Creating a safe haven for college students facing domestic violence. Josayne Anderson-Tejera is determined to help women who are dealing with domestic violence on college campuses. “If you don’t abort this baby, I will beat it out of you.” The words from a former boyfriend and student whom she was pregnant by during college.  Her beautiful daughter is now seven years old and is embraced by Josayne’s husband, a man who loves this little girl and raises her as his own. Josayne was able to find help seven years ago and has determined to try to make a difference in other women’s lives who are dealing with verbal and physical abuse.  Her answer was to start Once For All, Inc.  She’s got plans to cover several states and countries.  Though the organization is in its infancy stages, this woman has the heart and the determination to get this done.  She does not want anyone to have to go through what she experienced.  Her feeling is that the torture she went through was enough for everyone. The organization’s first fundraiser is scheduled for October 22, 2008 in Los Angeles. Please enjoy listening to the interview.

A Conversation with Josayne from Once For All Inc.
click to play.

How did you come to want to adopt children from Haiti?

My wife and I have been considering adoption for nearly twenty years. Both of our families have a history of adoption. My wife Alison’s grandmother fostered and adopted children, even though she had 6 children of her own. She had a heart for children, which she passed on to my wife. My grandmother was orphaned as a result of the flu pandemic. So, we have always had a heart for adoption. We only had two biological children of our own, and we had been trying to adopt for over ten years. We had offered to adopt on three separate occasions, where the mothers later decided to keep their children. In 2006, our church began an initiative to work with the State of Colorado to help get the some of the 700 foster children in the system adopted into loving families. We worked with a ministry that was getting churches from across the state to do the same. We under-went a 9 month process of training classes, CPR certification, and investigation to get prepared for our home-study. While completing that, we learned that all of the adoptable kids were in process with other families. We had decided that we did not want to foster, but move toward full adoption.

A child waiting at the orphanage

Our oldest daughter Naomi had decided to go on a missions trip to an orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti, run by a family she met through her youth group. I knew that Port Au Prince is the most dangerous capital city in the western hemisphere, so I tried to talk her out of it. She was committed, so she convinced my wife to go with her. They went for nearly a month, to work on construction, organizational assistance and organizing supplies. While there, many things happened which would be considered perilous. They had a sense of God’s peace and protection despite some dangerous events and were convinced that they were there for more than just to help. They had a chance to work with doing the biographies for all the new children. Three of the new children from that group especially touched and affected Alison and Naomi. One infant and two siblings, an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl.

Things were very chaotic, and communications were very difficult, but they got a hold of me to discuss it for ten minutes. We all concluded that we would make an effort to adopt them.

Tell us a little about your son, Isaiah.

He has faced numerous challenges from the very beginning. Today he is doing very well; he appears to be thriving by all evidences. Right  now he is cared for by orphanage staff who meet his needs for feeding and development; along with more than 20 other babies. He will not remember my wife or my daughter, since it has been so long since they saw him; more than half his life. Yet, we will all go to meet him and the other children as soon as we can pay for our dossier, catch up on the back bills for support and then pay for airfares to Haiti.

Isaiah, May 2008

Isaiah was brought in to the orphanage shortly after birth. The story we were told is that his father was dead and his mother was starving. The baby was malnourished. The poor eat dirt cakes called “la saline bisqui” which means literally “the salt biscuits.” They are made of sifted dirt, salt and oil (or butter or lard) – left out to dry in the sun. This is one of only two meals a day for many of Haiti’s poor; some days it is the only food they eat. (you can find information about this by going to google news and searching on Haiti dirt cakes (or mud cakes). Isaiah’s mother would surely have done the same, and so he was undoubtedly severely malnourished when he was brought in. Many of the mothers who are starving cannot even breast feed.

