Hello to all,
I do sometimes wonder 'Is it me you were looking for ?', from the statistics tool one can see from where people originate.. (only countries or the referral sites)
And we have readers from far afield! And through several channels.
Anyway, don't be shy and let me know If you have any questions, or leave a reaction!
(Since we seem to be in a 'holding pattern' here as far as adoption goes,
subjects you would like to hear about are welcome as well, I do not NEED to blog every week, but do have enough opinions ... ;-)
Anyway this time a different subject again, underneath some great songs about parents and children.
For the Dutch there is our local hero Marco;Dochters, Marco Borsato
Which starts of with 'Quarter past seven on Sunday morning..' a line we are (at least) very familiar with! It is a sweet song about growing up, but it might have been inspired by another, which we will mention later.
One of the best known songs is Papa, from Stef Bos with the line 'but dad I am more like you all the time' a sentiment I at least can very much acknowledge!
There is also lot of sentiment in it if you are a father of an adopted son.
All the physical likeness can be skipped immediately (lucky for Matthew in my case!) but in my opinion there is enough space still in the nature versus nurture discussion to recognize a lot of myself in Matthew's behaviour.
{ "can not sit still, talks too much"; could be my report card, as both my sisters will agree }
Of course there is also the rap trio; Yes-R, Ali B, Lange Frans with 'Me Boy '
A nice try, if you like (dutch) rap music.
For American rap there is 2Pac, with Dear Mama.
And last but not least our very local (from Haarlem) Alain Clark, Father and friend, which he sings with his own father. This song (and Alain) I have always liked a lot, there are some really nice lines in it, with nice sentiments about growing up and the differences between generations.
Other possible contenders in our Parents & Kids list could be;
Mama, by the Spice Girls cheesy girlgroup but still a classic ;-)
Father to son, Phil Collins who has made quite some stuff with decent lyrics and not only Sky Radio background muzak!
And I also like The Day, by Babyface who is a big producer and singer/songwriter himself but not so well known.
Of course Whitney Houston, with The greatest love of all With the lyrics no one can argue about 'I believe the children are our future'; good lyrics too much Houston ?!
Other possibilities:
Isn't she lovely, Stevie Wonder definitely a classic, bit too sweet?
Ready,Set,Don't go- Billy Ray Cyrus sung sometimes with his daughter 'Hannah Montana'.
For people who like the real 'oldies' it could be argued that the Frank Sinatra songs; Young at heart & You make me feel so young are also about kids or at least about youth(s).
There are also some more obscure titles like:
Baby Girl Window, Robbie Williams (sad, and a bit unlike him)
Guns and Roses, Sweet Child of mine (bit unclear from the lyrics)
Lullabye, Billy Joel (Not very well known song, great artist though!)
Flowers for Zoe, Lenny Kravitz (for his daughter with Lisa Bonnet)
A child's prayer, the Hot Chocolate version (old, but nice)
Children, EMF An indie dance band from the Midlands, UK (Unbelievable was their biggest hit)
The real Top Hit for both of us though must be;
Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle
(by which Marco Borsato's song seems to have been inspired at least a bit)
It is a full story about a father and his daughter up to her wedding day.
He has written it for his daughter on the occasion of her 16th birthday.
Before he brought out this song,(and won a country music award) he was a relatively unknown christian country musician.
But look & listen for yourselves with the link underneath.
(and let us know what YOU think ?!)
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Not much news ... 12/10/2011
Hello All,
Unfortunately there is not so much to report about the adoption at the moment.
We have heard from WereldKinderen that the CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya) has received all our documents (dossier) and is now checking them before all goes to the NAC (National Adoption Committee).
We expect to know more in November at the earliest..
So settling down at work and school for some rainy (& windy) autumn days!
School holidays, birthdays in the family,Sint Maarten, Halloween, Kenya "reunion", and than we will see.
Thanks all for reading our posts and we will think about a next (related) subject!
Peter and Jane
Unfortunately there is not so much to report about the adoption at the moment.
We have heard from WereldKinderen that the CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya) has received all our documents (dossier) and is now checking them before all goes to the NAC (National Adoption Committee).
We expect to know more in November at the earliest..
So settling down at work and school for some rainy (& windy) autumn days!
School holidays, birthdays in the family,Sint Maarten, Halloween, Kenya "reunion", and than we will see.
Thanks all for reading our posts and we will think about a next (related) subject!
Peter and Jane
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Geven & Ontvangen/Giving and receiving
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
Na een aantal berichten in de media, dacht ik eens een ander stukje te schrijven. De titel is al een hint, in plaats van geven & nemen,
Wat meer "Voor wat, hoort wat " is, bedoel ik meer voor wat je geeft zal je uiteindelijk ook wat ontvangen, in welke vorm dan ook.
