Dossier to Kenya: May 29, 2012

We drove our dossier down to Little Angels today.
Oh I was nervous to hand it over.
14 months of work, $17,000 so far, 191 pages.
No wonder I was nervous to hand it over.

The kids and I laid hands on the binder and declared that with each page the NAC flips through, that the Holy Spirit would prick their hearts, they would fall in love with us (!).
That each document would be accurate and correct and complete.
That our binder would be glowing with the Glory, and each member of the NAC would see the Glory.
That we would be approved to adopt at their meeting.

The NAC meets on June 13. And then we will be notified in July at some point whether we were approved.

I celebrated by brewing a pot of something special I just got in the mail today, New England Coffee Chocolate Cappuccino!!



Kevin asked me how I feel. Yesterday I was very very emotional.  Today I am just tired (mentally). This has been a part-time job for me for months. So I don't think it's quite hit me that I have nothing else to work on. I'm done. There is no other paperwork to do. (Well except the i800 application, but my stateside agency will help fill all that info out for me.)  Now I can plan our new school year!  Woo-Hoo!!

Dossier Complete!

Here it is. This is what we have been working towards all this time.

Yep, this is a Letter-size binder, and some of my A4 pages are sticking out of the top. But I did the best that I can do given the supplies I could find online.  I am not sure what other agencies use and since we have had to sort of assemble this on our own, this is exactly what will be headed to the NAC on 

I hope all these little tabs are okay.  Little Angels put a big emphasis on the tabs, so I hope this will suffice.

This is a copy I will send to our agency in the States.  191 pages. One-Hundred-Ninety-One PAGES!!!

Today has been very emotional for me for some reason!  I am fighting a head cold, and maybe that added to the feelings a bit, but I looked over my dossier (multiple times) and fidgeted with the pages until I drove myself to tears. I am so so so so nervous to turn this in.  I was supposed to drive down today and turn it in, but Fedex didn't show up with my last 2 documents today until 4pm. (They've had my package since Saturday but the Fedex guy today forgot to put my package on his truck...!!!).  There was a big explosion in downtown again today, so maybe the closed roads took the fedex guy off his timeline...
There is also such a vulnerability to all this, too. These folks at the NAC will look at my folder and know every piece of my life - good and bad. They will know about all my liabilities and debts and income and bank accounts and savings accounts. I really do not like giving strangers my bank statements!!  Especially with all the crime, etc. here. (I might actually take a Sharpie and mark out our account numbers actually now that I'm thinking about it...).
So I drive our dossier down to Little Angels tomorrow morning.  WHEW!

Read About My Latest Document Miracles!

Okay so there are two remaining documents we need to have authenticated for our dossier:
1. the i800a approval letter (which is this document that I've been writing about so much), and
2. the Homestudy Verification Letter from CAS.

The reason we are getting that Homestudy Verification Letter in so late (as opposed to the 28 others we had already authenticated and I have in my hands now) is because since my Homestudy was done in Kenya and notarized in Kenya, the US officials can't authenticate it because it bears no US seal. The Kenyan National Adoption Committee (NAC) will accept my Homestudy as it is. Why? Because the NAC only requires authentication of foreign documents, not their own country's.  However, there is a Homestudy Verification Letter done by my stateside agency that is attached to the back of the homestudy. Susan at Little Angels correctly suggested we have that specific letter notarized and authenticated at the state and federal levels, like all the others, since that is a foreign document.

So...I emailed the folks at CAS about 3 weeks ago and asked if they could notarize my Verification Letter and then send it on to North Carolina to be authenticated.  Then it would go to my courier in DC who would authenticate it on the US level then Kenyan level.

CAS did that; sent it to Raleigh for its state-level authentication stamp. CAS said they fedex'd my document to my courier in DC on Tuesday, May 15, which is the same day I sent my i800a approval letter from Kenya to my courier. (Again, remember that drama?).

Well by Friday my courier had not received anything from CAS. So Friday night I sat in bed (it was close to 11pm here in Kenya) and I placed phone calls to the CAS office, to Fedex, and to my specific program coordinator. The CAS office closes at noon on Fridays (it was 3pm in their time zone) so I was literally freaking out. The thing is, to get my dossier to the NAC by the June 5 deadline, I needed my last 2 documents to be at the courier THAT FRIDAY so he could authetnicate at the US State Department (which takes 1 day), then the Kenyan Embassy (which takes 5 days). Then if my courier fedex'd international priority to me on Friday afternoon, then I would get the documents by May 29ish and could turn in to Little Angels by May 30, and Little Angels would have time to prepare my dossier on May 31 and June 4 (since June 1 is a Kenyan holiday), and they could take to NAC on June 4.  CUTTING IT PRETTY CLOSE!!

