The End...And The Beginning!

Well, I started this blog to keep our friends and family informed of our adoption process of Trey Amos. Little did we know how many people would end up following this blog and especially how many people would reach out to us and support us during our two week nightmare after the Haitian disaster, not knowing if we would ever be able to have our son come home! Thank you all for your prayers, your support, your letter writing, and your encouragement!

Trey Amos is finally here to stay. I like to joke that it's been a four year gestation period and 15 days of labor!!! SO GLAD IT'S OVER!

We are enjoying life...playing, singing, talking, eating, sleeping, and pooping (can't forget to mention the pooping...it's been a little overwhelming for Mommy and Daddy just how much poop a 13 month old can produce in one day)!

We're just going to be "lying low" as a family for while, letting Trey Amos adjust to his new home and start the attachment process to us. So we won't be getting out much, but at this point, that is what's best for this little munchkin who's already been through so much trauma.

So, I guess this is the end of this blog! Thank you to all of you! I will leave you with some pictures of the little superstar at home. Please keep following Dixie's blog at www.glahaiti.org and please continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

Our Little Angel Comes Home

As I mentioned, we finally got "the call" on Tuesday at about 1:30 and were on a plane for Ottawa at 3:00. We arrived in Ottawa around midnight and stayed overnight in a hotel. We took the shuttle to Hangar 11 at about noon.

Here is the inside of the hangar.


A paramedic bus pulled in and this is where, later on, we had to take Trey Amos for his medical exam. They had a pediatrician and some nurses checking out all the children as this is a necessary part of the adoption process before the child leaves Haiti.


We then were escorted by the CIC staff (wearing red shirts that said "Operation Stork") into a lounge in the hangar.


All the parents waited and waited in the lounge. You can see the big windows that we were all looking out of for the plane to arrive. It was awesome to meet all the other Canadian GLA parents...all of whom we had corresponded with via email or phone but many of whom we had not met in person before.



Finally the huge Air Transat plane arrived! Everyone was crowded around the window watching with anticipation!



And then the door opened and the children started coming out! They were bundled in blankets, carried by the escorts. There were 20 children from God's Littlest Angels on the flight (out of 52 children) and they were escorted by Dixie, Molly, Susan, Joyce, Brad, and Lois who all work at GLA. Everyone was cheering and crying when the children started coming down the stairs.

The children started coming though the doors...bundled in blankets so they were hard to recognize! Here you can see Dixie with the red hair.


Friend and fellow adoptive mom, Melanie, has baby Mikey and is talking to Dixie.


And then we saw Brad coming in carrying Trey Amos, bundled in a blanket and wearing an Air Transat cap.


We were so happy and thrilled to be reunited with our son! This time, forever! His eyes lit up when he saw us, and we believe he recognized us from our visit just a month ago in Haiti!




All the children were wearing bracelets for identification.


It took about six hours for us to get through Immigration and Medical. Once we did, we headed back to the airport and caught the first flight home! Trey Amos was pretty enthralled with the TV!


He played so nice the whole ride home (we even had to connect in Calgary) and finally fell asleep.


When we arrived at the Edmonton airport, Grandma V, Brady's basketball team and their parents and some friends were there to meet us! It was so good to be home!


We still keep saying to ourselves, "this is real...he's really here! To stay!" It's just so hard to believe! Trey Amos is doing well...it is a huge adjustment for him obviously. Even though he met us before, now he is missing everyone and everything else in his life he has ever known! So he is in our arms all day long...he does not want to be put down for a second. It will take some time for him to learn that he is safe here and that he is not going to have to go through another big traumatic move like that!

Anyways, we just thank everyone for their prayers, support, letter writing, baby clothes, EVERYTHING! We are so very blessed to have Trey Amos in our lives!

27 January 2010: "Gotcha Day"!

Wow...we are so grateful, happy, and exhausted. Trey Amos is home...sleeping like an angel upstairs in our room. It has been an incredible, long day, and I will tell you all about it tomorrow...but for now thank you to all and good night!

Eek...It's So Close We Can Hardly Stand It!

