Starfish Dreams

Moving update

We got K's birth certificate. Hooray! It came from California, a state notoriously slow in sending out bc's and marriage certificates. I was told to plan on close to a year, especially since it was an adoption completed in another state (this was 3 weeks ago). I went on-line, found one of those places that gets bc's fast, sent in my application and got the birth certificates in less than 2 weeks - woohoo! The annoying part was her delayed birth certificate was not OK'd until she was almost 3 years old, reminding me once again of LA County's nasty business of billing the federal government for a “special needs child” on their foster care rolls for 2 full years after her adoption was finalized. Boogerheads. Anyway, as soon as I got it, I mailed it right off to the Department of State and expect that her passport will be here within a couple of weeks.

We also re-applied for M's passport, within 3 days of his old one expiring. He is now an adult, so has a 10 year passport, instead of 5, which will certainly get him through his mission (now watch – he'll be called to Montana). And, it came back within a WEEK, even though we did not ask for expedited service. It looks like they've solved the problem of the backlog. With his back, we now have 5 “pending”, which we expect to receive in the next couple of weeks, and then we just have the baby left. We'll apply for hers right after her adoption is final.

We got a new homestudy done – at least the home visit part – as well as the post-placement visit prior to finalizing Angelia's adoption. It's always great visiting with our homestudy worker – we're in agreement on so many things that at least some people “don't get”. It won't be fully completed until we get police clearance back from Africa . . .

I have had a number of people talking to me about helping in our new organization. It's really quite wonderful and exciting. A friend of mine who used to head up an NGO doing work in South America sent me some info on an attorney who is eager to help us with the non-profit paperwork for not a lot of money – that's great. Dh and I met with her Friday to talk over her experience and to get her guidance. She had lots of great input for us on non-profit stuff, setting up organizations, etc. She's coming down in the next week or two to talk to us about traveling with kids (she's writing a book). We have a bit of experience with that . . .

We also had a woman contact us about help with funding, in-kind donations, and volunteer work. She heard about us from a homeschool friend and it sounds like a great fit. They are heavily involved with Thomas Jefferson education and service/giving back/finding your life's mission are all important aspects of this program.

We have had non-specific offers of corporate funding, so we'll be following up on those once we firm things up.

We've run into our first "accusations" of "colonialism" by someone that has done a lot of humanitarian work around the world.
Right off the bat, the first thing out of her mouth was “If you are going to spend that much money to move your family, why not just find another family for your girls and use your money to support Africans in Africa. It would help a lot of people, not just those three girls.” She told me again that I should just find them an African family to raise them, and pay them to do so – that's what would be best . . . .

Next, she told she would NEVER hire an American family to run a baby home and take away jobs from the local folks. I think she told me that part at least three times, at least three different ways, including that she found it morally offensive to even think of having Americans come in to “run things”. 

I understand the concerns, but I still feel like we need to keep working on getting our girls home.  Who knows - we may find a different location to "land" outside of Africa . . . still exploring all our options

Untitled Comment

21:30, Wednesday, February 6, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

Wow H! I've been so busy, I haven't been reading....and here you go, I miss the BIG news! I think moving to Africa is the perfect solution! I would do it for my children too! You will love it, and your children will grow in so many ways! Where did you live as a kid? I lived abroad for 4.5 years in Saudi, and pray that someday my children will have the same opportunity! (Maybe in a different country! ;o) It changes you!

Anne

Hey Anne

21:33, Wednesday, February 6, 2008 .. Posted by starfishmama

Yeah, I know - you never know with me. I lived in france for 3 years as a teen. My parents did a fabulous job of taking us all over western Europe. It certainly did affect me and makes it much easier to say "Oh yeah - we can move 16 kids to a developing country . . . " :)