Almost Came Home Early:

We are absolutely loving our time her. Nick nicked named the little boy in our room Herman based on the experience when we first got him! He made up for the pink clothes by putting Herman in camo shorts because “you can’t get any manlier than that.” Herman has been doing really great! He has definitely started to move more and liven up. Today he was issued a medical visa and got on a flight to go to Minnesota for surgery. This is a huge blessing because it can take months or years for this to happen, and he got his in 2 days! His mom came and spent several hours with him today. She can’t wait for him to get done with his surgery so that he can come back home with her! I miss him, but it’ll be nice to not have to set an alarm for every 3 hours to feed him!

Today was hectic. We had 2 short term volunteers leave with one of our sick babies who was issued a medical visa. At the last minute we received an email saying that 2 more kids were cleared and could go. Nick and one of the nannies hopped in the truck and rushed there to drop them off. During the time he was gone we also heard that there was an open seat on another flight for the guy from Bellingham who was here picking up his son. The two of them hired someone on a motorcycle to take them and their bags to the airport.

Then we received a response that 14 of our kids who are in the process of being adoption were cleared to leave, and there was a plane willing to take them out in an hour. So we were running around like mad trying to get bags packed, med ready, and files copied. I was in charge of the files. Mind you, I don’t know anything about adoption files, terminology, and I defiantly can’t read Creole yet, but I was in charge of getting together all the important papers for each kid to go through customs.

Next Jenny tells me that Nick and I are going to be guardians of these kids and that we are going to fly them out and go through customs with them. She said she hoped we should be able to get back by Sunday by hoping on another flight, but I should pack our bag in case we couldn’t. I made 2 piles of stuff, one to stay and another to go, ripped the sheets off the bed, took down the mosquito net, etc. Nick gets back and I informed him of our immediate departure. Then apparently the senator who cleared the kids to go wouldn’t send down the appropriate paperwork, so the flight was off.

There is still a chance that we might get out tomorrow. The pilots of Agape (a volunteer airline that provides aid to Haiti) decided to spend the night with us in case they get cleared by tomorrow so that they can fly us out. If this happens, Nick and I will be flying to Venice Florida to escort the kids. Nothing is final, but we may be in a hotel with some of them until their adoptive parents are able to get there. If possible we will come back on another flight for the rest of the week, if not we will just come home! We really hope to make it back to Haiti if at all possible, but nothing is ever for certain.

Every night before bed I am in charge of feeding one of our special needs boys a can of pediasure. I take him into the pharmacy for some special one on one time. He has a tube in his stomach to help him eat. I have to use a syringe to feed him. I always make a mess, but it’s fun. He has the biggest smile. The first time I went into the pharmacy there was a rat and a mouse in there. Nick helps me most nights which is good because the boy is heavy and it’s easier for Nick to carry him. He has Cebral Palsyi.

Nick and I also brush all of the kids’ teeth twice a day which is cute! I was going to take the Lion’s (oldest kids) to preschool today, but with all the drama I ran out of time. I feel bad cause I promised them and one boy was really upset. I told him I would do my best to have it tomorrow. They are so hungry for education!

Overall today was a good day! We were able to get 4 kids out, which is awesome. One was adopted, and the others will have surgery for club feet, colostomy, and a giant fluid filled growth on the back of his head. We didn’t even have any of the correct paperwork to get them to leave. One baby didn’t have a birth certificate. We had to sneak one on the plane basically, but if we didn’t he might not have lived much longer!!

Nick has been really busy cleaning the shop and fixing various things around here. I asked him if he had anything that he wanted to add and he said no. We both had a blast playing with the kids on the playground last night.

Pase bon nwi (good night)
Nikki