Big News From Our Agency!
This is the latest news from the director of our agency who just returned from her second trip to Vietnam. Sounds like it definately wont be long now!!!
Vietnam Update
January 22, 2006
What a trip! One week in Vietnam and every minute was filled with work, adventure and beautiful children.
There were two primary reasons for the visit - to meet with the Director of International Adoptions in the Ministry of Justice and to visit several orphanages to bring supplies and aid funds.
The first few days were in Ho Chi Minh City where we finalized some legal work for our office lease and our humanitarian aid agreement with the orphanage we will sponsor this year. All went well with the paperwork and I was able to meet and work with several officials who will be important to us in the adoption process.
I spent the weekend in Danang with Tran Van Thanh, my guide and assistant throughout this trip. Danang is a beautiful city with Danang Bay on one side and the Han river on the other.
We visited six orphanages and delivered gifts to them all. What a wonderful experience to see the work being done by dedicated people with few resources and little money but with an abundance of love and respect for the children. The programs ranged from a traditional orphanage to a program for street children to a home for children whose families cannot feed and house them but are part of their lives. We look forward to providing continuing support for these programs.
The last days were in Hanoi, where all of our families will go to receive their child’s visa at the U.S. Embassy before returning home. My first impression was not good. The ride into the city from the airport was long and grueling. Terrible traffic, noisy horn-honking cars and trucks and masses of motor bikes . . . not what I was hoping for. A day later, the city grew on me and I found there were many wonderful things to do and see and the people were friendly and helpful.
My appointment with the Ministry of Justice was terrific. Dr. Long, the Director and his legal expert, Mr. Dang Minh Dao, were gracious men with tea prepared and much enthusiasm for the future of our adoption program. We discussed Vietnam’s goals for successful adoptions and Mandala’s interest in assisting their office to carry out the mandate they have. Both of them had wonderful senses of humor and an attitude that was refreshing. They want to find families for their children and think the process should be as efficient as possible. We reviewed the dossier documents our families will complete and they have indeed reduced the amount of paperwork required. They were very supportive of Mandala and our interest in their country.
Because the licensing process involves three local committees in addition to their office, Dr Long could not give me a date for issuing the license but he did say they will push the local reviewers (who have our application) to expedite the process. Once it is back in their office, they will finalize the license right away. Dr. Long suggested that we have families start preparing dossiers in March in anticipation of receiving our license. We will begin making referrals as soon as the license is issued. When I told him we wanted other agencies to go ‘first’ so all the kinks get worked out, he laughed and said it was a smart idea.
Mandala and the orphanage(s) will identify a child eligible for adoption. We will gather pictures and medical information on the child and offer him/her to a dossier ready family. When a family accepts the referral, we will Fed Ex the dossier to our facilitator for translation and personal delivery to Hanoi. Travel should be within four months of the dossier arriving in Hanoi. At this point, we think the stay will be about two weeks but this will be clearer once adoptions have resumed. Mandala is revising the dossier packet and will be happy to discuss any details of the program with interested families.
We are very excited about our role in assisting the children of Vietnam and look forward to seeing many Mandala families fall in love with their children and their children’s culture. It is an extraordinary country!
Vietnam Update
January 22, 2006
What a trip! One week in Vietnam and every minute was filled with work, adventure and beautiful children.
There were two primary reasons for the visit - to meet with the Director of International Adoptions in the Ministry of Justice and to visit several orphanages to bring supplies and aid funds.
The first few days were in Ho Chi Minh City where we finalized some legal work for our office lease and our humanitarian aid agreement with the orphanage we will sponsor this year. All went well with the paperwork and I was able to meet and work with several officials who will be important to us in the adoption process.
I spent the weekend in Danang with Tran Van Thanh, my guide and assistant throughout this trip. Danang is a beautiful city with Danang Bay on one side and the Han river on the other.
We visited six orphanages and delivered gifts to them all. What a wonderful experience to see the work being done by dedicated people with few resources and little money but with an abundance of love and respect for the children. The programs ranged from a traditional orphanage to a program for street children to a home for children whose families cannot feed and house them but are part of their lives. We look forward to providing continuing support for these programs.
The last days were in Hanoi, where all of our families will go to receive their child’s visa at the U.S. Embassy before returning home. My first impression was not good. The ride into the city from the airport was long and grueling. Terrible traffic, noisy horn-honking cars and trucks and masses of motor bikes . . . not what I was hoping for. A day later, the city grew on me and I found there were many wonderful things to do and see and the people were friendly and helpful.
My appointment with the Ministry of Justice was terrific. Dr. Long, the Director and his legal expert, Mr. Dang Minh Dao, were gracious men with tea prepared and much enthusiasm for the future of our adoption program. We discussed Vietnam’s goals for successful adoptions and Mandala’s interest in assisting their office to carry out the mandate they have. Both of them had wonderful senses of humor and an attitude that was refreshing. They want to find families for their children and think the process should be as efficient as possible. We reviewed the dossier documents our families will complete and they have indeed reduced the amount of paperwork required. They were very supportive of Mandala and our interest in their country.
Because the licensing process involves three local committees in addition to their office, Dr Long could not give me a date for issuing the license but he did say they will push the local reviewers (who have our application) to expedite the process. Once it is back in their office, they will finalize the license right away. Dr. Long suggested that we have families start preparing dossiers in March in anticipation of receiving our license. We will begin making referrals as soon as the license is issued. When I told him we wanted other agencies to go ‘first’ so all the kinks get worked out, he laughed and said it was a smart idea.
Mandala and the orphanage(s) will identify a child eligible for adoption. We will gather pictures and medical information on the child and offer him/her to a dossier ready family. When a family accepts the referral, we will Fed Ex the dossier to our facilitator for translation and personal delivery to Hanoi. Travel should be within four months of the dossier arriving in Hanoi. At this point, we think the stay will be about two weeks but this will be clearer once adoptions have resumed. Mandala is revising the dossier packet and will be happy to discuss any details of the program with interested families.
We are very excited about our role in assisting the children of Vietnam and look forward to seeing many Mandala families fall in love with their children and their children’s culture. It is an extraordinary country!
posted by George and Chris | 7:48 PM
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