MLJ Adoptions Visits Haiti Crèches & More

23
Jul

My assistant program director Stacy Jacobs and I had the opportunity to visit Haiti this week and stayed in Montrouis (pronounced Mone-wee). About an hour and a half outside of Port-Au-Prince, we stayed at a beautiful resort, Moulin Sur Mer, which lies on the Caribbean Sea and is surrounded by beautiful mountains and features white sand beaches! The resort was very family friendly and is one of three resorts families adopting from Haiti will be staying in. Moulin Sur Mer offered many family-fun activities such as swimming, putt-putt, a children’s playground and more. The environment felt comfortable, safe and we really enjoyed our visit!

Haiti is such a contrast of sheer beauty and extreme poverty. My last visit was shortly after the earthquake in 2010 and I am happy to say that I have seen improvements since then. However with that being said, there is still a long way to go. The roads in Port-Au-Prince were so bad we were almost not able to drive through the streets. The congestion and road conditions make it extremely difficult to get around in the city. We drove from the office of IBESR to the US Embassy and what should have taken less than a half hour took almost two hours! For me, there were so many people in the city it felt claustrophobic. The government is still working on the roads and I am hopeful within the next year it will be much better. The UN presence was unmistakable, as UN guards and vehicles were everywhere within the city. Port-Au-Prince was such an opposite reflection of Montrouis, a place more peaceful and less congested.

On the second day of the trip we went to tour three crèches in the area. The children were so wonderful! They were obviously very well cared for and had beautiful manners! They all looked happy and healthy! All the children either spoke English or were learning. The crèches had air conditioning, inside bathrooms, cheerful painted rooms, and nice cribs and beds – even by our typically-high American standards. We were also fortunate to be invited to lunch by the crèche nannies. It was a great day despite the hot weather.

On the third day, we travelled to Port-Au-Prince to the office of Institut du Bien Etre Social et de Recherches (IBESR) and later to the US Embassy to visit with the adoption unit. The information we received told us that things are continuing to be determined and worked out, and there are still many unknowns about the new adoption process in Haiti. We had the feeling that IBESR and the US Embassy still had areas where there was little communication and things that still needed to be discussed before a full understanding of what the new process will be.

Overall, the trip was very successful and enlightening! We enjoyed the wonderful hospitality, the beauty of the country, and the warmth of the Haitian people. We learned a lot that will benefit the families in our Haitian adoption program and look forward to seeing what the future holds! Although things are slow, we do feel that Haiti is working towards making it a better country to adopt from and ensuring more accountability with all of those involved in the adoption process. MLJ will continue to update families as information becomes available.

Photos are property of MLJ Adoptions.

For more information about MLJ Adoptions’ Haiti adoption program, please click here.

Lydia Tarr works as the International Program Director for MLJ Adoptions’ programs in Bulgaria and Ukraine. She is the adoptive mother of four children from Ukraine and was recognized as a 2013 Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s (CCAI) Angels in Adoption Program.

Lydia Tarr works as the International Program Director for MLJ Adoptions’ programs in Bulgaria and Ukraine. She is the adoptive mother of four children from Ukraine and was recognized as a 2013 Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s (CCAI) Angels in Adoption Program.