C4C Earthquake Relief...

Wow! We were so blessed this week to be part of the Chances for Children family. Jim and I were able to see, firsthand, the awesome outpouring of generosity from C4C donors as we joined the team that helped to gather and pack food and supplies for the creche. Monday was spent shopping and hauling large quantities of supplies to the staging area at the Miami airport. On Tuesday, we organized and boxed everything (with the help of a sweet group of jr. highers from Orlando) so it would be ready to fly into the Dominican Republic. The plane left on Wednesday and we've been told that the trucks arrived at the creche in Haiti on Thursday where the supplies are already being put to use! Praise the LORD for its safe arrival!

This is just a portion of the items purchased from Costco.

Most of our group (Jim was taking the picture).

Jim at WalMart; we left with six very full carts and lots of strange looks from passers by.

Some of the supplies being delivered to the loading dock at the airport. The crew at International Bonded Couriers were a delight; so helpful and considerate!


Me with a portion of the 200+ HANDMADE cloth diapers that were lovingly sewn by my super-sweet friends from our Bible Fellowship class at church.

April with loads of medicine from another C4C adoptive family!

Jim, taking inventory for the plane's manifest.

This was only part of the load - there were also a bunch of pallets that contained rice, charcoal, food, bleach, etc....
7,300 pounds in all made it to the creche!

Mesi Anpil (thank you so much) to everyone who donated!

Sometimes I Wonder...

Why one million orphans wasn't a big enough number for people to notice before the earthquake. Even before this horrifying catastrophe, it was estimated that around one million children in Haiti were either orphaned or abandoned. It's encouraging to see the support and generosity pouring into Haiti but it breaks my heart that it took the tragic deaths of hundreds of thousands to bring attention to a country that was already poverty-stricken and desperate.

The adoption process in Haiti was averaging around two years, with some people waiting over three years to bring their children home. Many of the orphanages were always short on food. There was no rhyme or reason to the arbitrary laws that would come and go throughout the process. Adoptive families were waiting for the children (with whom they had visited and bonded) for an unnecessary amount of time and there were instances when children, who were legally adopted by Americans, were denied visas by the US to come home to their families. People in the Haitian adoption community have been signing petitions and calling their representatives for years about these issues. Fortunately, it sounds like the children in process have been granted emergency visas so they can come home to their already waiting families and, finally, there is an awareness about Haiti's orphan problem. How I wish this could have happened apart from tragedy.

I've gotten a lot of e-mails asking how to start the process of adopting from Haiti (and I've heard that many other adoptive families have, as well). I'm so happy people are considering adoption but, again, heartbroken that it took a tragedy to open people's eyes to the need. I really don't know what will become of Haitian adoptions and when/how they will resume. The newly orphaned children certainly won't be adoptable for a very long time without documentation of abandonment, relinquishment or parent's death certificates, which is as it should be; placement with their own family members is always preferred to adoption. It seems like many of the government buildings were destroyed, so that definitely complicates things, even for waiting children. When some sort of stability returns, I would hope that the ridiculous laws would be amended, allowing a broader scope of people to adopt. Right now (because of UNICEF) the parameters are narrow and restrictive. We'll just continue to pray and advocate for orphans.

Please continue to give and pray!! Chances for Children still needs supplies. World Vision and Compassion are also some wonderful organizations that were already working diligently in Haiti - you can give a one time gift or a long term sponsorship of a child. Heartline is another wonderful ministry and you can read first-hand accounts of the reality in Haiti right now by clicking the Livesay Web Log link in the adoptive families column. And even when this tragedy is no longer receiving 24 hour coverage, please remember that Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and that there are 143 million orphans worldwide.

In the Midst of Such Sorrow...

We experienced a bit of joy yesterday as we officially domesticated Asa's adoption. This basically means that, even though he was already legally our son, we now have US records of his adoption and he'll receive (what amounts to) a Florida birth certificate. He was such a good boy and loves the big bear given to him by the judge.


I know lots of my blog friends have adopted (or are in the process of adopting) from other orphanages. I pray that your organizations receive the help they need and that, somehow, adoptions are expedited to get the children out of such a dangerous situation. Word from Asa's creche is not good. The children are uninjured (praise the LORD) but the building did sustain some damage and they are running critically low on supplies and food. A large container with six months worth of food was stuck in customs before the earthquake and has now, most likely, been looted. For anyone who happens to read this and is not affiliated with another organization, Chances for Children is definitely in need of funds and any donation you can make is greatly appreciated. There is a button to donate right on their website and you can even decide how your contribution will be utilized. Thank you so much! Please continue to pray without ceasing!

As 2009 Ends...

