Hello,
It is almost 2 months since I wrote last - with the good news that Chania was out of IBESR. I really thought the next letter I would write you all would be with info on tickets bought. NOT SO!
I'm in Haiti. What more needs to be said?????
Chania's papers took longer to be finalized than expected. After the St Marc courts approved the adoption, it had to be sent to Northern Haiti since that's where she was born, for the adoption decree to be made there. But we got that done, and at that time I was still hopeful to be on the plane this month.
Then the news: the Immigration officer got fired, and with the new one, new staff brought in. Now my lawyer lost all her inside contacts to speed things up. She told me this could take as long as end of July or August to get the passports. Not news that I wanted to hear. I really feel my time is up here. Money's running low, and I'm starting to worry. But I believe God has a plan, and I'm still in it!
The passport stage means: first the adoption papers have to be taken to the Ministry of the Interior to get legalized. Then to the Ministry of the Exterior. After that to the immigration. Caleb's is through both Ministries and ready for Immigration. Chania's is through the Interior already and in the Exterior right now. Hopefully that won't take too long!!! Caleb's took a couple months for both. Which should not be necessary.
So not sure how long the Immigration will take with it's new people. I called the Canadian Embassy for help, and they said things are back to normal, so hopefully it will be in decent time. Please pray that this will get finished before end of July. I really don't have the money to pay another month's rent here, and I'm good till July 23. :) Surely that's enough time!! It's starting to feel like an unreal dream to think I can go to Canada with my babies. So many setbacks! And here mine was suppose to be a fast, easy adoption! But it seems every high official of a department got fired during my adoption time. First, the Judge for Caleb (He was through IBESR in September already, originally). Then the President (of the country) changed (that sets everything back). Then the IBESR director got fired. And now the Immigration director. Makes me wonder if there's a reason God is trying to keep me here. Or if I'm doing such a great thing is adopting these kids that the devil is hindering it all he can. Or maybe it's just 'HAITI'.
My little energetic climber!!!
Chania is almost a year. Getting more interested in the world around her.Ready to go to Canada!
Heather threw me an Adoption Celebration party, and took time to bless me and my family as we start this family together.
Meanwhile these last 6 weeks or so I've been busy. I mentioned in my last letter that I was taking in 2 babies. For those who don't keep up on Facebook, Andrew did excellently. The scrawny 4 month old is a chunky 5 month old now. Not fat, but heavy and solid. Still struggles with Bronchiolitis a lot, but he is such a HAPPY baby; he grabs everyone's hearts when he smiles. He's still waiting to find a family for adoption.
Daniel, the little one year old has had a struggle but is doing very well right now. We had to urgently admit him with an intestinal blockage, though it didn't seem like a big problem at the hospital. I am wondering if they gave me the correct child report. He was so sick when we took him in, and then they brought him home with a 104.8 F fever, which went up to 105.1 later. I could not believe they'd send him home like that. I called the hospital next day, and they said he hadn't been sick at all in the hospital. Hard to understand hospitals here!!! He did get better next day, but had a random day of fever several days later, so am thinking there might still be something wrong with him. But now he seems to be doing good. We got him on a special formula for malnourished babies that can't eat the Mamba/plumpy nut. He did well on that, and has gained more than a kilo since I got him, which is good, considering he weighed less than 6 lbs. Last weight a couple weeks ago he was already 8.5 lbs. Little by little.
Then 3 weeks ago, Heather added another baby girl to my household - almost 3 month old that was found abandoned in the worse section of Port au Prince. Apparently a woman recognized the baby and reported her to the police/IBESR. When she got here, Heather called me to check her, saying she was dying. She did look bad. She was extremely dehydrated. By morning she was much better and the next day was brought to me. She has thrived on regular feedings, her skin has pretty well healed, and she has become a beautiful baby.
Rosemita, the evening she arrived
Thursday morning all three babies were moved up to another apartment on the 3rd floor. Since my plan had been to do this temporarily, and planning to leave soon, Heather made other arrangements, before she leaves for the summer. She is developing a little foster care system, with a little more one on one for some of the babies. They do well with that. (by the way, if anyone wants to come take care of a child for at least 3 months, get in touch. There will probably always be openings :)
So today felt quite empty. Kind of nice though, I'll admit. Since I still didn't sleep well last night with the babies, I had hoped to get a nap in, but .... I still have two little ones. :) Caleb kind of misses them. I'm glad they're close so we can go visit.
Most of my friends here have gone home for the summer too, so it feels kind of empty. But there's always more people to meet and get to know, and there still are some friends here.
So this is where we are right now, STILL WAITING! Please pray for patience for me, as that is getting harder and harder, the closer it gets. And pray that God would have his way with me during this time, that I can use it to grow more in HIM!
