOR SUPPER, ALL OF MY GLASS WARE OUT OF THE CABINET, BUT WE ARE ALL OK! SHOOK UP A LITTLE, BUT OK! WILL POST MORE LATER! STILL HAVING AFTERSHOCKS AN HOUR AFTER THE MAIN EARTHQUAKE! PLEASE PRAY FOR US AND FOR HAITI!


GLA does have their own generators but they will soon need fuel…


However, it is sounding like Port-au-Prince has been hit very hard. We are very worried about what this will mean for the country, the ability for the orphanage to get supplies and of course, what this might mean for our paperwork (we assume things will be held up, given the government infrastructure will be impacted for some time; once again adoption will be a non-critical item.)


Please pray for the people of Haiti…


• Haiti is an already very vulnerable country


• Housing is not build to last (most are true shacks by our standards) and are a catastrophe waiting to happen.


• The government has no ability to “police” when things like this occur


• Medical issues quickly overwhelm the system


• The roads are in terrible condition


I will use the blog to update things if I get more info.

Sunday Update

First off... it has been a miserable weekend.  I have bronchitis and a 101 degree fever.  So the need to stay in bed has trumped all that I had on my to-do list this weekend.  I missed a friend's 40th b-day party, and I didn't get to any of my house cleaning items.  SIGH.  I seem to get this crud every year, but this time it seemed to come from out of nowhere.

So WRT adoption...  Dixie has been doing a great job updating the GLA site with adoption updates and blog info...  I am still not clear on all of the steps though (just when I think I understand it, something happens to make me second-guess my understanding of it.)  So... her latest adoption status states the following:

9 January 2010

We were told that on Friday, we would receive 7 more dossiers out of the courts. Now, when the court clerk says that dossiers will come out of the courts, he means that they will have been signed by the judge and sent back to Parquet for legalization, signed and sent back to us. Our adoption agent, Terriot, did not receive the dossiers. Terriot's motorcycle broke down yesterday afternoon on his way back to the orphanage. The clutch went out. So finally at six o'clock, he called to tell us that he would not be back and that the dossiers were not done yet! Hopefully, Monday, the dossiers will be in our hands.

I am praying that we are one of these 7 files.  I know that there is also a group of 7 ahead of us, who have now moved from "ATTEST" to "LEGAL."  This movement seemed to have happened in the same amount of time we took to move to the first round of legalization...  We were initially tracking all together, but obviously this isn't the case anymore.

I just hope that we will soon show ATTEST as our status.  And it's actually a really good sign that the other 7 files are continuing to move as well.  There is hope that we might follow in their footsteps!  I will keep you posted if I hear anything this week... Keep those prayers coming!

And... guess what just happened?  There was a knock on the door (and of course I freaked out as I look terrible - given I am sick, haven't showered and feel awful...)  But Joe answered it and I heard him talking with our neighbor and his 4-year-old daughter (adopted from China.)  He walked over to his house, so I figured he just needed to chat about the fence or trees that need to come down.

But about 10 minutes later, Joe came back holding an "almost brand new" Eddie Bauer edition carseat!  We were thrilled...  That will save us some bucks for sure.  How nice of them...  It's gestures like that  - they make you feel like you aren't in this alone...

The "new to us" car seat

We Are All Learning... As We Go...

Allison has been a dear friend in this adoption process.  Her son is now home from Haiti and I am learning a lot from her story and what they are going through as a "new family."  Attachment & bonding is tough stuff; what it does to family and friends.  But she is honest about sharing what they have done right/wrong... and what she would "do-over" if she could.


You have to read about the entire blog history to get the right context of this post, though I think it can also stand on its own.  Joe and I have concerns too, about being strong enough to "get this right."  We know SC needs to bond and attach to us alone, or his life is going to be tough down the road.  Every moment counts - and we can't do this alone. 


Please read:  http://haitibaby.blogspot.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLOG POST:  Thoughts from Auntie K
I asked my Mom and my sister to write about their feelings and thoughts regarding having to keep some distance from Luc over the holidays. Neither of them responded well at first and I thought it would be helpful for adoptive parents and others to read what was going through their minds. Hopefully if we can communicate honestly and without judgement we can all learn how to help each other through this.


