A reply from our Aida

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Yes, that's right! I said "our" Aida! We got the sweetest letter from her at 3AM today! You may want to grab a tissue before you read this!

Dear Morris family,
My name is Aidah. I am 10 years old and I live in a children's village in Uganda. Grace be with you from the Lord the father and his son Jesus Christ. I was very happy when I received your letter. I am much encouraged and comforted and my hope has been restored, thank you and may the Lord bless you.
Sometime back, I started feeling a lot of pain in my chest and every time I got infected with a cough, it worsened and I felt like I was nearly dying. I used to go to school but walking that long distance, weakened me and I would arrive at school late and the teachers would be angry with me because they thought I was lying to them when I told them that I cannot walk fast like the other children. This was before I came to the children's home while I still lived with my aunt. In 2010, I came here to the village where life was better in that, the house I started living in was properly built with a paved floor, plastered walls and a ceiling. It also has running water and flushing toilets. The feeding also became better. I started going to school and had hope of succeeding but in April, I got an attack of flu which resulted into a lot of pain in my chest. I started getting weaker and weaker and lost a lot of weight. Uncle Joseph, the leader of the village, took me to hospital where the doctors checked me and said that I had a problem with my heart. It was very frightening because I know from what I hear that the heart is very delicate and almost everybody who has a heart problem dies because of it. And also I hear that if something has to be done, it costs a lot of money which we cannot afford.
We have friends from Holland who help with the work in the village. They told me that they were going to help me and they took me to different hospitals and also told me that they were looking for help for me in Kenya, India, Israel, Europe and America.
One day, Uncle Joseph told me that there is a wonderful family in America who are willing to help me with my health and also to become their daughter. This is an answer to my prayer. When I heard that even after a successful operation, a person with a heart condition must lead a careful life, with good feeding and regular medical attention, I thought that with the life in the village, I would never manage to stay long. So I am very grateful that even with my condition, you have offered to love me and to take me into your family. Thank you very much.

To Lydia, thank you for your kindness towards the orphans in china. I know from experience the joy that comes from receiving a box full of things from people in far away countries.
To Gwen’s question about animals, yes I like them and most especially, cows because they provide us with milk and beef.
To Sam, praise God that you got healed. I also have faith that I will get healed too. I don’t know Legos but we have other local games like tapple, seven stones, kwepena and others. All those are for girls. The boys also have their own local games and the universal one, which is soccer.
To Pierre it’s good that he is happy even with his condition.

To Phoebe, many greetings from me.
I also enjoy reading small books with many pictures in them. Uncle Joseph always reads to us during some evening times when we are in the prayer meetings. I like listening to him reading. At school, my favorite subjects are English and Math.
May the Lord bless the family Morris and I know that we are going to know each other as time goes on. Really thank you for the loving hearts towards vulnerable people.
I love you Mama and Papa for allowing me to become part of your family. Lots of Hugs to you all.
With much gratitude,
Aidah

Because you've asked....

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Around here we get a lot of eye-rolls, or wide-eyed stares, or shakes of the head, or "I could never do it"s when we say that we're adopting again. Few and far between are the ones that get so excited and eagerly cheer us on through the process.

The most common question this time around is, "How are you affording it?" Well, no doubt about it, adoption can be an expensive under-taking, and we don't exactly have the money sitting in a bank account, but we are excited to say that the Lord is providing and providing abundantly in so many ways, we can't even count.

A few days ago, before we heard that we could go forward with the paperwork, we were told that perhaps a visit to Uganda to meet Aida and put her heart at rest about our family might be a good thing. Well, we just did not have the ability to do that - the money wasn't there, tickets were over $2,000, and it just didn't seem possible. But when I shared the need with a friend, and asked her to pray, she was at our house with a check for...well, enough for one airline ticket... just a couple hours later. "The money isn't ours," she explained. "It's the Lord's and this is how He has directed us to use it." And when we told her a few days later that it appeared that this trip to Uganda wasn't needed, we were instructed to keep it and use it for the rest of the adoption. A few days later, another friend who works in Uganda and has adopted from a village south of Aida's told me that she had quite a bit of Ugandan crafts and paper-bead jewelry to sell if I would like to use it to fundraise. Well, I did, but wasn't quite sure how to go about it as I am not a jewelry person by any stretch of the imagination. I barely get my hair and teeth brushed every day! Well, within 5 days of receiving 3 huge boxes of jewelry from her, about 3/4 was sold, and we had raised more than $1500 more for the adoption.

The Lord continues to move us forward and it's been exciting watching it this time! I think maybe the past three adoptions have taken so long (over a year, each one) that we had it in our heads that if we worked hard enough, saved enough, were frugal enough, we could do it on our own. This time there is absolutely no doubt that we cannot do this on our own! 45 days to come up with $14,000 (approx)...well, that's a bit nerve-wracking, right? But, we are significantly farther along than when we started, and it's all just sort of happened.

The Process

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Having compiled three dossiers in the last 5 years (which is fewer than many people I know!), I was not super-eager to start another one. But, as soon as we received the agency paperwork (Amazing Grace Adoptions in NC), we plowed forward. Much to our pleasant surprise, compared to China, it is a *very* easy dossier to assemble and Uganda is not a Hague country at this time, so the immigration process is also relatively simple. Following is a list of what we've needed to assemble in record time.

