Newsletter December 2015

God’s Littlest Angels
December 2015
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6
Every time a hand reaches out to help
another... that is Christmas.
Every year, God’s Littlest Angels decorates the houses and nursery for
Christmas. We hang stockings, wrap presents, put up lights, and try to make
Christmas a special time for the children.
We have people who donate the gifts and
even find ways to send them into Haiti
with volunteers. Sometimes, people will
even donate money to buy some chicken
for the children’s Christmas lunch.
Your donations help us make Christmas
special. The children depend on the staff to
meet all of their needs and we depend on
you to provide the funds to do this. This is
a team effort and no single part can make it work.
God’s Littlest
Angels
Unit 2081 - GLA
3170 Airmans Drive
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946 USA
GLA in Haiti:
011-509-2-228-1645
Haiti VOIP Phone:
719-937-4749
US Office:
719-638-4348
Email: [email protected]
(Dixie in Haiti)
[email protected]
This year has been a low year for
donations. We have struggled and that
means that we do not have as much for the
children. Please consider making a
donation today! You can write a check and
send or you can go online to
www.glahaiti.org, click on the DONATE
button, and make a financial contribution
to help the children at the orphanage.
(US staff)
Web Pages:
www.glahaiti.org
www.glacanada.ca
You can also remember the children, and GLA at Christmas
time by giving an honorary gift on behalf of loved ones and
Send US Funds to:
GOD’S LITTLEST ANGELS
2283 WAYNOKA RD. SUITE A
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
80915
MAIN OFFICE: (719) 638-4348
EMAIL:
[email protected]
family. We have had families in the past who decided not to
501C3 tax # 36-4149349
have a large Christmas gift exchange and instead, they
Send Canadian Funds to:
GOD’S LITTLEST ANGELS
PO BOX 56043 AIRWAYS,
CALGARY, ALBERTA
T2E 8K5
EMAIL:
[email protected]
CHARITY #: 870573920 RR0001
donated the cost of the gifts to the children at God’s Littlest
Angels! What a blessing that is for the children and for the
giver of the gift also!
Please help us to continue to care for Haitian children. God has sent us here to
serve the children, help us do our best. You truly make a difference in the lives
of the children with your gifts.
Make US & Canadian
checks payable to:
God’s Littlest Angels
Please, Give A Financial Gift Today!
“What we spend, we lose. What we keep will be left for others. What we give away will be ours
forever.”
― David McGee
“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
-
Mother Teresa
2016 GLA Calendars Are Here!
The 2016 GLA Calendars are ready with bigger and better
photos than ever! The cost is a $20 donation, which
includes shipping. There are lots of photos of the children,
so each month you can see new faces smiling at you from
our Calendar! Please go to www.glahaiti.org and click on the
icon to the left to order your calendar today!
DONATIONS
If you have donations of
supplies and clothing to
send to the orphanage,
please send them to our
Colorado address. The
donations will then be
shipped to Haiti. If you
would like to know what
items we need at the
orphanage, we keep a
current list of needed
donations on the web site.
We appreciate any and all
donations!
Guest House Building Progress at Fort Jacques
We are so excited about the progress that has taken place on the guest house building! The first floor walls are up,
windows and doors cut out, and we are just waiting for the beams and ceiling joists to be made and put in for the
second story to go up. The middle right photo is the trash house and incinerator for the increased trash need. It is all
made out of stone from the property. We did not have to buy stone for these structures. We are also building two
family cottages so that families coming to pick up their children can have some private time and space to meet their
children and start their journey to becoming a family together! The bottom right photo shows our building crew
digging out one of the four tree trunks that must come out before the cottages can be built. The crew is digging and
pulling these huge stumps by hand. We need teams in 2016 to help us put in wiring, plumbing, walls, and the finishing
touches on the houses. Write to [email protected] and ask how you can help!
NEW
ARRIVALS
Samaïda (Assistance)
3 October 2015
Lucner (Assistance)
3 July 2015
Wadson
18 January 2015
Derlain (Assistance)
8 September 2015
Daëlle (Assistance)
9 September 2015
Jhovany
4 April 2013
Adoption News
Adoptions are such a roller coaster ride of emotions and expectations for the parents, as well as for all of us working
on the adoption process here in Haiti. Sometimes it just wears all of us down and depresses us because of the lack of
understanding, compassion, and motivation by the Haitian government. When we receive two new matches, our
expectations go way up and we celebrate that maybe IBESR is finally getting a working process together that will
move adoptions forward and then nothing more happens for months!
