Leaving for Haiti tomorrow!

We leave for Haiti tomorrow, for our second trip to visit our little boy Jameson. It's been about two and a half months since we left Haiti from our bonding trip. This time has been very difficult, but I'm so thankful that we are allowed back for visits as often as we like. This trip I was grateful to receive clothing donations from friends and co-workers. I have so many clothes, that I will have enough for our next trip in December. I have lots of onsies, shorts, pants, shirts, sun dresses, socks, and shoes! I'm so excited to be taking these items for the kids at MDA. This trip I plan on going to visit Papillon Enterprise and Apparent Project. Hope to find Christmas gifts for family and friends! Our file is currently in IBESR, still waiting to exit.

*Post edited to include a memorable moment during Christmas in Haiti.

Wednesday December 28, 2016 was our last day in Haiti after visiting during the Christmas break. Will, Jameson, and I were sitting out on the patio waiting to be taken to the airport for our trip back to the U.S. One of the creche staff came out and said she needed to take Jameson to the back. I handed Jameson to her then proceeded to follow her and asked her what was happening. She then said that Jameson's birth mother was there to visit him. Suddenly I felt a million butterflies swell up in my stomach along with a sense of excitement and sadness. I didn't know how to feel at that moment. I ran over to Will and told him that Jameson's mother was here and we should go back to meet her. We went back to the office and saw a young woman with another young female child with her. 

Since I am writing this post so late (3 years later/2020) I can not remember the exact conversation with his birth mother or everything that happened. If I recall, we introduced ourselves and asked her a couple of questions. This circumstance was so unexpected and fast I did not have time to prepare myself for that moment. I did confirm with her that she did know that Will and I were here visiting Jameson and that we were adopting him and we loved him very much. She said she did understand that and she loved him as well. We asked the creche worker to take a group picture of all of us and she agreed. For me this was a very pivotal moment in our entire adoption journey. It is very rare for birth parents and adoptive parents to be at the same place at the same time. So the fact that we were able to meet his birth mother and take pictures with her will be a memory that I will always cherish and I know Jameson will also. We do plan to take Jameson back to Haiti when he is a little older and hope to find and reunite with his mother and sister if we can find her. Haiti is such a complicated country, I just pray that one day we can make it happen. Below is the picture we took that day. 

Along with the good, comes the bad.

On Thursday, I received good news from our coordinator that the required interview with Jameson's birth mother went as planned with no issues or concerns! For a little history about this, when we went to Haiti for our bonding trip, we had our US Embassy appointment our second day there. During the appointment an officer gave us a 5-10 minute interview and at the end, she tells us that they want to interview the birth mother and also see Jameson in person instead of a picture. For us, this was another potential road block in the process and made me somewhat nervous. Before issuing a referral Jameson's birth mother was already required to be interviewed twice, so this will be a third time! My thoughts were, "What if she does not show up or they can't locate her?" Many questions and concerns were running through my head. Her interview was scheduled for September 13th. On September 9th, I received an email from USCIS-Haiti, saying they needed to reschedule her interview for September 26th. So that meant we had to wait two more long weeks for this to happen. Last week (September 29th) I received this email from our coordinator about the interview:

Hi Amorie,

I heard back from D/S and they told me that the interview with Jameson’s birth mother went as scheduled with no concerns! Right now we are waiting for your file to exit IBESR and I will let you know when that occurs.

Thanks,

Anna

 

I was so happy and relieved that everything went as planned. This should be the last big hurdle for us to cross until the end. Now just waiting to exit IBESR. I also received videos and pictures of Jameson on Saturday from one of my close family friends that is also with CAS. Her husband traveled down to MDA to visit their daughter, who is in the same room with Jameson. They brought them both out to the play area, let them play and gave him snacks. I'm so grateful for people like this, that take time to look out for others. It made me so happy to see that he is doing well.

