Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Mommy's little helper (in training)!




Here are some new pictures that we got from the Clay's who had been in Haiti last week. Enjoy ~Melissa

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Anniversary - good and bad!

We have several anniversary's that have happened this week. First on the 20th of April my parents celebrated 34 years together. That is a Huge accomplishment these days. My parents have always been great role models and I wish them many more happy years together. Scott and I also had an anniversary. We celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss! We had a great night together going out for dinner and doing a little shopping. We have grwon so much this last year and I feel that all we are going through with Jean Delson's adoption is making us a stronger couple. That brings me to the final anniversary....as of today we have been in IBESR for 1 year and counting. Brenda at our agency is very hopeful that she will have news for all the families "stuck" in IBESR sometime this week or next. We hope to get a call from them soon. Any step forward is HUGE in this process. This week has also brought good news to many more ANA families that have been stuck in Parquet and we are very happy for them as well. Let's hope us, the Beckers, the Urbanskis, the Marbles and all the other families that are waiting hear news soon! ~Melissa

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Some cases moving forward

We have seen a lot of positive movement in Haiti this week, including in the cases of some fellow ANA families. There were 4 cases that got passed through Parquet. This is very good news as some of these cases have been waiting there for almost a year. We are only hoping that things start to move in IBESR as well, so we can get closer to bringing Jean Delson home! ~Melissa

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Power of Prayer

Here is an update on the riots in Haiti. Things appear to be getting back to normal for now. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for a quick resolution to the problems in Haiti. Keep praying that everything continues to move in a positive direction. ~Melissa
"Sorry you didn't hear from me. The reason was that I was not been able to connect to my server for the past several days. Just wanted you to know, that the country is pretty much back to normal. There are no blocked streets and the people are resuming their normal daily activities.
The Prime Minister Jacquet Alexis is no longer the Prime Minister and now the President will select another person to fill the position. The people are satisfied with this action and are no longer demonstrating; HOWEVER, they are waiting to see if things will be better. The president has asked the reduction of certain foods (spaghetti, ketchup, meat, etc); however, the people would like to see the price of primary foods like rice, oil, beans reduced. There is talk (haven't verified) that Brazil has given Haitian ??? tons of food and that they are talking about having canteens.
About travel to Haiti: I see no reason to cancel any trips that any of you may have already arranged.
While there was lots of stores with windows broken and there was lots of looting, especially on the Delmas streets, it is fair to say, on behalf of the demonstrators, that this was not done by them but was an offshoot of those that always profit the occasion to steal and loot. It is something that happens throughout the world when there is chaos..... Always those that will capitalize on the movements of others who want to have peaceful problems solved."
Blessings
Granny Bin (a.k.a.Bin) and Maggie

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Moving in the right direction

Here is a post from Granny Bin, who is a friend who resides in Haiti:
Thursday, April 10, 2008: The situation is still fragile; however,things are, in general, relatively calm.This morning 6:00 AM, the situation of Haiti, principally inPort-au-Prince (PAP) is as follows:
1. It is still early; however, there are a few merchants (streetsellers) taking a chance to set up their small businesses but it seemsthat the majority of people are staying home.
2. Plenty of people on the streets attempting to go about their dailyactivities but there are is no public transportation available. PAPcontinues to be paralyzed. At the intersection of Delmas 33, there are agroup of aggressive young people that have rocks and continue to blockthis area so there is no traffic circulation.
3. At this moment there are no groups of people participating indemonstrations.
Important points from President Preval's Speech Yesterday. He asked…..
1. senators to take a 10% salary reduction to help the people.
2. deputies to stop wasting money on things they don't need.
3. people to pay their taxes
4. people to stop the disorder and destruction of businesses, etc.
A Positive Action Taken Yesterday Afternoon:After the President spoke, the assembly of ministers had a meeting andcame to the decision that the Prime Minister Jacquet Edouard Alexisshould step down. The majority of the assembly, i.e. 16 of the 27members agreed and wrote a letter to Alexis asking him to voluntarilyresign his post in 24 hours (which would be at 4pm April 10, 2008) orthey would submit a letter to the President for further action for hisdismission. The assembly came to this decision because the country has aserious economic problem that needs immediate resolution. It is notedthat the Haitian people have been asking for Alexis to step down formany months. If Prime Minister Alexis steps down, this would be seen asa positive action in the eyes of the people and an action that wouldcalm them and cause them to listen attentively to the suggestionsrecommended for stabilizing the country.Blessings..........Granny Bin and Maggie

