My Sister's Wedding

Yesterday I got to see my sister walk down the aisle.  I did not fly home, although I had toyed with the idea, the extra cost of flying home wasn't something we could handle right now.  But at 2:00 my very thoughtful Aunt Pam, all wired up with her Ipad, earphones and facebook message, called me on Facetime so I could take part in my sister's wedding!
I had started the day out pretty sad.  My sister was getting married and I was going to miss it.  It was an emotional thought, such a huge day for her, and my family, I really wanted to be home.  But when I saw her on Facetime, walking down the aisle, I felt almost as if I were home.  It was actually bizarre, people could see me, I could recognize people.....I didn't expect it to be so clear!  I think if I had known that I was so clear to everyone else  I would have dressed up a bit, or at least combed my hair!  Well, Lisa and her girls looked stunning, and Dave looked very dashing.   It was so exciting to see my family, nieces and nephews, grandparents, aunts and uncles and some friends through the "looking glass".   I think my Opa was amazed at the whole thing, maybe an Ipad will replace his video camera in the near future?

Aunt Pam, and Uncle John called me a few times during the course of the evening so I could get the full picture of the day.  I saw the vows, the signing, and even some speeches and a slide show at the wedding!  I even had my picture taken with my sister, now that is something that I didn't expect.  Thanks for that Phil!  

Aunt Pam, and Uncle John, thank you, thank you, thank you!  That was a memorable experience, and I am so grateful! 

 Lisa and Dave, congratulations!  I am so glad I was able to be part of your day!  

Derek's tirade about the inept and useless Can. Gov.

This is proving to be the most exasperating Canada day week end ever experienced!  We were informed on thursday morning that the immigration officer in charge of our case is leaving his position. This means we have to wait till August when he has been replaced in order to be able to have our file processed.  No one at the Canadian High Commission in Trinidad will give us an answer as to when in August, so it could be the end of the month meaning possibly coming home in the beginning of September.  We are basically caught in a legal state of limbo, Keem being our son and not being able to  enter Canada.  There is apparently no one in with enough authority in Trinidad that can even grant a temporary travel visa for him.  The two other families here are in the same position and are equally frustrated, perhaps even more as they have not been able to take paternal leave like I have.  Aside from being stranded here and wanting to come home to introduce my new son to everyone, and go camping up north, and see Greg's new baby and be part of all the things going on back home, dealing with all these bureaucrats is driving me insane.  Friday was a day for me and the other two fathers, of countless emails and never ending phone calls, which resulted in getting nowhere.  "Why can we not go to the embassy in Barbados?"  "Because you can't"  "Why not?"  "Because Guyanese people have to go to the embassy in Trinidad". "Why only Trinidad?"  "Because that is where Guyanese people go". There seems to be no one who can answer our questions or give us an alternative.  My blood almost reached its boiling point when we all took our families, nine kids and six adults, in a mini bus down to the Canadian Embassy in Georgetown, thinking we could sit down and have a conversation with some one who could explain what options we have.  That didn't happen!  Instead we were told the moms and kids had to wait outside, the dads could come in but not get through security and were told to wait in a small room.  We were then given a phone, which we shared, to talk to some unknowledgeable, unsympathetic and rude diplomat! Our MPs and Jason Kenney (cabinet minister for citizenship and immigration) have been made aware of this situation.  We will have to wait and see if they able or are willing to do anything about this.  I'm not holding my breathe.  Its funny that in adoption circles, people often say, "expect delays when you are working with a third world government".  Our experience is proving to be the opposite.  It's our own government that is showing itself to be inept, ignorant and inadequate at helping its own citizens.

Keem Irving Slingerland, It's Official!

So it's official.  We have a new son, and Keem has a new family!!!