My Mom is dealing with a family event which I will explain later, but my sister was able to make some time to write (thank you, Auntie K!):


“You asked for a statement or something for your blog regarding the Luc policies at Christmas. Here are some of my thoughts, meant to inform, not criticize.

At first I was angry because I tried very hard not to pick up Luc and not to kiss him. You told me when I arrived in Athens the second time (after my own issue at home) that I couldn't play with him that was different. It sounded like you wanted to isolate him and that I drove to Athens (twice) to look at him in a fishbowl. I can get that from pictures. I figured I'd be better off at home where I could resist the temptation and the problems that my infractions were causing you. It was really, really hard to swallow the “don't touch”, “don't initiate contact”, “don't be fun with him rules.

Then you explained the reasons. Maybe you get tired of going through all the reasons and explanation and don't think you should have to explain, but you definitely need to go through all of that with people. Including the people at your church. If I was one of them, I would feel used by you. You ask for their prayers to get him home, he's home and they can't see him or understand why. They have no idea of the pain it causes you to keep him away. You say it's hard to stay away, but it's also hard to get up in the morning and get dressed up for church with a 2 year-old. They can't feel you on the reason why you are keeping him away.

No one wants to jeopardize his development in any way. No one wants you to risk it either. If the people at church are 10x worse than the family as far as wanting to hug and kiss him, send them a statement the week before you plan to take him explaining that you miss them, exactly why you've held back, exactly what behavior you expect from them, and that you'll have to leave immediately if it appears to be too much for him. Personally, I was mad and cried because I felt like I was in the dark and I was just supposed to accept that I was causing damage to his development by wanting to be an awesome auntie.

I hope this helps.

For Family & Friends Who Wonder Why This Process Is So Long...

7 January 2010:  Update from Dixie

Some of my French families were confused by the last paragraph of the posting below. I changed it a little to make it more clear to them hopefully. For those dossiers that are now in Parquet, we have started contacting birth families to have them go to Parquet for their interviews. This has NOTHING to do with dossiers in courts who have already passed through Parquet adoption section once. Court papers must pass through Parquet again after signed by the judge in the civil courts, but they go to Parquet's legal section for legalization. They do not pass back through the adoption section.

I know that many of our families think that the paper trail for the adoption process is a simple one that once you get one signature, you are done in that section. I wish that was true, but it is not. In IBESR we need 4 signatures before the dossier is finished. In Parquet, we need signatures from different people BEFORE the dossier enters Parquet , a signature from the lawyer in charge of adoptions, and then a stamp after Parquet. In the civil courts, the head judge for adoptions must sign, the greffier must sign, the judge must sign again to legalize the signature of the greffier, and then the Parquet legalization department must sign. Now if the legalization department finds errors in wording, such as MANDATAIRE (Power of Attorney), on the document which was supposed to be removed, they send it back to the court clerk for correction. In Attestation, a clerk must type the form, another clerk must check the signature against the one on file, and then only the director of Archives can sign that the signature is a good one. For MOI, the dossiers must travel through 2 different offices and all of the documents are studied before it is signed. In Immigration, we turn the dossier into the receiving office, from their it goes to many different sections before it is returned to us as a passport! i believe there is 5 different offices that touch the dossier before it is given to us as a passport!

This does not take into consideration the Justice and Foreign Affaires offices that legalize all of the paperwork! We lose more paperwork in the Justice Legalization department than any where else in the system! We then have to ask the judge to remake paperwork that they have lost! When we turn paperwork into Legalization, it is no longer attached to the dossier but has to be taken out and individual papers given to Legalization.

Ordinarily, I find the system confusing so I do not share this with all of our families. But I have some families who cannot understand why different sections take so long and I want everyone to be aware of the complexity of the adoption process in Haiti.

Nothing in Haiti is easy...

3rd Time HAS to be a Charm (right?)

** We are with you Jaime!**

It’s that time again…  USCIS fingerprinting re-do.  This will be the 3^rd time we have had to renew them.  And we are praying this will be the last time we will need to do this before Samuel Chancelet comes home.  They are good for 15 months, so it should be a realistic thought…  right...? (as I type sheepishly.)

We go in on January 12^th – to the old, cold white room filled with mostly immigrants.  You definitely feel out of place; like you are in a foreign country and/or did something wrong (getting fingerprinted just makes you feel that way!)