Hey everyone...sorry I didn't call anyone before we left (mom and dad). We literally got the confirmation that Trey's flight would be in tomorrow and the flight we had to leave on was in 2 hours! So we had to book the tickets, finish packing, and rush to the airport immediately!

We've arrived safe and sound in Ottawa and found a hotel near the airport. We will meet up with the other families sometime tomorrow morning.

Dixie, Molly, Joyce, and Susan, I believe, will be escorting the kids. And they all had to sleep overnight tonight at the Canadian Embassy! The Embassy wouldn't let them come in the morning, even though the plane was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am...they had to all sleep there overnight! So I wonder how that's going?

We are SO excited to see our precious baby tomorrow! It is just unbelievable! We never imagined when we left him behind in December that we would see him again in a month!

Thanks to EVERYONE for your messages, emails, phone calls, etc. This little guy does not know how loved he is! Ok, well, we'll be sure to get some good pictures tomorrow. We brought some nice snuggly warm clothes for the harsh Canadian climate too! Poor little fella.

We're Off!

Ottawa! Right now! Trey arrives tomorrow at 1300 hours!

We THOUGHT We Knew Something

CIC (Immigration) called tonight saying the destination is OTTAWA and that the plane will arrive Wednesday or possibly very early Thursday morning.

And then they cautioned me that this was all still tentative information.

We hope the Embassy in Haiti can confirm early tomorrow morning so we can at least get on a plane to Ottawa tomorrow. Crazy.

Ok...We Know SOMETHING Now At Least!

We've been sitting here wondering if we should fly to Montreal on the 5:30 pm flight leaving this afternoon, or book the 6:30 am for tomorrow morning!

I just got an email saying that the Canadian Embassy has just confirmed that the GLA flight will fly on Wednesday (so good thing we didn't fly or we'd be sitting in an airport somewhere!) There are no details on flight times/schedules yet, so we don't know if Trey's flight will leave shortly after midnight early Wednesday morning or later in the day. Which means we don't know if we'll take an early flight tomorrow, an afternoon flight, or possibly even an early Wednesday morning flight!

It's been crazy...we've been sitting around the house, checking the email every 15 minutes, jumping at every phone call! We first thought we'd fly on Saturday, then Sunday, then today! And now it looks like we'll fly tomorrow or Wednesday.

At any rate, we know Trey Amos is well-taken care of and safe for the time being. This Wednesday flight will also give Dixie and her staff a "day off" from flying! So hopefully they will have a bit of a chance to recover, although I know they will be very busy as one of the hospital ships has asked them to take in some premie babies that were being treated on the ship. Dixie and her staff must be absolutely exhausted and stressed out! These past two weeks have been absolutely like nothing ever before experienced.

Anyways, that is the latest! (Guess I could have gone into work today afterall!) We are SO ready for Trey Amos to be here! We never imagined when we left him behind in December that he would be home a month later! What a miracle. Don't get me wrong...we would gladly wait the full time we expected to wait if it meant this horrible earthquake had never happened. We are completely devastated by what has happened to Trey Amos' people and homeland. We are just so thankful he is safe and sound and coming home this week.

Still Waiting Patiently

(Patiently...I don't know about that! But we are doing our best)

Dixie and the GLA staff are still in Miami and unsure if they are able to get a flight back to Haiti today. If they can't, they will fly into the Dominican and drive back.

Brady and I have not yet booked flights to Montreal. Many families are there waiting already, but we are kind of waiting until we get final word. (Oh yeah...we're PRETTY sure it's Montreal now...)

Will post as soon as we know more! (I seem to be saying this a lot lately!)

On Our Way...

Trey Amos and his GLA buddies will likely be arriving in Canada on MONDAY accompanied by Canadian GLA staff on a Canadian Military flight. THANK YOU LORD!

We're still not sure if it will be Montreal or Ottawa. Brady and I have not made travel arrangements yet, but are thinking of flying out tomorrow.

Please continue to pray...now for safe travels!!! Thank you!

Travel Plans?

Yes...Trey is going to be home VERY SOON! No...we don't know exactly when or where or how he will arrive.

