GRUMPY

Jean Delson's expression can sum up our feelings for how long this adoption is taking! Can't wait to see him smile again...~Melissa

Great Video

This video is a little long(about 20 mins), but has great video and commentary of life in the mountains of Haiti. ~Enjoy ~Melissa

Family Ties

We got Jean's TIYL report from Granny Bin yesterday and it is filled with new information. Here are a few highlights along with some pictures of his father, his big brother and his fathers house. AMAZING!!
-Jean's birth name: He was given the name Shelo Rainvilus by his mother at birth. She changed his name to Jean Delson Chery when he was given for adoption.
-He was born at home by a mid-husband named Pira, who is now deceased.
-Mothers info: Djelicia Vertilus was born in 1977. She did have some schooling and can read and write a little. She has 4 children with Jean's father.
-Father's info: Caristil Rainvilus was born in 1953(pictured below in orange). He is paralyzed on his left side which hinders his ability to work and that is why they had no money to raise little Jean Delson. He still resides in a very small "house"(see pictures below) in Bonga where Jean was born. He has 5 children(one is Jean's half brother pictured below -he is wearing a green shirt).
-Jean comes from good genes. In Haiti the average age to live is around 47 years old. His paternal Grandma lived to be 102 and had 13 children!AMAZING.
-Siblings - Half-brother (22 years) Rony, brothers Fransnel (14) and Bendi(unknown age- is adopted out), Sister Judith (10 years).
As you can see we learned A LOT. Granny Bin reminds us in her closing that the end is just the beginning...here is to new beginnings! ~Melissa

This Is Your Life Update

As most of you know, we have been working with a wonderful Haitian woman, named Granny Bin, on a report on Jean Delson's Haitian family. We got word tonight that she will be sending us the report on Wednesday. She has not had any luck locating Jean's mom, but was able to meet with his father and some other family members. She is hoping to make contact with his mom at some point and will send us her picture and information at a later date and we can add it into the report. We are so excited to see the report and get to know more about Jean's history and birth family. I will post a picture of his father later this week.

This will be a priceless gift for him as he grows up and has questions about his Haitian family who gave him the gift of life and loved him enough to also give him the gift of hope. We can not thank them enough for giving us the greatest gift of all...a son.

Here is a Mark Schultz song about his adoption story that really captures the emotions of adoption. Everything To Me

Enjoy ~Melissa

No News is Good News?!?!?!?!

There is not really anything much to report. Christmas was good, but at the same time very hard since Jean Delson is still not home. I find holidays to be very difficult without him here, since we had thought he would have been home a long time ago. All we can pray is that this was the last Christmas without him home.
The last we heard our letter had made it to IBESR and it is waiting there for approval. So we wait....and wait....and wait....and wait....(you get the picture). There are several families headed to Haiti to visit with their kiddos in the next few weeks, so we should have some new pics soon. And thanks to the Clay's in WA, Jean Delson will be getting a few small gifts from home. All of your prayers have been much appreciated. Please add some extra prayers for safe travels for everyone headed to Haiti in the coming weeks. I hope to have more to update you all on VERY soon! ~Melissa