(Wie goed doet, goed ontmoet ;-)
Mede door een bezoek aan het kantoor & magazijn van Childslife in Haarlem van de week en de politieke berichten over het korten op de ontwikkelingshulp kan ik het niet nalaten hier mijn mening te geven.
De maatschappij en wij zelf, ik niet uitgezonderd, is steeds individualistischer geworden en vaak ook materialistischer.
Met de recessie en alle Euro problemen nu, is dat misschien wel begrijpelijk ook.
Maar door de toegang tot internet en tv staat 'de wereld' elke dag weer bij ons op de stoep, compleet met alle armoede die er is.
Als ik sommige mensen (politici incluis) heel gemakkelijk hoor praten over 'druppels op de gloeiende plaat', 'water naar zee dragen' en
"ze moeten maar harder werken".
Krijg ik persoonlijk plaatsvervangende schaamte. Zeker zijn er misstanden (geweest en nu nog) mbt Ontwikkelingshulp & is het goed te weten waar je geld uiteindelijk terecht komt, en hoeveel, dit is begrijpelijk.
Vanuit een beginsel van sociale, politieke, maatschappelijke betrokkenheid
vind ik dat we de verantwoordelijkheid hebben om te helpen waar we kunnen ieder naar vermogen.De reden Waarom is ook minder belangrijk dan de actie.
Zelfs als je geen religeuze achtergrond hebt denk ik dat je het gevoel kent dat je zaken niet voor lief kunt nemen en je realiseerd hoe goed je het hebt.
De christenen kennen oa de naastenliefde en een traditie van "tienden", de moslims zakat (of ushar) als 1 van de 5 pilaren van de islam.
Het feit dat een kind geboren wordt in een ander land, een ander continent kan niet de reden zijn dat zijn of haar toekomst automatisch uitzichtloos is.
Denk je eens in dat het jouw eigen kind of neefje/nichtje zou zijn die je daar in een vluchtelingen kamp ziet in Oost-Afrika ...
Wat een geluk en voorrecht dat wij in Nederland geboren zijn en leven!
Daarom denk ik dat het geven aan goede doelen altijd goed is, Welk doel dan ook, naar eigen vermogen, keuze en inzicht.
Want al wordt er uiteindelijk maar 1 kind gered, door die inenting, dat pindakaas mengseltje, die schoolopleiding dan kan er voor die persoon en door die persoon misschien toch wat veranderen!
Onderstaand wat voorbeelden van goede doelen en een verhaaltje ter overdenking.
http://www.happyrockcenter.com/
http://www.childslife.nl/
The starfish story. (deze versie The Freedom Writers Diary, bewerkt)
" An old man walking down the beach saw a young boy picking up starfish that had washed up on the shore. As he got closer, he saw the boy throwing them back into the ocean.He approached the boy and asked 'What are you doing ?' The boy replied, 'If I don't throw the starfish back in the water, they're going to die.' 'But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish.You can't save them all.Don't you know you'll never make a difference!'The boy reached down and picked up a starfish and simply replied,'I'll make a difference to this one'.
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
(Als er nieuws is over de adoptie, komt dit zeker hier te staan!)
*******************************************************************************
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
Following a number of messages in the media, I thought I would write a different kind of post. The title is a hint, instead of 'giving and taking'. What I mean is, what you give, you will finally receive, in whatever form that may be. (Who does goes, has good done for him).
Partly because of a visit to the office and warehouse of Childslife in Haarlem this week, and the political news over the reduction of aid in developing countries, I could not resist giving my opinion.
Society and all of us, including myself, has become more individualistic and also often more materialistic. With the recessions and all the Europ problems, maybe that is understandable.
But all the access to Internet and TV, the world is on our doorstep, including all the poverty and misery.
If I hear some people, including politicians, talking so easily about 'a drop in the ocean' or 'carrying coals to Newcastle' or ' they should work harder', I feel ashamed for them. Of course there are misunderstandings (in the past and still now) regarding aid and it is good to know where your money eventually ends up and how much of it is used, this is understandable.
From a social, political and societal point of view I think we have a responsibility to help if we have the means. The reason why is less important than the action. Even if you have no religious background I think you can still realise that you can't take things for granted and should realise how well off you are.
As well as brotherly love, Christians have a tradition of 'tithing', the Moslins know 'zakat' (or ushar) as one of the 5 pillars of Islam.
The fact that a child is born in another country or on another continent cannot be the reason that his or her future is automatically without any possibilities.
Just imagine that it's your own child or niece/nephew in that refugee camp in East Africa. What a stroke of luck that we were born and live in The Netherlands (or anywhere in the west). That's why I think it's always good to give to charity. Whatever the charity is, within your means. Because even if you only save one child, through vaccination, that peanut-butter mix, education, that person's life may be bettered and what could that one person achieve?
