I was able to go on Saturday to see Karen. I also lived in the community of Ceibita. This was an experience all by itself. I arrived in the community around 4 and found myself in the middle of a horrible storm. The thunder and lightening and rain was unlike I had ever seen.
After the rain we decided to drop in on Karen. The woman Ana who she lives with can be difficult so I thought it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. We were only like 5 minutes from her house so I figured we could use that as an excuse.
We arrived and I could not believe my eyes. My little girl was no longer a little girl. She had grown a ton, gain a lot of weight and developed in every area. I am still amazed at how she changed in just months.
Within 5 minutes of me arriving Karen and I started talking about how things had been going and I asked about her "mom" Ubana. That's the lady that found her when she was little and the same lady that told her not to leave her or she would die.
Well guess what? She did die. Yep.. she died 10 days ago. They think it was from her sugar diabetes.
I have to say it was a really hard emotion for me. Part of me was sad for her death and the other part was jumping for joy. That was a huge obstacle in Karen's life. A negative one at that and was the only reason in March Karen did not agree to the adoption.
Now what you ask? Well I don't know exactly.
We talked with Karen for a long time and was allowed to go back on Sunday morning for many hours. Karen is struggling with what to do. She is loves us but she is afraid of the unknown and with Ubana's death it is just too much right now to handle in her little head.
We agreed that it would be best to have some time to get to know each other and she agreed she would love to do that.
I am meeting with a lawyer to discuss how to proceed today at 4 your time. Please pray for wisdom.
Karen loves us and is excited to be around us but is scared of the unknown. She is just a kid and like any other child is unsure of the unknown. She had so much traumatic loses in her life, please pray for her heart. She seemed fine but that is just her way of dealing with things. She needs professional help but it may be impossible to get it.
I am not sure if this opens a huge door for me or makes it harder. Time will tell.
Please pray today that I have wisdom on the next steps to pursue. I was suppose to have a meeting with the Minister last week and that has yet to happen. Pray that it will soon.
I had an amazing experience in Ciebita. I lived like they do, got up at 4 every morning, took a bath like they do and hung out with the bugs like they do. I'm glad I did it but not sure I'll do it again.
I have not had a chance to post my pictures on the website but I did on Facebook. You should be able to see them without a Facebook account.
Click here to see photos of Karen and I playing.
Click here to see photos of me in Ceibita.
Thanks so much for praying. Please don't stop. Especially now. I need to get Karen help and I am hoping the DSS folks will allow me to get her a counselor as soon as possible.
I am also a little sick. I didn't sleep for two days and eating food that is not the best to have has made my body scream.. I should be fine once I get back to a normal routine.
I'll update more when I have more to tell.
Angie