High level timeline on the adoption

On March 22nd, we submitted our application with Bethany Christian Services (BCS). I guess that means we have officially started the adoption process. Included in that application paperwork was a contract, so it has to be official right?

Well, today we had a call with someone from BCS who explained what the next immediate steps will be and also laid out a general timeline. By early next week, we will be assigned to an Adoption Specialist. The Adoption Specialist will be responsible for completing the home study and walking with us through the whole process.

We also learned that BCS has a national office in Grand Rapids, MI and that in that office they have someone dedicated as a program coordinator for Haiti. This person stays in contact with the Haitian government and the orphanage that works with BCS, God’s Littlest Angels.

We got a ton more paperwork to fill out and we need to start on completing 30 hours of education. Ten of those hours need to be completed as part of the home study process.

Here is the rough timeline that was laid out for us.

It will take three months to complete the Home Study. (Beginning of July)

It will take another month to review and finalize the Home Study. (Beginning of Aug)

The next step is Immigration approval and that will take two months. (Beginning of October)

After the Home Study is complete we begin work on a Dossier for the Haitian government and for the orphanage. That dossier needs to get translated into French. It will be about 6 months from now when the completed Dossier will get sent to Haiti. (Beginning of October)

It will take a month for the orphanage to legalize the dossier. (Beginning of November)

At this point we can get matched with a child. This process is called referral and that can take anywhere from 6 to 10 months. (August of 2012)

The person we talked to today, began to prepare us that it could take up to 2 years after referral to be able to bring the child home to the States. (August of 2014).

Wow that seems like a long time from now. Both Leslie and I realized that the one thing we can control in this whole process are the papers and steps that we need to do. Delay on those things will only add to the timeline. We are thinking that this is like a trip to the amusement park. You run to the ride and stand in line for a long time only to ride the ride and then rush off to a new line. Wish us luck on our quest for a FastPass.

More Photos on the progress on Paulette and Daniel's House

David Williamson passed along some additional photos of the progress on Paulette and Daniel's house. You can really see the progress being made on the construction.

Something struck me as I was looking at these photos. Look at the photo of the masons working creating the wall. Pay attention to the view in the distance and see how beautiful it is. Now imagine that land and view in Southern California. How much would that piece of property cost?

Prepping the foundation prior to concrete.

The foundation being poured.

Blocks waiting to be turned into walls.

Mason's working on the walls

The family.

Progress on Paulette and Daniel's House

As I eluded to in an earlier post, the Men's Ministry group from church (SLUMM) donated the proceeds from the 2010 Fish Fry to help build a house for Paulette and Daniel. This was a family I meet on my trip to Fondwa in Sept of 2010. Here is a photo of their house from that trip.

Paulette and Daniel's "home" for 8.

Me with the family.

Here are photos of the foundation for their house being laid out and dug. I can't begin to describe how this warms my heart. I hope the pictures help tell the story and add some warmth to your day.

Foundation being laid out

Foundation being dug.

Kudos to the Crazy Socks

Katie's basketball team won their first playoff game tonight against a very good team that they lost too, two weeks ago. I am most proud of how they play with energy and joy. I've had the privilege of working with the girls as an assistant coach. They have been a real joy to work with.

This experience has also helped to put and keep things in perspective. I'm dealing with some stressful things at work. I have been overjoyed to have the games to look forward too at the end of a not so pleasant "day at the office."

GO CRAZY SOCKS!

Ups and Downs of International Adoption

We got this news from BCS (the agency we are using) regarding potential changes in the way Haiti handles adoption. We pray that this is positive news for all current and future adoptions from Haiti. We also continue to pray for patience in our current situation.

"We verified with our partner that Haiti did sign the Hague.  For those families contemplating an Haiti adoption, they need to be aware that there will be additional unknowns in the process.  We do not know if/when Haiti will pass a new law (we knew that there was a new adoption bill before the Haitian Senate, but did not know if it would be passed).  Ideally, Haiti would pass a new law that would conform with the Hague prior to them ratifying the Hague.  If they ratify the Hague prior to a new law, adoptions would essentially stop until the new law was put into place.  Another risk would be if they passed a new, Hague-compliant law that was not really workable, that the government could not practically put into place (or would take them excessive time to put into place).  Also note that if Haiti ratifies the Hague, the US has to accept Haiti as Hague-compliant in order for adoptions between the two countries to take place.