My "sources" tell me that it looks like the first plane may arrive on Sunday, rather than Saturday. Or, if they don't arrive Sunday, it may be early next week.

A lot of GLA staff have accompanied the American children to Miami, and they need to have staff to accompany the Canadian children as well. So they have to wait until the staff get back to GLA and are ready to make another trip.

It is possible that the flight may leave from the Jacmel airport instead of the P-A-P airport, since that is where the Canadian Military and rescue effort is based, and the Canadians are in control of the Jacmel airport.

Also, now that the GLA staff have evacuated two groups of children, they are finding out new ways to make that transition smoother and less traumatic for the Canadian children.

Finally, we do not yet know if the plane carrying the children will land in Ottawa or Montreal. Apparently these two cities are only about a 2 hour drive apart, so if we ended up flying to the wrong city, we could just rent a car and drive to the other one. However, if we can get it right the first time, that would be ideal!

Like I keep saying...I will update the blog as soon as I hear any concrete news! Things are definitely looking up and we just pray our little boy arrives in Canada safe and sound and not too traumatized by the sudden transition.

Latest from Govenment of Canada

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-01-22.asp

This Will Bring Tears To Your Eyes!

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/orphans_no_more_haitian_childr.html

The American Kids are Home!

Oh I am so thrilled for my two dear friends! Jill has Samuel Chancelet and Cathleen has Anri Jacob...both safe and sound and going HOME!!!

Still Not Really Sure

Here is the speech by Minister Kenney this morning. The first group of adopted children are coming home this weekend hopefully, but WHO is included in that first group remains a mystery.

At any rate, Brady and his mom just got back from Babies 'R' Us with a few basic necessities!

We are praying that Trey Amos is home with us THIS WEEKEND! I will post as soon as we hear ANYTHING.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/speeches/2010/2010-01-21.asp

It'd Be Nice to Know...

There's a link right on the Yahoo page to a News story saying "Adopted Haitian Children to Arrive in Canada This Weekend."

Yeah...awesome news...but it would sure be nice if someone actually contacted us, the parents, to let us know!

We're gonna need to book flights to where ever they're flying the children to! But we don't even know where that is! My first guess is Montreal...but who knows.

So we will sit and wait...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100121/national/haiti_earthquake_cda

Ready For This To All Be Over

I know, my darling...that's how we all feel about this.

Joe took this pic of Trey Amos today. So, we heard from our MP again tonight. He is quite confident our kids will be home "within days." We still don't know exactly what that means. But we know things ARE happening...slowly but surely.

The Canadian adoptive parents are unclear if ALL children in the adoption process are included in the group of children Immigration is working on getting out. We are praying that ALL our kids come home, no matter what stage of the adoption process they were at. If they were matched with prospective parents, let them come home NOW and have the paperwork completed in Haiti after Haiti recovers.

I'll update as soon as I know more.

Got THE CALL

Yes...we got THE CALL. Don't get TOO excited. I will tell you about it.

They confirmed Trey's name: Amos Pierre.

They confirmed his DOB: 29 December 2008

They confirmed our adoption status: Parquet in the town of Jeremie (different than most adoptive parents whose paperwork is buried under rubble in PAP...this is a benefit for us).

They asked about his present well-being: I said, well he's unharmed right now, but he just lived through another earthquake! The orphanage was running out of water and food, however just received some supplies. They are finding it difficult to get fuel to run their generator. We are concerned that looters may target the orphanage because they do have some supplies. The director and staff at the orphanage are understaffed, overwhelmed, trying desperately to get the kids home for their safety.

And that was that. They couldn't give me any numbers to call of course, and they couldn't give me any concrete action plan. They said they're not sure when they'll be ready to call us back with more info...might be 3 days might be a week! (I'm sorry, that's too long!!!!) But at least they are doing SOMETHING. We need to get our boy home asap!

Trey Amos on Larry King's Website

Check out this video of our friend Joe going into the nursery at GLA to see his son, Samuel Chancelet.

