Haiti

Since I really didn't know much about Haiti, actually nothing before we started this adventure I thought I would share what I have learned. First of all Haiti is really close to us. It is located below Florida, across from Jamaica, and shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic(the place all the good baseball players come from). The Haitians are originally from Africa brought over to be slaves. Haiti is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. This was evident in what we saw driving through the villages and city. 50% of all Haitian households live in extreme poverty using 1.00(US) per day. How much do we live on a day, not 1.00. About 4 in every 10 adults cannot read or write. I saw this on the plane when the flight attendent was helping all the Haitians fill out their immigration cards. I did see alot of children going to schools all around Haiti, so it looks like they are trying to solve this, that is encouraging. More than 80% that live in Haiti don't have clean drinking water. What a basic need, one we take for granite. Dirty water means contaminated water that leads to sickness. 1 in 20 Haitians have AIDS. There is 1 doctor to 10,000 Haitians, and many have to walk miles to get there. So I guess the clean water is even more important. Out of 8 million people in Haiti, 1 million of them are orphaned or abandoned. Okay I'm not trying to make you feel bad, just to realized how blessed we are here. What a privilage to live in the United States. I just want to give you a glimps of what is going on outside our little worlds. There are so many ways we can help. One way is adoption, but it doesn't have to be that. There are many organiztions to support with prayer and financially. The organiztion we work with is Chances4children.org. They not only adopt children, they help provide schools, clean water and jobs for local women and men as well as well as much more. There are many more. Maybe God has placed another country on your heart, just be sensitive to what He is telling you and respond. If anything I felt a piece of God's heart just by taking the trip and seeing Him at work. Haiti is such a beautiful place and the Haitians are beautiful people. I loved the palm trees, the brightness(unlike our gloomy weather), and the mountains. But the living situations are anything but beautiful. So, in conclusion Haiti was an eye opening experience and has changed my view on life forever. And now that Haiti is a part of our family history we will continue to learn and reach out however God calls us.

Saying good-bye and hello

Yesturday we had to say good-bye to Emmi. I hadn't thougt too much about what it would be like until later in the trip and decided it wouldn't be too bad because of her age, and maybe she really won't know what is going on. Was I wrong. Madame Coindy told all the kids, with parents visiting, at breakfast that their mommies and daddies need to go back and get their papers before they can take them home. When they get the papers they will take you home. She told us how to say in Creole come back, so I told Emmi over and over "Momma come back". Now for some reason Emmi had decided half way threw the last day she didn't want anything to do with Billy, no smooches or holding. I think she didn't want to share her mommie with anyone, not even the other kids. When it was time to leave they came and got her and she threw a fit, the girl likes things her way. It broke my heart. It was way harder than I thought. I am so glad I have the comfort to know she is loved and cared for. I can't wait to go back. I loved Haiti and the people. Driving back into Port-au-Prince I was reminded of the living conditions outside the Creche. It added to the sadness of leaving.. I will continue to pray for Haiti and the people. There life is so simple and relaxed, unlike our stressed, hurried lives. On the way home we had to make a stop in the Bahammas for 1 1/2 hours. I have always wanted to go there and Billy does joke that the only reason I picked Haiti is for the sun, I do love the sun! So after being up 25 hours and traveling 22 we finally made it home to our kids sleeping in the livingroom waiting for us. I am so excited to be home, yet already miss by baby. I truely believe God brings us through things to bring us closer to Him as well as bless others and be blessed. Emmi has touched my heart in a way only a child can, and daily I will humbly seek God and continue to pray for her, the children, the Aunties and the paperwork! It gives me peace to know in a situation where I have no control, God does! And for now I am called to pray.

Thanks for all the posts, I love to hear from you all. I am going to be printing it out for Emmi's albums, so if you havn't yet, please post. I will update from time to time if you want to continue with us on our journey.

Our last day in Haiti

Today was a wonderful day. Emiline greeted me with a smile this morning. She really knows I am momma. So many smiles and giggles today, I hate to leave. All the children are so beautiful and smart. By the way if your interested, there are 3 amazing beautiful boys that are available and I have pictures of them. It is so much fun, they just swarm to you and love you. I'm pretty sure it makes it harder for the aunties, so many distractions. This morning we got to watch Emmi do her physical therapy with Jasmine. She is so amazing with her. We are so blessed. We need to be praying that she wants to walk so she can move up to the toddler room, she loves the older kids. For lunch we(our group and our kids) walked to Mommies Duncan's house, down the road from the Creche. She is a beautiful woman inside and out. She owns the property the Creche, the church and the schools are on. The food here is so good, way better than I thought.We have rice and beans every night, with goat, tilapia fish, pork and something like steak, no cereal, except the fruit loops someone brought to share with the kids. Billy handed out Smarties to all the kids today during outside time, they loved it! Tomorrow morning we will say good-bye to Emmi for a short time until we can come back to visit again(I am already planning another trip) or better bring her home. Oh, she loves the pics of Willy, JJ and Sierra. I show her every day and she smiles. She already loves you. Pray for safe travels back home.
We are having problems with computer so maybe no pics. I will post more when we get home.
We love all of you and thanks for being apart of our family adventure.

