Continued from Part One...

Haitians in Haiti and around the world will celebrate Independence Day with the traditional pumpkin soup (soup joumou in Creole). Having the soup is more than part of the Haitian culture. It is a statement of their freedom. When the French were in rule, the slaves were not allowed to enjoy pumpkin soup. It was a privilege for the French colonists only. Legend has it that on the first Independence Day a celebration was held. A large pot of pumpkin soup was made in the city of Gonaives, and served to everyone present. It was a way of bonding the Haitian people, and signified... more

I have to admit that I am learning about Haiti right along with the rest of you. Yesterday, as I was celebrating New Years day with my family, a good friend emailed me and let me know that in Haiti, January 1st is Independence Day. She forwarded on several newspaper articles sharing about Haitian Independence and traditions for January 1st. I was taken back a bit, since I was unaware of this important day. I did some of my own research and learned more about Independence Day. I learned that January 2nd is also an important holiday in Haiti. In fact, Ancestors' Day, is when Independence Day is officially recognized and the celebrating takes place. Let me share a little bit about these... more

July 14, 2006 continued from Part Two...

We got back to our room around 11 pm. I was getting Georgia ready for bed and decided to tickle her. She started to half-smile. I was so excited! I kept tickling her and blowing on her tummy. She went from smiling to laughing. I was in heaven! What a beautiful sound it was to hear my sad little girl laughing! I wanted it to last forever. I felt so happy and relieved. Up until... more

July 14, 2006 continued from Part One...

The girls had a little nap afterwards. Actually, we all had a little nap. When we got up, we went up to the open-air restaurant to visit with the families who were there. We had Georgia walk, which was a slow, arduous process. She can barely walk. She had difficulty walking up steps, so Tim carried her. We hung around for a long time. Georgia pretty much sat in Tim's lap the whole time, gazing... more

July 14, 2006

We slept in a bit this morning, and lied around playing with our girls. Our room had a twin bed and a double bed. We pushed them together to make one mondo bed. The girls slept on the twin up against the wall, and I slept right next to them (on the crack) and Tim was next to me. Having the beds like that made it easy to have a large, clean, soft place for the girls to play and Talley to crawl around. Georgia never moved from where we placed her, so I guess having a big area was less necessary for her.... more

July 13, 2006 continued from Part Two...

We were at the orphanage for a very long time. It was so hot! There isn't any air-conditioning or even fans. Tim wasn't feeling too great and had to use the bathroom. He finally ended up having to use one without running water (they pull water from a well-type thing and carry it in buckets to flush toilets and other uses). A little two year old boy was in the bathroom and... more

July 13, 2006 continued from Part One...

The traffic and roads were very much like in Viet Nam and Ethiopia, in that it was chaotic. Lots of trucks and cars and exhaust. There did not seem to be any road rules other than try not to get hit. They use honking a lot, as well. There was a large truck broken down in the middle of the road and everyone just drove around it.

The streets of Port-au-Prince... more

July 13, 2006

Today is Talley's first birthday.

We did not get very much sleep last night. We woke up every half hour, thinking it was time to go, only to look at the clock and realize it was not time to get up. When it was time to get up, we both struggled. We were so sleepy. We rushed to shower and dress and made it down in the lobby barely on time. We ended up having to take the second shuttle to the airport, so we had time to sit around and wake up. I quickly checked email and sent... more

In July of 2006, we met and visited our daughters in Haiti for the first time. I kept a journal of our trip and would like to share it here. I woke up so nervous this morning. I even felt a sense of dread. I did not want to go. I was exhausted from my week of cleaning and doing laundry. I was worried about my kids and how they would fare. I was concerned about the stress I was inflicting upon loved ones who so kindly volunteered to watch our kids. I just didn't feel like going to Haiti today.

On... more

Continued from Overview of Steps in Haitian Adoption--Part One...

When your file has exited the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it will then be prepared for submittal to IBESR. IBESR is Haiti’s Social Services Department. An IBESR social worker will review your file (with your child’s information), and decide whether or not to approve of the adoption. (The director of IBESR, the IBESR lawyer, the head of adoption services at IBESR, and the IBESR social worker must all sign off on your dossier.) This process has traditionally taken the longest time to accomplish. However, there is a new... more