 

The bad news, is that the approaching storm of Hurricane Matthew :( :( We learned of the storm last week. Right now it's a category 4 hurricane with 130-140 mph winds. It's headed directly for Haiti late today and tomorrow. I have not been sleeping well thinking about all the damage this storm may cause. I'm praying for Haiti and especially our little boy and MDA staff. I just want this storm to pass quickly. I know this will probably slow down our process because of potential mass flooding and lack of access to different areas of PAP. I have asked my agency to give me an update as soon as possible. I'm also thankful for the Haiti FB group, for those that are in Haiti now during the storm and the constant updates they give for those of us who are worried about what's happening.

*Just got an update from my agency. I called this morning to see if they had heard anything from MDA or Daniel & Sylvia (our laywer reps in Haiti). Daniel informed us that MDA is well prepared for the storm and it's one of the safest places to be in Haiti during this time. It's a study building, built of concrete by the Germans. I didn't know that, lol! It was renovated after the earthquake to withstand forces of mother nature. She assured me Jameson and the other kids would be safe. I hope so. Praying for this to be over soon!!

 

Our Bonding Trip!

It's been two weeks since we got back from Haiti. There will not be enough time or words for me to tell of our entire trip, but I can say that it was an experience I will never forget! The overall bonding period with our son Jameson went extremely well. This little boy went from being extremely shy and reserved to outwardly energetic and so lovable. I love kissing his soft, chubby cheeks and twirling him around to hear his contagious laugh. He loves applesauce, Ritz crackers, yogurt, rice, oatmeal cereal, juice, Pedia Sure, and Enfagrow milk. He also likes playing with Legos, puzzles, and balloon's. It was very hard to leave when it was time for us to go home. I am counting down the days until we return for our next visit. 

 It's a hard life down here for the people who live in Haiti. The streets are just lined with people trying to survive. We had an appointment at the US Embassy and there were hundreds of Haitians trying to get Visas to the United States. Our creche or orphanage, MDA,  is pretty much secured off from the outside or general population. The food is pretty good, but they serve a lot of salad and fruit and we did not eat anything that was not cooked. Lunch was the biggest meal of the day there and the best. The hot water here was very limited, but seemed to be most abundant at night, so that's when we took our showers. There are lots of orphans at MDA, mostly infants and toddlers. Gladys, the orphanage director was very nice and made us feel comfortable in her home. MDA is arranged so that there is a main house where the director and her family live, 3-4 guest houses where visiting families stay during their trips, and then the orphanage section where the kids live. 

The other important parts of our trip included our embassy appointment and interview with IBESR. Overall, they both went very well. Our embassy appointment was at 7:00am. I think we were finished around 11:00am. 90% of the time is spent standing in line and waiting to be called to the front. For those adopting, it very important to have all your required paperwork with you. We had our agency lawyer with us, which was very helpful especially with the language barrier. The interview with IBESR occurred the second week of our trip. The interview was a little intimidating at first, but we survived. Our lawyer spoke with us several days before the interview and gave us a list of possible questions that we would be asked. Jameson was also with us during the interview, so I had to make sure to have snacks and things to keep him occupied. He did great but got a little antsy near the end. 

As a bonus we were able to go to Kaliko Beach Club which is about an hour outside of PAP. During the ride there, we were able to see some of the city of PAP and surrounding areas. It's a very crowded place, lol! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!

*It's advised not to post pics of our adoptive son, Jameson on social media until our adoption is final, so I will follow that rule. But I can't wait to show him to the world, he is so cute!

MDA is the creche where our son lives

This is the patio where we spent a lot of our time with Jameson

Second floor of MDA where kids are watching

Courtyard of MDA where kids play and hang out

PAP

PAP. I think this is so cool, the women that carry supplies on their heads!

Lot's of stuff to pack!!

In less than one week, we will be in Haiti! We are so excited along with our family and friends. As you can see from the pics below, we have a lot of items for JP and some the other kids. My mother, aunts, and some friends donated a lot of stuff, so now trying to figure out how we will pack it all. 

We Finally Got It!!!