I hope I didn't lose any of you on that last paragraph.

In other words, to make the NAC meeting for June (which is a huge long shot anyway!), my courier needed to have both my docs by Friday the 18th at the latest! But Friday night I was on the phone trying to find that one missing doc from CAS.  And hyperventilating a little.  Or rather a lot.

Miraculously, my Program Coordinator from CAS got in touch with me. We chatted by phone for the first time!  Listen to the story she told me. I think I had a few little heart attacks while listening to her:

So apparently when my Homestudy Verification document came back from North Carolina on May 14, it had been apostilled instead of authenticated.  Major Mistake!!  Susan Fox, the director at CAS, recognized the mistake, and sent it back out to the state capitol for the correct stamp. Somehow (INSERT: GOD), the document went back to Raleigh, was correctly authenticated, and sent back to CAS office headquarters in Greensboro by Friday the 18th. Then the folks at CAS (even though the office closes at noon!), fedex'd it Overnight to my courier in DC. Courier got the doc on Saturday.

Now my courier had both my documents!

Monday the 21st Courier took my CAS doc to US State Dept to be authenticated. He used their same-day service, which I thankfully found out about through a fellow-adopting friend. He drove my 2 docs to the Kenyan Embassy that afternoon. Somehow (INSERT GOD AGAIN) the Kenyan Embassy authenticated my 2 documents in 3 days instead of the usual 5 days. So Wednesday the 23rd, Courier Fedex'd my completely authenticated documents to me. At the time I write this, my docs are in the air and just left Paris! They should make it to me tomorrow or Sunday.

So Monday the 28th I will drive my COMPLETED DOSSIER down to Little Angels.

I just can't believe it.  For a girl who found out she messed up her documents to Immigration on May 2, and then now she'll have her completed dossier turned in to Little Angels by May 28.  Living overseas. Shipping everything internationally. FOLKS, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE!!  Especially considering the other issues with the documents that I've had...There is no other explanation but one: God.

Father God, I am continually humbled by your grace and your mercy and your miracles. May everybody who reads this see how Amazing You Are, Father!!

Great Meeting at Little Angels Today ~ Dossier In Order!

Today the kids and I drove down to Little Angels.  Or rather, we hired our favorite driver to drive our car there!  (Thank goodness he was driving because there is so much construction going on, he had to take alternate routes. I have no idea how we actually got there!)

Susan agreed to meet with us to look over our Dossier and make sure everything is in order.

It was great to see her again - this is the lady that conducted the home visits for our Home Study. She is a really nice lady (like most Kenyans we have met!). The kids sat at the table and ate their lunch (peanut butter sandwich) while we chatted. They were so well behaved during the whole meeting!

She gave me a few pointers such as which photos were the best to use, the correct order in which to put my documents, the fact that we can still make the June NAC meeting (if I get those other 2 documents back from the US by May 29 or so), etc., etc.  I asked about my timeline and whether it was reasonable.

Most importantly, I was able to explain my new paradigm shift (read my last post). I think that was very important. I know I have probably seemed like a maniacal, non-understanding American to her during this whole process, so I wanted to let her know how much I have learned (and grown) through this whole thing.

It was a lovely meeting and I am glad to have everything in order!

Shifting

So tonight I was washing the dishes and our water ran out.  Like, it just stopped flowing from the tap.  Or the cold water, at least. (Guess the hot water tank was full, so it scalded my hand when the cold ran out.)

Here's the scoop.  A week ago we got this information from the embassy: 

The main water feed pipe for all of Nairobi broke, ironically because of the flooding.  Engineers thought it would take 3 days to fix, but they cannot access the area (again ironically) because of the heavy rainfall.  They are now saying that it may take 10 days to repair.

Houses in Runda and Rosslyn Ridge (THAT'S ME!) access water via bore holes, so these families should continue to have water.  If you are not in these areas (and this includes the chancery compound), it is likely that you will not get water for the next 10 days.  Your house has a water tank, but the tank will not last for nearly 10 days.  The embassy can truck water when you run out, but obviously the large number of houses we have will be difficult to service quickly.  PLEASE CONSERVE!  Take all steps possible to minimize your water usage. 

So after that initial email a week ago, having been told that we wouldn't be impacted by the shortage, I sort of forgot about it.  And why wouldn't I? I'm here on this little compound and never have to leave if I don't want to.

So imagine my shock when my water ran out while washing the dishes. I immediately felt a panic - - how would the kids bath? how would I clean dishes or clothes? how would my water distiller fill up (that's where we get our drinking water)? I immediately started filling up pitchers of water JUST IN CASE!

