17 Jan 2012
Adoptive Parent Perspectives – Guest Post Series by Rori Hartzell
Rori and her husband Ryan recently got back from their first trip to GLA as part of the process of adopting two of our TH (Toddler House) kids. I’ve had a number of very good and very enjoyable conversations with Rori both before they went and after they got back. I asked her if she would be willing to blog about her trip once she got home. She graciously agreed to do so.
This is the first installment of it – I’m probably going to run one a week. Oh and she has a lot of pictures too!
When Tom asked me to share a little about our recent trip to GLA, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to share some of the most specialmoments in my life with others who have a heart for Haiti, GLA, and the children. I am finding it more difficult than expected to choose which stories to share, which thoughts I should communicate, and where to begin. So I will just start…..
Finally, the day had arrived when my husband Ryan and I were headed to Haiti to meet our children, “J” and “K”. The journey that God started over 2 years ago was finally allowing us to step foot in Haiti, be at GLA, and love our children in person. “J” is an 11 year old sweet, strong, and caring girl and “K” is a 10 years old amazing, fun loving, and smiley boy. Both of the kids live at the Toddler House. While we were somewhat prepared for what amazing children “J” & “K” were, we were not prepared for how truly special all 63 kids currently living at the Toddler House are!To learn that only 11 of those 63 kids have waiting families just absolutely broke our hearts! These children need a mommy, daddy, siblings, a loving home, stability, and a hope at the future that God intended for them.
More later…
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Want to make a difference for the kids in Haiti? Consider donating.
Does GLA have a list of children who are waiting to be adopted? I can’t find it on the website if it exists. It might help children be adopted more quickly if there was a photolisting of waiting children.
Also I can’t understand why some provinces in Canada are still closed to adoptions from Haiti since the earthquake. We live in British Columbia, Canada and our province won’t let anyone adopt from Haiti.
Melina Thibodeau
January 20th, 2012 at 1:05 ampermalink
Melina, I can’t answer why some of the provinces are still closed. My “gut” feeling says that it’s because there are people in the government who feel that Haiti “isn’t working” enough to process adoptions yet. Obviously it’s still Haiti but it is working.
As far as a photolisting of the children, unfortunately the Haitian government has very strong rules against that and won’t allow us to. Their concerns about child trafficking take precedence over the additional exposure that would bring.
Thanks for asking the hard questions and keep on pushing!
Tom
TomVanderwell
January 20th, 2012 at 3:39 pmpermalink