We met with the adoption board yesterday, as you know, and that meeting went very well.  We spent a full hour waiting for what ended up being only a ten minute interview.  When we say interview, what we mean is 3 random questions, and some handy tips on how to get Keem to stop sucking his thumb.  Dealing with the Guyanese officials has been great, aside from being difficult to understand at times and the lack of a concrete schedule.  We've found them to be very practical and easy going.
Today's meeting was very similar in that we spent half an hour waiting for a 5 minute appearance before the judge, whose only words to us were "Your family is big enough now" or something along those lines.  We think he was joking, but hard to tell.  We weren't even sure if the verdict was positive, or when the meeting was over.  They just told us we could leave, and we actually had to ask our lawyer if it was accepted.   It was one of the most anti climatic moments, but afterwards we were elated.  Keem is finally ours!
After court we and the two other families who we are with here, whose hearings were all at the same time as ours went out for ice cream to celebrate.  We ordered the largest 3 scoop waffle cones they had and by the time we were done the kids were all covered in ice cream.  We walked through the hustle and bustle of the outskirts of Stabroek market to get there, which was quite the feat with 9 small kids, but it was totally worth the walk.  Keem devoured a massive bowl on his own, and it truly was a celebration.

The men managed to convince a mini bus driver to take the whole lot of us home for a mere $7.00 Canadian total!  It was significantly cheaper than a taxi, and we could all ride together which was a blast for the kids.  Also, taxis have been giving us a hard time about fitting seven people in a little hatchback taxi.  Most dispatchers recognize us when we call for them and are now requiring us to call two taxis, even though we've been using just one for almost 3 weeks now.  Kind of frustrating, but considering the difference in regulations compared to Canada, I suppose we've gotten away with a lot up to this point.
We feel we should clarify the rest of the process coming up, in case you think this is the end of our trip. Keem is officially a Slingerland, but he is not yet a Canadian.  First, we have to wait for the Adoption Order and new birth certificate, which generally takes a week.  Then, we need to apply for a Guyanese passport, which also generally takes a week.  Normally after this we would head to Trinidad, to the Canadian High Commission to get Canadian citizenship, which in the past has taken about 5 days.
Today we found out this might not be happening as planned.  The man in charge of the process in Trinidad has left his position, and we found out today that his replacement doesn't come in until August.  We received an email informing us that our application will not even be looked at until sometime in August, and that we should not be making travel plans to Trinidad until then.
This was a huge shock to everyone here, as we had all planned to be home by the end of July, at the latest.  This would potentially add 1 or 2 months to our stay here in Guyana.
We are exploring some other options, and planning to visit the Canadian embassy here tomorrow morning, to hopefully get some answers.  We are hoping that we are able to either get a temporary visa, and possibly finalize this all in Canada, or get permission to travel to Barbados to finish the paperwork there.  All the other families are on a massive campaign sending emails to their mp's and we plan to do the same, so we are hopeful that something can be done, otherwise, we will see you in September!
We aren't worried about this new development, just thrown off guard and slightly annoyed....ok, very annoyed.  We were looking forward to being able to enjoy the last half of the summer in Canada, and it is also going to cost us a lot more.  Either way our family is all together and Keem is ours and no one can change that.  What else could we want?  We are so thankful to God for this day, and our new son!

Adoption Hearing Success

We've completed the first of the two meetings scheduled this week and it went very well!  Praising God for this!  Tomorrow at 2:30 we will be meeting with the High Courts and if all goes well, will have everything finalized.  Keem will legally be a Slingerland!  And he will also officially be our son (although he has already been our son in our hearts for a long time).  After our hearing tomorrow we will post a more detailed post on our experience with both hearings, but for now we are happy to share our news with you all.  We are so thankful to God that we have gotten this far and everything has gone so smoothly.  Thank you for your prayers today, we are so blessed to have such a community of friends, family and believers uplifting us in prayer during this process!
Today was a better day than yesterday.  Derek spent the night awake with Keem and let me get some sleep.  I didn't feel quite so exhausted and enjoyed the day.  I have a very thoughtful husband, and I am so thankful to have him around so much now!   Before the trip he was working so much and it's almost surreal having him around all the time now.  Keem is actually turning into quite the daddy's boy and it's awesome to watch him cling to Derek like he's always been his daddy.  I'm so relieved that he has developed such a strong bond with him because on our first trip he wouldn't even let Derek hold him.  He's come such a long way from that.  Derek already has him jumping off his shoulders in the pool!  It's very cute, and his daredevil spirit reminds me a lot of Ryan at that age.  He also has Ryan's stubborn streak which might prove to be a challenge later on!
 Jack was feeling a tiny bit better, slowly but surely he's starting to eat, laugh and smile again.  Hopefully tomorrow will be even better for him, and he will begin to be himself.
For now, the kids are all snuggled soundly in their beds, covered head to toe in baby powder so they don't stick to the sheets from the heat, and solarcane, so they don't itch the bug bites (which are hovering around 100+ a person right now).  By the time we get up north this summer my children are going to be immune to mosquitos!

