Small things can make a difference

This is the water filter that was installed in the orphanage. I wish i could give the person that kindly donated this great thing a big hug. so far I have not heard of any of the kids being sick all of the updates i have heard about have looked healthy and good. we do have one little sweet girl that was sick on our June trip but they have been giving her medicine and taking her to the doctor and her last picture she looked like she was getting better but we should all keep her in our prayers.

This shows you how little things to us are such a big blessing to our Orphanage. so I want to thank any one who has given just simple little things such as medicine,clothes,beef jerky,crackers,or anything that you thought are sweet kids would need.
"every little thing adds up and is making a difference!!"

Missing a Thrid world restaurant

I have been missing the food at our Hotel,but maybe it is the company we share when we are there?? This is from our first trip when we met the kids. poor Yonelson was so sick,but he is doing so much better last we heard.

At least a response....

I received this letter today from our Senator, I feel good that at least I know I made him aware of the situation in Haiti with Adoption's and I hope he takes it to heart and help make a change.

UGH....This week has been

This week has been a hard one emotionally, I have been thinking about the kids alot and missing them. I hope all our phone calls and letter writing will at least get people to notice the system and see that it's not helping any one and these are people life's and something needs to change to speed up and get the kids home to a loving family.
well Hopefully we will hear when the upcoming trip is, We can not wait to hug the kids again and see that they are doing fine.
we miss you guys so much.

August up-dates

Nerlande is doing well and seems healthy,they say she plays with Yonelson.
she looks cute as ever we love the up-dates but they also make you sad because they all ways look a little bit older.
Yonelson is doing great,. His emotional state seems to be improving since January 2009. Yonelson seems to interact with other children at orphanage and at times can be observed smiling.
we can almost see a smile in this picture. We are glad that the up-date picture of the kids we have read about so far are looking very healthy looks like the donations we are taking down seems to be helping .Thank you to all that have donated and help the O!!
I can not wait to go back in October,they say the teacher has been coming every week in July and some of the kids are saying stuff in English.
we miss you guys !! love you so much Mom&Dad

Tropical storm Ana

This weekend lets keep Haiti in our Prayers the 1st Tropical Storm in the Atlantic has formed and is projected to hit Haiti on Tuesday the winds should be about 80 mph but they say it could change so lets pray it will change or at least not get stronger. then what is bad is there is one right behind it named Bill so we will keep Haiti In our prayers and those sweet kids and the people that help the orphanage in our prayers.

You know what you could do today

We have received this from our adoption coordinator Chareyl, and we would love everyone we know to please help us to send out the word that we would like a change in the adoption laws for Haiti .
we just want our kids home and to be able to love them and take care of them. so we wont have our kids hurting for no reason over in Haiti. If you would like to send pictures of our kids please use any of them to show them these are real peoples life's that they can change.

Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative

Dear Friends,

Over the past three years, the processing of adoptions in Haiti have slowed to a crawl. Abandoned children are enduring adoption processes lasting two or three years before being united with adoptive families.

Not only is such lasting institutional care damaging to the children who wait and wait, but the slowed process has had a negative effect on the many desperately needy children of Haiti who are not waiting in orphanages. Orphanages in Haiti have traditionally been providers of humanitarian aid to their communities. Many support free medical clinics, schools, feeding programs and family preservation programs. Orphanages have been a resource for temporary care for children following a family crisis, such as a fire or illness. But now that children are languishing in orphanage care for years, orphanage directors report that the beds are full, the food and medicine supplies are insufficient, and the children needing temporary care are left on the streets with little prospect for life.

In a laudable effort to move towards transparent and democratic government, Haitian officials are now adhering to the Haitian Constitutional law regarding adoption, written in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier. While the law of 1974 places severe limitations on the size and age of those who may adopt, it does allow for Presidential Dispensation for those not meeting the family size or age limitations. Unfortunately, Haiti lacks an organized and transparent system for obtaining Dispensations. This confusion along with the absence of a sense of urgency regarding institutionalized children has caused extensive delays in the adoption process and further victimizes children who have already lost much.

