Response from orphanage in Kobelyaki

Yesterday (Thursday) we took care of the necessary meetings to get official papers to visit the orphanage in Poltava. Sergei did most of the work in the morning, and then we went with him in the afternoon to the government office to meet with the inspector. In the meantime, he had been trying to get a hold of the director at the orphanage where Alona was at. He finally got a hold of him, and he felt that contact had not been exstablised with her (a requirement for him to allow the adoption to proceed) and that she was still not sure what she wanted so he felt it was not something she wanted. This is what we expected. Legally, the directors have parental rights, so he has to approve the adoption. So he agreed to put together the paper saying that contact had not been established. The second paper we need is an authorization to seperate the sisters. He said he had no problem in allowing us to proceed to adopt Svetlana. We had to then meet with the inspector in Poltava in the afternoon and she said that in order to get the papers for seperation there must be an official inquiry from a government authority. So, the inquiry is going to be faxed over to the Mayor's office in the morning, a letter has to be then sent to the dirctor from them, then the Mayor's office/inspector has to respond to our inspector in Poltava. Got all that?! It took us about 5 times to understand what's going on.....

So today (Friday), Sergei left at 6am along with the assistant from the orphanage to drive over the the birth city of the children which is about 4-5 hours away (we think). This is because they only have a photocopy of the court decree removing the parental rights and they need a certified copy for our court hearing. On the way back, they will stop at Kobelyaki to hopefully get the rest of the papers we need. He will also have to go back to the birth city once we have the court decree to have the birth certificate changed.

Monday is a Holiday here - Holy Trinity day, so we hope this all gets taken care of today.

Today, we were able to go back to the orphanage to see Sveta. They had there end of the year show for the school, so we got to see her first performance for us! We couldn't ask for a better orphanage. They truly love the children and have schooled them very well. They have them involved in many activities and learning which was evident from the performances of stories, dance and songs. When Sveta's class came in, she and another little boy led the procession almost as the prince/princess of the class, with majestic music playing for the entrance. As they stood and waited for the rest of the class to enter, we saw her tell the little boy next to her - that's my mama and papa. We couldn't ask for a more wonderful little girl. She has both of our personalities and plenty of her own.

We have pictures we want to share but have been advised not to post them publicly yet since we do not have parental rights and in worst case scenario, something falls through in court - but we believe we are walking in God's will, and it is only a matter of time.