Asa has been home for nearly ten months! The past few have been a whirlwind of activity; Asa made his first trip up north (brrrr!) and celebrated his first birthday and Christmas with us. I have so much to share and hope to do some specific posts on bonding, attachment and some other adoption related stuff. For now, though, I'll just share the Christmas picture of our wonderful kiddos:

Reunion Recap...

From Haiti With Love:
Chances for Children's First Family Reunion

I designed the t-shirts!

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on Friday afternoon. The kids were ready to hop right into the pool where a few other children from the creche were already swimming.

All the children who had come home from the Crèche Enfant de l’Jèsus seemed excited to see one another & play together, and the children who had never met before hit it off right away, as well! They all played on the beach playground and swung each other in the hammocks - it was really neat to see friendships renewed and new bonds created. We were able to spend time with some great friends that I had met on trips to Haiti, and some that we've only met via the internet.

This is our Ally (17) with a very smiley Asa.

Saturday morning included breakfast for the group with a touching video of the children before and after coming home. There were planned activities for the children throughout most of the afternoon: Haitian crafts, language lessons, music and games.

Chloe (8) and Asa loved playing games with the other children.

The event ended on Saturday evening with a lovely outdoor dinner.

We headed back home Sunday morning after thoroughly enjoying the memorable weekend. We're so grateful to C4C for organizing and hosting such and important event and we look forward to staying connected through future reunions!

C4C Family Reunion!!!

One totally amazing event that we're getting ready to attend is the first ever Chances for Children family reunion!! Many families who adopted through C4C, along with their children from Asa's orphanage (and some of the staff from Haiti) will be in Ft. Lauderdale this weekend. We're so excited that Asa will get to see old friends, and we're thrilled to spend time with other families we've gotten to know over the past two years. It's taking place at a lovely resort on the beach so we'll return with lots of great pictures.

We've been talking about it with Asa - preparing him to see friends and former caretakers. I'm curious to see how he'll react. This truly is a great opportunity for him to stay connected with other children who share a similar past, and I really hope we can keep them in touch with one another as the years pass...

6+ Months and a Long Update...

Asa has been home for more than half of a year. We continue to be amazed by his language acquisition, his empathy for others, his resilience, and just how well he's adjusted to life with our family here in America. Asa is a typical preschooler in many ways. He is very curious and loves learning new things. He's cuddly and affectionate. He can sometimes be mischievous and, occasionally, even naughty. ;o)

Most of all, he's happy, healthy and very loved by all of us. We do have some challenges, though. Many of the initial issues we faced (sleep disturbances, indiscriminate affection toward strangers, etc...) have mostly resolved themselves and aren't quite as monumental as they felt four or five months ago.


There are a few areas in which Asa still needs a little extra guidance. So much of what he experiences in a family is different than anything he encountered at the orphanage. One thing he's learning is that he has his very own possessions; his clothes, shoes, toothbrush and some special toys are just for Asa - and he doesn't have to share them! That also means that his big sister's make-up and his daddy's laptop do not belong to him. We've had some issues with Asa getting into things and, since he really didn't have much experience with how certain items work or are meant to be used, he just didn't know not to use Ally's make-up for paint. This concept is taking a while for him to grasp but we do our best to patiently correct and teach him respect for property.

Asa doesn't have the severe food hoarding issues that some children coming from institutional settings might have. But we've found that, even after he's eaten and is clearly satisfied, he tends to fixate on the leftovers that others have on their plates. We try to clear the table off quickly because he will repeatedly ask everyone for whatever they haven't eaten. We're trying to establish healthy eating habits for him; nutritious snacks are offered (and happily accepted) between meals so Asa knows that he'll always have his needs met.

I've found that Asa's behavior spirals downward quickly if he is corrected for misbehaving. It's very cyclical in nature. He tends to hold onto resentment after being disciplined and you can see in his face that he's stewing over it and will act out later because of it. I'm not sure if this is just his personality (although it's very different from anything I've seen in the many three year olds with whom I've spent time) or if it's a remnant of something deeper... before his life with our family. It breaks my heart to see such a small child with these complex emotions - it often feels like he's much older than he really is. I know there are many facets to his personality that have been impacted by the separation from his birth mother at 17 months old, and the nearly two years he spent in an orphanage. I mourn the time he was without a family and am so angry at the horrible system which kept him from our family for an unreasonable amount of time. It hurts me to know that I might never know what my child experienced before he was in my home and what lingering difficulties he might have. We're just continuing to trust that God's grace is sufficient to heal Asa's heart and we pray for wisdom and patience so we can help in that process.



I have to say that we are so blessed by Asa's capacity for love. He tells everyone in the family that he loves us multiple times throughout the day (even Henry the Dog). And I really believe he feels it and means it. Equally important is the fact that he accepts and delights in the love he receives from us. At the six month mark, I really think this is a solid foundation upon which everything else will be built. He knows we are his family and he knows he is loved!!