Haiti has a pending solution to this legal logjam. A newly proposed adoption law will clarify who may adopt, increase protections for Haitian children, their birth parents, and adoptive families, and streamline the adoption process. This legislation is supported by the United States and French governments along with the NGO community and UNICEF.

The children of Haiti, the crèche directors who serve them and the adoptive families who wish to raise them need your help. We must encourage the Haitian government to pass the new adoption law and efficiently grant Dispensations in the interim.


What can you do? Make five simple phone calls and write one letter.

1. Call your U.S. Senator.
· You can find your Senators’ phone numbers at www.senate.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

2. Call your second U.S. Senator.

3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative.
· You can find your representative at www.house.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff


4. Call or fax UNICEF Haiti
· Ask to speak with Julie Bergeron
· Their number is 011-509- 2245-3525
· Their fax number is 011-502- 2245-1877
Their email address is jbergeron@unicef.org
Please note that calls and faxes to Haiti are international calls

5. Write letters for the Haitian Prime Minister, President of the Haitian Senate, and the Minister of Social Welfare.
· Your letter can contain the same information as specified below. If you are an adoptive family or are close to a Haitian-born adopted child, insert a picture of the child or your family in your letter.
· Describe your family’s commitment to Haitian culture and the country’s well being as a result of your contact with a Haitian-born adopted child.
· Mail your letter to Holt International, which has volunteered to collect letters and transport them to Haiti for hand delivery to the above government officials.

Holt International
Haitian Children & Families Initiative
P.O. Box 2880
Eugene, OR 97402

6. Forward this message to everyone you know who cares about the welfare of abandoned children in Haiti. Individuals need not be personally involved in a Haitian adoption to let their voices be heard on behalf of children who have no one to speak for them!


When should you call? August 13th, 14th, and 17th

· For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window!


What should you say or write to member of the U.S. Congress? Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· Inform them that you are calling regarding Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
· Inform them that the Haitian international adoption process is unreasonably delayed.
· Inform them that children referred to U.S. families are languishing in institutions
· Inform them that the backlog of children in the process of adoption is preventing orphanages, who serve as local humanitarian aid providers, from continuing to assist their communities.
· Inform them that due to the interruption of services provided by the orphanages, Haitian children outside the orphanages are needlessly dying.
· Ask that their office to sign the Dear Colleague letter regarding the pending Haitian adoption law, sponsored by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Senator Sam Brownback. The letter asks that adoptions currently in process be speedily granted Presidential Dispensation and that the new adoption law be passed.

Sample Statement

Hello,

We are calling/writing on behalf of the Haitian Children & Families Initiative. We, as your constituents, are asking that the Senator/Congressperson sign the Dear Colleague letter regarding the pending Haitian adoption law, sponsored by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Senator Sam Brownback.

As you may be aware, the Haitian adoption process is unreasonably delayed. Children already matched with adoptive families are languishing in orphanages for two and three years. The orphanages, which have traditionally served as humanitarian aid outreach centers, have run out of resources and are no longer able to offer assistance to their communities. Haitian children outside the orphanages are dying needlessly as a direct result of the delayed adoptions.

Your office must get involved and sign the Dear Colleague letter to support the Haitian government in their effort to assist the homeless and abandoned children of Haiti.

Sincerely,




What should you say or write to UNICEF? Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· Inform them that you are calling regarding the Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
· Ask them to support the rights of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that intercountry adoptions currently in-process be speedily processed to completion under the existing Presidential Dispensation clause.
· Inform them that many adoptions are taking two or three years to process, during which time children languish in orphanages.
· Inform them that due to the overextension of their resources, orphanages are no longer able to provide their traditional humanitarian aid services to their communities, such as free schools, medical care, temporary child care for families in crisis, and family preservation programs.
· Inform them that as a direct result of the orphanage’s inability to provide humanitarian aid due to overly taxed resources, children are needlessly dying in the streets outside the orphanages.
· Ask them again for their support of the Presidential Dispensation and the swift passage of the new adoption law.