Here are some examples of charities and a story to make you think.
http://www.happyrockcenter.com/
http://www.childslife.nl/
The starfish story. (deze versie The Freedom Writers Diary, bewerkt)
" An old man walking down the beach saw a young boy picking up starfish that had washed up on the shore. As he got closer, he saw the boy throwing them back into the ocean. He approached the boy and asked 'What are you doing ?' The boy replied, 'If I don't throw the starfishes back in the water, they're going to die.' 'But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish.You can't save them all. Don't you know you'll never make a difference!' The boy reached down and picked up a starfish and simply replied, 'I'll make a difference to this one'.
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
(If there is a more news about the adoption, we will post it here!)
Na een aantal berichten in de media, dacht ik eens een ander stukje te schrijven. De titel is al een hint, in plaats van geven & nemen,
Wat meer "Voor wat, hoort wat " is, bedoel ik meer voor wat je geeft zal je uiteindelijk ook wat ontvangen, in welke vorm dan ook.
(Wie goed doet, goed ontmoet ;-)
Mede door een bezoek aan het kantoor & magazijn van Childslife in Haarlem van de week en de politieke berichten over het korten op de ontwikkelingshulp kan ik het niet nalaten hier mijn mening te geven.
De maatschappij en wij zelf, ik niet uitgezonderd, is steeds individualistischer geworden en vaak ook materialistischer.
Met de recessie en alle Euro problemen nu, is dat misschien wel begrijpelijk ook.
Maar door de toegang tot internet en tv staat 'de wereld' elke dag weer bij ons op de stoep, compleet met alle armoede die er is.
Als ik sommige mensen (politici incluis) heel gemakkelijk hoor praten over 'druppels op de gloeiende plaat', 'water naar zee dragen' en
"ze moeten maar harder werken".
Krijg ik persoonlijk plaatsvervangende schaamte. Zeker zijn er misstanden (geweest en nu nog) mbt Ontwikkelingshulp & is het goed te weten waar je geld uiteindelijk terecht komt, en hoeveel, dit is begrijpelijk.
Vanuit een beginsel van sociale, politieke, maatschappelijke betrokkenheid
vind ik dat we de verantwoordelijkheid hebben om te helpen waar we kunnen ieder naar vermogen.De reden Waarom is ook minder belangrijk dan de actie.
Zelfs als je geen religeuze achtergrond hebt denk ik dat je het gevoel kent dat je zaken niet voor lief kunt nemen en je realiseerd hoe goed je het hebt.
De christenen kennen oa de naastenliefde en een traditie van "tienden", de moslims zakat (of ushar) als 1 van de 5 pilaren van de islam.
Het feit dat een kind geboren wordt in een ander land, een ander continent kan niet de reden zijn dat zijn of haar toekomst automatisch uitzichtloos is.
Denk je eens in dat het jouw eigen kind of neefje/nichtje zou zijn die je daar in een vluchtelingen kamp ziet in Oost-Afrika ...
Wat een geluk en voorrecht dat wij in Nederland geboren zijn en leven!
Daarom denk ik dat het geven aan goede doelen altijd goed is, Welk doel dan ook, naar eigen vermogen, keuze en inzicht.
Want al wordt er uiteindelijk maar 1 kind gered, door die inenting, dat pindakaas mengseltje, die schoolopleiding dan kan er voor die persoon en door die persoon misschien toch wat veranderen!
Onderstaand wat voorbeelden van goede doelen en een verhaaltje ter overdenking.
http://www.happyrockcenter.com/
http://www.childslife.nl/
The starfish story. (deze versie The Freedom Writers Diary, bewerkt)
" An old man walking down the beach saw a young boy picking up starfish that had washed up on the shore. As he got closer, he saw the boy throwing them back into the ocean.He approached the boy and asked 'What are you doing ?' The boy replied, 'If I don't throw the starfish back in the water, they're going to die.' 'But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish.You can't save them all.Don't you know you'll never make a difference!'The boy reached down and picked up a starfish and simply replied,'I'll make a difference to this one'.
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
(Als er nieuws is over de adoptie, komt dit zeker hier te staan!)
*******************************************************************************
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
Following a number of messages in the media, I thought I would write a different kind of post. The title is a hint, instead of 'giving and taking'. What I mean is, what you give, you will finally receive, in whatever form that may be. (Who does goes, has good done for him).
Partly because of a visit to the office and warehouse of Childslife in Haarlem this week, and the political news over the reduction of aid in developing countries, I could not resist giving my opinion.
Society and all of us, including myself, has become more individualistic and also often more materialistic. With the recessions and all the Europ problems, maybe that is understandable.
But all the access to Internet and TV, the world is on our doorstep, including all the poverty and misery.