Ailments and Adoption Hearings

Tomorrow is the first of our two 'big days' here in Guyana.  At 3:00 we meet with the adoption board.  If all goes as expected we will meet with the High Court on Thursday some time (we haven't been given a specific time yet).  We are confident all will go well tomorrow, but would love your prayers regardless.  It is a bit nerve wracking all these meetings, because each step is so important and so much is at stake.
As Derek wrote last post, Keem finally got over his fever only to have a big bout of cold sores show up.  I ended up taking him to the hospital for it and got a prescription for some cream.  A few days ago we started seeing a huge improvement and started clearing up a lot.  We also realized at that time that Jack was starting to get sores in his mouth.  Now Keem is better, but Jack's mouth is so sore he hasn't been able to eat in days.  I believe it is the same thing as Keem had, but if it doesn't look better by Friday I am planning to take him to the hospital as well.  Poor Jack is so fragile already with his skinny little body, and he's also the most sensitive.  It's painful to watch him suffer through this, and although he's trying to be brave he is on the verge of tears all the time.  His mouth is bleeding, and his gums, and I'm praying it heals quickly.  I am thankful that the gas station down the road sells powdered nutritional formula, which is all he has been eating the last few days.
Other than our ailments our family is doing well here.  We have been swimming a lot, and Keem has actually gotten to the point where he jumps in on his own and floats around on his back with his life jacket.  For a kid who never went swimming before he is a natural!  It's very cute to watch him experiment.  We have been so thankful for the other families here who are adopting as well.  It's so much fun having all the kids around to play with and we have throughly enjoyed the company and new friendships we have.  We all are going through the same thing to some degree and so we all seem to understand each other.  It's also wonderful having other adults to talk to during the course of the day.
We are also incredibly thankful for our landlords, the owners of the building we are living in.  They've made us feel so welcome, and we have started to really look forward to our weekend movie evenings with them.  We feel very blessed for these small things, good company and new friends.  It makes the harder parts of being here a lot more tolerable.  It's comforting to know that God cares even about things like that.
Please pray that all will go well tomorrow, and Thursday.  And also pray Jack's mouth would heal quickly and that no more of our children will have to suffer through that.

Parenthood

Its late at night and Keem doesn't want to sleep.  It's cool out, which is good because the power is out and I'd be missing the fan in our bedroom on any other night.  Val is laying down with Keem till he falls asleep.  He keeps getting out of bed.  Its hard to decide on what is a good idea for his habit of not staying in bed. Be firm and set the precedent of how things ought to be, or be patient.  Everything is still new, sometimes a little scary for him and we don't want to push back any of the gains we have made bonding with him.  Val has been terrific.  Very patient, but firm with him.  It is sometimes easy to forget how young he is because he is physically quite big, not chubby, but tall and broad.  And he moves very quickly!  Its nice to hear him call her "MaMa".  He has learned that recently because at the orphanage, she was always called mother.  Sometimes when I see the two of them together it almost seems surreal, other times they look so natural together, its like they have known each other for Keem's whole life.  I have started to become the fun guy to him, the tickler and the guy who will cary him on my shoulders, while Val is really becoming a mom to him.  She is the one he runs to when he is hurt.  He goes to her when he wants a drink.  She has the preferred lap when he is tired.  It is beautiful to watch this relationship grow so quickly.
Talked to my brother Greg on Skype last night.  He and his wife Courtney just had a baby boy.  Landon.  Hard to believe that the next time I see my brother, we will be introducing our new sons to each other!  So excited for them but a little sad I won't be able to hold Landon as a tiny new born.  It's funny to think back that when Ryan was born eight years ago, I really had no idea how awesome being a father would be.  Greg is in the same boat now, not even being able to fully appreciate how his life will be enriched. He will put his heart and soul into raising Landon.  It will be exciting to see their new family and I hope he experiences the same joy as I have. 

