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| A very tired Anya on Skype. |
As for Daniel, I'm in a holding pattern. As most of you know, I had to start all my paperwork over again. My attorney has been so patient and so understanding. The Kemerovo region is currently not issuing any referrals anyway, so even if my paperwork were completed, we'd have to wait. It may be months, there is no way of knowing. But the good news is, I'm not letting this deter me either. I've seen Kemerovo close down numerous times over the past 6 years, so this is just a bump in the road. I choose to keep looking forward.
The hardest part has been speaking to Daniel and the other kids at the orphanage and hearing their pleas for a visit. 'Kitty, we miss you!' and 'Kitty, how many days till you come back to us?' And 'Kitty, Daniel cries after you call him.' Yes, Daniel cried when I called him for his birthday. He doesn't believe he'll ever be home. I try to comfort him, but it is difficult to do over the phone. Just wish I could fly over even for a day and hold him.
My friend Kim (the one who travelled with me in June) says she tries to do one thing every day that brings her closer to getting back there. I decided that would be a great form of therapy for me, so I am starting to collect again..lol. Dolls, matchbox cars, toothbrushes, socks and mittens...you name it. I'm starting to gather things I can bring over when I head over with Daniel's paperwork. I have NO IDEA when that will be, but I'm giving myself a tentative date of January, so I have something to hope for and look forward to.
I'm also packing up a few care packages to get in the mail soon, so they arrive before it's too cold. I remember arriving there last September and stepping off the plane into 32 degrees. I want to make sure they all have winter clothes to keep them warm!
On a VERY positive note, my other friend Kim D noticed this week that a few of the children were suddenly on the National Database (www.usynovite.ru) of orphans. This is unprecedented, I have hoped and prayed for their updated info to appear on this registry for SIX YEARS! So, I did some searching myself yesterday and found over forty of the children from DD #5 listed suddenly! And the photos were almost all BRAND NEW some of them were even wearing things we brought them in June. It may be wishful thinking, but I'm hoping something I said helped this to happen: when we were "monitored" by the Regional SW on our orphanage visit in June, I made a point to talk to her about the outdated info on the database and how I longed to see the children of #5 listed there, so they had a better chance of being adopted. I told her I had bought a new digital camera for the orphanage so new photos would not be a problem. She agreed that updated needed to happen, " But, Keri, we are so overworked, you have no idea. We really do try, but there are often no people available to do this work. We will try.' I understood the difficulty, but hoped!
So the photos look to be taken at the summer camp. The children are more tan than when I saw them in June, and some look older already! Here is one:
№ 2bt6y
Кемеровская область
Есть братья или сестры
Возможные формы устройства:
усыновление, опека, приемная семья
Девочка родилась в январе 1999
Глаза голубой
Волосы русые
Характер целеустремленная, жизнерадостная, требовательная
This is Katya, and she is wearing the headband I gave her in June, so I know the photo is new!
Let's hope that these updated postings will help these children get adopted before it's too late! We are still hoping for a hosting program to be approved. It is looking better for summer 2012. Your prayers are always appreciated.
This is Katya, and she is wearing the headband I gave her in June, so I know the photo is new!
Let's hope that these updated postings will help these children get adopted before it's too late! We are still hoping for a hosting program to be approved. It is looking better for summer 2012. Your prayers are always appreciated.
You have a wonderful, Spirit-filled attitude! Oh, how I long to go back to Russia, but if I manage to do something every day just to keep food on the table here, that's about all I can muster.
ReplyDeleteMy attitude needs to undergo a Keri-ization.
So glad for an update! Poor Anya, poor Daniel, poor Katya. Your readers stand by you in your resolve to help them all, and I, for one, would be eager for something concrete I can do to help.
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of your resolve and ability to cope despite all the uncertainty and roadblocks. Helps me to cope in my own difficult circumstances, which seem not as big after all.
Sorry to hear that things are at a stand still but you sound so much more optimistic than you did a few weeks ago. And you are so right, sometimes all we can do is keep plodding ahead. Remember, everything happens in God's perfect timing. Maybe there is a reason why there seems to be so many bumps in the road now. I hope that all that is revealed to you soon.
ReplyDeleteI love Kim's idea of doing something every day to get closer to going back. I'm going to adopt this same policy, especially when I go shopping. I'm a Dollar Tree addict so it's very easy to pick up cheap toys or socks or shampoo that I can take with me on my next trip overseas or send in the next shipment from my charity.
Also, just to let you know, my charity, the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project (www.eerop.org) is going to send a blanket to each of the kids at DD #5. I know there are about 100 kids there (if you have exact numbers I would love to have them) so we will keep collecting and sending them as long as it takes for every child to have something warm in those 32 degree temperatures!
I just wanted you to know that I think about you and your family often and that I pray that everything will work out soon. Sending you tons of love.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are finding things to daily bring you back. Slava Bogu on the updated photo listing! Praying for more families for all, as well as medical information and the release needed for the medical parole! Praying with you!
ReplyDelete