HELP if you can...

Hi Friends and Family!

FINALLY!
The time has come! In our preparation to bring "K" home we requested information from Monsour about the "needs" they have at the Holt Fontana Village. Here is his reply.

"We have twenty five children at the village 11 boys and 14 girls. We have 4 male caretakers and 14 females. Things that we really need are: Sheets, tennis shoes/ sneakers and clothes. We will be very grateful if we can get these items."

I am always amazed at the beautiful and humble spirit of my friends in Haiti. I feel compelled to quote a scripture that came to my mind when I read his very humble list. It is in Mosiah 4:26 (if you haven't read the Book of Mormon you can click on this link to receive a free one.) http://www.mormon.org/

Mosiah 4:26 "And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you--that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God--I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, everyman according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."

Some time ago, Mark pointed out the last word of this verse to me. It says "wants" - not "needs" but "wants". Perhaps you can ponder that and share your insight with me. In an effort to be true to a prompting, I shared this scripture that has moved me in the past – certainly I am not wishing to “guilt” anyone into helping. If you can, we would appreciate it – if you can’t we understand.

I will add to Monsour's list a few things and explain.

14 watches for women (I have 10 watches already – THANKS Jeni!)
4 watches for men
WHY: Because one of the caretakers asked me for my watch when I was in Haiti last year and we would like to give each of the caretakers this gift.

Adult shoes
4 men's sturdy sandals size 9 ½, 10, 10 and 10 ½
14 women’s comfortable sandals size 7 ½ - 9 ½
WHY: Because Mark was asked for his sandals last year while in Haiti.

Sheets (24 twin size sets and 6 full size)
Tennis shoes for children all sizes (mostly children ages 2-9)
Clothing (remember it is HOT in Haiti)
WHY: Because these are the items on Monsour’s list.

Look for quality shoes and clothing on clearance – I found girls tennis shoes for $7.48 at Target and my sister, Jeni found boys tennis shoes for $3.24!!! Yeah!

Because this is a very public blog I will post the address of our business as a place to send any of the above mentioned items. If it is easier to send a gift card or cash I will be shopping at Target and Wal-Mart for the above mentioned items. Here is a picture of Haiti's version of Wal-Mart!

Few people realize the cost of things in Haiti. While the majority of Haitians live on $1.oo a day a can of Formula is $30.00. A gallon of gas cost around $6.00 last year when we were in Haiti. Our hotel accommodations and two meals were $130.00 per day. Things are just not as “cheap” as most people assume. So taking supplies purchased here is far better than going with cash in hand. If we are overwhelmed with donations :) we will use the cash donations to pay the airline fees to take additional luggage. Please send donations by August 7th.

Thanks to all in advance who would like to help! It is a beautiful thing to see the children in an orphanage receive something as simply as a new pair of shoes! You can be sure pictures of that will make it to this blog when we return home!

Here is our address:
QuicKutz, Inc.
1365 West 1250 South
Suite 100
Orem, UT 84058
Please mark your box or envelope *Haiti donation*
Here is our website if you are interested in reading about our Kids from Haiti cookbook project.
http://www.quickutz.com/

Thanks a million!

FREEDOM!!!!

Well......today I received a surprise phone call from our agency!!! I was setting myself up over the week-end for "no news" until Wednesday. I was also preparing myself for another lame excuse in an attempt to protect myself from another disappointment!

BUT INSTEAD we received GOOD NEWS!!! YES....HER FILE WAS SIGNED OUT OF THE MOI OFFICE!!!

That means she is coming home in AUGUST or early SEPTEMBER!!! WAHOO!!!

"K" we love you........and can't wait for you to come home!

who is the puppet?

Well. Today I had my hopes up that our file would be signed out of the MOI office in Haiti. Hope was built because the message communicated to me on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. was - the MOI office requested copies of our passports. They told Monsour (the orphanage director) that was the last thing they needed before they could sign our file and asked him to comeback on Friday.

Of course.....today is Friday and not only did Monsour return to the MOI office, he returned 45 minutes before they opened and waited. He spent four hours waiting! The waiting only led to the assistant in charge telling him "he didn't have time for him" and he would have to "come back next Wednesday".

So, I'm feeling a little like a puppet. I'm certain Monsour is also feeling like a puppet - jumping through all the hoops set in front of him. We have seen this kind of thing before. Monsour made complicated arrangements to have K's birthparents taken to PaP for an interview with the assistant at the civil court. When they arrived, they were told that person (who requested Monsour to return on THAT day) decided to take the day off. During our 4.5 months wait in the civil court we also had to wonder about our file ever getting signed out because the court was actually broken into and vandalized. Hmmm, I guess a few local Haitians were also frustrated that the officials of this court weren't doing their job!

So........Who is the real puppet? AND who is the puppeteer? As I ponder this I realize it isn't me, it isn't all the other families in the same position we are in, it isn't all the orphanage directors and agencies involved in trying to help children find families, it certainly isn't all the children. The master puppeteer in this mess is Satan himself! So, were does that leave the eejits in the MOI office - yep they are HIS puppets. It is so blantantly obvious. As they push their agendas thinking all along they are their own agendas, they are blinded (or not) because really they are pushing the agenda of one evil force who has them all balled up in their own pride and decieved by "their own power" which allows them to speak rudely and callously to the orphanage directors, which gives them the "right" to hold up hundreds of children from leaving Haiti to be with their families who have legally adopted them, which keeps hundreds of children from receiving care in the orphanages that are filled. Yes, power does corrupt and Satan will use it to deceive and make puppets out of those lacking character and compassion.

Perhaps, the slimy old devil himself has won another small battle as our file rots away, being held hostage in the MOI office - BUT he will not win the war! For I KNOW who is on my side - and He has the power to wrest my file from the beastly grip of that slimy one at just the right time. So........we will wait until next Wednesday. And probably we will wait again. But our sweet K - who is such an amazing young girl WILL come home and the battles we have fought will make our being together in the future all the sweeter!

This is "R"

This is R. He is 6 years old and M's younger brother. The first picture was taken May 2006 on our first trip to Haiti. The picture of him in his blue checked shirt was taken last January. R is a very sweet little boy. He isn't too fond of having his picture taken so we had to be a bit sneaky to get some good ones. He LOVES candy! I miss him very much!

This is "MV"

This is MV. She is 7. The first picture was taken last May 2006 when we first met. The picture of her in the blue checked dress was taken last January 2007. MV is sweet, fiesty and funny all wrapped in one! She for sure will keep us busy when she comes home! I miss her very much!

this is "K"

This is K. She is 13 years old. The picture of her in her blue school uniform was taken in September 2006. The second picture is K having fun with M on the first day we met her in Haiti May 2006. K is such a beautiful young lady. She has an amazing and sweet spirit about her. We will all be blessed to have her as a daughter and sister! We miss her so very much!

our family...

Here we are December 2006. Looking forward to our next family picture in December 2007 and wondering... if we will have our kids from Haiti home.

A new blog......

Hi we are the Hixon family of six soon to be nine! This blog is dedicated to sharing information about our experience as we work to bring home our three beautiful children from Haiti.

We are still waiting for K's passport and expect we will be traveling to Haiti soon. Hopefully we will return to Haiti towards the end of 2007 or early 2008 to bring home MV and R.

We will use this blog to update friends and family about our children in Haiti, the process and hopefully soon, our trips to Haiti.