We totally understand the frustration that families feel. We feel it too! We see the children everyday. We answer their
questions about when they are going to get a mama and papa or when is their mama and papa coming to take them
home? Hearing every day them asking, breaks our hearts! Nobody wants them home quicker than our staff at GLA!
So far in 2015, we have had 5 children go home to their forever families. These are children who were the last ones
processed under the old adoption law. All adoptions in process now are under the new law and are full or plenary
adoptions rather than simple ones. Full adoptions mean that the child has full rights to citizenship in their new
adoptive country, parental rights are completely severed in the country of origin, and they lose their biological
family’s name. Abandoned children will maintain their Haitian surname (last name) as a middle name.
We have had 16 children matched with a family this year. According to the new policies in IBESR, it is supposed to
take a short, reasonable time after the parental socialization visit for the IBESR process to be done. But many of the
adoptions are taking more than a year to finish!
We hear that IBESR has hired a lot of additional adoption staff, but we are still seeing very little evidence of this.
Referrals are trickling out slowly, one at a time. Files that have had the socialization visit completed earlier in the
year are slowly being approved. Children who are still needing to be "declared adoptable" by IBESR are taking a
very long time to be processed. It is taking forever for bio parent interviews to be completed! Once a child comes
into the orphanage, it is taking sometimes a year before the child can be matched. This is crazy and it means that a
child must sit in the orphanage much longer than is desirable.
Now once a file is approved by IBESR, it seems to be making its way through the court system fairly quickly, which
is very encouraging and we all need some good news on the adoption front! We feel like the adoption process will
become shorter as new staff are trained at IBESR and they get into a routine with the adoption process.
One problem we are anticipating is that with the Presidential election in December that the director of IBESR will
be replaced with someone appointed by the new president. This will probably take place in March or April of 2016.
From experience, we have found that when a president appoints a new director of IBESR then things stop or at least
slow way down in the adoption processing. The new director takes time to familiarize themselves with the work
done at IBESR and many times these appointments are not qualified in social work or even medicine. When this
happens then they take even longer to learn what IBESR is all about! The appointment for director used to be social
workers or public health doctors who knew already what the IBESR program entailed, but the present director came
to IBESR from an administration job in a private company. It has taken her years to really understand adoptions.
I always dread when the position changes. Sometimes, it’s a really good thing for adoptions when they change
directors and other times, we go back to the start and have to wait for the new director to catch up so that children
can join their “forever” families. Please keep this situation in your prayers.
FOREVER FAMILIES
Christin
Today, we have 74 children at the orphanage. Fifty-two are here for adoption but twenty-two are here
for assistance and are not in the adoption process. Having that many children for assistance means
that extra funds are needed. We are seeing more children coming in for short term care. Please help us
keep assisting children who need help for illnesses, malnutrition, prematurity, or neglect.
VOLUNTEERS
Mark Bushman Team
USA
Katie
USA
Morgan
USA
Brittany
USA
Bonnie & Linda
Canada
Faith Team
USA
She Said Team
USA
Willard Alliance
Melissa & Christina
Tim, Melissa,
Chelsie, & Jamesly
Abby
Dave & Molly
It is at this time of the year
We are reminded of
the true meaning of ChristmasThat is the birth of Christ
And on this very special day
from all of the GLA staff,
we would like to wish everyone
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year!
John Similien
Jean, Laurie, Christina, Jay, & Jo. (US Office)
Norm & Cecile
Anna
USA
Cherry Hills Church Team
USA
John, Dixie, Steeve, & Mark
Miss Magaly
Elizabeth
USA
Donna
USA
ErBst, Alan,
& James
Joyce
Audrey
Rob, Jessica,
Car<en, & Miles
PatDick M, Vivianne, Ruth, Magdala,
& All of the Haitian Staff
Needed: Ambassadors for GLA
We will be starting an ambassador program in early 2016 to help with awareness and fundraising. We need people to help us launch
fundraising campaigns by sharing on social media and letting people around you know about different needs the orphanage might
have. This might be as simple as sharing with your church family and friends. If you are interested in becoming an ambassador for
GLA please email Dave [email protected]
Medication and Vaccination Funds Needed
We need to buy some vaccinations and medications for the children. Our funds are running short and we are having to buy a bottle
of medicine at a time. This means that when we have an emergency and a child is sick, we do not always have the medication on
hand. We also have a monthly vaccination program to help keep childhood illnesses from running rampant through the nursery.
Please give a donation to the Medical Fund so the children can quickly get the treatment they need!