  • 2 originals and 3 copies of all family member's birth certificates (for our family that is 14 original certificates, and 21 copies). All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 4 post-placement commitment letters. All must be notarized.
  • 4 consulate registration commitment letters. All must be notarized.
  • 4 copies of father's and mother's passports. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 2 original and 3 copies of marriage certificates. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of employment verification letters. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of stay-at-home spouse verification letter. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of criminal background checks for father and mother. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of medical forms for all people in the home. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of Financial Statement. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 4 copies of USCIS paperwork/ I-171H approval. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 2 original and 3 copies of the home study. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 4 copies of Social Worker License. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 4 copies of Home Study Agency License. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of Home Study agency post placement commitment letter. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of child abuse clearance letter for father and mother. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • 4 copies of tax returns from previous 2 years. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.
  • Family photos, 4 sets.
  • 1 original and 3 copies of reference letters from friends of the family. All copies must have a notarized certified statement attached.

In case you didn't feel like tallying it yourself, we need to find a notary to sign/stamp 114 documents. We have almost all of this ready, as we began the preparations when we first learned of Aida. But some of it needs to wait. Our home study update visit will be done on December 19, so our best hope is that we will be ready to Fed-Ex our dossier to Uganda the week after Christmas!

Baby-stepping to Uganda

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Through what could only be described as an act of God, Aida was seen by a medical team from N. Carolina visiting Uganda. They were all in agreement that, while her heart needs to be tended to immediately, living long-term in Uganda is not an option. She was put on some blood-thinners, and sent home, and (hallelujah!) we have been told to ready our dossier. Courts in Kampala close next week for a full month, so there is very little chance that our dossier will reach them, our affidavits filled out and returned and a petition filed before Christmas break. Instead, we push to have this all ready on January 15 when the courts reopen.

We were able to send a letter directly to Aida, along with some pictures of our family. Here are some snippets of what was written to her:

Dear Aida,

Hello! You do not know us yet, but we hope to know you better! We are the Morris family, and there are seven of us! Doug is the Papa, Mary is the Mama, and the five children are Lydia (age 11), Gwen (age 9), Sam (age 7), Pierre (age 4) and Phoebe (age 4). Papa Doug is in the U.S. Army and works as a medic in the hospital. Mama Mary stays home and takes care of the children, makes meals and teaches them school.

Mama asked each of the children to say something about themselves. Here is what they said:

Lydia - "I am 11 years old. I like to read, and play games. I came from the country of China when I was 6 years old, and I have stayed with this family. They are funny and kind. I have had surgeries to fix my mouth, and the hospital where we go is very fun and the nurses are quite kind. We go to school here in our home. Mama taught me to read and write, and do math. My favorite times are when we travel. I have seen a lot of America with my family! It is my favorite thing to do! I play basketball on a team. I like to send boxes back to my old orphanage in China. I also send emails to my old Ayi and tell them that I am ok and I like my family. I hope I can meet you very very soon!"

Gwen - "I am 9 years old. Lydia and I are good friends. We do school together. I also like to play basketball and play outside. My mama is my teacher. She taught me how to read and now I am trying to learn German. I was born in Germany when my Papa was in the Army there. I like to travel with my family, but my favorite thing to do is to play in the small creek that runs by our house in the summer. There are no fish in it, but we can get wet and throw rocks. Do you like animals? We have some animals. We have four dogs. We also have a guinea pig. Do you know what that is? It's a funny little animal, with hair, and it lives in a cage. His name is Aaron. And then we have a very small little gold fish. Mama is very surprised the gold fish is alive because we've had him for 2 years! Goldfish don't live very long usually. He must like our family."

Sam - "I am 7 years old. I came from China to live with Mama and Papa when I was 4. I don't remember a lot about China. But, my chest used to hurt a lot. Papa came to China and got me and brought me here. I have had surgery on my heart many times, and now it's a lot better. I have a very very nice heart doctor and the nurses always try to make me laugh and give me hugs. And stickers. Sometimes I have to spend the night at the hospital and then the nurses try very hard to make me smile. Now I have a line on my chest where the doctors have fixed my heart. My family is funny. Papa sometimes pretends to be very stern and strict but then he starts laughing! Mama likes books. She is always reading, or studying. She is teaching me to read now. I am not very good at it, but she says I am getting better. My favorite thing to do is play with legos. Do you have legos in Africa? They are little plastic blocks that stack together. I like to make little houses and boats and airplanes with legos. I am also learning math. Bye!"

Pierre - Pierre does not speak, but he is a very happy little boy. He has cerebral palsy and just learned to walk. He is from the country of Haiti, and he will be staying with us because his medicine and doctor are not available in Haiti. Pierre does not talk, but he likes to show us what he wants. Usually he wants food!

Phoebe - "I am four. I like to play with my dolls, and with our new dog Abby. She likes to lay on my legs at night while I'm sleeping. Did you know that this last summer we spent a long time driving in our car and then we went to camp in the mountains for a long time? We had fun! My mama loves being near the mountains. Do you like books? My favorite time of the day is at night, after we eat, my mama reads us all a book. First she reads a book to me and Pierre, then she reads a book to Sam, and then she reads a big book to Gwen and Lydia. Then we all pray and we go to bed. Goodbye!"

Aida, we have heard that you were very very sick and need to see a doctor for your heart. Our little boy, Sam, also has some trouble with his heart and we go see the doctor for him every couple months. They are at a children's hospital. A hospital just for children! The doctor's name is Dr. Fiore and he is a Christian. Before he operates on children, he prays that God would guide his hands and help make them all better. He is very very kind and has done many heart surgeries.

We are a family that likes to learn. We read books, play games and sometimes watch tv. We spend lots of time outside looking for new birds, watching bugs, playing in the creek (when it is warm) and drawing pictures. We even have a telescope where we can look at the stars. That is one of our favorite things to do.

We have been praying for you to feel better since the very first day we heard your name. We would like to help you, if you would allow us. We are praying for you Aida and love you very much! We believe that God has a very special plan for you! We are praying you begin to feel much better!

So, soon we will find out if Aida is open to adoption or not. Either way, she needs to be taken care of medically, but we are praying that her heart will be prepared for having a new family as well.