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Here is a email that we just received from Lori Jones, Our agency director:
We have good and bad news. So, I will start with the good. Mr. Gassant is losing his footing in Haiti. Mr. Conan is well connected to the Governmental officials and flew down to Haiti last Monday when he heard this.
He told Rock on Monday, at his law office in P-au-P, that he isn't leaving the country until ALL ANA cases are out of IBESR and Parquet's office. Those with large families in Parquets office are now getting approved at the Assistant DA's office in Parquet's that have been waiting a long time. The Assistant DA is a good friend of Mr. Conan's and Mr. Conan has argued the cases effectively indicating they were Grandfathered in during the time that the laws changed without notice. Parquet's Office also has the July list with the large families that will be entering soon so they will be signed out quickly too once out of IBESR.
Mr. Conan is also getting cases that have been at IBESR for a long time out effectively as well. He has requested additional documents for a few families but just from the agency and we will International Priority First out of the office today and prepare them quickly. These are for three of our young families with length of marriage issues. But we have a solution soon which is good news.
Now, for the bad news. All trips to Haiti need to be cancelled until further notice. Anything scheduled for the next two weeks must be rescheduled for May. Call me before re booking any tickets to Haiti. There are terrific riots going on in the streets and the UN does not have matters under control. We have one family held help at The Hotel Montana (Goracke's) and we barely got them in to safety in time. They will stay at the Hotel Montana until the streets re open and the UN says it safe to get to the airport. Rock is checking on them today.
I wouldn't be surprised to see another Presidential coup. As this is usually how they begin.
Our files are safe at Parquet's and Civil Court but everything is closed. All offices including banks and stores. We have enough food for one week at the orphanage and if need be I will use a private jet (Amerijet in Miami) to get supplies to Haiti like I've had to do in the past if Haiti runs out of supplies in the store. Rock had no forewarning of this riot. I have to pay for the supplies and .71 cents for each pound of food, additional.
Gas is up to 6.00 a gallon and rice is US$80.00 for a 100 pound bag. The people of Haiti are tired of being hungry and having nothing to show for their hard work. They just can't take it anymore. If the UN can't get matters under control the US will have to step in again.
Our children are safe and currently there is no need to have guards at the gate but I told Rock do not hesitate to call me if guards are needed to protect our precious children. There are guards at the end of the street because the rioters know we have an orphanage on the street and the neighbors all love Rock and the children and are looking out for our kids.
It is the orphanages located right in P-au-P that we need to all pray for so that there will be no kidnappings.
As soon as offices re open we will have good news on all cases as Mr. Conan can perform miracles and we need you to pray to your god or spiritual leader right now and hopefully we will see our children home for the holidays.

Please keep all the people of Haiti in your prayers. ~Melissa

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Stinky feet


We just got this new picture of Jean Delson. His buddy, Lovely, appears to be sticking her foot right in his face... Carrie, Lovely's mom, assures me that she did not actually try to kick Jean just had put her leg out in front of him. Anyhow, this picture made me laugh so I wanted to share it!~Melissa

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Here we go again...

We had a call from Lori, the director of the agency we work with, and she informed us that we were NOT one of the cases signed out of IBESR last week. She would like us to write another letter to IBESR to argue our case and encourage them to sign us out. She is confident this will be the letter that gets us out of IBESR. Rock will take our letter over to the IBESR office and try to plead our case. So again...we can not ask enough for extra prayers! ~Melissa