And… I still don’t understand why we need to “re-do” the fingerprints anyway.  They haven’t changed.  I haven’t been sandpapering down my skin or anything…  And I have said it before:  if I were to break the law, I guarantee you the ones they already have on file would help them track me down in no time. 

Whatever…  I guess everyone needs to get revenue somehow.

LATE ADDITION:  Yep, Cathleen... we had to fork over another $160.  :-(

Blessing in 2009!

We just found out that we ARE in fact, one of the 7 dossiers to come out of Stage 1 of Courts…   We are so excited by this news.  What a complete miracle and we thank God for this answer to prayer. Our very specific prayer (one we have prayed each day together for months) has been that we would see movement before the end of the year. And here it is:  12/29/2009!  God left it until the very end, didn't He?!  But He did it...  J

So... don't get too excited. We are just through Stage 1 of courts - still have Stage 2. Then Attestation, Minister of Justice, MAE, MOI, Visa and Passport. So, another 6-9 months, probably... We are just glad we are continuing to MOVE!!!

Chancelet December Update

From all of us here at GLA: 

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, vrolijke Kerstmis, schéi Chrëschtdeeg, frohe Weihnachten, Buon Natale, God Jul, Feliz Natal, Nollaig chridheil, Feliz Navidad, & Jwaye Nwèl! As we celebrate this year, I pray that we all remember the reason for the celebration—the birth of Jesus Christ!

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” ~Luke 2:11

This month, instead of the usual story on your child, I have done something a little different. I have asked several of our long-term staff (Molly, Joyce, Susan, Stephanie) for the words they would use to describe your children. That list will be included with this update. I hope you enjoy reading the descriptions as much as we enjoyed describing your children!

Chancelet is...

affectionate

smiley

energetic

curious

adorable

petite

bright-eyed

outgoing

• Weight: 19 lbs 1 oz
• Height: 29.75 inches (75.5 cm)
• Adoption status: Courts

May God bless you and your family during this holiday season!

Little Tidbits

No matter what kind of mood I am in, or what the work-day has thrown at me, I always have to smile when I get a personal update on SC...  :-)

Another adoptive parent just arrived at GLA and said:  "she saw Chance, picked him up, and he babbled at her." 

Now how can you not grin at that comment?!  :-)

No other news or updates to share with you...  We haven't heard much in the way of movement happening the past couple of weeks, so I fear we may not move out of our current stage until next year.  I think things will soon "shut-down" in Haiti for Christmas.  HOWEVER, we are continuing to pray to move "within" and/or completely out of courts by year end... 

Dixie's Latest Post: 12/7

http://www.glahaiti.org/message_from_dixie

We are done with our tour of churches in Illinois. We spoke at our last one last night. John and I are very tired and ready to travel back to Colorado today. And we are leaving just in time, it is snowing outside today! We will be in Colorado until Thursday when we leave for Haiti. We've really enjoyed seeing friends and family here in central Illinois. My mother, who is 89 years old, let us stay at her home for the first week and then we moved over to our daughter, Katie's home. It has been fun being here and cooking for her family. The kids tell me, "Grandmommy, it is nice coming home from school and smelling food cooking!" My daughter KNOWS how to cook, just doesn't like to cook food from scratch too often! She prefers the quick and easy cooking from a box! Plus she works all day and does not feel like cooking when she gets home! Such is life in modern day USA!

While here, we have also been working and put all new flooring down in their upstairs which is the children's bedrooms. We are not around to help our children very much and so it's nice that we are able to be here to help them do this. John fortunately knows how to do a lot of things that helps them not have to pay for someone else to do it for them!

Thursday, is my birthday. I will be 45...again! I have been 45 for several years now and might be 45 for several more! LOL I decided to celebrate it in the USA this year. John and I might actual go out for dinner together and without children! What a novel idea! We NEVER go anywhere alone. Even on this trip, we have had people with us at all locations.

I will be back in Haiti on 11 December. I will be so happy to be home, see my family, the kids, staff, volunteers, and everyone at the orphanage. I will also be glad to be in my own bed finally after being gone for 6 weeks! I need to go back to Haiti to recuperate from all of this traveling and work that we have done while back in the USA!

I am assuming that....Life in Haiti is going on....without me!

