Lape' (Peace in Haitian Creole)

Tomorrow my dossier is suppose to leave the the US of A and be sent to Haiti. That is so weird to type- weird, but not  scary.  The Lord has given me a peace tonight that I have rarely felt in my life. God is soooo cool! As I prayed tonight for my baby girl, her family, and the other children at GLA I felt a real peace come over me about the whole adoption journey. I don't feel stressed about the time frame (not yet anyway)-which I have in the past, ask my mom and my friends =) I KNOW God has the perfect plan on when this little Baby Cakes gets to come home!

 I have prayed, and continue to pray, that God would be glorified through my adoption process- that all that endless paperwork inside that dossier point  people up to the Lord.   I think that is one reason why God gives adoptive parents the privilege adopt one of his own.

God gave me this verse tonight- 
  "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you"  

                                                                                   Thessalonians 3:16

That pretty much sums it up =) Thanks again for reading.....

Also, for some exciting news (to me)... I reached 5000 visitors to my blog =)
FYI..... I do love me some comments as well =)  

May I Have Some Prayer Warriors, Please on Jan.17th

I cut and pasted a whole lot from a fellow Haitian Adoptive Mother's blog- http://overthebrim-thieszen.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow is a big day for orphans in Haiti! Please read on:

She writes: "Please be praying tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17th for 700+ Haitian orphanage directors, and the new director of IBESR (Haitian Social Services) as they meet to discuss the issues with Haitian adoptions! This is a HUGE opportunity for God's pro-adoption heart to be heard through these directors as they make their plees with the new director to make changes in the adoption processes. 

This meeting has the potential to break through the LONG timeline of this process and therefore we are praying for God's mighty Spirit to be filling that room tomorrow on behalf of every little orphan waiting for a home as well as on behalf of these orphanage directors who clearly have a heart to see these orphans find their forever families.

Please pray for the new director to be open and convicted and convinced that God's design for adoption needs to be implemented in a much more manageable way in Haiti. She has been heard saying she is not necessarily against adoption, but she sees it as a last resort, which has not been encouraging to hear. We are simply praying for her eyes, ears, and heart to be open to the plees of these directors and the children they represent.

Ultimately we are praying that no matter what happens in this meeting, God would be honored, these orphaned children would be placed as a priority, and all of the discussion would be directed towards positive change.  "

4:53 pm on Jan. 12, 2010 --Changed Haiti Forever

On Jan. 12, 2010...... 

• A massive earthquake struck Haiti at 4:53 p.m.
• The 7.0 magnitude quake's epicenter hit just 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince and its 2 million inhabitants.
• One out of every 10 people in Port-au-Prince died
• It was the strongest earthquake in that region since 1770
• 3 million people in need of emergency aid after major earthquake
• The major quake sent 33 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.2 to 5.9
• 316,000 people died
• Since the earthquake, 500,000 people have been infected and 7,000 killed by cholera which was traced back to a UN team from Nepal that came to help


It's strange how one year can change your perspective......last year on Jan. 12, 2011, I felt sad as I remembered all the people who died in the earthquake. I most likely watched a few YouTube videos on the destruction and moved on to my next day. But, this year on Jan. 12, 2012, I had a different perspective. I have had the privilege to meet families who have been forever changed by the Haiti earthquake.These families are now part of my support system for my adoption journey =) 

This past summer I attended the GLA reunion in August where I met some families whose adoptive children were part of the "Haiti 80".  Eighty children from GLA came to the USA shortly after the earthquake to be united reunited with their forever families.

The families AMAZING stories are told on the GLA blog through the blog post, titled:

Two Years Since the Quake- Parents Look Back , is most definitely a MUST read!!! (Click on the title, it is linked to the post page).

Thank you sooo much to all who worked hard to bring the stories to us!!!!

Please join me as I continue to pray for the families of the "Haiti 80" and the people of Haiti.  

LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of Paper!!!

Tomorrow some of my paperwork gets sent to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago, IL to be legalized. =) =)  This is the LAST step for the stateside portion of this international adoption process (wow- that is fun to type). 

It really seems surreal... I feel like I have been working on this paper collection project for such a long time and so much emotion goes into the paperwork and it is so close to going to GLA.

I wanted to share what actually goes into a dossier...all 70 ish pages of it!

I loved being able to check off when I had collected the document!