At this time, we do not know the Haitian government's intentions - if they intend to ensure that a workable new law is put into place prior to ratifying the Hague; or if they intend to ratify the Hague first.  Our partners will be updating us as they receive additional information."

Fondwa Update 2011-03-17

As I mentioned in a previous post, the St. Lukes United Methodist Men (SLUMM) raised money from our Fish Fry to help a family we meet in Fondwa build a house. Well here is an update on from Pastor David Williamson on the construction the last few groups have been able to do on Bos and Jesula's house. Bos and Jesula served us pate in their "house" in the rain. What a fabulous experience. The money SLUMM raised is going to build Paulette and Daniel's house.

From David Williamson - "Some of you here at St. Luke's have been asking if I had any photos of the construction at Bos & Jesula's house.  Here are a couple photos from mine and Jamalyn's work trips in February.  I just spoke with Bos a few days back and he says the house is now all finished with the exception of setting doors and windows.  There's a group there in Fondwa now working on Paulette and Daniel's house (they are pouring the foundation and starting the walls this week), and I've asked them to send us photos of both the houses when they return.  Just thought you'd like to see what you've helped make possible!"

Haiti Mission Trip August 2010

At the end of August 2010, I had the opportunity to go on a mission work trip to Haiti with some other members of my church. Our group was made of members of our Men’s Ministry organization at my church, members from a charity group here in Indianapolis called Kids First and others from the North Carolina area. We were lead by a pastor from my church who spent 2 years in Haiti as a missionary. He and his wife continue to work with the missionary group that organized the trip, Family Health Ministry, and go back to Haiti 4 times a year.

This trip had special meaning for me. When the earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010, my church had folks on a work trip in the country. When natural disasters like the earthquake, Hurricane Katrina or the Tsunami in Southeast Asia happen, my heart goes out to those affected. However, this situation had my staying power for my wife Leslie and I. I felt like this mission trip was a real opportunity for me to be able to help in ways that dollars sometimes fall short.

Our trip was 7 days in length. We flew to Miami on Sunday afternoon and then left early the next morning for Port-Au-Prince. When each packed two duffel bags filled to their 50 pound limit with supplies. For our trip, that meant that we were able to take 1500 pound of tools and supplies. The flight from Miami to Port-Au-Prince was only 2 hours. When we landed, we exited to a terminal that was similar to the terminals that we all see when travelling in the states. However, that is when the similarities ended. We were bused to different building that was really a large airplane hanger. This is where we cleared customs.

After clearing customs and grabbing our supplies, we exited the terminal area and loaded everything into a truck and van. We had 2 hours ride from the airport to the community. Once we left the airport area, there was an immediate assault on the senses. For me, sight, sounds, smell and touch were all put into overdrive. We were immediately confronted with sights of tents cities like I had seen on television. About every third building looked to have been destroyed in some way by the earthquake. The traffic was busy noisy and full of diesel fumes. Along with the diesel, I could also smell and see trash piles. Some of the trash piles were burning. And as we moved out of Port-Au-Prince and moved into the mountains, I was able to get a real sense of the beauty of Haiti. Despite the beauty, I was constantly reminded of the poverty and devastation from the earthquake.

The community that we went to is called Fondwa. It is located about 35 miles southeast of Port-Au-Prince. When I thought of a community or a village, I assumed that most of the residents were located in one central area. However, the island that Haiti is on is quite mountainous. The community of Fondwa is really a small village area at the top of a valley. There are around 8000 people that live throughout the valley.

The group that organized the trip, Family Health Ministries, helps support a school and orphanage in the community. The kids in the orphanage attend the school, but the school also serves the community as a whole. Some of the students walk 90 minutes each way to get to school. The area where we stayed and had meals was part of a community center. This are also contained the temporary housing for the children in the orphanage. We were quickly greeted by lots of happy smiling children excited to show us their dormitory.

Unfortunately both the school and the orphanage building were destroyed in the earthquake. The two big projects that our group was going to help with were painting some temporary wooden structures and help complete a temporary school. Painting the structures would add years to their useful life. By completing the school, we were able to created 8 classrooms.