Thanksgiving... A Nice Getaway Weekend

We returned home tonight after spending Thanksgiving with my parents (~5 hours away.)  It was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed having "time" to spend with them.  It was just the 4 of us, so it was a "quiet" TG, but we filled it with good memories.   We had a yummy TG dinner, watched a good movie, enjoyed several Starbucks stops, played games, went on morning walks, played with the kittens... AND ...  Joe and I got up at 5am and headed into town for some black Friday shopping (we started doing that a couple of years ago and decided it was kind of a fun adventure to share.)  The town my parents live in is small, so it was even more exciting as it seemed everyone in town was up for the adventure...   So Christmas shopping is now almost complete - WooHoo!  :-)

Last night we were all chatting after a Starbucks stop and we all decided we wouldn't have minded the chaos one bit - if we had that little 19-month old with us; we pray that next year at this time, he will be with us.

It was so wonderful that our monthly update arrived in time for TG... (it came in on my Blackberry as we were making the trip over the mountain.)  SC brings smiles to everyone and we were thankful to have the new photos to share with M&D!

Chancelet November Update

Happy November, Joe and Jill! 

• Weight: 18 lbs 9 oz
• Height: 29 inches (73.5 cm)
• Adoption status: Courts

 

Chancelet is doing very well, and he has recently been enjoying taking walks outside the GLA walls with his volunteer. Chancelet enjoys this opportunity to be outside and see and experience all the different sights and the different perspective of seeing things from ground level. Chancelet is a good walker, and he does a good job walking over the rough and uneven terrain. Before the walk, Chancelet even tries to help dress himself when his volunteer is getting him ready! Chancelet is a bright little boy, and he certainly loves all the extra stimulation.

As the year is coming to an end, things have remained busy here at GLA. The end of the year is always a time when many children’s adoptions are complete and they are able to join their forever families. This year is no exception, as we have had 4 more children go home in November, and we look forward to several more going home in December. Additionally, we have had 15 families come to GLA to sign before the judge.

Dixie and John are continuing their fundraising tour in the US and Canada. We ask for your prayers on their behalf, both that they will be able to raise the necessary funds and also for their health and strength during this busy time.

Here in Haiti there are several different flower seasons, but the flowers blooming this time of year are some of the most vibrant. There are big yellow daisies growing wild everywhere you go and, in the mountains around and above us, bright red poinsettias grow on bushes and trees. In many parts of the world poinsettias are a symbol of Christmas, but here in Haiti they are a natural part of the landscape! In honor of this beauty and the coming celebration of our Savior’s birth, this month’s photos have a poinsettia theme.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.        ~ Isaiah 40:8 

Gotta Love TG!

Pie made - CHECK  

This is my contribution to the celebration this year.  I love making pies… 

This year I am thankful for so many things....  And I can't wait for what is in store!

To Family & Friends: Please Read (attachment/bonding)

I have this letter all drafted – and was planning to send it out when we get closer to bringing Samuel home…  I am not sure how else to do it.  But I thought maybe it would help if I sent out some information as we go down this path & before he arrives…  I am thinking it might be easier for people to digest & internalize things.

The first 6 months (or so) are going to be really important for Samuel to establish a deep and strong connection to us.  I think if I had I not gone through this international adoption process (and been forced to read and really listen), I would probably be rolling my eyes at the “extreme” solutions we need implement in order to best address attachment & bonding issues.

This is not for our sake (if this were out of selfish reasons, I would be proudly parading Samuel off for all to see!)  J  But instead, it is all about Samuel.  We want him to live a normal life and feel safe and develop a firm trust/security around his parents.  Even though he has been amazingly well-cared for at the orphanage, he has been taken care of by many different people.  So he hasn’t really been able to bond and learn what it truly means to have parents - who he can trust and who are solely responsible for him.  If he doesn’t bond with us, his life might be really tough down the road.

And… after all we have gone through to get this little guy home…  we want to give him the best possible shot at this life.  Every day counts.  Every day matters and we are going to really need your help in this process (because it’s going to be hard not to “share” him with others as we would a bio baby.)

Below are some blog posts I have pulled from friends who have walked this path before… They are re-enforcing what I have read in books and heard from other sources.