If I hear some people, including politicians, talking so easily about 'a drop in the ocean' or 'carrying coals to Newcastle' or ' they should work harder', I feel ashamed for them. Of course there are misunderstandings (in the past and still now) regarding aid and it is good to know where your money eventually ends up and how much of it is used, this is understandable.
From a social, political and societal point of view I think we have a responsibility to help if we have the means. The reason why is less important than the action. Even if you have no religious background I think you can still realise that you can't take things for granted and should realise how well off you are.
As well as brotherly love, Christians have a tradition of 'tithing', the Moslins know 'zakat' (or ushar) as one of the 5 pillars of Islam.
The fact that a child is born in another country or on another continent cannot be the reason that his or her future is automatically without any possibilities.
Just imagine that it's your own child or niece/nephew in that refugee camp in East Africa. What a stroke of luck that we were born and live in The Netherlands (or anywhere in the west). That's why I think it's always good to give to charity. Whatever the charity is, within your means. Because even if you only save one child, through vaccination, that peanut-butter mix, education, that person's life may be bettered and what could that one person achieve?
Here are some examples of charities and a story to make you think.
http://www.happyrockcenter.com/
http://www.childslife.nl/
The starfish story. (deze versie The Freedom Writers Diary, bewerkt)
" An old man walking down the beach saw a young boy picking up starfish that had washed up on the shore. As he got closer, he saw the boy throwing them back into the ocean. He approached the boy and asked 'What are you doing ?' The boy replied, 'If I don't throw the starfishes back in the water, they're going to die.' 'But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish.You can't save them all. Don't you know you'll never make a difference!' The boy reached down and picked up a starfish and simply replied, 'I'll make a difference to this one'.
See also the One Campaign video, spot all celebrities! and let me know. More info see One.org
(If there is a more news about the adoption, we will post it here!)
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Kids part deux
So the last time I wrote about our first steps with adopting.
When we arrived at the offices of Wereldkinderen(WK) our agency
for a first infomation round about all the countries in 2000,
we were pretty much convinced that we were going to adopt fom South-Africa.
That it was going to be the continent of Africa was a certainty!
Through the enthousiasm of Mieke at WK (mainly) we decided to go for Ethiopia instead, and as they say " we never looked back " - only with good memories!
And we returned with and live with an amazing beautiful boy for nearly 6 years now!
We were very happy with our experiences in the country, the local people of the orphanage. And others we met, and we also got a friendship with 2 other couples through it all.
In Feb. 2009 after being on the waiting list for a second child for 3 years, we went to an information meeting about what was going on in Ethiopia,why the delays etc. The main 2 things that stayed with me (us) after this meeting were:
> Disappointment and the possibility that it would take more years of waiting
> Surprise at how impatient people (who were much younger than us) were and How distrustful they were of the WK co-workers
[so much so, that one of them said ' You can always try your luck somewhere else,if you really believe we are doing such a bad job...!'.
and these WK people have done all the customer relations courses you can think of].
Eventually WK decided to stop working with their contacts for adoption in Ethiopia and close the orphanage in Addis Ababa after reports that there were possibly "orphans" adopted who still had living relatives in Ethiopia.
Wereldkinderen is and has always been (in our experience) very strict and thorough in their contacts with countries for Intercountry Adoption.
The Hague Convention is one of the leading (legal)background documents which is important for them in this respect.
"...Every child has the right to grow up in a loving family or family replacing situation..." (UN treaty Rights of the child)
Or as they say at Wereldkinderen :" Every child has a right to a home".
Which in a nutshell are the basic thoughts (or should be!).
As mentioned earlier, for us adopting came from a selfish wish to bring up a child and live as a family with children.
Our second adoption stems from the same desire, as I said recently to Jane:
'We have 4 chairs, it feels like there is (still) an empty space at the table, in our house and in our lives, a space for one more child.To fill it with laughter, little cries and excitement!.'
In January this year my eldest sister went as a volunteer to an orphanage in Mombasa. Me and my youngest sister visited her in February 2011.
I talked to the wonderful family who runs the Happy Rock Home and thought things over.
Ethiopia is 'closed', at least through our agency and after much thought and discussion we eventually phoned Wereldkinderen and discussed with them other possibilities like Kenya.
After phone calls and emails we had a meeting in person and decided to go for it in july this year.
So, this is where we are now!
An exiting time for us, the people at Wereldkinderen and family & friends who follow and support us.
Peter & Jane.
Feel free to comment!
When we arrived at the offices of Wereldkinderen(WK) our agency
for a first infomation round about all the countries in 2000,
we were pretty much convinced that we were going to adopt fom South-Africa.
That it was going to be the continent of Africa was a certainty!
Through the enthousiasm of Mieke at WK (mainly) we decided to go for Ethiopia instead, and as they say " we never looked back " - only with good memories!
And we returned with and live with an amazing beautiful boy for nearly 6 years now!