John B Dykes, Hand Shaking Monkeys and Lock that woman up!

Internet here has been a little sketchy the last couple days, so we haven't posted anything in a while.  The week is flying by and our court date is fast approaching - next Wednesday with the adoption board and Thursday with the actual courts.  In the mean time we have adjusted quite well to living here.  I have gotten used to the heat, and Val is really mastering Guyanese cooking.  Last night we had provisions - root vegetables and plantains boiled in coconut milk with hot sauce and cane sugar.  Tonight was curry chicken, rice and roti.  Val didn't make the roti, but the curry she made was fantastic.
The three boys are eating her food up like crazy but my daughters prefer peanut butter sandwiches
Keem had two pb sandwiches dipped in curry sauce for dinner tonight!
Sunday was a nice day.  We want to a different church and it was also two and a half hours long!  Must be the norm down here.  All of our Free Reformed readers would appreciate that we started the service with a hearty rendition of a John Baccus Dykes psalter, number 293, I believe.  (Rebels who have dared to show)  It was sung by a male choir, accompanied by a keyboard doing a loud drum beat, a bass guitar and a flute!  All organ loving purists out there( Uncle Gary ) would have been having anxiety attacks.  Also a woman was removed from church after speaking in tongues or something, not sure what, and then went on screaming prophecies at the congregation from outside the window.  Several times the pastor stayed calm and the elders left the church to escort the woman down the street. After the fifth episode he had lost his patience and yelled " somebody call the police and get that woman locked up!"  We talked to a lot of friendly people after the service, and several people recognized us.  We caught up with a friendly cab driver who had shuttled us around the day before, a woman who worked at Keem's orphanage, and even his paediatrician worships there.  Great sermon about the biblical description of fatherhood.
We spent the aft at the sea wall, which is a concrete wall that holds back the tide.  (Georgetown is six feet below sea level at high tide)  We were there at low tide and the beach is about four hundred feet to the water.  The water looks like chocolate milk from all the silt flowing from the Demarrara river.  The kids were pretty excited to see thousands of crazy fish with eyes on top of their heads sitting in an inch of mud. When approached they took off skipping on the surface of the water, like flying fish.
We also went to the zoo this week, which was pretty awesome.  The kids loved it.  They have the most beautiful macaws, a very playful giant otter, a sleepy jaguar and lots of turtles (Jacks favourite).  There was a cage full of anacondas that could be touched by poking your fingers through the cage.  There also was a cage full of black caimans (alligators, one about ten feet long) behind a flimsy chain link fence.  We didn't let our kids touch those!  The high light of the trip was this very friendly monkey who  extended his arm out of the cage and shook hands with all of the kids.  Keem was a little hesitant at first, but he eventually reached out and touched the monkey too.
Keem is fitting in with us really well.  We have noticed he has two modes, one where he is calm and very content to sit with either Val or me and just suck his thumb.  The other mode is when he is crazy hyper and becomes a real wild man.  We often have to pull him down from climbing the steel bars that cover our windows, as he is able to get six feet up, and then falls backwards onto the couch!  He runs around like a maniac and we have to sit him down before he smashes into things.  Hopefully he mellows out when the novelty of his new family wears off.  He is doing very well in the pool especially since its only been a few days of swimming.  He floats around in his life jacket and loves jumping off the side into our arms.
Fortunately he has gotten rid of his fever, only to be replaced by some painful looking cold sores.  Staff at the home said this was normal for him because he is a huge thumb sucker and the cream we had been using should clear it up, but when we noticed them inside his mouth this morn, we decided to take him in to doctor to get checked out.  Val got some pills and better cream and some good advice on how to care for it so hopefully it heals up quickly.