Post 1

Yesterday we out with a wonderful sweet amazing couple. They were so sweet to our son and gave him hugs and kisses and stuff. And it's so weird, but I think that's a problem. So basically, the more wonderful the people, the harder it is on our son right now ... I think.  

I don't know. I just want to do what's best and help him thrive. I'll keep reading.

Post 2

I realized that our son is not yet ready for crowds of people we know. It's one thing to go to the zoo where everyone else is a stranger because I become the default home base. However, surrounded by family & friends and love and kisses and hugs, our son seemed a little confused about home base.

Perhaps the kindness and love he received from family and friends was similar to the kindness and love he received from volunteers at the orphanage. Also, the love from the family & friends is similar to the love from "daddy" and "mommy." And that must be confusing to a child who has only weeks of experience with the concept of parents.

I talked about it for a while after the game with a friend who not only has two adopted sons who were brought home at age 3 (they are now teenagers), but he is also a child psychologist. He said flat out that while we have bonded and attached to our son, he has not yet bonded and attached to us. He likes us a whole lot, but the attachment has not yet occurred. It was kind of a shock, but it was a shock like when you turn the light on first thing in the morning. He was exactly right.

I noticed today that our son was at complete comfort with strangers. He was willing to walk up to anyone and freely gave out kisses and hugs. That sounds adorable but it's a problem. Bio kids don't do that because they recognize a big difference between their parents and a stranger. A child will only behave in this way if they don't have that bond.

The orphanage created a safe place for our son to request and receive love from anyone with whom he came in contact. That is what has enabled him to begin to fall in love with us. And he has begun, but the deal isn't done yet. Therefore, I'm going to pull back on events with groups of people we know.  We need to take more time as a family of 3 to cement this union.

It's hard because people don't understand. Several people today noted that our entire church has been praying for our son all this time and yet we haven't even brought him to church yet. That is how the situation seems to them. It's very difficult to know that we are hurting the feelings of kind people who love us and love our son. However, we have to put his well-being first.

This is tough, but I am learning more daily and growing as a parent of an internationally adopted child. The more I learn, the better able I am to take care of our son and earn his trust. And that is and must be priority #1.

Heart Full

Today was a good day. Liveliness up, mood positive and I was focused. It may be that I have a renewed energy about me, given I was asked to take on a temporary assignment at work (as the internal communications manager.) It has given me a kick in my step and something "new" to work on.

After I left work, I stopped by the store to pick up some ingredients to make a "nice" dinner tonight. I love cooking, but don't usually have enough time or desire to do much in the "special" category. But for some reason, I just felt like going the extra mile tonight. Since we both LOVE Brussels sprouts & stuffed mushrooms, I added them both to the dinner menu!

So, it got even better when I got home tonight. There was a package waiting at the front door (that is always fun!) And when I opened it, I found some gifts for SC from Joe's parents (who are currently en route to Arizona for warm winter sunshine.) I was thrilled to open it up and find an outfit and toys - it just warmed my heart (and I won't mention one word about it being a Oregon Ducks outfit, even though Joe might get nauseous after seeing it.) :-)

And then... I was inspired to build a nice fire...

Now - if I just had that kid home! I would be multi-tasking like crazy (and smiling the whole time) giving him a bath, reading a book and possibly baking cookies too. I think I get it now - my energy levels are directly related to my heart. So when my heart is right & at peace, I think things just fall into place. Who cares if I am getting old, right?! Bring it on... because I am SO ready for this mom-thing! :-)

Thank You So Much

• Dick & Carol
• Ina & Joe
• Matt & Laurie
• Melissa
• Meagan
• John & Sharon
• Fergal & Caprice

... and all others who have supported GLA whether via donation or prayer!

Help If You Can...

Dixie is not one to ask for help, so when I saw this message, my heart sank.  We know things are tough right now, but it is so hard to read updates like this, given the way we feel about GLA.  This is such a good organization with Christian values and everything is "about the kids."  Knowing our son is being cared for by GLA means the world to us...

Latest Status

GOOD news for the Wilkins family. GLA has informed me that Chancelet's dossier has been returned to Courts; the document in Parquet has been changed.

Unfortunately because this was a new step, and this is the first batch of dossiers that have been returned to Courts, GLA cannot confirm whether they will start over in the Courts stage, or if they will just continue where they "left off".