We were very happy with our experiences in the country, the local people of the orphanage. And others we met, and we also got a friendship with 2 other couples through it all.
In Feb. 2009 after being on the waiting list for a second child for 3 years, we went to an information meeting about what was going on in Ethiopia,why the delays etc. The main 2 things that stayed with me (us) after this meeting were:
> Disappointment and the possibility that it would take more years of waiting
> Surprise at how impatient people (who were much younger than us) were and How distrustful they were of the WK co-workers
[so much so, that one of them said ' You can always try your luck somewhere else,if you really believe we are doing such a bad job...!'.
and these WK people have done all the customer relations courses you can think of].
Eventually WK decided to stop working with their contacts for adoption in Ethiopia and close the orphanage in Addis Ababa after reports that there were possibly "orphans" adopted who still had living relatives in Ethiopia.
Wereldkinderen is and has always been (in our experience) very strict and thorough in their contacts with countries for Intercountry Adoption.
The Hague Convention is one of the leading (legal)background documents which is important for them in this respect.
"...Every child has the right to grow up in a loving family or family replacing situation..." (UN treaty Rights of the child)
Or as they say at Wereldkinderen :" Every child has a right to a home".
Which in a nutshell are the basic thoughts (or should be!).
As mentioned earlier, for us adopting came from a selfish wish to bring up a child and live as a family with children.
Our second adoption stems from the same desire, as I said recently to Jane:
'We have 4 chairs, it feels like there is (still) an empty space at the table, in our house and in our lives, a space for one more child.To fill it with laughter, little cries and excitement!.'
In January this year my eldest sister went as a volunteer to an orphanage in Mombasa. Me and my youngest sister visited her in February 2011.
I talked to the wonderful family who runs the Happy Rock Home and thought things over.
Ethiopia is 'closed', at least through our agency and after much thought and discussion we eventually phoned Wereldkinderen and discussed with them other possibilities like Kenya.
After phone calls and emails we had a meeting in person and decided to go for it in july this year.
So, this is where we are now!
An exiting time for us, the people at Wereldkinderen and family & friends who follow and support us.
Peter & Jane.
Feel free to comment!
Monday, 5 September 2011
Ja! stap 1 Succesvol ... Yes! step 1 Succesful ...
Hej All,
Even kort de bevestiging dat we (net voor onze vakantie) alle documenten hebben ingestuurd naar Wereldkinderen (WK) en dat alles daar OK is aangekomen.
Nu is "ons" gedeelte in NL grotendeels 'voorbij' en is het wachten op nader bericht dat WK alles naar Kenya Fed-Ex't en dat het daar ok is ontvangen...
(zie verder eerdere bericht over de procedures aldaar)
mvgroeten,
Peter & Jane
---
Hej All,
Just a short confirmation that we (just before our holiday) have sent all documents to Wereldkinderen Agency (WK) and that they received everything alright.
That means that "our" part of the work for now is mainly finished,
And we have to wait till the CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya)
has received the package OK from WK.
After that the National Adoption Authority in Kenya will come with their
decision, hopefully before the end of September.
with our best regards,
Peter & Jane
Even kort de bevestiging dat we (net voor onze vakantie) alle documenten hebben ingestuurd naar Wereldkinderen (WK) en dat alles daar OK is aangekomen.
Nu is "ons" gedeelte in NL grotendeels 'voorbij' en is het wachten op nader bericht dat WK alles naar Kenya Fed-Ex't en dat het daar ok is ontvangen...
(zie verder eerdere bericht over de procedures aldaar)
mvgroeten,
Peter & Jane
---
Hej All,
Just a short confirmation that we (just before our holiday) have sent all documents to Wereldkinderen Agency (WK) and that they received everything alright.
That means that "our" part of the work for now is mainly finished,
And we have to wait till the CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya)
has received the package OK from WK.
After that the National Adoption Authority in Kenya will come with their
decision, hopefully before the end of September.
with our best regards,
Peter & Jane
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Kids part 1
( inspired by the RW and Kylie duet )
Because we want the kids to be alright.
You can not change the whole world, but you can try and change the world for one person.
As mentioned before we started our first adoption procedure (in 2000) to be able to be a family.
The years before were filled with medical procedures, but we did go to one information meeting about adoption during that time.
I do believe and think, we both always wanted children in our lives.
So when starting a family did not happen in a 'relatively easy' way we had to decide what to do to have this wished-for family.
Of course, like most prospective parents, we would have liked a child (children) with our genetic material, looks, behaviour etc. (at least, most of it ;-) But far more important was (and still is) raising a child, loving him/her,educating him/her, sharing our general hopes, beliefs, lives and - when the time has arrived - letting go.
Here a (very) short summary of what happens in general terms around the choices one has to make.