One of the best days of my life for sure!! July 11th, 2016, sitting at my desk at work and of course every 30 minutes I'm looking at my phone. I have been needing a new phone for months because the sound for my ringer or text message does not work. I see a missed call from area code "336" and my heart skips a beat or two. 336 is the area code for Greensboro, NC where our agency is located. I immediately hit redial and the receptionist picks up. I ask to speak to Anna and she puts me on hold. Ana comes on the phone and is happy to hear from me! She states that she was just now calling Will and had left me a voice mail. Two minutes later I conference Will on the phone so we can all hear what she wants to tell us. She finally states that she has very exciting news and our referral has been released from IBESR!!!! She goes on to tells us his name, age, and birthday. While on the phone she sends us both an email with three pictures and a 40+ page attachment of legal documents, his history (medical/phych) and some information on his mother. When the call ends, I'm pretty much speechless and full of so much emotion. I could not focus at work for the rest of the day. It's been 27 1/2 months since we entered IBESR, 3 years since we started this process! Even tonight, two days later it seems unreal because everyday it felt like it was never going to happen and it took so much strength to wait this long. We had an appointment with a pediatric physician who specializes in international adoption to review his medical records. The appointment went really well and we have no concerns about the health report we were given. We are now planning our bonding trip to Haiti...finally!! 

Below is the email from the agency. I have left out some of the personal information about the child until he is legally ours. 

Dear Will and Amorie,

I am happy to introduce you to...............................................from Maison de Anges Crèche! The information that we have received from IBESR has been translated and attached.

Please take time to review and discuss the information with a medical doctor as well as with each other over the next couple of days and then we can plan to talk on Wednesday. If you have additional questions we can ask IBESR or MDA if any other information is available, but this is typical of the referral information provided by Haiti.

IBESR gives families 15 days from when they receive the information to notify them of their intent to proceed with the referral or not and requires an official acceptance letter and notification of when the family can come to Haiti to begin the 2 week bonding period.

I look forward to working with you on this important next step in your adoption journey!

Congratulations!

Anna

Anna Hull

Post-Adoption Coordinator | Haiti Case Manager

Carolina Adoption Services  

336.275.9660 ext. 131 | 1.800.632.9312 | f: 336.273.9804

301 North Elm Street, Suite 201, Greensboro, NC 27401

carolinaadoption.org  & Facebook

Referral Update (e-mail) July 6th, 2016

Hi Amorie and Will,

I wanted to let you know that I have heard from Daniel and Silvia who went to IBESR again today. They have been told that your file is being routed within IBESR, although they aren’t able to confirm where it is in the process. It is not much, since that does not speak to how long it will take to complete the routing, but I think that it does indicate that your case is being actively addressed during this final stage. Since I said that I would keep you updated, I wanted to let you know. I will be in touch as I hear more.

Thanks,

Anna 

Anna Hull

Post-Adoption Coordinator | Haiti Case Manager

Carolina Adoption Services  

336.275.9660 ext. 131 | 1.800.632.9312 | f: 336.273.9804

301 North Elm Street, Suite 201, Greensboro, NC 27401

carolinaadoption.org  & Facebook

Very Exciting News!!!

About three weeks ago we received a call from our agency that we were in Children's Court waiting for the birth parents final interview. This was good news for us, but still a little unsure that anything could fall through. We were also told that the deadline for I600 families had been extended until June 1st and there were approximately 75 families in all US agencies left who filed I600's and we were one of them. Our representatives in Haiti were rushing to get our case through to meet this deadline. Today we received an email and a phone call that we are OUT of Children's Court and the referral should be very, very soon! We are very excited and it seems almost unreal. It's been 25 long months in IBESR.  Below is the email from our agency:

Good afternoon Will and Amorie,

 

I just called and left Amorie a voice mail on her cell phone but wanted to follow up with an e-mail.