Everyday life in Guyana

The last few days have been wonderful.  Sorry we haven't posted anything, we have been busy, and since we are going to be here for another 4 weeks or so we don't anticipate being able to write something new every night!  We've settled into a bit of a routine here in our new life, and the days are starting to look very similar.
Most days the kids are up by 7, at the latest.  After breakfast they are already dying to go down to the pool.  Derek will either take one of them to the local market, or we will all go as a family.  The market is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment.  It's full of fruits, vegetables, and pretty much anything else you could want from toothpaste, to bleach, to hardware supplies, to fresh fish or not so fresh chicken feet.  The vendors are very friendly and are recognizing us right away now (obviously we don't blend in well).  They offer lots of insight on how to cook certain produce there, and we don't recognize half of the different fruits and veggies there so they find it quite entertaining to inform us on what they all are.  They look at us like we are nuts that we have never heard of Eddo, Cassava, or five fingers.
The road there is extremely busy so it's a challenge taking 5 little ones to the market without getting run over by a car or a donkey.  Derek thinks I'm paranoid, but it's a stressful walk for me.
We are meeting lots of new friends here.  There is a couple from Toronto who are also adopting, a brother and sister from two different orphanages, that had never met before two days ago!  They are extremely nice, and we've had a great time getting to know them, and our kids love to play together.  Last night we were invited to a kids movie night in the home of the owner of our apartment (it is also in the building we are in).  It was a wonderful night!  He had set up a projector in his living room and all the kids watched movies, ate popcorn and drank cream soda.  Probably the last thing we expected to do in Guyana!  It was a really fun evening.  Today we had a woman over for the afternoon to visit.  She is a person who has a very special bond with Keem since he arrived at the orphanage.  We met her at the orphanage in February, and have been keeping contact with her since then.  She came bearing cupcakes and gifts for the kids, and it was obvious that Keem was thrilled she was there.  We owe a lot to her as Keem seems very well adjusted compared to many kids in the home.  "Auntie Chris" will always be part of his life.
Keem has been adjusting well to life here with us.  He has had a fever though and it's hard to tell how he is feeling or what he is feeling when he is not well.  Last night was a difficult night.  It's hard to know if he's feeling scared or overwhelmed by his new environment, or just acting like any other two year old who doesn't want to go to sleep, or isn't feeling well.  He cried for a while last night in bed and I was tired so I brought him into our room to sleep, which was not restful at all.  And perhaps we set a precedent for tonight when he promptly screamed when we put him to bed.  There is a fine line between being firm and being too firm, setting back the attachment we've gained in the last few days.  I think it's different for every case and we are learning as we go!  We've taken every course in the book on this but when you are in it, it's so case specific, it's hard to say there is only one way to do things (and none of the books we read have discussed how to put a screaming toddler to bed in a room with four other children, two of which he is sharing a bed with!).
But, they are all asleep now, and hopefully I won't be faced with that situation again in the middle of the night......
Our Canadian kids are starting to feel at home here, we can tell because they are starting to fight about things and complain about being bored.  Even though we spent most of the day lounging around the pool, it takes about 5 minutes of doing nothing and they are bored out of their minds.  Next week we plan to do a few day trips so we will keep you posted.

Got Him!