At the orphanage, the babies are fed well with milk formula and pureed rice. Some of them are given IV fluids to recover from dehydration. We don’t know much about his condition, except that he looked like he was malnourished when they first saw him, and he had already been there for 5 months. He was undersized and his hair was wiry and sparse. My wife held him once, but he was already chosen by another family. So she did not realize he would be available for us to adopt. During the trip, one of the things that Alison and Naomi did was take pictures of all the new children. Along with hundreds of pictures of the orphanage, the construction and all the children, these three children stood out in particular to them. In Alison’s notes, she had made special comments about all three of them – which we realized later when reading the details. The oldest two were able to go back to the hotel with Alison and Naomi. Electricity and communications are very unreliable, so we did not have a chance to talk more than twice briefly while they were gone. So, during the trip, one set of photos was sent back over the internet, which my other daughter Olivia reviewed meticulously. She became very interested in this little baby boy with the wiry hair – which we have later named Isaiah. We did not know at the time that he already had an adoptive family. She began praying for him and asking God to let us adopt him.

The original family that was adopting him also had committed to adopt twins as well. When they got to the orphanage and met the twins, they realized that they were so developmentally delayed, that they decided they could not also take a baby. Five more families were offered this child to adopt while Alison and Naomi were there, and each one said no. One family considered him for several days.

Meanwhile, Olivia was here in Colorado praying secretly that we would adopt him.  As the trip wound up, and everyone was preparing to return home, it looked like that other family was committed to adopt him. Our group returned home, without
having much ability to talk about plans for any of these children. Alison asked the orphanage leader if we could be put on the list for the siblings (Wesley and Yoomide). Another family was wanting to adopt the Yoomide, but not the Wesley.  Alison felt sure this was wrong. They were so close, and clearly cared for each other – she could not bear to see them separated. So, she pled with the leader of the orphanage not to allow it and committed that we would take them. (She had only briefly been able to discuss it with me, and I was in the process of a job change).

As they returned home, things were still unclear. After arriving and talking with Olivia and I, Alison was sure she wanted to adopt Isaiah as well, and learned that Olivia had been praying for it. We all discussed this, the commitment we would have to make as a family, and the challenges we would face, we agreed to adopt all three children if we could. When Alison called the Director of the orphanage and finally reached her, to let her know that if the other family did not commit to adopt him – then we would. She was confident they would not stay committed to him. The next day the Director called back to say that the other family backed out – we were now able to put in the application for Isaiah as well. We rushed to get all of the paperwork together and took it to the Director the next day for all three children. We were accepted to begin the process. And we began making arrangements to support all three of the kids monthly, while we undergo the home-study and the lengthy adoption approvals process.

What is your personal involvement in the center and your families?

Initially, we only knew the family, who run the ministry, socially. Until they went on the trip, we were mostly unaware of all that their family does to keep this little orphanage running.

80% of the people in Haiti live below the poverty line.

Since getting involved, we now support the kids monthly and the funds help with the children who have not been chosen and some of the kids who are unable to be adopted due to disabilities. We have been involved in assisting with packing supplies, collecting donations, organizing donation drives and general fund raising and awareness raising. Last month, we helped to package up 3,000 pounds of beans, 100 pounds of rice and 500 pounds of baby formula. My wife has gathered many pounds of clothing, shoes, cloth diapers and clothes for the nannies who work there. This week begins a process of groups of many people from our church going down to work there during the summer on many projects. There is a shipment in Miami waiting to sail, as soon as all fees and customs are cleared. There will be over 100 people who will work there, in shifts throughout the summer. We are saving our money to pay the adoption costs, so we will not go yet. But, at some point we will also go down on a work trip.

What are some of the needs of the center?  What hardships do they face on a regular basis?

There are over 120 children living at the orphanage. They are given food, clothing, housing, health care and education. There are about 100 Haitian workers who keep the center running, who are supported by the adoptive families and others who are committed to the project. There are many hardships. Food prices are escalating, the cost of fuel to keep the place running is also escalating. There is no infrastructure: they use a generator for electricity, have water trucked in for drinking and cleaning. The crews work 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week. Most of them walk many miles to work, and live in sheds with mud
floors.

Last week, the Haitian orphanage manager, who is a truly wonderful man, was working on the roof, and fell down a ladder to save a child who had been left in a garbage heap in the ravine beside the orphanage. When he fell down, he broke his leg and ankle in three places.