 

I just got off the phone with Silvia and Daniel for our monthly updates for cases so I can write our program update for families. I also at this time ask them for specific updates for cases if they have any new information.  They indicated to me today that your case is completed with the children’s judge and the file has been sent to IBESR for the official match.  IBESR in doing the final review prior to matching has requested the crèche to rectify some of the child’s documents before making the referral.  Silvia said that this is being worked on now and then we should receive the referral.  She anticipates this will be completed before the new June deadline IBESR has set for transitional cases.

 

Thought you would want to know.

 

Thanks and let me know if you have any questions. 

 

Angela Jackson, MA

Program Coordinator

Carolina Adoption Services  

Haiti Adoption Update #13

Haiti Program Update

February 2016

Dear Families,

We are pleased to report that we have a great deal of exciting news to share with you in the February 2016 Haiti Program Update!

One Feb 3, 2016, Angela Jackson and Tania Griasnow returned from a four day visit to Haiti. Angela and Tania traveled to Haiti to meet with our agency representative attorneys , IBSER representatives, USCIS and Consulate staff at the US Embassy in Haiti , as well as Maison Des Anges staff to advocate for the successful and expeditious resolution of our remaining vintage cases as well as to verify the required procedures for processing if Hague cases.

As neither Angela nor Tania had traveled to Haiti previously, they found that a physical presence enabled them to meet adoption colleagues in person and to better understand the logistical as well as the physical challenges those working in the field of international adoptions in Haiti face on a daily basis. 

Our first official meeting took place at IBSER, the Central Authority in Haiti. The IBSER offices are housed in an old building that consists of several floors, there are no elevators, just stairs.  The offices are quite small and crowded, many of them have no windows.  The offices tend to get quite warm as only the Director General’s office has air-conditioning. Some of the offices are equipped with fans, however, power outages are frequent. We in fact experienced a power outage during our meeting with Me. Guillaume. There is a scarcity of computers available for use by IBSER staff.  We were told that IBSER is in the process of implementing a data base system for referral matches. At the present time, however, referral matches are done manually.  Transportation to and from IBSER can also be a challenge as political demonstrations are a frequent occurrence. During our visit to IBSER we saw an UNICEF bus with a severely shattered windshield parked at the side of the building.  We were informed that the windshield was shattered during a demonstration that turned violent.   Even though there are times when travel to IBSER needs to be postponed due to demonstration risks, our attorneys visit IBSER three to four times a week.

We were accompanied to IBSER by our agency attorneys/representatives Dr. Oscar Daniel Demayo and Silvia Lidon Millan and Gladys Maximilien from Maison Des Anges. We were quite impressed with the warm welcome Daniel and Silvia received from all the IBSER staff.  It was quite evident that they were highly regarded and respected at IBSER.

Upon our arrival at IBSER we were escorted to the office of the head attorney of IBSER, Me. Guillaume. Also present at the meeting was the head of the multi-task disciplinary team which consists of social-workers and psychologists and is responsible for issuing referral matches. The main focus of this meeting was to express our concerns about the length of time it is taking to obtain referral matches for our remaining vintage families.  There was concern that a new IBSER requirement stipulating that birth parent would now need to provide an additional document, a voter eligibility document, would significantly increase the timeframes for referral matches and in some cases serve as a prohibitive factor if birth parents were unable or reluctant to obtain this newly required document.  After considerable deliberation between all parties present, it was agreed upon that the new voter eligibility document requirement would be waived for all vintage families in an effort to provide referral matches to CAS vintage families before April 1, 2016. 

After our visit with Me. Guillaume we were able to meet with Mme. Arielle Jeanty Villedrouin, the Director General of IBSER to introduce ourselves and to reaffirm our agency’s commitment to a collaborative effort with IBSER on behalf of the children of Haiti who are in need of forever families.  We were also able to take the opportunity to advocate for our vintage families who were waiting for referral matches. Me. Villedrouin graciously agreed to have her staff follow-up with doing what was possible to expedite the referral matches for our agency’s vintage cases.  The meeting ended on a friendly note with us expressing our deep gratitude to the Director General and her staff for all their hard work on behalf of the children of Haiti and their forever families.