As we sit here to write this blog post, all five of our precious children are asleep in the room next to ours.
The day started off as it usually has here in Guyana.  Breakfast, followed by a looooonggg anxious wait with kids whining, fighting and itching to get out of the apartment.  We've been waiting for some paperwork to come through that needed to be picked up at the children's services office in order to bring Keem back to our apartment to begin the foster period.  He will be allowed to live with us until the court date, when he officially becomes a Slingerland.  This morning we sent out a few emails and phone calls, trying to decide if we should wait around until we heard something, or just go and wait at the home.  By 11:00 Derek had enough and we called a cab to go to the orphanage.  We had to go downtown to the Scotia bank and get some Guyanese money and it felt like it took forever to get the errands done with four kids in the back of a small taxi.  Derek got caught in a torrential downpour and was soaked to the skin for most of the day.  Derek thought it was pretty awesome being able to withdraw 30,000 dollars from the ATM machine, leaving 2 million dollars still available. Too bad it doesn't quite hold the same value!!
We were very happy to get to the orphanage, and the kids ran right upstairs as they are feeling quite at home there now.  All the kids there screamed our names as soon as they saw us, and for the first time ever Keem went to Derek instead of me!  It was a huge step and we were thrilled.
The director informed us immediately that our paperwork had come in after all and we could go pick it up after lunch and take Keem home after that!  So, once Derek went out to get the paperwork, we got as much information from the home as we could about Keem, and his stay there, and we were sent on our way.
For a kid who has hardly left the home, he had quite the day.  A ride in a taxi, first swim in a pool, watching a disney movie about chimps, eating french fries with KETCHUP (new fav. food!)......it was an over stimulating day for him.  The biggest change of all was having 4 brothers and sisters following him around, single file, watching his every move.  "Keem look at this!"  "Mom, look what Keem did!" "Keem, sit by me!!".......trying desperately to make him laugh, make him feel comfortable, and welcome him into the family.  It was very cute, and we were proud of our kids.  They took him in and he was their brother immediately.  Considering all this change, and the trauma of leaving his home, Keem was very brave today.  He didn't cry, in fact he spent a good part of the day giggling at the kids.  The only time I saw him apprehensive was in the pool.  Even then, he didn't really want to get out, he just didn't look like he trusted it.  It was a bit scary for him, and overwhelming.
All in all, it was a good day.  We are incredibly thankful that he is home with us, and overwhelmed by God's goodness to us in our lives.
Tomorrow we plan to relax by the pool for the day.  It will be a welcome change to the busyness of the last few days.

Eaten alive

We are starting to look like we are in Guyana.  What I mean by that, is we are all covered, head to toe with mosquito bites.  Someone told us you can tell you've been to Guyana by looking at your arms, and it really is true.  Derek is getting the least of it, and he doesn't seem to feel them at all, but myself and the kids are covered....and ITCHY.  The bugs are so small they come through the screens, and we are too cheap to pay extra to run the air all night (the meter is in our kitchen and the air causes the hydro we have left to go down dramatically, and we've begun to get quite accustomed to the hot nights, we don't really need the air on).  But, I'm sure as time goes on we will also get used to the bugs and they won't seem so bad either.  

Today we did not get to take Keem home yet.  The paperwork is getting done, but isn't quite yet there and although it was disappointing, we are trying to stay positive about it and look at the good things in it.  There is a benefit to being able to visit him at the home.  He is really starting to open up and today we heard him giggle and laugh and talk more than any other time we have before.  He sung the alphabet to me (or his version of it), spent a good half hour laughing at Ryan's games, and even started running towards Derek laughing.  It was a happy day, and although we are getting antsy not being able to have him in our home, we love the kids at the orphanage and leaving them will be hard too.

It poured rain for a lot of the day today, which was refreshing and muddy and by the end of the day our kids looked like they were vagabonds, covered in mud, sweat and mosquito scars.  It is rainy season here, but so far we have been fortunate to see a lot of sun between the rain, and the rain is a welcome relief to the extreme heat.  

Birthdays and Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy has prevented us from taking Keem home today.  We were hoping to go to the orphanage this morning, and pick him up, beginning our 'fostering period' with him, but red tape has slowed down the process once again.  We are hopeful that it will happen tomorrow, and it won't have any impact on our court date.  The people who are helping us down here are doing their best to move it along so we aren't too worried.

On the up side, it was Jack and Kaylie's birthday today!  Seven years old.....it's hard to believe it's been that long since they were tiny little premies! Seems like just yesterday we were camped out in the hospital in London for two weeks with our two little tiny babies.  It's amazing how time flies, and we are so incredibly thankful for them.  They were great at the orphanage today.....Kaylie has been working hard at winning Keem over, and has been sharing her things with lots of the other kids at the orphanage (this doesn't come naturally for her).  Jack is a natural with little kids, he seems to have a sensitivity that most seven year old's don't often have.  He is probably the one of our kids who has been spending the most time with Keem, trying to make him feel comfortable, playing with him and loving him.  

