Next Work Projects:

  Haiti - June 14-22
  Haiti - August 9-17 (full)
 

Adoption and Families

This report is given by the Knowles family who just completed their adoption last month.



After spending six days at the Adoption Orphanage in Haiti, our family brought home two beautiful children on May 3, 2006. The much anticipated day finally arrived! We took our 13 yr old son and 11 yr old daughter with us to Haiti. Prior to our arrival we had seen multiple pictures of our children and the orphanage. As we entered the facility it was just as we had imagined it. When our two children, Sylverta (5) and her younger brother, James (2), were brought to us we were overcome by emotion. The special connection we felt towards our children before we even met them was solidified when we saw them in person. At that very moment we felt that all the work, all the prayers, all the effort, all the anxious nights, and all the wait were worth every minute.

We were grateful that we were able to spend so much time in the orphanage and in Haiti. It was very insightful to see the children in the environment they had known for so long. We loved seeing the other children in the orphanage and visiting with the “Aunties” and caretakers. We rarely spent a waking moment that wasn’t involved in playing with or spending time with all the children. We were very impressed by the care given to the children by all the “Aunties.” For all the difficulties in Haiti, the Crèche is a sanctuary from the stress and worry of Haiti. It is filled with love and laughter and is the best environment these children could be in considering their situation. We felt very blessed that our children were so well taken care of, by so many, and with so much love. As we arrived at our home in Idaho we felt that our family was finally complete. It has been a wonderful experience caring for and getting to know our children. We’ve had many wonderful moments since we entered this new chapter of our lives, and it has been worth every effort.


Haiti Update

We returned to Haiti early this year since things had calmed down after the elections. Individuals from the Foundation as well as adoptive families have made many trips over the past few months and we anticipate this trend to continue. Our Haiti Staff have brought 24 more children into our care so far this year, as well as initiating the creation of a new facility, “The Transition Home”. Children who are admitted to our care first stay at the Transition Home (in Port-au-Prince) while medical tests are completed and children who are not healthy can get individualized attention close to our doctor.

We just shipped a 40’ container to Haiti which contains baby supplies, pallets of food, furniture, construction supplies, school supplies, clothing, lots of toys, and so much more! This shipment will not only benefit our Adoption Orphanage in Haiti, but many other orphanages as we will continue to distribute needed supplies to them.


China Update

Our Vice President and General Manager, Carl Mackay, recently returned from a very successful trip to China. He was invited to present at the First National Training Course for Senior Chinese Charity Officials, attended by over 200 Chinese officials. He spoke on “How to Maintain Financial Records and Reports that Assure Public Confidence.” Carl’s presentation was so noteworthy that the China Charity Federation (the official government entity which oversees all charitable endeavors in China) requested him to return this October to participate in two additional training seminars.

Carl stated, “The conference proved to be so popular with the Chinese leaders that the China Charity Federation expanded the number of participants from 100 to 200 (the capacity of the hotel) and then turned down requests for others to attend. Still many more people showed up agreeing to sleep 4 to a room so they could listen and learn from the speakers.”

Carl was the only American invited to make a welcome speech and present about ACHF’s work in addition to his training presentation. Other speakers repeatedly indicated that his presentation generated the most energy and interest. One evening, on a TV news set, Carl and another speaker spent 30 minutes answering questions about honesty, integrity and developing credibility with the public. The TV station’s viewership is over 20 million people.

“I think this was a wonderful opportunity to teach correct principles and establish ACHF as a key leader in developing charitable efforts in China. It also helps establish ACHF as an organization trusted by government organizations which will be beneficial in our overall effort to shape the adoption process,” said Carl. Speakers included representatives from many international and Chinese organizations, including: United Way International, the International Center for Non-Profit Law, Unitus, LDS Charities, Brigham Young University, and the Alcoa Foundation.