Thankfully we had enough water for the kids' bathtime, but I worried if there would be water for MY morning shower! 

And it hit me. Like a bolt of lightening.  Sometimes this is how God speaks to me.  It just hits me like being hit over the head with bricks or something. And then I just know.  This was a major shift, a major paradigm shift for me.

As you know, it took us a long time to settle here. And I've not been content. And honestly I have not enjoyed living here. There were so many things for us to adjust to and get used to. I have complained. I have gotten frustrated and sometimes very angry. We make snide comments and sarcastic remarks. None of this an indication of a Christian home. (I'm reading a great book entitled Grace-Based Parenting and have really noticed we need to incorporate more GRACE into our home!).  All along this process I have heard God say to be Peaceful in the process. Some times have been easier than others. But I definitely haven't succeeded (just look at any of my prior blog posts!).

So this one little inkling of how a Kenyan must live every day (the water shortage) really made me understand the culture to an extent I never understood before.  Sure, there is poverty all around me. There's nothing I can really do about it but get angry about it. Angry at the government for not taking better care of their country. Angry at the individual people for not trying to make it better.  But these folks ARE trying. They work very hard.  It is hard to rise out of poverty! This is nothing THEY did. There is no water. And everybody in this city is impacted by that. Half the time the electricity is out. This is nothing the individual people DID. This is something they have to ENDURE. So I realize it does no good to think, "Gosh why can't they fix their electrical problems in the city?" 

The next morning at breakfast, I made the kids stop eating their cereal long enough to explain to them that we need to ask Father God to forgive us for complaining, for not being content, and for making snide comments about the problems here.

The kids put their spoons down, Kevin was there since he hadn't left yet, and as a family we asked Father God to forgive us for these things.

And that's it.  Burden lifted.  Wish I could've been at this point months ago, but I am happy we are here now. Whew. Now I can embrace our Kenyan child with a full heart for Kenya. My biggest fear was going back to the States as a bitter former Kenya resident with just complaints about our time here. Thank you, Jesus, for this breakthrough.

Two Miracles Happened Today

As I sat in bed last night (after writing that last post), I told God that we needed a miracle today. The Fedex office closed and no one had any word about my package.

I was very bold with God.  "You called us to this.  Your heart is adoption. We have to see a miracle tomorrow, God. We are going to the embassy at 9am to meet with the notary. We declare Fedex will be there with our package. We just hold on to faith that you will do this. We need a miracle.  And when you do this, I will tell everybody about it.  To your Glory."

My Bible reading this morning was Exodus 7.  You know the story, "Let my people go."
Specifically, Exodus 7:3 really stuck out to me: "But I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt."

God doesn't make bad things happen. But we all know God works GOOD from the bad situations (Romans 8:28).  So maybe sometimes we face the impossible so that God can show himself through it. So people can see God working through it.  So people can see that God does do miracles today.  Every day.

Getting my Fedex package today was impossible.  Awesome.  Here's an opportunity for God to shine.

We drove to the embassy at 9am, like I told the courier we would.  I texted the courier and explained we had to have the document at the US embassy at 9am. I was pretty sure they didn't fix my problem since they only opened at 8:30am, but again, we were hoping for a miracle.

I called Fedex at 9am and finally ahold of them on the phone. The folks told me the courier would be there by 9:30am. They never mentioned the reason why my package was held.  I didn't care - - I just wanted it.

The kids and I walked around the embassy.  Visited folks in their offices.  Climbed the hill outside.  Played in the bathroom for a while (!).  Cashed a check.  Had a snack in the cafeteria.  Wrote on a bunch of labels in the mail room and stuck them on each other.  Sat in the hallway and colored Spiderman pages. Picked out our favorite rocks in the rock garden outside.

And then at 10:30am we got the phone call - - - Marshall was here at the embassy.  In a tiny little Fedex truck and wearing a Fedex uniform! This was way more professional than the Fedex courier who visited me a few weeks ago!

I was so excited to see Marshall. I think all the embassy guards must think I am crazy (who are we kidding?)   because I was so happy to see Marshall.

I quickly walked back into the embassy, met Kevin at the Consular's office, they stamped my Affidavit, and I put it all back in a clean Fedex envelope and dropped it off at the mail room.

Done.

So it's on its way to the States to be authenticated right now.

I just can't believe Marshall made it. And now the document is on its way to the next adventure.

I was pretty bold with God in my prayer last night. And He did it. He continues to amaze me.  Sometimes I get down on myself because I'm not a quiet and passive person and I sometimes feel like society expects this homeschooling mama to be that way. But I know God made me exactly the way He wanted me to be. He made my temperament a specific way for a reason. And he adores me, just the way I am.