Ox cart trip and lots of Emi time

The day started with an ox cart ride through the local villages to the haitian market place along a river. It was beautiful. There was alot of fun in the sun including sun burns. We got to see schools, families, homes, goats, a big pig, kids playing soccer, a tap-tap(a truck when the bed has benches that transports more people than you can imagine, they are everywhere, like a taxi), and someone climb a coconut tree with his hands and feet 20 feet up. The market place was filled with many Haitian food, toiletries, ginger root, garlic, mackreal, homemade charcoal and much more.
I was welcomed home with a smile from Emiline that made my day. I really love her aunties, even though I can't communicate with them. They all know her well and love on her. Everyday they dress her up and make sure she is ready for us. I got to feed her lunch today, it looked yummy!, rice and beans. After a short nap, for me and Emiline, we spent most of the afternoon outside. She loves it out there and seems to come more alive. I think she likes to be around the bigger kids. We brought out the bubbles and she loved them as did the other kids. She is walking around while holding our hands, when she wants. Gracie, we saw her use her walker just like yours.
We love you all and miss you.
(I will add pics later)

Paperwork and giggles

Well today has been an extra long day filled with so much. After a pancake breakfast Haitian style-yummm! We spent the morning in Port-au-Prince to get some of our paperwork done, everything went so smoothly. Driving through the city is so different. When we are all packed in the car, hot and sweaty, it is silent. We are taking it all in. So different from our world. In the afternoon we came back to a late lunch of yummy sandwiches with the crust cut off. Emi(pronounced Emee)finally opened up to us this afternoon and we had lots of giggles and smiles. She actually is responding to us and playing, I was worried. We spent the afternoon in the playground with all the older kids. They are all so precious and so accepting. I am known as momma to all of them. Today I showed Emi the pics of the kids and she smiled. She recognizes them from the pics by her bed. I am teaching her all about you and saying your name over and over. We are so amazed at the Creche. It is like an oasis in the middle of a sad land.
We love and miss you all!

We made it safely to Haiti and Emiline is precious

What an amazing place! I can't believe how beautiful the children are and so much love. We got to meet our sweet Emiline(pronounced Emileen or Emi for short) When we were introduced to Emi she put her cheek next to mine and within minutes was fast asleep on my shoulder. After waking we ate lunch together, Billy's Cheerios were a big hit! One of the babies we brought she likes. She loves the stacking cups (Angel) as do all the kids. They are content with just one. After some play time alone we went to the baby room, where Emiline stays. There were around 15 babies all just playing on the floor looking for love with only 2 toys. They are very content to just be around you and hang on you(and yes I was peed on, I couldn't say no to those beautiful faces) The facility here is amazing, I can't believe how nice. We haven't got much of a smile out of Emiline but I saw her interact with one of her aunties and she was giggling like crazy. She is crawling and very mellow(just wait until she gets home to our crazy family) The drive out here was very humbling, we have so much. Continue to pray for us and what God will have for us to do here, for a great connection and sleep.

Our adoption adventure

We are the Hansen family of 5 and soon to be 6. God has touched our hearts and led us to expand our family and reach out to the fatherless. We are currently in the process of adopting a little girl from Haiti, our sweet Emiline. What a roller coaster ride. A friend warned me, but I couldn't have imagine the emotional ride. We have been matched with her since June and hope to be able to bring her home by next fall, all dependent on paperwork. She currently lives in an orphanage with 70 other children. Although we haven't met her in person, she is very much a part of our family and hearts. We continue to pray for her and Haiti and God's speed with the paperwork.

This is just a quick overview of where we are in the process. We have been blessed in so many ways I can hardly keep up. God is so good! We continue to be encouraged at His faithfullness to us as we step out in faith toward His will for our family.

We are off to Haiti for our first visit to meet our little girl, so the inspiration for the blog. I hope to be able to post and show pictures of us at the orphanage with her. Please pray for our safety, a connection with our little girl, and the family at home.