Firstly there is the VIA (vereniging interlandelijke adoptie) course, which seems to be designed to warn prospective adoptive parents off at first....
Then later you can put that more into perspective and realize it is a bit of reality check for yourself and to arm you both against some negative feelings about adoption in the media.
After this course you go on to choose the agency that you want to use for adoption.
In our case Wereldkinderen, in Den Haag, started in 1971 consisting of volunteers and professional people and having 2 goals: Project Help and Adoption if all else has been tried.
With them you narrow your choice down to a continent and eventually a country.
To do this you have to make what we call "a shopping list" (wensen & grenzen): what do you think you can handle (limits) and what would you really like and prefer (wishes).
To be very clear we have always chosen Africa, this comes from a deep 'gut feeling' (buikgevoel)
the whole process, to my mind is impossible to rationalize.
We adopt and are not ashamed of it nor proud of it!
Which meant for us we did not feel the need to have a child which had the same colour of skin as us. And adopting means per definition that your child has a different genetic make-up and cultural and social background. (Which both us already had a little bit more being from different countries).
So we arrived to our first choice Africa!
And, due to our wishes and circumstances, to Ethiopia to adopt our first child from.
I want to end with mentioning the nice video of Life is good! Playmakers that is added at the bottom of the pages.
Happy Watching.
(more in Kids part 2)
Because we want the kids to be alright.
You can not change the whole world, but you can try and change the world for one person.
As mentioned before we started our first adoption procedure (in 2000) to be able to be a family.
The years before were filled with medical procedures, but we did go to one information meeting about adoption during that time.
I do believe and think, we both always wanted children in our lives.
So when starting a family did not happen in a 'relatively easy' way we had to decide what to do to have this wished-for family.
Of course, like most prospective parents, we would have liked a child (children) with our genetic material, looks, behaviour etc. (at least, most of it ;-) But far more important was (and still is) raising a child, loving him/her,educating him/her, sharing our general hopes, beliefs, lives and - when the time has arrived - letting go.
Here a (very) short summary of what happens in general terms around the choices one has to make.
Firstly there is the VIA (vereniging interlandelijke adoptie) course, which seems to be designed to warn prospective adoptive parents off at first....
Then later you can put that more into perspective and realize it is a bit of reality check for yourself and to arm you both against some negative feelings about adoption in the media.
After this course you go on to choose the agency that you want to use for adoption.
In our case Wereldkinderen, in Den Haag, started in 1971 consisting of volunteers and professional people and having 2 goals: Project Help and Adoption if all else has been tried.
With them you narrow your choice down to a continent and eventually a country.
To do this you have to make what we call "a shopping list" (wensen & grenzen): what do you think you can handle (limits) and what would you really like and prefer (wishes).
To be very clear we have always chosen Africa, this comes from a deep 'gut feeling' (buikgevoel)
the whole process, to my mind is impossible to rationalize.
We adopt and are not ashamed of it nor proud of it!
Which meant for us we did not feel the need to have a child which had the same colour of skin as us. And adopting means per definition that your child has a different genetic make-up and cultural and social background. (Which both us already had a little bit more being from different countries).
So we arrived to our first choice Africa!
And, due to our wishes and circumstances, to Ethiopia to adopt our first child from.
I want to end with mentioning the nice video of Life is good! Playmakers that is added at the bottom of the pages.
Happy Watching.
(more in Kids part 2)
Friday, 5 August 2011
De Procedure voor Kenia, deel 1. (onze 2de adoptieprocedure)
Hallo lezers, augustus 2011 te Hoofddorp in Nederland.
Hier wat meer over de praktische kant van onze 2de adoptie procedure.
In november 2005 gingen we naar Ethiopie en kwamen terug met onze zoon Matthew Kebede.
Een jaar later in 2006 konden we, indien we dat wilden een 2de procedure opstarten.
Zoals eerder hier gezegd hoopten we 2 weken geleden alles binnen te hebben en op te sturen aan Wereldkinderen maar het duurt (zoals wel vaker bij adoptie) allemaal wat langer...
Wereldkinderen is 1 van de 5 vergunning houders die nu actief zijn wat betreft adoptie van kinderen uit het buitenland. (er zijn er 7 geweest).
Wereldkinderen is een vereniging en opgericht in 1971 (goed jaar!) WK werkt met professionele mensen die vaak al langer in dienst zijn en de landen goed kennen.
Het werkgebied bestaat uit 2 deelgebieden Projecthulp en indien niet anders mogelijk (vanuit perspectief kind), Adoptie uit diverse landen.
De documenten moeten allemaal op de juiste manier getekend zijn (handtekening, naam leesbaar, stempel en datum) dan naar de notaris, (volgende week) en dan de rechtbank in Haarlem (daarna)
dan alles opsturen naar Wereldkinderen die zorg dragen voor Ministeries van Justitie en Buitenlandse zaken en het Consulaat van Kenia.