At the very beginning is a precious little boy dressed in red, waving at the camera!!

http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae24/glahaiti/Larry%20King%20Live%20videos/?action=view&current=Video52.flv

Jason Kenney's Latest

Here is the statement Minister Kenney made this morning.

I am sitting here waiting for the all-important phone call...will update as soon as I hear anything.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/speeches/2010/2010-01-20.asp

ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE!

Yes...6.1 this morning. I have emailed Mr. Kenney again, cc'd to Tim Uppal and Olivia Chow.

PLEASE bombard Mr. Kenney with your emails NOW! And please pray for GLA and Haiti. Good God when will this ever end??!!??

We NEED to get Trey Amos out of there. We are only waiting on the Canadian Government. Good frickin grief.

I'm calling my media contacts...we are absolutely desperate.

Minister Kenny Interviewed by John Gormly

The Minister is denying that the kids adopted to the Dutch families went home, but other than that...things sound positive. Just waiting for some ACTUAL UP FRONT INFORMATION.

Zip forward to minute 18. I like this John guy!

http://www.newstalk980.com/audio/john-gormley-live/20100119-john-gormley-live-january-19-2010-hour-4

GLA Friends on Larry King Live

Check out our friends Joe and Jill's blog on the Larry King Live website! They are adopting Trey Amos' little buddy Samuel Chancelet.

Joe has just arrived in Haiti and he is posting videos of his trip. He and a team of volunteers are bringing medical supplies, food, water, diapers, etc, etc, etc, to GLA! You can follow his journey.

Go to Larry King's page and scroll down to "A Couple's Desperate Journey." You will find the blog, photos, and videos. Look carefully, and you'll spot our own Trey Amos in one of the photos!


http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/

I Think This is Good News

I talked to our MP, Tim Uppal, again this afternoon, and he says Immigration Canada should be calling us in 24-48 hours with info on our application. He says, there's likely no chance Trey can come home on Thursday with Sylvia who is in Haiti right now...which was what we had proposed to him yesterday. (Was that only yesterday?...the last six days are just one big blur to me right now and it seems like years that we have been living in this earthquake disaster.) But still, our file is flagged as urgent and things are definitely looking promising.

We also received an email from CIC requesting more info on our file so I will be emailing that off shortly. I don't know how ANYONE is getting through that toll free number because they put you on hold and then tell you all the lines are busy, call back later, and hang up on you!

And here's an article quoting Mr. Kenny's statements that looks promising. I'll quote the part I really like: "We are contacting the Haitian authorities to see if there is a streamlined way we can get their approval to extract these children." (Jason Kenny). Oh yeah...and "these children" refers to the children with pending adoptions! That is excellent news.

I also heard from GLA today that we NEED to keep pressing the Canadian government to get a list of children in the adoption process to the Canadian Ambassador to Haiti to get him to take it to President Preval to sign off on. I HOPE this is what Kenney is referring to in the above quote.

To read the full article go to:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ottawa-working-on-speedy-safe-adoptions/article1435843/

Get This!

WestJet has offered to charter a flight to get all the children in process of being adopted by Canadians (estimate about 100?) home to Canada!!!! WOW!

All we are waiting for is our Canadian government to give us the ok! UGH! The Dutch have done it! The USA and Luxembourg are both doing it! Why is it taking so long here in Canada?

We are so stressed. The media has been contacting us several times a day. The pictures of the devastation on the news are just horrendous. Our baby is stuck in the middle of that nightmare and the orphanage is rationing food and water.

Don't get me wrong...we are so grateful that Trey Amos and all his friends at God's Littlest Angels are ok. We know there are hundreds of thousands of people who have died and lost loved ones. Our hearts are with them. Other than that, there are no words.

Update on the Latest of What I've Learned

1. I believe the rest of the Dutch kids got out today.

2. The Americans announced today that they are getting the children matched with American families to their homes.

3. I spoke to our MP, Tim Uppal again tonight and he is working very hard on our behalf, which we are so grateful for. He was in meetings with Mr. Kenney today and Foreign Affairs and who knows who else. He couldn't tell me much more than what has been released to the media, but he assured me they are working hard on it and that Canada is not going to leave our children behind. Hooray and thank you Tim! I don't think Mr. Kenney wants to make a full statement until they are absolutely sure of EVERYTHING related to getting the children home.

