Passport

 

7/7/14

We picked up the passport @ 11 pm from the passport office. As usual I had Diego with me so I cut to the front of the line. It took 15 min. Then when to get my Colombian ID from the immigration office. While I was in the immigration office Soraya took a photo of the passport and sent it to the us embassy we could get an appointment to get Diego's VISA. We were blessed to get an appointment for the next day.

Diego has a passport. All we need now is the visa from the US embassy and we can come home!!!

Birth Certificate and Passport

7/4/14

Sarah Myer agreed to watch Diego while Soraya and I took the transmeleno bus system to the office where Diego's birth was registered. It took an hour and a half to get to the our stop way in the south of Bogota. Then we got onto another bus then to a taxi. The registrar office had a crowd in front of it and I was envisioning hours of waiting. After purchasing a treat for the person helping us we walked to the guard told him what we needed and we walk in immediately and found the person we needed waiting at her desk for us. WOW that was amazing. The very nice lady processed the papers quickly then I signed and finger printed the new birth certificate. I find it a bit odd that a new birth certificate was created. Almost like changing the past… The facts of his birth did not change but we changed the docs as if they did… Odd but I guess that is how it is done. We had to wait for a while as the "Registrar" was not in the office at that moment. So we went to a café and got AVENA COLOMBIANA and role then went back to the registrar office received the paperwork. We took a 20 min to the bus station and I happy to say I walk to fast for Soraya (Colombians walk very fast I saw it as a challenge) We then took the bus immediately to the passport office. On the bus we called Sarah and Asked her to bring Diego to the passport office. Once we all arrived and cut to the front of the line because of the children and very quickly arrived on a cubical were the paper work was verified and we found that we did not have a copy of Crystal's passport. So I emailed it Soraya she ran to an internet café and printed it out. The copies of the birth certificate had a vertical stripe where the printer failed to print as dark as the rest. This was a problem that was resolved by showing that the original had the same issue. It took 3 tries to get Diego's Passport photo useable. He was eating candy and the 1st 2 photos were distorted by chewing and sucking. It was very funny. Then we went back to the hotel and had a great time at the Colombian 4th of July party. See the PICs. I think I will be going home before the end of next week!!! Wow less than a month in Colombia. Huge blessing. I thank thee Lord!!!

Link: http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/avena-drink-avena-colombiana 

Just one week after our integration. 7/2/14 the same day we visited Hogares Liz y vida. In fact around an hour after I got home  I received a barely intelligible call from Soraya. There was lots of background noise and she was excited. She repeated the message 2 or 3 times before changing to tomorrow we are going to sign the adoption papers! She said she would pick Diego and I  up at 8:15 am the following day.  She also said many other things that I did not understand. I was just so happy I did not care about anything else.

I was unable to get Crystal on the phone to give her the news until hours later she was out running errands.

The next morning I was up and showered before Diego was aware of the new day. He had eggs, banana  He would not eat. I made him sit at the table but I don't think he ate more than 3 bites. The drive to the center of town was long but I have done it several times before. On the way we stopped on the side of the highway for a bit to pick up Lucy our Lawyer. Traffic was the normal horrific mess but we were good on time so we stopped so that Lucy could do a  quick errand. We parked 3 or 4 blocks from the courthouse and walked past the gold museum by about a block to get to the court house. We went up in a stinky elevator to an odd little hallway. One end was the elevator the other was a service window the gray was kind depressing. Is gray paint cheaper? On the walls were some clip boards with notices of judgments and such. At the service window Lucy asked for the Judge. In short order the judge came out and beckoned us through the service door then into her office. It is very odd for a judge to meet with the adopters or adoptees. We were so blessed to have the paperwork move so quickly and also to be able to say thank you in person for that great blessing. The judge enjoyed talking to Diego and giving him little toys (including Colombian stacking dolls and Plush Flowers) to play with. She was very sweet. Somehow Diego found a rag and began to very carefully clean the book shelf behind the judge's desk. He did a great job! Soraya used my camera to snap pics of most of the fun in the judge's office. Then Soraya snapped a photo of  Diego the judge and I. Next was the big thing. One quick signature and it was done. We celebrated and I thanked everyone as many time as I could. They also thanked me for adopting Diego and expressed gratitude for having the opportunity  to assist in the adoption! What a great day.

and Arequipa on toast for breakfast.

