Merry Christmas!

The Nutcracker

22 Dec 2008
Saturday we had a very rare opportunity to take a large group of kids on an outing. A Haitian dance school was putting on “The Nutcracker Ballet” at a high school nearby. They heard of GLA through a random connection and offered free tickets to as many children from the orphanage as we wanted to bring. What a thoughtful thing to do!! Joyce and I at times will take kids out for a special treat but with only on vehicle, and only 10-12 children at a time. This day however Dixie also drove a car, and James, giving us the capacity to seat 22 kids, as well as volunteers and some staff! We took all the kids that were just under 5 years and everyone older. It just so happened that it turned out to be 11 girls and 11 boys, perfectly even. The girls got their hair done the day before, which was great, cause had we waited till Saturday morning to do it there would have been no way we’d have left the house at 9:30am. Everyone got to get dressed up in a new outfit including new footwear! Our kids are so many different shapes and sizes that it took a little time to find the perfect fit for everyone, but by the time Dixie and James arrived at Kay B to pick up part of the group everyone was standing at the gate and excited to go. The drive down took only a short 25 minutes (seemed like a breeze compared to the previous days travel) and there was even parking by the school where the ballet was hosted! We unloaded and found seats on the balcony level so the kids would be above everyone else and could see better. Then they all put on their florescent pick wrist bands (tickets) and waited expectantly. They waited and waited and waited.. and were SO GOOD about it. I could hardly believe how patient they were. An hour and a half after scheduled show time the music started. Only in Haiti. It was beautiful, the kids were captivated. I watched their expressions more than I watched the show.

Each one liked a different dance in the ballet, or a different costume. The dancers were very good, and the costumes were bright and colorful. At one point there were little 6 year olds standing just off stage in red dressed with golden angel wings. Evna could see them standing there and was so interested she missed the rest of the current scene and tilted her head to try and get a better look at these little girls that were her age. The program lasted about 90 minutes which was perfect for our group. They were starting to get tired. All the dancers came back out on stage and everyone stood up and clapped for them, and then to the surprise and excitement of many many children who were there they announced that each and every child would receive a gift. There must have been over 300 kids there from different orphanages and schools, and each one received a sturdy should green shoulder bag and a brand new soccer ball. What a treat!!! All greatly enjoyed it, and it will be a memory these kids take with them from Haiti and all the way Home, the Christmas they watched “The Nutcracker Ballet”.
Molly

Thanksgiving at the Toddler House

THIS IS A POST FROM THE TODDLER HOUSE REGARDING HOW THE CHILDREN CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING:

Most Thanksgiving’s the kids enjoy a little change to the menu and an extra large portion of some great turkey. But in previous years I don’t think they’ve really gotten it. This year we celebrated the Wednesday before American Thanksgiving. The wonderful ladies in the kitchen at the main house cooked & carved two beautiful birds for us on Tuesday, so we were all set to go. Joyce and I explained the traditions behind the holiday to the staff and the kids several times over Monday and Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning the house was hopping! Even the staff got excited telling us what they were thankful for. Joyce got everyone to work decorating in our regular Toddler House celebration apparel, balloons, streamers, and homemade construction paper signs designed by our kids exclusively for the day. Ghislaine, our head cook, prepared garden rice and fried plantain, while Joyce and I put together some fresh dinner rolls, snow dusted cupcakes, and fall leaf jello jigglers. Dinner was set for 12:30pm. Rose Mitha, Chalinda, and Peterson proudly finished off the last touches to the dining room decor before we kicked them out to begin serving. In an attempt to prevent a stampede and keep all the plates from meeting and untimely demise on the floor we dished all the food up before letting the kids inside. As six of us went about this the hand washing bucket was carried out to the play yard, thus the time had come. We began to hear chanting and realized that we were in over our heads, the excitement for the meal and the surprise of the decorations was too much for them to wait any longer. We hurriedly put the last spoons on the table (everything here is served with spoons) and began to let the kids in four at a time to go find a place at one of the five tables. With eyes ever so wide the first dozen walked in scoping out the plates, knowing they had the best pick. Everyone had their own top priority, they wanted the larger pile of rice, the meat with the bone, the orange sucker topped cupcake, or the seat on the end (minimal elbowing!). Finally everyone was settled in and though Daralyne and Cindy Love were sure they could sneak a bite before prayer without anyone noticing they were caught red handed and everyone had to sit with arms folded to keep from being tempted. Prayer was said with such enthusiasm by all, I have no doubts they were thankful for what God had blessed each with this year, and especially for the special meal He had provided. It was one of the quietest Toddler House meals in my memory. Seven year old, Ermithe, holds the new record for turkey consumption, thanks to many children not being able to finish and sliding their portion over onto her plate. The smaller children conked out soon after lunch and slept soundly until woken up around 3pm. But there was no stopping our older 20 children, who were too excited to settle down and played games, made crafts, and chatted about “Danksgivin” until late that night. I am so blessed to be a part of the Toddler House family and all its inhabitants. If space permitted, I would love to list them all here, because to group them all together seems to diminish in some way the importance of each individual person that makes us this family. But I fear it would bore many or perhaps amuse them in trying to pronounce the rich Creole names that so many of our children possess. In any case I hope that if you will be encouraged to know that your prayers, your love, and your encouragement to us help to make this house a home and a family to these amazing children for the time however long or short that God blesses us with their presence here.
Molly

December Update

Sonise has recently been learning to crochet. One of the nannies at the main house has been teaching her, and Sonise is really enjoying herself. My grandmother loves to crochet and I know she will enjoy working with Sonise when she comes home.

Chalinda is very much enjoying the many new kids who have moved to the toddler house recently. Chalinda loves “mothering” the younger kids, some of her favorite children went home not too long ago. However, she is now quite happy to have lots of new little girls and boys who she can carry around and play with and generally spoil!

Neissa is quite the little hairdresser! She is always ready to braid the hair of any visitor who comes into the yard and is willing to let her. Neissa is often carrying around a comb for just this occasion, as well. Sometimes it is a doll’s comb and other times it is one of the combs that the nannies have used to braid her hair.

December Discouragement

Honestly, sometimes I feel like we are taking one step forward and two steps back in this adoption journey. There were 11 dossiers that came out of Parquet over the Thanksgiving weekend. I was hoping and praying that one of them was ours, but no.

Then I was informed that Parquet has been rejecting dossiers that do not meet the requirements of the new law which was only recently passed. Apparently there was to be no grandfathering people in! Of course, under the old law, you could have no more than 3 biological children but as many adopted children as you wanted, they didn't count! The new law states that you can have no more than 2 children, adopted or otherwise. Our dossier hasn't been kicked out yet... which unbelievably may not be a blessing because the two courts met and agreed that there would be a grace period for all dossiers in through Janaury 7, 2009. Any dossiers that had been rejected would be sent in bulk to get a PRESIDENTIAL DISPENSATION! Our dossier hasn't been rejected yet so ours will not be in the first bulk of dossiers sent for dispensation.

Then in a second e-mail I was informed that Haiti has added one more step to the adoption procees. Another Minister will need to stamp our paperwork after the courts and Minister of the Interior approve our adoption. This new step is expected to add another 2-4 weeks to the process.

I am not one given to crying but I feel like I could seriously lose it right about now! Please keep us in your prayers.