JUNIOR'S JOURNEY HOME: 2009-08-30

Saturday, September 5, 2009

BIG changes going on... lots of updates and several posts

When we had the reunion at the beginning of August I learned that a young girl who had lived with Akins in the orphanage in Liberia was potentially in trouble. Trouble in the sense that her adoptive mom was having problems with her (to what extent I did not know) and that the mom wanted her to go to live elsewhere. As soon as I heard this I started digging in to find out more. Well the thing with digging in to find out more is you do find out more and sometimes when you do you don't like what you find. In this case it was obvious that this girl needed help. Her name is Maima she can be seen clear back in the blog when I was in Liberia two years ago. Maima is now living with us and where this is all going no one really knows. Maima is 13 (according to the records) and she arrived last Friday. Maima started school here on Tuesday and so far so good. We are adjusting getting to know one another and have agreed to take it a day at a time. Here are some of the first pictures with Maima in our home.

Our first morning together

Maima in the pool

Are you ready to take my picture?

Maima's diving skills

I did it!

Akins Summer Swim Party

Akins turns 5 on Oct 1 and the weather is always unpredictable especially this time of year. We decided to have a summer swim party so that in the event his birthday was not so great due to weather he would still have had a good part. Here are some of the highlights.

Float wars

Michael fishing in the Koi pond (this is Akins best friend)

Kimberly was the only girl that showed up (she is planned to be Michael's future wife. At least that is what he tells everyone)

Sandbox Games

Michael and Akins on the trampoline

The Tooth Fairy Comes to Visit

Akins lost his first tooth and we managed to catpure the Tooth Fairy trying to get out of the house.

First tooth!

The payoff! Bath toys and $5.00 WOW not what I got when I was a kid!

The Tooth Fairy trying to escape!

Karen's Story

Gosh! Where to begin! Karen wants to adopt two children. She has been open to older children and both genders. After not getting a referral for a long time. Karen even applied in Ethiopia and Lesotho thus holding applications in three countries trying to broaden the options. Still no referral. Finally, Karen found Ishamel and asked about him. He is 9 years old and she has fallen in love. Still - Karen waits on a second referral. Still she holds applications in all three countries. The thought of making Ishamel wait while waiting for another referral has Karen in knots so she has made travel plans and is leaving to get Ishamel on August 23, 2007 and will likely have to make another trip for a second child! Karen has been my sounding board throughout these past few months. We got our referrals at about the same time and began holding each other together via telephone. Hang in there Karen!

Patricia's Story

This woman obviously has the patience of Job. She has waited 2 1/2 years for a child often feeling like she has been forgotten about. Finally, she got the referal for little Alomiza. After all this time and a communication failure she thought this child had been returned home. Later, it was confirmed that Alomiza is still at the house. Patricia hopes to bring her home in September but does not have specific plans yet as due to all of the waiting some of the paperwork has expired. We are all holding on to Alomiza coming home before fall!

July 19, 2007 - The Other Kids and Families

Needless to say international adoption is not an esay process. For the kids they often wait and wait. For the parents they often wait and wait! The only thing to keep everyone sane is each other. In the house there were reportedly 29 kids as of May 2007. The kids keep each other sane they play and learn together. The older kids are harder to place and often wait longer. The older kids seem mature and responsible beyond their years and are often seen caring for the smaller children. It seems to be natural and loving. Several familes are adopting more than one child so there are fewer familes. The familes stay sane by staying in contact through yahoo groups on line and the phone. By working together we learn. Without each other the process is maddening, complicated, confusing and very frustrating. There is little information provided and it is very infrequent.

July 26, 2007 - 12 day countdown!

Twelve more days until flight day! I'm starting to get anxious. I think with all of the frustrations and bad information around passports it was hard for me to "trust" that I was really going to bring Junior home. I now have tickets in hand and I'm goin'!

Heather shot off a short email today and while her arrival in Monrovia did not go exactly according to plan she did get to see the kids briefly - and she got to tell them their Mommies loved them and were coming soon - she wrote (VAL - JUNIOR WAS ALL SMILES!) I can not even explain how this made me feel and now I am really ready!

July 27, 2007 - 11 days and I can't sit still!

Unfortunately, no news from Heather today. All of us waiting families were hoping for an update from her and possisbly some photos! The mix up on her travel included not having reservations booked at the hotel where Internet is available so the communication from her is probably going to be limited. With Independance Day celebrations now complete she may be able to get better accomodations. We are all hoping for this anyway!

Yesterday, July 26th was the official Independence Day holiday Liberia was to celebrate its independence anniversary with something of a light show when Monrovia's street lights were to be turned on for the first time in 15 years, officials said on Wednesday.

Here's to PEACE, FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY in Liberia!