We are feeling cautiously optimistic! Thank you all for your prayers, support, encouragement.

Please Continue to Email

I just received word on my Canadians Adopting From Haiti Facebook group that some MPs are stressing to CONTINUE sending emails to Mr. Kenney. So just copy and paste this bad boy (thanks Melanie) and pass it along to him if you don't mind! (from several different email addresses...or send it once for each member of your family and have everyone sign it once...even the kiddos! haha)




Dear Member of Parliament, I am writing to you with the interests of Haitian children in mind. Many Canadians are currently waiting for children that are staying in Haitian orphanages to join their family. Most of them are facing the very real fear that their paperwork has been lost which is unthinkable for families who have sacrificed financially and emotionally and waited months and years for their child to come home. Those who have been matched with a Haitian child have been through Canada’s stringent process of determining suitability for international adoption and have been approved. The unfortunate reality is that these children are likely facing a long stay in orphanages without our intervention. They are also most definitely being joined by other children in desperate need, putting stress on an already overtaxed system. If you can do anything to support a quickened process in these days, it would be much appreciated. To think that these children will have to live through further chaos and heartache is almost unimaginable when they have Canadian families waiting for them to come home. It is saddening to think that they may spend more time in a country that is reeling from this latest in a long line of disasters that have affected not just the infrastructure of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, but the basic needs for daily life. We are calling for the Canadian government to lobby Haitian officials for quick approval to adoptions currently in the approval system as one means of providing aid to a country in serious need. If Haitian officials can agree that the Canadian vetting process is sufficiently stringent, and can quickly pass through the required paperwork for existing adoption processes, it will go a long way to free up orphanages to provide help to the mass of new children that are affected by this catastrophe. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Thank you!

oh by the way send it to all three addresses:

kennej@parl.gc.ca
minister@cic.gc.ca
kenney.j@parl.gc.ca

Waiting to Hear...

We are waiting to hear from our MP, Tim Uppal, who is speaking to Mr. Kenney on our behalf today...

Waiting, praying, hoping....

From the GLA Website!

"Haitian President Rene Preval has given permission for all children in the adoption process to leave and join their forever families in their adoptive countries. Dixie will be on CNN at 9:50 am Monday 18 January 2010 with some of the children that are in the adoption process."

Mr. Kenney

For all of you who are faithfully emailing the Minister of Immigration, the Honourable Jason Kenney...THANK YOU!!!!

Ainsley, you rock! My friend Ainsley is emailing him EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Just note, I have two different email addresses, and I'm not sure if one is correct and the other is not, or if they both go to his office:

Kennej@parl.gc.ca is what he has on his website, and Linda D. informed me it is Kenney.J@parl.gc.ca.

If in doubt, just email both accounts.

I emailed my MP again yesterday that GLA only has 3 days water supply left and we have to get the children out. This morning I heard from his assistant, James, who said that according to Mr. Kenney, pending adoptions (yes, that must be us, right?) will be top priority. They will be contacting the Haitian embassy on our behalf tomorrow as well, so we thank James and Tim so much for their assistance in this time of dire need.

Again, the messages we are trying to get to Mr. Kenney are that:
1. The children IN PROCESS who don't yet have the final adoption decree, be allowed to come to Canada on Humanitarian grounds.
2. The parents/children have been matched and approved both in Canada and in Haiti.
3. It will be impossible to obtain Haitian passports any time soon for these children since the Haitian office buildings are under rubble.
4. The adoption process WILL BE completed in Haiti once Haiti is back on its feet.
5. God's Littlest Angels orphanage needs to clear out its beds as they are getting new children in daily as well as members of their community seeking medical help, food, water, and shelter.
6. At this point GLA is rationing food and only has a couple days of water supply left...so this is URGENT!!!!!

Thank you!

