This is BIG

Two days ago, the Haitian government voted to ratify the Hague Convention. This will be a very good thing for the orphans in Haiti in the future. We don't really know what it means for our adoption at this point. Dixie's post is almost like reading a foreign language because I don't understand it all. I know that countries like China who are under the Hague Convention have very strict procedural guidelines for their adoption. Without being under the Hague, countries can pretty much do whatever and require whatever they want. I'm pretty sure that since our dossier is already in Haiti, we will be grandfathered in. We continue to hope and pray that we will receive our referral before Aug. 1st when IBESR reopens.

Sadness

Yesterday, GLA received 23 babies from an orphanage that IBESR shut down. The youngest baby had to be hospitalized for rat bites. Like Robby said, how bad does an environment have to be for the Haitian government to shut it down? Must have been pretty bad. These sweet, sad faces just make me whine, "It's not fair." There are so many of us waiting here in the U.S. for a baby to love and care for and so many orphans living in deplorable conditions. All GLA knows at this point is the names of the children. They put bracelets on them to remember who is who. Many of them are sick and all are malnourished. I am so thankful they are in a place where they can receive care and hopefully, forever families. The government is looking for the parents to try to send these children back home. That makes me sad, too. There's a reason these babies were brought to the orphanage in the first place and I'm pretty sure they don't need to be sent back home. For those whose parents can't be found, they will be classified as "abandoned" (such a harsh word) and processed through the adoption system, hopefully.
Please take a minute to read Dixie's blog post and say a prayer for all of these babies and the ones caring for them.