We as well as Daniel and Silvia were also able to meet USCIS staff and Chinwe Obianwu, Chief of Adoption Unit at Consular Section of US Embassy, to discuss the status of pending vintage cases who have filed I-600-A s and Hague cases who have filed I-800-A’s.  We were informed that all vintage cases will continue to be processed by USCIS.  There has been no definite decision made as to whether families who have filed I-600-A and will not receive an official referral match by April 1, 2016 will need to switch to a Hague case and file an I-800-A.  There are negotiations taking place between the Embassy and IBSER which may result in a decision to allow vintage cases who do not receive a referral match by April 1, 2016 to extend their I-600-A validity and not have to file an I-800-A.  USCIS will keep us apprised of the progress of these negotiations and will notify all agencies when a decision will be made.

All Hague cases will be processed through the Consular Section. The U.S. State Dept. and IBSER are in the process of finalizing the standardized procedure for processing of Hague cases. The State Department will notify all agencies when the processing procedure are finalized.

Our last stop was at Maison Des Anges, the crèche from where most of our recent referral matches have been made. We were pleased to be able to tour the facility and to meet with the staff who provide such excellent care of the children.  We were also able to meet with a CAS family who had just received their child’s visa and were leaving for the USA with their child at the end of the week! Everyone at MDA was very excited as there was of total of 5 referral match presented since Dec. 2015. Two families are planning their bonding trips for that latter part of Feb. 2016!

We returned to the U.S. late one Feb. 3, a bit tired but confident that our first journey to Haiti was a successful one, that provided us the opportunity to meet with our Haitian adoption colleagues and together were able to advocate for the children of Haiti and for their forever families. We are encouraged ty the increased activity experienced in the past few months and are optimistic about the future of the Haiti Program.  We wanted to share our journey experience and optimism with you!

Sincerely,

Tania Griasnow

Haiti Program Coordinator 

Tania Griasnow

Program Coordinator

Haiti Adoption Update #12

Two more families from our agency received referrals this week. Unfortunately they were not for us. I'm happy that the pace is picking up with matches from our agency, but disappointed that we still waiting for our referral. Our dossier was submitted in March 2014. The two families that received referrals this week, dossiers were submitted in February and June 2014. 

Haiti Program

January 2016 Update

Dear Families,

Hope all of you and your loved ones had a wonderful holiday season and that you are enjoying the New Year! 

We are pleased to share some good news with you, in this first Haiti Program Update for 2016!  We are seeing increased activity in the process of our vintage cases! Two families received referral matches in Dec. 2015.  Both families were able to travel for their bonding trips in early Jan. 2016.  Daniel and Silvia returned to Haiti as scheduled and were able to accompany both families to the US Embassy for them to file their I-600s. The US Embassy visit went very smoothly and the families were pleased with services provided by Daniel and Silvia.  Both families were also very pleased with their bonding visits with the children as well as services provided by MDA staff.

Two more vintage family cases have received their referral matches this week! It is anticipated that these families will be able to make their bonding trips sometime in Feb. or March of this year.

We are also pleased to announce that Angela Jackson and Tania Griasnow will be traveling to Haiti in early Feb. 2016 to meet with Daniel and Silvia, IBSER officials, US Embassy officials, and staff at Maison des Anges (MDA) crèche.  The main focus of this visit will be to advocate for our vintage families and facilitate the expediting of referral matches before April 1, 2016.  We will also be seeking clarification as to what will be the process for families who will need to switch from having filed an I-600-A to filing an I-800-A.  We are optimistic that our visit will be productive, informative, and that all of us as a team will continue advocating for our families in the Haiti Program.

We are looking forward to the opportunity to share our trip experience with our families upon our return to the USA.

Warm Regards,

Tania Griasnow

Haiti Program Coordinator 

Tania Griasnow

Program Coordinator

Carolina Adoption Services