Dixie's Update

For the latest updates on God's Littlest Angels, please go to www.glahaiti.org.
They only have three days water supply left. The Dutch children (23 in total) are going home. I will be emailing Mr. Kenney again right now. I have told him he will not stop hearing from me until my son is safe in our arms.

Correction

After reading that several more times, I think Jason Kenney is referring to newly-orphaned children who Canadians are calling about adopting.

Yes, I agree...you can't just bring those kids to Canada and give them to families. We've got to respect the Haitian adoption system, which is there for a reason.

But we are halfway through the system.....

So I'm really hoping his list of Haitians whose visas will be expedited will include Trey Amos and his little buddies at GLA.

I wrote Mr. Kenney another email and informed him that he can expect an email from me daily until we know for sure what's going on. This is our son! I told him we will not stop until we know he is safe!

UGH!

So now, Jason Kenney is saying that they will NOT be getting adopted children out. I am at the end of my rope here.

Yes, there is potential for child trafficking in a situation like this.

No, we are not asking you to traffic our child, Jason Kenney. We are approved as his adoptive parents by IBESR. We are currently in Parquet/Courts, waiting the final Adoption Decree!!!!

We are asking you to let our child come to Canada NOW and the adoption process be completed in Haiti once Haiti has had a chance to rebuild.

If you do not allow him to come home now, it may be YEARS before the adoption process can be completed.

I am at the end of my rope. Please please please, anyone reading this, please continue to write Mr. Kenney on our behalf, asking that our adoption can be completed while our son is with us in Canada.



http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20100116%2fHaiti_Child_100116

It's True!

It's been confirmed. The five children were from God's Littlest Angels and are on their way home to Holland.

Come on Canada, bring our kids home please!

Kids Home to The Netherlands!

Check out Rhyan's latest post! (She is the volunteer at GLA right now) Apparently the children being adopted to the Netherlands are on their way HOME! Canada needs to follow suit!

www.becausehecalled.blogspot.com

Hope

We do not know if the following information includes children who are still IN PROCESS of being adopted. We do NOT yet have Trey Amos' final adoption decree or his Haitian passport...so we don't know if he qualifies....

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-01-16.asp

We need to continue to be in touch with our Government representatives to make sure this includes children IN PROCESS of being adopted. Then they can come home and their adoptions can be completed in Haiti once Haiti has had a chance to rebuild.

Media Contact

Here's the Ottawa citizen article I was interviewed for, along with several other adoptive parents from God's Littlest Angels. (I was just slightly misquoted: Trey is not "far from the city", he's right there with everyone else! Ah, that's ok. It's bound to happen!)


http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=2447400

Brady and I have also been on local CTV news and on Edmonton and Calgary CBC radio. A friend and fellow adoptive parent, Lisa from Saskatchewan, adopting twins, J and J, was on The National.

Thank you to everyone for your concern, and for helping us bring awareness to the Canadian Government that our kids need to come home so that GLA has room for more orphans and families affected by the devastation.

Olivia Chow, MP

Don't know if everyone noticed, but the Honourable Olivia Chow commented on my blog! She is pushing the Minister of Immigration and the Canadian government to help get the children home on humanitarian grounds and have their adoptions finalized once Haiti is back on its feet.

You can read her statement here: www.oliviachow.ca.

Thank you so much for your support Olivia Chow!!! We appreciate it so much!

Please Email Minister of Immigration

Well, I thought things were going ok, but now they're not. I just received an email from Tim Uppal's office saying they talked to Ottawa and it's going to be "very difficult to expedite the adoptions."

So I called Jason Kenney's office and the assistant was not helpful at all. (He is the Minister of Immigration). First she said, "Call your own MP." Well, I already did that.

She basically said I couldn't talk to him and there was nothing they could do because the Canadian embassy in P-A-P is destroyed and they can't get the PAPERWORK!

I said, "Surely a first world nation like Canada won't be held back by a little bit of paperwork to get a one year old baby out of a disaster zone!" and she said, "Yes, that's the way it works."

I am absolutely sickened. I told her we were being interviewed by CBC news tonight....hmmm....