One of the exciting parts of working on these buildings was the help we had. The kids from the orphanage helped us paint. You could see a real sense of pride in their work as the painted their dormitory. At the school site, we had some of the adult men in the community helping us. For some of the men, this was an opportunity for them to learn carpentry skills that they would be able use later on with other building projects. Most of the men on the trip took tools and supplies from their homes to use in the construction of the school. When the school was completed, each and every one of us present one of the Haitian workers with our tools. The smiles from these men was fulfilling beyond words.

While the work we did and what we were able to complete was rewarding, the real value for me was in the relationships I was able to make. On two different mornings, we enjoyed coffee with one of the families in the community. The is nothing quite like coffee when the beans are grown on the bushes five feet away from where you are enjoying it. One family also wanted us to enjoy some food with them. It happened to be raining the night we went so they insisted we come into their house to stay dry. Now, their house was an eight person tent. Their previous house was destroyed in the earthquake. So, imagine 15 people in tent. While it would seem cramped and unwelcoming, it was quite the contrary. The hospitality of this family, made us all feel welcomed. We were served pate, which is a fried dough pocket filled with chicken and onions. It was my favorite meal of the trip.

We had another opportunity to experience the hospitality of the community. Dave, our group leader, took eight of us to visit the family of one of his friends, Paulette. Paulette’s family also had their home destroyed in the earthquake. The home we visited consisted of a pole structure wrapped in US Aid tarps. The structure was barely big enough to hold their double bed. Yet, they welcomed us in with opened arms. Seeing how this family of eight lived and how they welcomed us was another highlight of my trip.

On our last full day, we took most of the orphanage kids to the beach in a town south of Fondwa called Jacmel. Imagine an open air truck filled with 25 kids and 8 adults. The kids sang the whole way to the beach entertaining us along the way. While they tried to teach us Haiti songs, we taught them numbers like, “Who let the dogs out?” and “You’ve lost that loving feeling”. The kids don’t get an opportunity to go to the beach very often so this was a real treat for them. They loved the water, but don’t know how to swim, so each of us had at least one child clinging to us the entire time. The laughter and joy of that day was overwhelming and it was the perfect way to end my trip.

We travelled home on Sunday. As we traced our way back through Port-Au-Prince to the airport, I was greeted by another assault on the senses. This time the experience sunk in a little deeper. It is hard to comprehend how so many people live in the conditions we saw as we travelled through the streets.

The Men’s Ministry group I am part of has an annual Fish Fry in October. Because a handful of the members of that group went on the trip to Haiti, we elected to use the funds from the Fish Fry to help rebuild a house for a family in Fondwa. The money we raised, along with some funds from the Kids First Foundation are going to help rebuild Paulette’s house. The work on this house will begin in early March, and it incredibly rewarding to see the progress on this project and get updates from the groups that return to the community.

The T3 foundation at T2 help offset the cost of my trip and I am very grateful that I work for a company that values this kind of effort and is willing to help fund it. My experience has had an impact on me and I hope that I am able to do something like this on small and large scales on an ongoing basis.

Initial Post

Welcome to the Burlap Shack. I'll save the origin of the name for another post. It's kinda cool is you ask me. So, why blog, you ask? Well this seems like a good way for Leslie and I to get information out to friends and family.

We actually have some exciting things going on in our family. We are in the very early stages of adopting a child from Haiti. Yep, you read that correctly. I'll give you a moment to let it all sink in.

After the earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, Leslie and I both had a feeling that we wanted to adopt from Haiti. This was something that we felt independent of one another. About 5 weeks after the quake, we realized that we were both having these feelings. Now, when I say "feeling", what I really mean is a calling from God. Not a booming voice from a cloud calling from God, but I truly believe this is something we were both being called to do.

We agreed to take time and continue to pray about this calling and see where we were a few months after the initial emotion of the quake. But here is the funny thing about God. The message still stays strong.

After I returned from my trip (refer to another post for more on the trip) to Haiti in Sept of 2010 with St. Lukes, Leslie and I made the decision to move forward with the adoption process. That is where we begin to enter the world of international adoption.