Visit to Hogares Luz Y Vida

We arrived at 10:30 ish in the am after a long drive through some scary neighborhoods. We went in through the back door. I am not sure why.  It took just a moment for a nice man to open the door then a bit longer for the assistant Director of the orphanage to come to the door. She is one of the people at the encontro date in fact she told us most of that we knew about Diego from the orphanage. She was present but not in the room for the integration. She is very nice and truly loves the children. Since we came in through the back we walked directly into the cafeteria. It is a large room with lots of room for tables but when we entered there were none. On the wall was a large painting of Jesus with a group of children all of the children in the painting are or were residence of the home. There are many paintings throughout the facility and also outside on the walls nearby. All of the paintings were done by residence at the home. We walked up a ramp and into the main facility to what I will call the "play room". There we were informed not to take photos of any of the resident children.  Photos of things, staff and our own children were fine. As the day was a holiday ALL of the 160 residence were at home. Wow there were a lot of kids and they immediately recognized Diego and MaJo'! The room was alive with calls and shouts of Diego and Diegito! All around me, I was holding Diego. Many children obviously love Diego and wanted to hug and kiss him. I kneeled down and they did. Diego appeared overwhelmed at the attention but he was smiling and obviously recognized and loved those who accosted him. Many of the children had obvious medical problems; others seemed well, all looked happy. The staff all smiled and watched the children and greeted Diego and MaJo'. The room was large with a ramp going up to the left that split it in half. On the near side there were many children. I think most of them were watching TV. On the far side of the room was a fenced in area where toys were kept. After a lot of happy yelling and one young man of 8 or 10 years getting my attention and asking "are you Diego's Dad?" (That young man wants a family so much I could feel it. The question was more of a plea "Would you be my Dad too"? Wow that was heart wrenching. I wish I could.) Up the bisecting ramp we went toward the office.

On the way we saw Viviana a therapist working with a baby that suffers from hydrocephalus. Seeing that baby with his large deformity being helped was difficult but wonderful at the same time. So many of the residence here are in need of extra care and are not "perfect" in some way. I am sure that many of the stories are tragic and beyond my comprehension. But to my surprise I was not overcome with sadness or grief as the visit progressed. In fact I was uplifted. The spirit was sweet and the faces of the residence were by my observation almost universally happy. At times my gut wrenched and I felt sad as I saw the unimaginable difficulties and frustrations. But I also saw the hands of angles caring for and loving the children. God truly lives and loves these  little ones. They need families so much. But while they are waiting I cannot imagine a better place. This is a place of healing and love.  This is a sacred place where the work of God is done. The staff who care for the residence and the residence truly are angles. This place is home for 160 very special people whom God loves.

Viviana is the therapist that worked closely with Diego and was "Like his Mom" I was told. She taught Diego to walk and worked with him on many things. She is why Diego was able to progress so quickly and come to us so strong and happy. When Diego was able to get close to Viviana it was obvious that they had a very special relationship. Diego went to her with enthusiasm and hugged her. They interacted for perhaps 5 min. It was a happy time for both of them. We are so thankful to her. We took a bunch of pictures.

Back to the narrative and up the ramp. The office is a small room with 2 or 3 computers, desks and chairs. We meet the 2 assistant directors and some other staff. We shared some gifts that we brought for the staff. There were so very kind and thankful to us for adopting Diego. I expressed how thankful we are for the care and love they have for all the children especially Diego. 

Next took ramps to look at the dorms. There were very few stairs in the facility all ramps to allow accessibility for everyone. All of the dorms were clean, neat organized and appeared to be comfortable. There were stuffed animals in the beds of each of the young children. The blankets and sheets had fun colors and seemed just right. The rest rooms and changing rooms were very clean. I was impressed by the number of toothbrushes neatly arranged on the walls. When we arrived at Diego and MaJo's former dorm they were excited. I put Diego into his former bed (really a white crib) and he ran directly to look out the window. There is a nice green field just across the street that I am told use to have animals in it. I was told that Diego was looking for the animals. He remembered.  After the dorms we went to the room where Diego learned to walk. It was undergoing changes so it was empty but it was nice to see the place where he hit such an important milestone. From the first moments we brought Diego to our apartment he has been a door shutter. Every door and any door anywhere anytime, he shuts all doors. At his former home it was no different. They told me that he has always been a door shutter. In fact he shut the doors to many of the rooms we visited.

When we left the institution Diego did not want to stay in fact he was the first one to the door. This made me very happy! He wanted me more than his home for as long as he can recall! He even kissed me when we got in the car!

One thing we were not able to do on this visit was to meet with the nun that directs the center.  I hope someday somehow to meet her and thank her for all her hard work and sacrifices for the children. I am reminded of Mosiah chapter 2 my favorite verse is 17 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/2?lang=eng.

Links:

http://handsofferinghope.org/

http://www.opusprize.org/winners/09_Garcia-Martin.cfm

https://www.google.com.co/search?q=Hogares+Luz+Y+Vida