ATN Moving Forward: Registering in Haiti
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Today’s vision casting blog will be relatively short, but it is important for you to know our plan moving forward in this area. As you know we have been in Haiti for a few years now, but we have only been officially out on our own for 1 year as of tomorrow. As we are becoming accustomed to our new role and being out on our own, it is time to take the next step and begin the registration process for our orphanage. In fact, I made my first trip to IBESR (essentially the Department of Children and Families in Haiti) this past January to begin the process and to inform them that we are currently an operating orphanage in Gressier. We have had many different meetings with IBESR in the past, but each time it was when they came to our place to do a random check and to make sure we are taking care of our children. This was our first step in being proactive in terms of registering and becoming a part of the system in Haiti. This is important because we need to follow the rules and laws of the nation in which we operate and this is the way we will accomplish that.
The purpose of this blog is not to describe everything that we need to do to fall in line with the rules here, the purpose is solely to let you know that this is on our radar and will be happening soon. As a supporter of All Things New, it is important for you to know that we are operating within the law both in America (because that is where we are incorporated and have received our 501c3 status) and in Haiti (because that is where we operate the majority of our business). The first thing that we have to do is hire a Haitian social worker who can take care of the majority of the paperwork and make sure our kids are being cared for properly. This has been much easier said than done. In fact, I have been very leery of this idea since the first time I heard it was a necessary step in the process and that it is necessary to have a social worker on staff for the future. I am uncomfortable with this because of how difficult it is to get a referral from a reputable source and how difficult it is to trust someone to spend time with our children. Think about it, would you want a person that you did not know and that had not been recommended by someone you trust to spend time with your children in this capacity? However, it is necessary and I will be interviewing a candidate when I get down to Haiti in March. We will make this hire soon, but I can also tell you that we will not make any decision until I am absolutely positive that it is in the best interest of our children.
I am sure there will be some unforeseen difficulties, and in the end we may end up hiring an attorney to help us out (another thing that is much easier said than done). The truth is, however, in our experience so far IBESR is out for the good of the children and they want to do what is best for them. With that being the case, we will be able to work very well together because that is what we care about as well. My hope is that by the end of 2017 we will have hired a social worker, turned in all of the paperwork needed to register, and be waiting to hear back from IBESR so that by sometime in 2018 we will be accepted as a recognized orphanage in Haiti. Please pray with us toward that end.