How Exciting...The Process Has Begun

This family was one of a few who just accepted a referral of a 3 year old girl from Nepal. They learned that they will travel in July to meet her. Their story is on their blog at http://donohueadopt.blogspot.com/2009/05/things-are-moving-along.html

Attempting to Make Sense of the Political Process

I've tried to make sense of it all...but thought The Economist does a much better job of explaining it.


Asia
Nepal's political crisis

Mr Nepal lucks out
May 28th 2009 | KATHMANDU
From The Economist print edition

But his country, of the same name, is struggling


ON MAY 23rd Madhav Kumar Nepal, the communist son of a Hindu priest, became Nepal’s new prime minister. He succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the country’s former Maoist leader—the main protagonist in a decade-long guerrilla war—who resigned on May 4th, leaving the government in limbo. Mr Nepal has the support of 21 of the 24 political parties in Nepal’s assembly; but this is scarcely democratic progress. The Maoists, who won 38% of the assembly’s seats in the country’s first post-conflict election last year, do not support him. Nor did Mr Nepal win either of the two seats he contested in the poll.

Among many threats to his new government, the Maoists loom large. Mr Dahal, who resigned after he was foiled in an effort to sack an old enemy, Nepal’s army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal, has said they remain committed to democracy. Yet the Maoists had until last week stopped the assembly functioning since their chief’s resignation. And they still demand that the president, Ram Baran Yadav, should reverse his decision to veto General Katawal’s sacking. Backed by Mr Nepal and his allies, who consider the army a last defence against the Maoists, Mr Yadav will not do this. On May 24th the Maoists spurned an invitation to join the new government.

With luck, it may survive for a while. It might even try easing the country’s severe power and fuel shortages. That would quell some of the growing discontent at the failure of any party to deliver on its election promises. But the early signs are not promising, with Mr Nepal’s coalition partners bitterly feuding over the division of cabinet spoils.

More important, there seems little prospect of this government making much progress on the assembly’s two main tasks—shepherding a complicated peace process and drafting a new constitution. Under Mr Dahal’s more solid government, including the Maoists, Mr Nepal’s UML (for Unified Marxist-Leninist) and other parties, these were daunting: the thorniest issue of the peace process, the fate of 23,000-odd former Maoist fighters, led indirectly to its demise. (Some of these fighters are to be recruited into the army; but General Katawal, to the Maoists’ fury, has resisted this.) And if Mr Nepal’s government cannot resolve these issues, it had better make way for one that can.

Say a Prayer or Keep your Fingers Crossed..Whatever Works

Yesterday the Prime Minister of Nepal resigned causing upheaval throughout the country. Adoption is pretty much run through the government so we aren't yet certain about how this will affect the process. The good news is my agency's rep in Nepal is safe and the children at the Inspiration Society of Nepal, which is one of the care centers that CHSFS supports, are safe. My agency sent me an email stating that at this time they do not have enough information to guess whether or how this situation may impact adoption. They know that there are calls from around the world for the parties involved to proceed peacefully toward the goal of political stability.

This article below gives you a glimpse at the Nepal govt. They are suppose to establish a new Govt. by Sat.!! Good luck with that is all I can say.

Anway, whatever your religion or non religion is say a prayer that this situation doesn't close the adoption process down.


21 parties for consensual govt

Kantipur ReportKATHMANDU, May 5 - In the wake of a new political standstill triggered by PrimeMinister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's resignation, 21 political parties represented inthe Constituent Assembly (CA) have decided to form a new national governmentbased on consensus.An all-party meeting called by the CPN-UML — skipped by Unified CPN (Maoist) andMadheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) — on Tuesday took such decision.Nepali Congress Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel informed, "The meetingconcluded that all the parties will try to form consensual government within thetime as asked by the President."The NC is ready to support other parties' government whether that is UML'sleadership, he said.UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal said, "The Maoist party in its capacity as thelargest party in the CA has already led the government. Now a path has beenpaved for a chance for another party to do so. But this does not mean that theMaoists will not be allowed to lead from now.""We will try to persuade all the parties to participate in this process till theend," he added.Today itself, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav requested all the political partiesrepresented in the CA to form a new government by Saturday.

The big Call...Referral Process

I often wonder where I will actually be when I receive a call from my adoption agency social worker alerting me that they have referral or "baby" for me. Will I be at work and quickly click on to an email with a photo or will I be on my cell phone sailing this summer...who knows.

The Nepal adoption process is a pilot program and I will be one of the first families adopting from Nepal during this new process. Because it is so new my agency is not entirely certain of what the referal process will be like. From past experience this is what she says will happen -

• My agency will receive information from the coordinator (Uma) by email about a child who’s been matched with me.
• My agency will contact my social worker as quickly as possible- Some social workers want to make the referral, others don’t have a preference or prefer that we make the referral to you directly.
• My social worker will contact me by phone as quickly as possible or my agency will not wait more than 24 hours to hear back from my social worker before they go ahead and contact me directly by phone.
• They will briefly review it over the phone. Assuming I am interested in the child, they'll send it to me by email immediately.
• I then contact an international adoption medical specialist right away to begin the review process. Many of these clinics have excellent websites for preparing for parenting a post-institutionalized child, promoting attachment, common medical issues in adoptees, etc.
• You don’t have to use a doctor in your area because typically they can receive the info by email. It’s a good idea to have more than one clinic in mind for a few reasons: If your first choice doctor/clinic is not available within 3 business days (they’re on vacation, closed for some other reason, etc), you should find someone who is available. Also, many families have found it helpful to have a second opinion. Doctors have different styles, techniques, perspectives, specific areas of expertise, etc.
• They will provide you with a risk assessment/review. Typically there is a fee or suggested donation for this service.
• If the doctor and I still have questions that need answers before we can comfortably make a decision, we can try to pursue more information.
• Once I make a decision, there will be additional paperwork to sign.

Happy Birthday

Birthdays
Not too long ago I celebrated my niece's birthday in NYC. The event, like many first birthdays, was quite the celebration with ten 1 year olds running around as she dug into her cake. I was interested to learn why people in Nepal don't recognize a child's first birthday. I just learned from someone on the Nepal Yahoo forum that because infant mortality is so incredibly high - 3rd in the world - a first birthday isn't recognized. It is the second birthday that is considered a milestone and celebrated like we would the first birthday.