Waarna alles naar Kenya gaat (Engelse spelling) en de procedure daar verder gaat.
In Kenia gaan de documenten via CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya) de lokale vergunninghouder voor interlandelijke adoptie naar het :
Kenyan Adoption Committee dit is een erg belangrijke stap!
Nadat de documenten ontvangen zijn (september?) zullen zij binnen 30 dagen uitspraak doen.
Want na goedkeuring door dit Nationaal Adoptie Comité kunnen we aan de volgende stap beginnen!
Via het CWSK en WK krijgen wij een voorstel: er wordt een kindje toegewezen, met een dossier, naam, foto(s) en verdere informatie. (Wij hopen dat dit in oktober zal zijn). De aanvraag voor ons door WK is een kind tussen de 24 maanden (2 jaar) en maximaal 5 jaar oud.
Binnen drie maanden na onze acceptatie van het voorstel kunnen we afreizen naar Nairobi, Kenya.
Daar dienen we 3 maanden voor het kindje te zorgen (de verzorgingsperiode). We worden dan bezocht door de lokale vertegenwoordigers van de kinderbescherming en rechtbank. Tijdens deze verzorgingsperiode worden verschillende rapporten geschreven.
Daarna zal een lokale advocaat samen met ons als adoptief ouders de rechtbank procedure opstarten. Er volgen 3 hoorzittingen waarbij beide ouders geacht worden aanwezig te zijn. Deze rechtbankprocedure duurt minimaal 3 à 6 maanden (totale verblijf dus minstens 6 à 9 maanden).
Hierbij zijn verschillende andere personen en instanties betrokken waarover meer in een vervolg over de procedure deel 2.
Zoals je ziet hebben we alle spelers en hoofdrolspelers onderstreept om een indruk te geven hoeveel mensen er betrokken zijn bij het gehele proces.
Hopelijk is er hierdoor nog meer duidelijkheid hoe het werkt voor iedereen.
Met vriendelijke groeten van Peter en Jane
**************************************
Hello readers, August 2011, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Here is some more information about the practical side of our second adoption procedure. In November 2005 we went to Ethiopia and returned with our son Matthew Kebede. A year later in 2006, we could if we wished, submit a request for a second procedure.
As mentioned earlier here, we were hoping to have everying ready to send to World Children 2 weeks ago but as is usually the case with adoption, everything takes longer......
World Children (Wereldkinderen) is 1 of the 5 licence holders who are now actively working on foreign adoption cases (there have ben 7 in the past).
World Children is an association that was founded in 1971 (a good year!). They are staffed by professionals who have been with them a long time and know the countries well.
They work in 2 areas: project help and if there are no other options (from the child's perspective), adoption from various countries.
The documents we need for adoption must all be completed in the correct way of course and then actioned in the correct way: signed (signautre, legible name, date and stamp of the party) then to the lawyer (next week) for legalising, followed by the court in Haarlem. Then everything is sent to World Children who take them on to the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs and the Kenyan Embassy for further legalisations.
After which everything goes to Kenya and the procedure continues there.
In Kenya the documents go to the CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya) the local licence holder for international adoption, where they are submitted to the Kenyan Adoption Committee; this is a very important step. After the documents have been received (September?) They will make their decision.
Because after the approval by the National Adoption Committee we can begin the next step.
Via World Children, we will get a propsal from CWSK: a child will be matched with us with a file, name, photos and other information. (We hope this will be in October). Our request is for a child between 24 and 48 months (2-4 years old).
Within 3 months of accepting the proposal we can travel to Nairobi, Kenya.
There we have to look after the child for three months (the foster period). We will be visited by the local representatives of child welfare and the court. During this process various reports will be written. Then we will work with a local lawyer who will start the court procedure with us. This court procedure will take between 3-6 months (therefore a total stay of 6-9 months). There are several different people and parties involved in this, more about them all in a future post, Procedure part 2.
As you can see, I have underline and bolded the people and parties involved to give an idea of how many people are involved in the whole process.
I hope this makes it a bit clearer for everyone how this works.
With kind regards,
Peter and Jane Rison
Hier wat meer over de praktische kant van onze 2de adoptie procedure.
In november 2005 gingen we naar Ethiopie en kwamen terug met onze zoon Matthew Kebede.
Een jaar later in 2006 konden we, indien we dat wilden een 2de procedure opstarten.
Zoals eerder hier gezegd hoopten we 2 weken geleden alles binnen te hebben en op te sturen aan Wereldkinderen maar het duurt (zoals wel vaker bij adoptie) allemaal wat langer...
Wereldkinderen is 1 van de 5 vergunning houders die nu actief zijn wat betreft adoptie van kinderen uit het buitenland. (er zijn er 7 geweest).