I spent the morning on the rooftop doing our laundry (with an incredible view of the ocean, brown as it is!) and Derek took the twins to the market down the road to pick up some fruit and veggies.  Mangos, pineapples, bananas.....so good here!  He also picked up some kind of herb that is in everything here, and I made my first attempt at a traditional Guyanese cookup for lunch.  Cookup is basically rice, boiled in coconut milk and spices and mixed with veggies, chickpeas, and meat (although we didn't have meat so ours was vegetarian).  Not too bad for a first try....needed more spice (Derek said needed more meat).  Jack and Ryan loved it, and loaded it up with green seasoning sauce (which is Jacks new favourite condiment, a mixture of chives, garlic, pepper, ginger, thyme and vinegar).  We are definitely developing a taste for spicy guyanese food.

Keem was very relaxed today.  As soon as we got to the home he made a beeline for me and pretty much never left my side unless I passed him to Derek.  He was much more comfortable switching back and forth between the two of us compared to yesterday.  We were able to spend a lot of time outside today because it wasn't near as hot as days before, and the staff only let a handful of kids outside at a time so it wasn't utter chaos.  

We snuck out after supper, because long goodbyes are very hard for Keem, and yesterday he cried himself to sleep when we left.  We can't wait to bring him to our temporary home here in East Bank Demerara, and not have to say goodbye again.

Day Two - Flipp'n Awesome

Well today went a lot smoother!  The kids had slept for at least twelve hours and Val and I were refreshed as well.  The day started off cool (30 degrees instead of 35) and rainy.  We had met a whole bunch of people who came to the orphanage yesterday who were singing awesome praise songs and playing with the kids.  Some of them friended Val on Facebook and invited us to their church.  What an experience!  Loud praise music and dancing for well over an hour, communion with very passionate believers and a great message for men to be leaders with a Godly spirit, all lead by a pastor with exceptional charisma!  The kids were having fun for the first half hour, but soon started to ask "Is it almost over?"  After two and a half hours, yes you read that right, 2.5 hours the kids were getting very eager to leave to say the least.  It was great though and the minister had a good message about fear that Ryan could relate to.  Half way through the service the pastor asked us to stand, so everyone could pray for us, which was very touching.  He then asked if we were related to Bernie Slingerland from Arizona!  No matter where you are in the world you can't avoid playing Dutch Bingo!  A great young man named Seon walked with us to the orphanage.
Poor Keem was not happy to see me.  I walked into the common room where the kids play and sleep to go get him.  Val and the rest of our kids stayed out in the hallway, so as to not get all the others riled up.  Keem took off running as soon as he saw me and I didn't know what to do, chase after him, pick him up and put up with his screaming till he got over his fear or just leave him till he was ready.  All kinds of other kids were reaching up to me, and Kevon, a boy who I have a real soft spot for and who recognized me instantly from our last trip clung to my legs and sobbed.  When Val heard all the commotion, she came to the room.  Keem ran from her crying, obviously scared and confused but then clung to her neck tightly when she finally caught him.  After that he was fine.  They left the room to play with our other kids out in the hall.  The rest of the kids had gotten themselves worked up into indescribable anarchy!  I thought I had better stay in there with the one caregiver and try to help restore some order, despite being the one who had caused all the trouble.  I sat down on the bed while five little kids fought each other for a spot on my lap.  Some hits were exchanged, there was some biting going on and one little sweetie peed all over my lap.  I had to laugh, otherwise you could cry about how starving for attention and love these kids are.
Keem was great today.  It didn't take long for him to warm up to Val and he even sat with me for a while this aft. He started to take some real interest in his new brothers and sisters, who also loved playing with him today. They all took turns holding his hand and walking around with him. The real breakthrough for me came when Chris, a lovely woman who volunteers at the home and has given Keem a lot of extra love and attention, came this aft.  Keem's eyes lit up when he saw her and ran to her.  We talked to Chris for a while and he really let his guard down and relaxed.  She passed him off to me and he really seemed truly relaxed with me for the first time.  I hugged him real tight and blew bubbles on his neck and he laughed hysterically!  It was a great moment.
We were very proud of our other kids.  We had warned them that some of the kids at the home can be very rough and they were not allowed to get angry and fight back.  Jack got punched and bit on the back, Kaylie got pinched and Ryan's hair was pulled very hard.  They all took it very well.
Tomorrow will be a day of very mixed emotions.  Hopefully, if all goes as planned we can pick Keem up and he is going to stay with us, which is awesome but also means we won't be going back to the Red Cross home anymore.  We, and especially Keem, are going to miss all those other kids.