The orphanage has to pay for 24×7 security to prevent kidnappings and theft. The gangs routinely extort money from anyone who has foreign support. They rape and murder as a habit, and will kidnap any foreigner for ransom. Last week a Canadian was kidnapped. Sometimes children are kidnapped for Voodoo sacrifices. So there must be a guards on duty there every hour of every day. The foreign workers must have security to travel the streets, from the moment they leave the airport until they arrive at the hotel or orphanage.

It’s a long, anxious wait for both parents and children.

There’s an entire network of people throughout the US and Canada who are working to help support the center and waiting to adopt children.  How did that get started?

It all began during the uprising 2003. The Director had gone down to adopt her own child there. Due to the Americans fleeing Haiti during the riots and uprising, she found the orphanage abandoned. She had the courage to stay and help the orphanage, while she pressed forward with her own adoption. When she complied with the requirements of the government to adopt her own child, they asked her to organize the files for the other children and get the orphanage in order. She worked with the Haitian manager to get the children fed and began organizing workers. She gave her own money and asked others she knew for help.  For nearly 5 years, she has been organizing everyone she can meet to give aid.

Today, the network is basically several churches and the families who have committed to adopt the children there. As the Director has been telling the story, the news has spread. She now attends our church with her family, and in our church there are 7 families who have currently committed to adopt. Many of us are adopting three. One family is adopting two and we think there are two other families who are going to adopt at least one.

During the rioting that happened in April, due to the increasing costs of food, the orphanage was under siege. The workers could not leave to trade shifts for several days and there were no water or food shipments. Fuel trucks could not make it in for fuel to power the generator. Haiti is already an abandoned place, but it was even more so while the riots were happening. Unfortunately, even starving gangs can get guns and ammunition, so the gangs were shooting people randomly in the streets and that meant that no one was willing to risk travel, even if an orphanage full of children depended on them. The facilities are not set up for the workers to sleep there, so things were very difficult, as you can imagine.

Why is it so expensive to adopt a child from Haiti?

There are costs at every level. There are many legal requirements. The State, the US, the Haitian and the UN authorities each require processing. There are fees for that, fees for the home-study, fees for the agencies to keep the processes legally compliant and the social workers. There is the cost of support along the way and the orphanage has it’s own legal costs and the needs of finances to run the facility. In total, we will have spent close to $50,000 for our three children’s adoptions. I wish I knew why the cost is that high. It seems incredible. We are still trying to pay off our home study costs and the hospitalizations for both of the boys.

The largest traders in Haiti are the US and EU

*Isaiah needed 3 weeks of hospitalization and a transfusion for a respiratory illness. Wesley had a herniated testicle that was becoming life threatening and required surgery.

How long have you been waiting to
bring your son home?

We had begun training and preparing for adoption before these children were born! But, Alison and Naomi met them a year ago and we are just now in the final stages of getting our dossier together. We may have to wait another 14 months after completing the documents. There are numerous challenges we have faced along the way to getting the documents completed correctly – basically bureaucratic or agency mis-handling at numerous points along the way.

Why does it take so long?

The dossier and home-study process must be thorough to protect the children from people with illicit intentions; Both the US and the Haitian governments have processes set up to prevent that. Haiti’s process is just as difficult as the US and Colorado. They are careful to be certain that the families are truly going to care for the children and raise them well.  The fees
are part of the bureaucratic process – which can take 14 months on their end. Difficult cases can take a lot longer. Sometimes it takes a Presidential dispensation to allow the adoption, for families who are still providing good homes despite missing some point of the requirements.

On the US end, there are finger prints, background checks, home-study with social workers, psychological and social background evaluations, medical history and financial stability evaluations. There are legal processes between each government required. Our adoption requires 5 legal convention reviews because Colorado does not have an agreement with any agencies who work with Haiti, so we have to work through Florida. Haiti also requires compliance with UNICEF conventions. (so: Colorado, Florida, USA, Haiti and UN). UNICEF intervention has increased the difficulties substantially and made it much longer.

Ian and his family work hard and wait anxiously to bring their children home.

What else do you want people to know?