Wereldkinderen is een vereniging en opgericht in 1971 (goed jaar!) WK werkt met professionele mensen die vaak al langer in dienst zijn en de landen goed kennen.
Het werkgebied bestaat uit 2 deelgebieden Projecthulp en indien niet anders mogelijk (vanuit perspectief kind), Adoptie uit diverse landen.
De documenten moeten allemaal op de juiste manier getekend zijn (handtekening, naam leesbaar, stempel en datum) dan naar de notaris, (volgende week) en dan de rechtbank in Haarlem (daarna)
dan alles opsturen naar Wereldkinderen die zorg dragen voor Ministeries van Justitie en Buitenlandse zaken en het Consulaat van Kenia.
Waarna alles naar Kenya gaat (Engelse spelling) en de procedure daar verder gaat.
In Kenia gaan de documenten via CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya) de lokale vergunninghouder voor interlandelijke adoptie naar het :
Kenyan Adoption Committee dit is een erg belangrijke stap!
Nadat de documenten ontvangen zijn (september?) zullen zij binnen 30 dagen uitspraak doen.
Want na goedkeuring door dit Nationaal Adoptie Comité kunnen we aan de volgende stap beginnen!
Via het CWSK en WK krijgen wij een voorstel: er wordt een kindje toegewezen, met een dossier, naam, foto(s) en verdere informatie. (Wij hopen dat dit in oktober zal zijn). De aanvraag voor ons door WK is een kind tussen de 24 maanden (2 jaar) en maximaal 5 jaar oud.
Binnen drie maanden na onze acceptatie van het voorstel kunnen we afreizen naar Nairobi, Kenya.
Daar dienen we 3 maanden voor het kindje te zorgen (de verzorgingsperiode). We worden dan bezocht door de lokale vertegenwoordigers van de kinderbescherming en rechtbank. Tijdens deze verzorgingsperiode worden verschillende rapporten geschreven.
Daarna zal een lokale advocaat samen met ons als adoptief ouders de rechtbank procedure opstarten. Er volgen 3 hoorzittingen waarbij beide ouders geacht worden aanwezig te zijn. Deze rechtbankprocedure duurt minimaal 3 à 6 maanden (totale verblijf dus minstens 6 à 9 maanden).
Hierbij zijn verschillende andere personen en instanties betrokken waarover meer in een vervolg over de procedure deel 2.
Zoals je ziet hebben we alle spelers en hoofdrolspelers onderstreept om een indruk te geven hoeveel mensen er betrokken zijn bij het gehele proces.
Hopelijk is er hierdoor nog meer duidelijkheid hoe het werkt voor iedereen.
Met vriendelijke groeten van Peter en Jane
**************************************
Hello readers, August 2011, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Here is some more information about the practical side of our second adoption procedure. In November 2005 we went to Ethiopia and returned with our son Matthew Kebede. A year later in 2006, we could if we wished, submit a request for a second procedure.
As mentioned earlier here, we were hoping to have everying ready to send to World Children 2 weeks ago but as is usually the case with adoption, everything takes longer......
World Children (Wereldkinderen) is 1 of the 5 licence holders who are now actively working on foreign adoption cases (there have ben 7 in the past).
World Children is an association that was founded in 1971 (a good year!). They are staffed by professionals who have been with them a long time and know the countries well.
They work in 2 areas: project help and if there are no other options (from the child's perspective), adoption from various countries.
The documents we need for adoption must all be completed in the correct way of course and then actioned in the correct way: signed (signautre, legible name, date and stamp of the party) then to the lawyer (next week) for legalising, followed by the court in Haarlem. Then everything is sent to World Children who take them on to the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs and the Kenyan Embassy for further legalisations.
After which everything goes to Kenya and the procedure continues there.
In Kenya the documents go to the CWSK (Child Welfare Society of Kenya) the local licence holder for international adoption, where they are submitted to the Kenyan Adoption Committee; this is a very important step. After the documents have been received (September?) They will make their decision.
Because after the approval by the National Adoption Committee we can begin the next step.
Via World Children, we will get a propsal from CWSK: a child will be matched with us with a file, name, photos and other information. (We hope this will be in October). Our request is for a child between 24 and 48 months (2-4 years old).
Within 3 months of accepting the proposal we can travel to Nairobi, Kenya.
There we have to look after the child for three months (the foster period). We will be visited by the local representatives of child welfare and the court. During this process various reports will be written. Then we will work with a local lawyer who will start the court procedure with us. This court procedure will take between 3-6 months (therefore a total stay of 6-9 months). There are several different people and parties involved in this, more about them all in a future post, Procedure part 2.
As you can see, I have underline and bolded the people and parties involved to give an idea of how many people are involved in the whole process.
I hope this makes it a bit clearer for everyone how this works.
With kind regards,
Peter and Jane Rison
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