Recently, rapper Wyclef Jean was honored with a new role as an ambassador to his native Haiti.

Rapper and producer Wyclef Jean has gladly accepted the position of roving ambassador for his native Haiti.

The rapper, who founded the Yele Haiti Foundation to help the struggling country, told the Caribbean Media Corporation, "I thank President Preval and it's an honor for me to have the opportunity to serve my country as a roving ambassador. I will continue to do the best I can to help change... more

In 2004, after a revolt that led President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to flee Haiti, The United Nation’s (UN) Security Council issued a resolution to establish a peacekeeping force in Haiti (MINUSTAH). MINUSTAH currently employs more than 6,600 military personnel and over 1,700 police officers, as well as hundreds of civilian staff assisting the people of Haiti.

Some adoptive parents have expressed concern over the fact that the mandate was set to expire in February of this year. Without the UN, some adoptive parents feared that rioting and... more

Continued from Surviving the Wait--Part Two...

If you already have children at home, then your waiting will be different. In some ways, it will not be as difficult as it is for those without children. You will be busy with the children already home. You will feel just as worried for your new child and be just as desperate to get them home, but you will also have children to cuddle and love and keep you on your toes. Part of your wait will... more

Continued from Surviving the Wait—Part One…

Here are some things one could do to make the waiting more bearable, if you do not already have children at home:

1. Get the new child’s room ready. This might include cleaning out a room already in use. You may want to paint or wallpaper the room, and choose an appropriate bedding set. You may need to buy a crib or new bed, put up new curtains, shampoo the carpet or refinish wood flooring. This project... more

One of the drawbacks to Haitian adoption is the length of time it takes to complete an adoption and have your child home. It seems that many international adoption programs have been getting longer, as well. The difference between other programs and the Haiti program, is how you wait.

Once you have a completed adoption dossier (and sometimes before), you are presented with the referral of a child. Then your paperwork begins its long journey in the Haitian system. With many other international programs, the long... more

It has been brought to my attention that the new IBESR rules are out. I found this wonderful information on the Haiti IBESR Updates website:

The following is a list of the newest adoption requirements as posted from IBESR to three orphanages:

• Copies of each parent-to-be's photo IDs is now required as part of the dossier. This has always been required. However, it is now being enforced. Copies of the photo ID should be front and back and can be a driver's license or passport. • Parent(s) can be at least 30 years old. (If married, one must be 30, the other at least 28.) • If you are married, you should... more

July 15, 2006 continued from Part Three...

When we got back to the hotel, I asked the director of Talley's orphanage, Harry (who was our driver that day), to tell Georgia that she was going to be in Talley's orphanage. I asked him to tell her that we were her parents and that we had come to visit her, and would come back another time. Georgia burst into tears. It was the most emotion I had ever seen from her. It broke my heart.

We... more

July 15, 2006 continued from Part Two...

On the way there, we stopped at a roadside market and a few families did some drive-by shopping. I was holding one of the lady's baby girl and she pooped on me. By the time we got to the new orphanage site, she had pooped all over her mom and my leg and tummy. In Haiti, these sorts of things barely phase ya! I just wiped myself off with lots... more

July 15, 2006 continued from Part One...

Our adoption coordinators immediately went to work weighing the kids and taking photos of them. I was so impressed with how hard they work and how much effort they put into every little aspect of our adoptions. After the kids were weighed and got their photos taken, they were given a lollipop. They loved it. The kids were playing with the adults, climbing in and out of the pick-up... more

July 15, 2006

This morning we were up and ready to leave by 10 am to go see Talley's orphanage in Petionville. We waited in the restaurant for almost two hours before the drivers came to retrieve us. Most of the group went, and so they arrived in two pick-up trucks. One had a king cab and so a few of the moms and a dad sat in the cabs with babies, while the older kids and the rest of the adults piled into the beds of the trucks. There were 28 people going (including the children and the two drivers). It... more