It has been a long, trying day. I awoke this morning with an e-mail in my inbox from another adoptive parent with a link to our senator's website. He is advocating for visa parole for children who are in the process of being adopted by US families. This is HUGE.
When I read this, the adrenaline started pumping. I realized I had to eat my words...I was against writing letters the day after the earthquake. There have been too many sites stating to do just the opposite. So, I am wrong.
We have contacted both of our senators and our representative. We have notified the state department as well as other adoption advocacy websites. We are doing what we can.
And now we wait...again.
We are hopeful that the US government will grant visas for all children who are in the adoption process. Our offcial papers are gone, buried beneath what used to be the government buildings in Haiti. To recreate that would take a long time...and that is only after the Haitian government gets adoptions up and rolling again, and there is abolutely no way to consider that would be quickly.
I watch the news, thankful we don't have cable. I am heartbroken in so many ways. It pains me to see the buildings gone. It rips at my heart to see the injured, dead, dying. I sit in my living room, on my floor with tears streaming down my face as I watch the nightly news, thankful again that we don't have cable...I would never leave my floor or my house. I hear statistics that tear at me - 38.4% of all Haitians are aged 15 and under. And of those, many of them are probably now orphaned, if they hadn't already been orphaned or abandoned before the earthquake.
This place, this country, isn't just an island in the middle of the ocean to me. Her people have a very special place in my heart. We have friends there. We have family there - literally and figuratively. When I go there, there is a part of me that feels at home. I am not afraid there. I am at home.
The response to the devastation has been amazing. Amazing. What is hard is that it took an earthquake completely devestating the country before they were noticed. I imagine that's what the victims of the third ward felt like after Katrina. Unfortunately, this is much different. The people in Haiti were living on $2.15 a day before the earthquake. And now, what little they had is gone. Just gone.
And then there's Joshua. Beautiful, big brown eyed, dimple cheeked Joshua. My son. I just want to bring him home. There is hope...and it is to that hope I cling. We have done what we can, and now we wait.
Hal and Chris have called and texted a few times over the last day. Bring formula ASAP. Formula and cash. They had to move all 130 children to the yard at their church as the houses have become unstable with the constant aftershocks. Food and water will begin to run out. Necessities will begin to run out. Chris says supplies are becoming available in areas where the damage was not as severe. But there are no banks - bring cash. Cash and protein.
Donate here - click on "Donations" and then the PayPal logo.
There is an adoptive mom scheduled to leave Tuesday. Delta Airlines has waived all baggage fees and told her to take as much as she can with her. An adoptive father is planning a similar trip. If I could go...
Pierre, his family, and his home are all ok. Pierre and Nathan made it home this morning, surveyed the damage at their house and went to see what needed to be done. Masks. Bring masks. The smell is poignant and severe. The pictures are accurate but are just a small snapshot. He is asking for volunteers to come and help as soon as possible. Anyone wanting to join them, click here.
The need is very great. The world is trying. The infrastructure has never been there and certainly isn't able to handle this now. The aid is coming. Not fast enough.
I want my son home. It is the children will suffer the most...it is the children who will need the most care. We need to get as many of them out of that country as we can. There is chance for children who are already in the adoption process...a chance to come here and get food, water, clothing, shelter, and a chance at a future. The orphanages are already full...there will be so many more now. They can do a lot to help by letting those children come home to their families. They are refugees. They are defenseless. They are totally dependent. They will suffer. We can prevent it.
As I prepare to sleep tonight, my heart is heavy, longing for an answer that will be too slow in coming, longing for my son to be here where he is safe and sound, sleeping in the next room.
I have been asking God to move mountains in adoption for two years now...I just never thought it would be the actual, physical mountains that would be moved.
Praying for healing. Praying for help. Praying for food and water. Praying for safety. Praying for a miracle - that our son could come home.
Always praying.
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