Day 3 April 2 2013

Today was a dissappointing and stressful day.  I left New Life at 8:30 this morning to make the drive towards the mountains to meet with a supervisor at social services. I took Wisbens with me to help them put a name with a face and again let them know who I am fighting for. I introduced him to flavored water this morning and he could not drink it fast enough.  He fell asleep as soon as we hit the main road and slept for most of the trip.  Our driver woke him a few times either yelling at someone or slamming on his breaks.  At one time there were 5 lanes of cars on a three lane street. 

After arriving at social services we had an extended wait for our appointment.   We stood for about 20 minutes and employees began bringing Barry and I chairs.  I overheard two men arguing and couldn't understand what they were saying but realized that a security guard employee made a Haitian man get out of his chair so we could sit down.  I talked with Barry more about what happened and it has everything to do with the fact that we are white.  It is not fair and sad to me that this happened but was quickly informed by Barry that we should sat down.  It would have been a sign of disrespect if we would have given the chair back to the angry man and not done as they asked. 

We were eventually called back and Wisbens, myself and Jean Luc presented our file in the correct order. The supervisor was not pleasant and immediately told me that our file will not get in under the old law.  She would not even hear my case and only explained to me the new law and restrictions.  I told her that as a social worker I completely understand the new stipulations with the new law and that Haiti should have been under this law 20 years ago.  This will catch the adoptions up to the 21st century.  I explained our case and the difficulty we have had navigating the system.  I also explained that our attorney lost paperwork and that pushed us back months as well.  I was not happy with her answer and asked to meet with the director of social services.  We again were asked to wait and eventually the same supervisor came out and said that she was in a meeting and would be unavailable today.  She stated that she would contact the US embassy and discuss the case to see if they could help.  I encouraged her to do so and will have my attorney go back on Thursday to get their answer.  I knew that she would not follow through on that promise and that I would have to move through the steps myself.

She informed me that I had two options at this point.  The first was to retain an agency and start the process over as well as spend a large amount of money for someone to do what we have already finished.  The second option was to include the US government.  I was told that the US embassy could get the case in social services if it was presented on their behalf.  To do this I had to contact Congressman Brett Guthrie who would then contact the State Department to have them contact the US Embassy in Haiti to recommend that this adoption take place under the old law.  As soon as I returned to the orphange and ate lunch I began the process.  I contacted Congressman Guthries office and was able to talk to his represenative who immediatley began working.  Jen was an integral part in the process because she had to sign a release for his office to contact the state department.  It is a long story but with Jen's help and Congressman Guthries office quick response a letter was sent this afternoon to Haiti asking for assistance.  His office has played an integral part in a few of my trips down here and my family is truly indebted to him. 

After I finished with everything I saw Wisbens father and went out to greet him.   We were able to talk for awhile with the help of a translator and it was good to see him.  He thanked me again for what we are doing and told me that he continues to pray for a long and healthy life for Jen and I.  He also asked that I thank Jen when I get home for what she is doing and he was appreciative of her as well.  I look forward to the continued relationship with our extended family in Haiti!  I will post pics on Facebook because the files are to big for this site and it takes hours.  It has been a long day and I have worked non stop since arriving on our adoption.  I plan to rest tomorrow and spend time with Wisbens when he gets home from shcool.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  Tomorrow is a new day!

Day 1/2 April 1 2013

It has been a long 2 days but been well worth the wait!  I spent the last two days in the airport making numerous attempts to get to Haiti and the door continued to close.  I was up at 2:30 this morning to try and make it again and finally arrived at 8:00.  The first thing I noticed upon arriving was the changes at the airport.  After three years of going through customs in a garage the building was repaired and we did not have to exit the building for further processing.  I was nervous about exiting the airport and knew that I had a ride but was unsure of who it was and if they would be on time. 

After exiting I was immediately met by guys attempting to take my bags and find provide me transportation.  After telling them numerous times that I did not need any assistance my persistance finally paid off.  I waited for 15 minutes and transportation arrived.  It was great to be back to our second home and I knew it would not be long before I would get to see our son.  I was anxious as we pulled into the orphange not because I was running late to meet with our attorney but because I saw him as we pulled up and heard him yelling my name.  He knew that I was coming today and was patiently waiting on a concrete slab for me to arrive.  I hugged him and kissed him on the head and we spent some time catching up.  I told him what my plans for the day was and that I would be back soon to spend time with him.  I ran to the room to change and after waiting for over an hour for our ride eventually left for our attorneys office. 

 

My goal with the attorney on this trip was to get a game plan and set deadlines on how things would get accomplished.  The window for adoptions under the old law was reopend and there is a short amount of time to make this happen.  I was able to get our attorney's assistant to make the trip to social services with me to ensure it was dropped off.  After waiting for a while they returned and said that we would need to meet with a supervisor tommorrow at 10:00.  I plan to make the trip again in the morning to possibly meet the director and was able to get permission to keep Wisbens home from school in order to take him.  I want them to put a name to a face and know who I am fighting for in hopes that they will do the same.  I also want them to see that he has an amputation and has medical needs that cannot be met in Haiti.  This is the most hopeful I have been in a while and I am praying that I can leave social services tommorrow with a number for our case. 
This will mean that we made it in under the old law and will get processed much faster. 

I had not had any breakfast or lunch and thanks to my awesome wife I had plenty of snacks to eat and share.  We finally made it back to New Life and as I pulled up saw Wisbens playing soccer w
ith all the other kids.  It was an emotional experience as he feels that he can play with anyone else and that his disability will not hold him back.  Resilience is a way of life in Haiti and our son was a great example of that today!  We had spaghetti and salad for dinner and after changing clothes went to evening worship to see the kids and spend time with Wisbens one more time before he went to bed.  It has been a long day and I am going to get some rest before heading out again in the morning.  Please continue to pray for our adoption the meeting tomorrow and for our safety!  Scroll down for more pics.  I couldn't get them all on today's blog.