Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to visit the hospital where Dana was born. Freddie picked us up around 10:30 and we went to the hospital. It is in a rougher part of town. We went in and spoke with the Administrator and she allowed me to go up to the maternity ward and take some pictures, while Jodie stayed in the reception area with Andy, Dana, and Freddie.
When I went up there they asked me to take off my coat, and have me scrub my hands and arms up to my elbows. Before I knew it I was performing a surgery. ;) Anyhow I felt like I was on E.R. and wanted to shout orders of a CBC Stat! haha. Anyhow back to reality. They had me put on a gown and facemask and I was taken on a short tour. The first room was for normal weight children (pictures below). I was able to take some pictures in there, however they didn't want me to take pictures in the ICU, just in case the flash would go off and disturb the children.
It was very heartbreaking to see how many children were in the ICU. They were so small, and I have never had the experience to see that firsthand. Luckily the hospital staff seemed well equipped and ready to handle anything.
The hospital itself isn't like any hospital that I have been in back in the U.S. The hallways were just wide enough for two people to pass each other.
While I was upstairs, Jodie asked Freddie what happens to people who don't have insurance or money to pay for their Dr. visits, and he said that they turn people away no matter how bad their illness is. It is a different system that what we are accustomed to. He did say that there are a very few clinics that don't charge and will take in anyone who doesn't have money. Freddie mentioned to Jodie as well that he has seen mothers begging for money for their sick child outside of the hospital, and it was apparent that the child was very sick and discolored. So sad.
After our hospital visit we were going to try to go to the Botanical Gardens, but Andy ended up falling asleep and it started raining out, so we decided to have lunch and head back to Las Palmas instead. Freddie took us to a Mexican restaurant in Zona Rosa near the Atlantis mall, and it was excellent. The Colombian food is completely different from Mexican food, and we enjoyed every last bite of our lunch!
Today (Wed) we had our official CRAN Orphanage visit. Cecilia and Santiago picked us up at 9. When we arrived we had a chance to ask the Orphanage Director more detailed questions on Dana's history and her birthmother. We also got an update on our case with Court #20.
As we have mentioned in prior blogs, Court #20 is a "slow" court. The director gets updates from our lawyer daily, and our paperwork hit the Judge's desk on Thursday the 19th. Apparently in her opinion, the Judge doesn't like international adoptions, so he takes the maximum time allowed to sign, and also has another unnecessary signature of someone in the Government that takes an additional 3-4 business days. So by our calculations we may be looking at leaving the 17-18th of July, which will make it 8 weeks here. ;( We have enjoyed our time here so far and have done lots of things, but we are starting to feel homesick and want to get home sooner than later. Anyhow please keep us in your prayers for a quick turnaround.
After our meeting with the Director, Natalie was introduced to us and she told us that she is in charge of raising funds and outreach for CRAN. She was a very nice young lady and showed us the facilities. There are lots of pictures below. We were impressed in the care that is given to the children. Many of the children at CRAN were taken from their parent(s) because of abuse, neglect, abandonment, etc. and are in protective custody at CRAN. The hope is for the parent(s) to fix whatever their problem is so that the children can return. Some of the children will be adopted out eventually. A priority that impressed us is that they always keep siblings together. CRAN looks like a mini college campus. Awesome facility.
When we returned to the hotel it was barbeque day, so we had a very nice lunch of steaks and chicken on the grill. Brian and Malene and Magnus received their Sentencia on Monday and were able to leave for Denmark today, so it was sad to see them go. Andy said last night "now that Brian is leaving tomorrow, who is going to be my new best friend?" All of the Danish dads have been so good to Andy and play lots of pool with him, and he loves it! Andy has had to experience more sad good-byes than a 4 year old should have to. He gets so attached to people. Unfortunately, there will be another good-bye in the next few days. Andy's friend Emilie will be leaving to return to Denmark with her family and his other friend Pedro is going to San Andres (on the coast). By the looks of things though, we will still be here when Pedro and his family return. (They are from Belgium.) Next week there are 2 Danish and 1 Norwegian family coming to Las Palmas. These families have teenage kids who were adopted from Colombia and are returning to visit. This will be fun to meet these kids. Someday this will be us returning to show Dana her country of birth. We haven't heard of any new families with babies that will be coming.
Tomorrow our big adventure is to walk to the Atlantis mall area with our Danish hotelmates and show them the area as they haven't been there yet. Friday hopefully the Botanical Gardens.
Enjoy the rest of the week.
Emmanuel Hospital main entrance.
Maternity area for normal weight babies. There are babies in the cribs.
A few more babies, and one under the sunlight for their Vitamin D.
Dana doing her cheerleading routine for Team Bro Bro.
Andy and Magnus at our final lunch together today.
The master chef's at work.
Andy and Brian. Andy was sad to see them leave today!
Children at CRAN in the classroom.
View of CRAN from the classrooms at the top of the hill. Quite the view's of the city below!
A small classroom for family visits and different subjects.
You can see how steep it is from the dorms up to the classrooms.
Playtime for the toddlers.
Volunteer college age girls came in to play with the toddlers. 
Wash area for the toddler dorm. 
Crib room for the dorm. 
The closet is organized with everyones clothes. Very neat and tidy. 
There are 4 dorms for children of similar ages. This facility houses kids from 3-7 years old. Infants stay in foster homes.
Library area. 
Snack time in the cafeteria.
Physical therapy room.
Here is the room that the babies are kept in prior to presentation. This is where the nurses change the babies into the clothes that the adoptive parents bring for presentation. Andy told us that this is the room where he met Dana before we did. Good memory! 
All dressed up and ready to go to CRAN.
No comments:
Post a Comment