Sample Statement

Hello,

· We are calling/writing on behalf of the Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
· . As financial supporters of UNICEF (through our tax dollars), we are asking that UNICEF lends its support and considerable influence to the Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative

As you may be aware, the Haitian adoption process is unreasonably delayed.
Children already matched with adoptive families are languishing in orphanages for two and three years. The orphanages, which have traditionally served as humanitarian aid outreach centers, have run out of resources and are no longer able to offer assistance to their communities. Haitian children outside the orphanages are dying needlessly as a direct result of the delayed adoptions.


UNICEF must get involved to ensure that adoptions in process be speedily granted Presidential Dispensation so that they can be completed in a timely manner, and that the new adoption law be passed.

Sincerely,





Can you explain the problem behind the current crisis? Here is some additional information…
· The current constitutional law, written in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier, severely restricts who may adopt from Haiti. The only method by which the Haitian government may permit adoptions to non-conforming families is via Presidential Dispensation.
· The lack of a defined and efficient Dispensation process has caused delays of up to three years for children in the adoption process. Prolonged institutionalization has been scientifically proven to be highly detrimental to children.
· As orphanages expend their limited resources caring for children in the process of adoption over extended periods, they are unable to provide their traditional humanitarian aid programs to their communities.
· The existing adoption law provides almost no protection for the rights of abandoned children, their birth parents, or adoptive families. It offers no safe guards against human trafficking.
· A proposed adoption law will alleviate the crisis by standardizing and streamlining adoptions, and will far better protect abandoned Haitian children from child trafficking.

What else can you do? In addition to your primary calls to U.S. Congress and UNICEF, you can call the Haitian Embassy:


Embassy of Haiti in the U.S.
2311 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Office Phone 1- 202.332.4090
Office Fax 1- 202-745-7215
embassy@haiti.org

WOW 14

Wow it just doesn't feel like we have been married that long today is mine and Dave's anniversary. This time last year we just did not know how much life would change we started talking about adopting and we started doing research on different country's and programs, then we had a few family trips and then Dave's little brother got hurt in the beginning of Oct. so we had to fly out to Pennsylvania then we where finally able to get him flown home on a med airplane to IHC Hospital in Murray,Utah. so while Dave was visiting his brother I had gone back to Wasatch web page of waiting children in Haiti and thats when I saw the picture that changed our family's life.so alot has changed in a year we have had great times and bad times but i feel so blessed to share all this time with my best friend and eternity partner. I love you beyond words and look forward to more ups and downs for years to come.

Trials are blessings

We are so proud of you Mikey you have come along way in less then a year i was so impressed by how you take time to sign autographs for all the kids and when people say you are there hero you tell them thank you for supporting you. You truly are a great man. I feel very blessed to have you in my life. In life we get trials that turn out to be blessings we need to remember that he only gives us things we can handle. I can not wait for Yonelson and Nerlande to met you. Thanks for letting us come along on this great trip and seeing you in action very impressive.

What a great family

We have been in Dayton Ohio for the past 3 days helping Dave's little Brother Promote his Clothing company he started when he came out of his coma he has always wanted to start one and when he had his accident we decide to help him so he could get some money to cover the medical bills. you should check out the cool website Dave's little sister did and the most touching video clip that Dave put together to help people realize the depth of Mikey's injury. so if you get a chance take a look at it . His little brother is such a amazing guy to have come along as far as he has. The website address is mikeaitken.com

Just missing you guys

I love these pictures of Dave and the kids (see Honey Nerlande does love you) If you guys have talked to Dave They have a love and Hate relationship,but always when its time to leave Haiti she is warming up to Dave maybe this time when we go it will be better for them sooner:)

You need to change this

IBSER asked us to redo some paper work It makes you feel somewhat good that they must be looking at your file but then you have to go back and change papers and get it notarized and then have to take it to the capitol and send it back to Haiti...But at least they are looking at the papers.

We have been busy with helping Dave's little brother with starting his own clothing company and next week we are traveling to Ohio for a show. He is doing so much better since his accident last Oct. we are so proud of the way he has worked hard, plus we have been trying to start with the school shopping since my kids start school in 19 days. I am a little sad that the kids will be going back to school I love having them around. It just doesn't feel like fall should just be right around the corner.