The Background

The laughter of a child is one of the sweetest sounds ever heard. For 23 families whose children are still in Bac Lieu Vietnam, that sound has never been experienced. While referrals were given in January 2008 through August 2008, the wait to bring our children home has continued and the pains to be united with them have grown immensely. The experience of receiving a referral is one of joy, relief, and unimaginable love. We all thought the journey to our children was almost over. Our hopes remained steadfast as days turned in to weeks and then to months and a year or more. We have had to celebrate holidays without our children and endure first and in some cases second birthdays with sadness instead of joy. For most, each day begins with the hope that very soon we will get the call that it is time to travel to meet our children and bring them home. At the end of each day, we have to go to bed at night knowing that we have lived one more day without our children.

Pictures and monthly updates from our agency are precious to each of us. Through the photos we have seen our children cut teeth, learned to sit up, crawl, walk and grow up without us. All of these firsts are experiences we thought we would witness. We are not there to encourage our children and celebrate their accomplishments. I think we all like to believe that our children know that we are praying for them and that they can feel the love that continues to grow each and every day within our hearts and minds. In times of illness, we are saddened that we can not hold our children and comfort them with a mothers or fathers love.

Although the MOA with Vietnam expired on September 1, 2008, we all were assured that our adoptions would continue since we received our referrals prior to the expiration of the agreement. While other provinces in Vietnam have continued to process their referrals and allow children to come home to their loving families, the Bac Lieu province has not approved any and we are unsure of the reason why. The director of FTIA has traveled to Vietnam multiple times over the last year to bring resolve to these unknowns and has not received explanations of why the wait continues. The only thing we do know is that they are making 23 families wait to travel to meet their children and more importantly 23 children wait to know the joy of a family and the parents that love them unconditionally.

While the wait continues, an effort to assist our children grow and develop the necessary skills at their age level has become very important. The parents and volunteers who will travel will do simple things such as play with the children, interact with them, help prepare foods, and feed the children along with the centre staff. The children need to continue to develop their motor skills and learn to eat different foods that teach them simple skills such as chewing and swallowing. They have been on a diet that does not require these skills very much and need to begin transitioning so they do not have a disadvantage when one day, hopefully soon-we get to bring them home. If you can find it in your heart to help our children by assisting in part with the parents and volunteers expenses, we would all be forever grateful.