Then I emailed Mr. Kenney the biggest longest email he might ever receive and I am asking you to do the same! (It doesn't have to be big and long!--probably better if it's not)

Mr. Kenney (Kennej@parl.gc.ca)

1. My friends' baby is in Haiti
2. We've been approved as adoptive parents
3. Our adoption has been approved by Haitian Social Services, but not quite yet finalized
4. We need to get our baby out of Haiti on HUMANITARIAN grounds (without a Haitian passport)
5. If our baby and all the other babies stay in Haiti, it will take months/years for the adoptions to be completed now that Haiti has been destroyed
6. The orphanage will be getting an influx of new orphans because of the disaster
7. If the orphanage runs out of food/water...the children may die!
8. CANADA NEEDS TO HELP THESE CHILDREN GET HOME!!!!

Meeting / Thank Yous!

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who is writing letters on our behalf and working so hard to help us bring Trey Amos home! Thank you to everyone who has donated to the GLA Earthquake Relief Fund! Thank you to everyone who has donated to other organizations such as the Red Cross and World Vision to help the people of Haiti!

Thank you Olivia Chow, MP for your support in helping us bring our son home!

Thank you to our own MP, Tim Uppal, who met with us this morning and had some very positive things to say:

Tim is going to do what he can on the Canadian side of things to expedite Trey's adoption process. The Canadian government is aware of the children in Haiti in the middle of the adoption process and is going to do everything within its power to help them come home, even if it means granting special permission to let them travel without Haitian passports. Of course, they are more concerned about the Haitian side of things, seeing as many of the government buildings have toppled and government officials have lost their lives in the devastation.

Brady and I feel hopeful and uplifted that Trey Amos may be able to come home soon, but of course there is still no way of knowing. We ask that you continue praying for him, and especially for the poor people of Haiti.

Thank you.

Please Contact Your MP

Please contact your MP on our behalf!

You can just google "find my MP" and that will take you to a Canada Government homepage where you can input your postal code and your MP's name will come up. Please email, fax, or phone your MP and say something like:

"I have friends adopting an orphaned baby from God's Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti. The Haitian adoption process is very long. They have already been waiting for over a year and they are about halfway through their adoption process.

"Please ask the Canadian Government and the Haitian Government to act speedily on behalf of these children. Bring them home on Humanitarian or Refugee visas immediately so that they can wait in Canada while the rest of the adoption process is carried out.

"God's Littlest Angels Orphanage acts as a medical facility in Haiti at the best of times, and now that this catastrophe has happened, their medical expertise will be in even higher demand. They need to help the people in their community of Petionville who have been devastated by the earthquake. There will be more children who have just been orphaned by the earthquake who will need care. Please expedite the adoptions so that the children currently being cared for in the orphanage can go to their homes and new children can take their places. Thankyou"

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO IS WILLING TO DO THIS FOR US AND FOR THE CHILDREN OF GLA!



Oh just brought to my attention from Jill, a fellow friend/adoptive parent: Dixie has an update!

Our lawyer was able to get through to us today. She says all of the government buildings downtown were damaged or destroyed! She reported that Judge Rock CADET was killed in a building collapse.

I have asked our lawyer to petition IBESR and the government of Haiti to allow all children in the adoption process to be allowed to join their adoptive families. We are all going to need beds for orphans who have lost their family in this disaster!

I need all of my families to contact their adoption agencies and government officials to allow these children to leave Haiti without a Haitian passport on Humanitarian or Refuge visas! I KNOW the USA government can issue emergency passports for situations like this because they did it for me during a crisis in Haiti from a poison in a children’s fever medicine and children were dying. We sent 11 children out of Haiti during that time and most did not have a Haitian issued passport. Please find out if your government has such a system in place!

(All DUTCH Families: Please work through NAS to get these children home. They are trying to get ALL children in process and not just those finished in Parquet. So join forces with NAS and not to confuse the issue with the Dutch Government.

Some of your dossiers are thankfully with us in our office. Others are with other government sections and we do not know if they are intact or not. I do know that the National Palace, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, DJI building which is part of the legalization department, National Cathedral is gone. I do not know about Immigration or IBESR!

