And a Little Child Shall Lead Them....

We found out when we arrived in Haiti that if we don't get two kids NOW then we will either slow down Malot's process by trying to add a child to our files when we find a 2nd child in the future or we have to pay all the dossier fees for translation and authentication again. We aren't prepared for two children this week - we only packed for Malot. So this has been on our minds since found out about it on Monday but we haven't known what we should do about it.

When we arrived in Haiti and met Malot, we got off to a pretty good start. He's got a warm personality and he was pretty willing to come with us. He followed us into the back bedroom where we were unpacking our suitcases with donations. Malot saw a can of formula and became so very excited! In Creole he said, "I'm taking this for Jessica!" With the help of one of the aunties that speaks a bit of English we asked him who Jessica was and he said that Jessica was his friend. He carried that formula around for the entire time we were at the orphanage. We asked the workers at the orphanage and no one knew who Jessica was. No Jessica here. They suggested that maybe we heard the name wrong.

Then when we got him to the hotel and showed him the toy cars (machin) that we brought for him, he set one aside and made a comment about Jessica. It appeared to us that he wanted to save this car for Jessica.

He's so cute when he says "Jessica". With his great accent it comes out like "dje-zee-ka".

When the coordinator returned from helping at the orphanage the next day she said that there WAS a Jessica there, but that she was only 18 months old. This Jessica also doesn't live at Malot's orphanage. She lives in another location owned and run by the same woman and so they brought her over today to have her photo taken so that our agency could begin the process of finding parents for her.

There was a fair amount of confusion about how Malot would have even met Jessica, let alone have interacted enough to say she was "his friend". She's visited the orphanage, but she doesn't live there and, well, there's a lot of mayhem in an orphanage. How he would have picked out this baby from some visits.... it didn't seem likely.

On Wednesday Nichole brought her computer to dinner and was showing us the pictures that she was able to take that day. Our friend's oldest daughter, Destina, had a great time pointing out the children that she knew in each picture. She'd point to them and say their name. (And apparently there are a few little spats in the orphanage because there are a couple of young girls that she didn't want to talk about.)

We tried to get Malot to do the same thing- name off his friends as we went through the pictures. He looked at them with interest, but he would only nod his head when he saw one of his friends.

Until we arrived at Jessica's picture.

That picture came up and Malot's face brightened and he said, "dje-zee-ka!" and pointed at this little girl. He said Jessica is his friend. And all the adults in the room looked at each other in wonder.

I got copies of the photos of the other children that we were interested in and that night, I sat down with Malot and asked him some very basic questions in my slaughtered Creole. I really had to see what my little boy was thinking and why he feels so strongly about this little girl.

I asked him if Momma loved him and he said, "wi" (which is so cute when he says it because it comes out "Ooowiii, Momma"). I asked him if Pappa loved him, and if he loved Pappa (all questions he answers with "yes".) I threw him a curve ball to see if he was listening and asked him if he loved Nerlange (and sorry, Nerlange... Malot doesn't love you). Then I asked him if Malot loved Jessica. "Ooowii, Momma! Malot et Jessica vini.." (Basically saying that he loved Jessica and that he and Jessica were coming with me.)

So we made the trek back to the orphanage today. We had to see what all the fuss was about. It was hard for Malot to go back there, being afraid that they would make him stay. It was hard for me to watch what he was going through knowing that Saturday morning when we leave will be so much worse.

They had a driver go pick Jessica up from the other orphanage and bring her to Malot's orphanage. He didn't react much to Jessica when we were there. He was tired and cranky and Jessica was screaming her head off. I mean SCREAMING for the entire time we were there. Inconsolable.

Somehow we felt like we'd give it a shot and bring her back to the hotel tonight and see how Malot does with her when he's out of the situation where he feels he has to hide from the workers that might make him stay or that he must fight with the other kids who want attention from HIS momma.

When we loaded up the tap-tap, Malot could see that Jessica was getting into the cab of the truck with Pappa and he was happy about it. I didn't catch all of his comment, but it pleased him.

When we got her back to our room, he went to her and started playing with her feet and talking to her sweetly. He kissed her cheeks and her hands, and tried to help her hold her bottle. Brent and I looked at each other and thought, "where is the busy little boy that we have had the rest of this week who doesn't initiate hugs and kisses?"

So needless to say, we're announcing that it's probably a girl and that we'll get more details after we get the full referral. Shes very aware of Brent and she shares everything she's eating with her fingers with him. It seems Brent's super fond of her as well and so far she's been fairly happy in his arms. Well see how it goes.

Malot, I wish I understood what you know about this little girl....