Tired of the Stress and Negativity

brought on by campaign season?  The slash-and-burn-your-opponent political ads? 

The good health to make it to the polls?  The comfort of watching election results roll in on your television?  The fact that we take for granted -- completely and always -- the peaceful transfer of power that follows?

November 28th, election day in Haiti, is fast-approaching  .  .  .  here's just one news story intro:

"PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A post-earthquake cholera epidemic, fears of political violence and vote credibility questions are clouding Haiti's path to elections next month seen as crucial for stability in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation  .  .  ."  (By Joseph Guyler Delva   Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:11pm EDT )

Debate, listen, consider, vote, and yes, even wave off in annoyance those omnipresent doomsday voices in tv ads that warn that all hell will break loose if the "other" candidate is elected  .  .  .  and pray that Haitians may experience just a little less of the starved, dismembered, frightened, muddied, deathly hell on earth that they're already suffering.

Studies Reveal the Best Water to Drink . . .

is found in the purchased bottles in my garage, and coming out of my kitchen tap, and running through the drinking fountain at school.  With an overabundance of cholera-free water all around, I count my blessings.  And am thankful for a house in which to retreat from rain and wind, and in which to shower, and wash hands, and cook foods, and keep said food safely frozen or refrigerated until needed.  And that I have food, at all.

Just a short plane ride away, mamas fear for their children's lives from beneath flapping, blowing, wet tarps.  With empty stomachs.  And countless days, months, years ahead without promise, yet, of anything better.

From Easter Baskets to Halloween Bins

After returning home from Pittsburgh in the frigid days of January, we took absolute advantage of the time of waiting to prepare our house to become home to the new children in every detail imaginable -- beds with homemade quilts, plush animals, specially chosen gifts from Hunter & Baylor, toothbrushes, photos in frames, Haitian metal crosses for bedroom shelves, and on, and on, and on.  As winter turned to spring, we bought Easter outfits, and baskets that were later filled to overflowing by "the bunny." 

We swapped out the heavy winter wear in our luggage (ready-in-waiting) for shorts, skirts, and tanks of summer.

With the falling leaves and crisp, cool breezes, comes the realization that this endurance of uncertainty has seen all seasons.  As horridly despairing and headache-and-insomnia-inducing as this has been for us, the travesty is that children have waited all these spins of the earth and moon -- waited with hurt and with longing and uncertainty.

The excellent news, now, is that a US delegation traveled to Haiti roughly six weeks ago, and they met face-to-face with officials of the Haitian government and the children's birth parents.  We are pleased that such direct measures have been taken to clarify and to document officially the legal status of the children regarding parental relinquishment based on verified witness of the birth parents' complete understanding of said relinquishment and the US adoption process.  We have been assured that all of this not only respected fully the rights and free, informed choices of the birth parents, but that the discussions were conducted in a manner that also respected the parents' personal dignity.

Painfully selfless, the decision to allow someone else to raise one's children -- believing it is their best hope for safe, healthy futures -- simply has to be an experience of faith, humility, courage, pain, and hope.  For their hope and for the kids' hope, we await finalization of necessary documentation and processing by the Haitian government.  We do not know what all that may entail or how long it make take, but once that major step is finished, we trust that our preparedness, our own humility, and our willingness to cooperate fully with both nations will enable a homecoming and healing for the children. 

Our hope is that the kids won't have to wish and dream from within an institution for much longer.

What Is Wrong With These Pictures?

Reliving our youth, and trying to keep ourselves from the gloom of the never-ending wait for our kiddos, Chad and I dug up some appropriate attire for the fall faculty "'Back to School Party -- 80's Style" hosted by our good friends Phil & Jill Applebee .  .  .  although anyone who knew me back in my younger days will attest that the get-up seen in the pic is less horrid than my make-shift attempts at fashion in my preteen/teenage days.  (No, this does not require a response of tagged images on Facebook; certainly the web would crash if such horror was attempted.  My evil eye IS watching.) 

And as if our appearance at the party wasn't ridiculous enough, we later participated in "Twin Day" during homecoming week at the HS where we teach (Maroa-Forsyth)  .  .  .  Pretty simple idea, not so easy for me to teach -- the kids had a hard time taking me seriously (although we did work, a lot, I just smirked and cackled more than usual while discussing Ancient Greece, the rules of map use, and sociological issues)  .  .  .   I guess it's all coming full circle, as I've now been flattered with parody (alongside a dozen or so other faculty) in the pep assembly skit put on by the Seniors [wearing a sari, talking about my friend Archana, and, separately, using my now infamous teaching line (albeit stolen from Wayne Kent) oft repeated when studying other cultures -- "It's not weird; it's different!"]

How It All Gets Started

Wonder Women, Jamie & Ali McMutrie, are slowly taking in new children for care, and so proceeds their Nouvo Vilaj.  As papers are processed and designs made reality, these ladies live and work out of a rented house doing what they love best -- nurturing wee ones to health.  I borrow here from fabulous, comedic, Pittsburgh blogger, Virginia Montanez, (http://thatschurch.com/)  .  .  ."Speaking of babies, ladies, hold on to your ovaries and check out this picture Jamie and Ali McMutrie sent from Haiti of one of the children they care for down there:"

"As Jeff said recently in an episode of Chuck, 'I think my water just broke.' ”

Our adoption journey began with a picture -- of a little girl at a Missionaries of Charity (Mother Theresa) orphanage in Haiti  .  .  .   my Mom side-tripped to the facility on her first adventure into the mountainous land.  Six months later, the wee child's beaming smile was too much for me to ignore.

We learned, months later, that the girl we'd come to call "Sunflower" had been a temporary resident -- there only for medical care -- who went home to her birth family.  May she continue to grow and blossom! 

And so, we were then open to a referral from BRESMA orphanage, and thus, Josianna and Wendy entered our lives for ten months of love and growth -- for all of us.  A life-changing earthquake led their birth parents to retrieve them from orphanage care and make their way to safety in village life far from the confines of Port-au-Prince.  We continue to make efforts to get to them messages and mementos as symbols of our love and respect for their family and blessings of health, hope, and happiness for now and for their future.

With dedicated hearts, committed souls, and prepared minds, we yearn to bring into our family Haitian children who need us  .  .  .  children who have no prospect of family care otherwise, and thus, we work tirelessly for the release from authority of the US government children who were re-institutionalized in Pittsburgh, nearly nine months ago.

The 26-month journey has been an indescribable, invaluable growth experience .  .  and as we teeter on the brink of news (yes, a decision, finally) any day, any moment, I realize that this has been one hell of a labor.   

Yet, the McMutries love child after child after child, and have made this their lives.  Around the clock.  Through quake, fear, and deaths.  Endless bureaucracy and numbing numbers in need.  For love of the most vulnerable.  For life.