Meeting

I've just arranged a meeting with my Member of Parliament tomorrow 9:30 am.

Release the Children

Just confirmed by Dixie! Please contact anyone you can think of and request the chilren in process of being adopted can come home on humanitarian visas.

Please Release the Children!

Rhyan, the volunteer at GLA right now has just posted on her blog that they are trying to push to get all the children in process of being adopted OUT OF HAITI ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS!

http://www.becausehecalled.blogspot.com/

GLA is asking that we contact anyone we can think of to push this issue: MPs, MLAs, Senators, Red Cross, World Vision...anyone!

I'm going to email my MLA, and see if I can contact Red Cross in Canada, etc.

Latest

The latest bit of news I have heard is that the road between GLA and Port-au-Prince is open, which is good news.

Brady and I just want to go there! Ugh!

More News

I just received an email from Melanie, an adoptive mom and friend from Saskatchewan, who is at GLA right now as they had flown in for their "judge visit." I had inquired specifically about Trey Amos and here is what she writes:

"Yup, we are here. We just arrived at GLA around noon yesterday and were just on the balcony getting ready to take Mikey to the nursery for dinner. Amos (and all the babies are ok). When I read your email I went upstairs to get Amos so I can tell you that as I type I am holding him (and trying to prevent him from banging on the keyboard :)) He has a little rattle that he is banging on the desk. We are doing ok, it has been incredibly scary and stressful, and now even more dreading the goodbye. But it is also hard being away from Ritchy right now. But I am thankful that we are here and not at home worrying. Your baby's getting wiggly so I better go! Melanie"

More Info

Blogs to follow:

Rhyan is a volunteer currently in Haiti:
www.becausehecalled.blogspot.com

A family living / working in Haiti:
www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com

1000 X 1000 Campaign

Ok, I'm sure everyone is following the news and has been able to see the devestation that this earthquake has caused to Haiti!

Dixie (GLA orphanage director) has been interviewed over the phone on MSNBC and you can find the link to that interview on the GLA website (http://www.glahaiti.org/).

Also, Tom, a board member for GLA and other board members have just created the 1000 X 1000 Campaign. They want to get 1000 people to get 10 friends to donate $100.00 each to GLA's earthquake relief campaign. GLA can then use the money to help their community in whatever ways are needed. Please go to his website (http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/) and donate to help the people of Haiti!

Apparently the director of the UN operations in Haiti is missing or dead, as is the archbishop of Haiti. This is a disaster of immense proportions. We are so thankful all of GLA has been spared and we are so thankful Trey Amos is ok. I want to go there right now and get him! Please keep praying for Haiti and help in whatever way possible.

Update

Apparently the babies are all sleeping outside tonight under the open sky. In Port-au-Prince people are scared to go back in buildings that are left standing. Some of the Haitian staff are hearing bad reports about their homes/families.

The presidential palace and hospital have collapsed. I hope the airport is still operational. They need to get aid in there ASAP! If the survivors don't have access to fresh water the death toll will multiply.

We just want to get on a plane and go get our little Trey Amos outta there! I'm so glad Dixie was able to post on the website right away that everyone was ok. Those first few moments after hearing about the quake were some of the scariest of my life! What a relief to hear that GLA was still standing.

PRAY FOR HAITI!

A huge 7.3 earthquake just hit off the coast of Haiti very close to Port-au-Prince and Petionville (where the orphanage is)! Apparently everyone at GLA is ok, although the whole house was shaking and all the glasses fell out of the china cabinet and some of the kids and adults were knocked over. (Keep checking the GLA website for details: www.glahaiti.org).

The infrastructure and buildings in PAP are very poor, so I'm sure the damage has been devastating. They are also expecting aftershocks and have been issued a tsunami warning! GLA is probably high enough up in the mountains to avoid the tsunami, but I am still scared! The people living in Port-au-Prince are in a lot of danger right now! Please pray for them and for everyone at GLA, especially the babies!

Mmmm...Barrells!

Walking Superstar

We Call This "The Faceplant"

Memories