___      Letter to IBESR (Haitian to Social Services)

___      Power of Attorney

___      Home Study

___      Psychological Evaluation

___      Health Certificate

___      Reference Letters (2)

___      Birth Certificate

___      Letter  from current work place

___      Letter from bank

___      Criminal record check

___      Signed statement from translator

___      Approval from USCIS to adopt (Form I-171H)

___      Copy of recent bank statement

___      Copy of last year’s Federal Tax return

___      Lab tests

___      Haiti Progress Report Agreement

___      ID photos and other photos included with dossier

___      Adoptive Parent Information Form 

___      Photocopy of driver’s license

___      Photocopy of social security card

___      Photocopy of Bethany Christian Services’ license 

___      Photocopy of Social Worker’s license  

Half of the documents above need to be translated into French as well- and those documents go along with the dossier. It might not seem like a lot - but trust me- IT IS!!! 

Paperwork Pregnancy/Delivery (AKA... Dossier Prep)

 I have been waiting 7 months to type this sentence on this blog... so here goes-

"I AM DONE WITH MY DOSSIER!!!" YEA!!!!! 

God is soooo good!!!! 

Here is a good explanation of what a dossier actually is from www.adoption.com:

"Although it sounds presumptuous, a dossier (pronounced “doss-e-A”) is really just a collection of papers containing very detailed information about you. The vast majority of countries open to international adoption require prospective adoptive parents to compile a dossier. Compiling a dossier involves gathering documents, having these documents notarized, and then adding various seals from your county, your state, and the U.S. government. "

All the copies- they are real heavy!

My mom helped me- it was nice to have two sets of eyes! 

There is all 7 copies!!!

Safety first!! Precious cargo!

Me at Kinkos/Fed Ex putting on the final touches 

8 lb of paperwork bound for MI first and then HAITI !!!!!

 I will write more later about what went into my dossier but I wanted to get a post done on the day I mailed it off (it also happens to be my Dad's 72nd birthday)! I am planning on printing all the posts of this blog and make it into a pre-baby book for Baby Cakes to read when she is ready!

Learn a Bit About Haiti

I came across this information about Haiti and found it quite interesting .... hopefully you will too!

Haiti is only 960 km SE of Miami (a 1 1/2 hour flight), yet worlds apart. Lying in the Caribbean Sea, just southeast of Cuba, Haiti occupies the western 1/3 of the island of Hispaniola, with the Dominican Republic occupying the eastern 2/3. Two hundred years ago, Haiti was a very prosperous French colony. Then, in 1804 the black slaves staged history's only successful black slave revolt, and the world's first black republic was born. Today, 95% of Haitians are black and 5% are whites, middle easterners and mulattos (the descendents of slave/slavemaster children). Despite their small numbers, mulattos make up 1/2 of the countries elite and control most of the country's economy. Haiti is an Indian word meaning "high ground." Two thirds of Haiti is covered with mountains. Deforestation is a huge problem in Haiti. Over 95% of the trees have been cut down and used for firewood (charcoal) and construction. The massive cutting of trees combined with the mountainous slopes has created an environmental and humanitarian nightmare. Massive erosion has led to decreased productivity of the land, which has in turn led to an increase in poverty and hunger. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and according to UN statistics, the second most food insecure nation in the world. More than 75-80% of the 7.3 million Haitians do not have enough food on a regular basis and only 20% of Haitians have access to safe drinking water. 75% of Haitians live below the World Bank's absolute poverty level. The annual income in Haiti is less than $250 per year. Cite Soleil, a slum in Port au Prince, has 200,000 people "living" in desperately inhumane conditions on 5 square kilometers of land. The Human Development Index for Haiti (which measures longevity, knowledge and standard of living) is the lowest of any country outside of Africa. Haiti's predominate religion is a mix of Catholicism and voodoo; Operation World states that voodoo in Haiti is a 'pervasive evil that affects every level of society'. The infant mortality rate is over 97 per 1,000 live births, compared with approximately 3 per 1,000 in Canada. Despite mandatory school attendance, UNICEF has found that less than 20% of Haitian children actually attend secondary-school and only 4% of those actually graduate. 80% of the population is illiterate. Many Haitians, adults as well as children, live in conditions which are worse than most pets in North America. Haitian children grow up in a society plagued by political unrest, fears, superstitions, witchcraft, illiteracy, and poverty. Yet despite the obstacles which the Haitian people face, they maintain a sense of dignity and pride which is very amazing and inspiring to witness. Haitians maintain a sense of hope and respect in the face of grinding poverty. This sense of hope in the face of such desperate poverty is summed up by what was written on a T-shirt worn by a Haitian lady walking through a desperately poor area of Port au Prince, "Despite all of my problems, I am proud to be Haitian." Information was "copied and pasted" from Haiti's Children Home website