We pray for these kids daily and are doing everything to prepare our home to accept them as though they have always been part of our family. We have been through an incredible ordeal to get our dossier together as the agency we were working with closed down in Colorado unexpectedly. At this moment, our entire family’s life has been triple scrutinized from every angle. We have cut out almost every convenience and luxury in our lives to keep our expenses in order to keep our commitment of the monthly support and the costs of the adoption processes. We consider ourselves fortunate to have been given this task, no matter how daunting it seems at times. We are committed to giving these three
children a future and a hope, to let them have a chance to have a family. We believe that we are supposed to raise them with all the love, nurture and advantages that we would have wanted for our own children if they had become orphans. Although they don’t know two of us, and probably will barely remember the other two of us, we consider them our family already. We can’t wait to see them, hold them, love them and bring them to their forever family and welcome them to our (their) home.

Gary Tenant served in the U.S. Air Force.  He knows how important it is to be able to come home.  He took that feeling in his heart and found a small way to brighten the lives of U.S. service people who live in Arizona.  He picks them up at the airport and brings them to their homes in a big, fancy car for free.
Yes, for free.

It’s a gracious thing that Gary does. These weary travelers return from a forced lifestyle that average civilians will never be able to relate to or understand.  He picks them up and lets them have a few moments to relax in luxury.  They go home in style.  Maybe this is just a small gesture, but it goes a very long way. Thanks Gary.

“To all the people who read this:  I feel we can do something for our troops and we also give free rides to children getting out of the hospital , we go get ice cream (if we can) and then I let them call their friends to let them know they are coming home.  So we need your thought and prayers on both as gas is now $4.20 in Phoenix.” (6/30/2008)  – Gary Tennant

What are you waiting for?  Get your fancy night out on the town and support Gary so his company can do more for others! For more information, please contact Gary Tennant or visit  http://PrivateCoachLimos.com

Ange Teo publishes a monthly ezine that features people from all over the world who dedicate their lives to a cause that helps others.  Whether they run a non-profit or devote themselves to the medical field or in some other way to humanity, they are clearly here to serve others.  After I received several of these publications, I wanted to know more about who this woman is and why she does this and I wanted to share her with readers on Pages from Peoples Lives.com.  You may want to subscribe to her ezine to learn more about the people and causes she features. So, introducing worldwide Ange Teo: 1. How did I get started with the idea/concept — There was one period early this year that I received [an avalanche of] requests for help. By both contacts and “strangers”.These requests ran a gamut from introductions to contacts based in China; job opportunities in Singapore.  To one on donations and voluntary assistance for a tsunami-hit village in Sri Lanka. Some I could not possibly do so alone nor have the resources. Besides, I have a vast and huge variety of contacts whose potential lies untapped. Surely, they and even their own networks have the resources that mine are seeking. 2. Purpose of doing what I do — Let’s say I have a quirky bordering-on-the-obsessive need to help people. It is in my name too that I strive to keep up with. Seriously, it is a good excuse to keep in touch with all, if not some of my network. I can safely say that a handful had — and still have — no inkling that I even exist. Until they received their first copy of THE NetWorking e-Zine. 3. How do I find and choose the people that I feature — They just so happen to be interesting folks with interesting professions and/or hobbies/concepts. Who happen to need some sort of help and publicity for their businesses or hobbies. Which I am confident would stimulate some sort of interest in my network. Furthermore, they come from a variety of backgrounds that make readers anticipate. Like, “Okay, so who is wotshername going to feature next?” Ange’s Newsletter:Dear All: I am pleased to showcase this month’s issue of THE NetWorking e-Zine [TNe]. This is no ordinary e-zine.  Each Monthly showcases a contact’s industry and/or expertise.  Resulting in greater exposure and FREE publicity.  Offering us all a glimpse into their industry, creating awareness as a result.The TNe is distributed to all of my first-degree contacts, both offline and online.  Thus, I would be most grateful if you could forward the TNe to your network. If you believe it has some value to them. I attach both the slideshow [.pps] and .pdf versions. Just in case you cannot open the former. If you no longer wish to receive the TNe, please email me with the subject Thanks, but no thanks, Last but not least, I look very much forward to hearing from and collaborating with you. Happy Reading and warmest wishes. Ange Teo Managing Director and Web 2.0 Advocate Links: http://e2mentoring.tripod.com/ Everyone else has theirs.  Have you got yours? Can’t build a website? Don’t worry, Get Your WebSpot has easy, easy templates you can use!