Not quite a fairytale beginning

We've had a busy day, and we are both exhausted.  So this post is not going to be very long.
We landed this morning in Guyana, after catching the 11:00 pm flight out of Toronto last night.  The kids did very well on the plane but basically pulled an all nighter.  They were an extreme mixture of absolute crazy hyper, and nauseating tiredness.  Obedience was the least of their concerns, and several times during the course of the day we wondered if we had made the right decision in taking them here.  But we were all tired, and patience was not one of our strongest virtues either.
After a 45 minute drive, without air conditioning from the airport to our new apartment, we were pleased to see how spacious, roomy and mostly clean.  The fridge smelled like a large fish had swam into it, and died in the heat, but after a good scrubbing from Derek with the lysol wipes, it now only smells like a dead minnow.  The unpacking was going no where, and so we all went to bed.  The kids spent the whole time fighting, and bugging each other and so by 12 we were back unpacking without any sleep.  We didn't have any food in the apartment, so the kids ate a lunch of rainbow candies and cheesies.  After doing a few groceries we headed to the orphanage.
For the last five months we wondered if Keem would recognize us when we got back.  And if he did, how would he react?  He took one look at Derek and ran screaming away from him.  He wouldn't let any of us touch him, and he sat with the caregiver and cried for close to an hour.  We thought maybe we would give him some space and some time to cool down, so we started to walk away from him a bit.  As we did this, he started screaming even more, and louder.  We than realized that he was just confused, very emotional, and he didn't actually want us to go.  Derek suggested that I take Keem regardless of his screaming.  So I took him literally kicking and screaming from the caregiver, and sat in a quiet corner with him.  Within half an hour he was lying his head on my shoulder, sucking his thumb, like we had never left.  We think that he was scared when we came, not sure if we are going to love him for a week and then leave again.  It was sad to see him so distraught.
Our other kids weren't sure what to think.  They instantly loved him, and thought he was adorable, but he didn't pay a lot of attention to them.  He really seemed to like Jack, maybe because of his quiet and gentle manner.  They are very similar that way.  By the end of the day he was sitting on Jack's lap, quite content, and holding hands with him on the swing.  By the time we left he had cozied up to all of the kids and they were thrilled.  He even waved goodbye to Derek, and sat on his lap voluntarily.  A huge step considering it took a full week to get to that point last time.
It's awesome to be back in Guyana.  The heat is unbearable, even for me at times.  There were a few times today where we were very overwhelmed.  Isabel tripped over a suitcase carrying a glass and cut her finger quite badly.  Thankfully the suitcase she tripped over was full of bandaids and polysporin.  When the kids were fighting, we had no food, or dishes, the heat was unbearable we felt moments of where we thought 'this is going to be a very hard five weeks'.  But now, as the kids are sleeping soundly, frogs and reggae and goats are heard in the background, and the smell of the ocean is faintly in the air, we are remembering how amazing this place is, and how happy and thankful to God we are for this opportunity.  After a good night's sleep I'm sure we will all have a new outlook, and tomorrow will be a better day.

Our Bags Are Packed.....

Since our last post, we received news from our agency.  We got approval from the ministry almost right away!!
So we are going to Guyana......on Friday night!!!!!
 Needless to say, this past week has been a whirl wind of activity.  We booked our plane tickets, packed our bags, got more travel shots for the kids, cleaned our house from top to bottom (thanks to my sister Megan and my mom in law!).  I have a bunch more packing to do, and a few things to go through in my paperwork and we are good to go.  Derek has holidays and then his parental leave takes over after that.  So he doesn't have to go back to work until the end July!  It doesn't really feel real yet.
  If you haven't heard, we are having a casual bonfire tomorrow night.  We are asking those who come to bring a small item to donate to the Home where Keem lives.  Please message me if you have any questions or if you need our address.  Looking forward to seeing you there!!

PS  We might not have explained this in our blog, but we've decided to change Akeem's name to Keem.  In Hebrew, the name Keem means "God will establish".