I praise you Jesus for doing miracles every day.



p.s. The second miracle today? I left my coffee pot on from 7am-2:30pm and my house didn't burn down! (I  had left a substantial amount of coffee in the pot this morning...it all evaporated and scorched the bottom of the pot. Thank God I didn't drink the whole pot this morning!)

I Told You I'd Write About the Bad, Too...

You know, it's nice to read blog posts that are encouraging and are a blessing to other people.
This is not such a post.

I am so so so tired of the challenges and complications regarding this adoption.  I know I whine a lot, but this has seriously been the hardest thing I have ever done!  WHY??!!

If I could get in a time machine and talk to myself in March 2011, I would tell myself that this process is too complicated and too challenging.  So don't bother yourself (myself) with it. Choose a different country.  Or none at all.

I am so FED UP with the business industry in Kenya, inter alia. There are obstacles with everything we have done in this country.  From Day 1.


I had major issues with Fedex today.  You know how I mentioned in my last post that we paid to have our i800a approval letter fedex'd international priority?  Well it arrived today, May 14.  The courier called me from the airport at 1pm and said he was on the way to my house. Don't picture a Fedex truck. Picture a guy on a motorcycle with a crate tied to the back of the motorcycle that contains all the packages. I'm surprised they can ever deliver anything correctly here at all. Especially since there aren't any real addresses here.

So by 5pm he wasn't here yet.  I called him. Apparently right after he informed me he was on the way to my house, someone from the main office had called him and told him to hold my package. AND HE NEVER BOTHERED to communicate that to me. (INSERT "UGH UGH UGH UGH" HERE.)

His name is Marshall.  Marshall the Courier.  He had no idea why my package was being held. Then he mentioned something about freight charges, but I could barely understand his broken English with the noise of the traffic in the background.

Lies, Lies, Lies. Not on a truck being delivered to my house!

So I called the main office.  Repeatedly.  I was on the phone with Fedex for a total of 2 hours.  TWO FRUSTRATING HOURS in which no one could figure out why they held my package.  I owe no taxes or import fees because it is ONE SHEET OF PAPER.  No fees required.  In fact, none of the 4 representatives I spoke with at Customer Service could even find the original woman who instructed Marshall to hold my package!!

I called US Fedex. They said there should be no issues - - Kenya should have just billed my account number (which is the same as swiping a credit card) and delivered my document to me.

I called Marshall back and told him I have an appointment to notarize the darn thing at the US Embassy tomorrow at 8am and to BRING ME MY DOCUMENT!!  I will literally sign it and hand it right back to him to be delivered back to the States again.  Gosh, how long will THAT part take?

So I have no idea when I will get my document.  If I can get it sent back out tomorrow I can possibly still make the June NAC meeting...WE NEED MIRACLES EVERY STEP OF THE WAY WHEN DEALING WITH THIS GOVERNMENT AND THIS CULTURE!!
(Okay it might be time to make this blog private...Probably not a good idea to blast the government/culture when I'm trying to adopt from here.)

But that brings another good point...why do I want to adopt from this country at all? All these frustrations and challenges make me lose focus on why we are doing this in the first place. What. Is. The. Point.

I am praying this whole process will sort of be like labor: once it's over you forget about how hard it was.  We'll see.  And I know everyone says once the baby is here that we will be thankful we went through with it.  I guess we'll see about that, too.

We are CIS Approved!

Friday morning we woke up to a great gift: an email from CAS announcing our Immigration approval!
It was sent from the US via Fedex International Priority on May 11...and I'm refreshing my browser every few hours to track the status of the package! It should arrive in Kenya in a few hours.

USCIS Receipt Date: April 5
USCIS Approval Date: May 7

Still trying to make the June NAC meeting!!! Ahhh getting close!

CAS Continues to Rock!

So because of internet issues here I couldn't email my agency yesterday.
Kevin tried from work. I went to a restaurant down the street. No luck.
Then my South African friend here tried from her computer. Bingo! The email went through.

I had emailed CAS and begged them to Fedex my missing documents to Immigration.
Well, even better, CAS called the folks at Immigration. CAS said the gentleman at Immigration was very nice on the phone and asked her to email the documents to him.  So she did!!

Now they have my documents.  I am so grateful and so pleased and so impressed by Carolina Adoption Services. They did not have to do this for me, but they happily did so.  CAS rocks!

Getting Off Track

I messed up.

I received an email yesterday from my Stateside agency. Immigration contacted them to let them know I forgot to include something required for Immigration for the i800a application. Shoot!

I am really not sure how I missed something so essential. I will fix it and then we will move on. Every Step. Such a big deal.