Judge Makes It Official!

Hello from Mariupol, Ukraine. It's been a bit difficult to get on line here, and trying to log on through our apartment or a hotel is sort of a laugh. So, I walk 20 minutes to the only internet cafe within 50 miles, where the prompts and Windows text is in Cyrillic. Makes for interesting "guessing" on commands that one normally takes for granted, such as "reply," spell check," etc.! So, forgive me if my spelling is off--funny how much we all depend on the spell checker...

We are officially the proud parents of 6-year-old Cory Yevgen Duncan. Here in eastern Europe, folks have shortened, familiar names based on their birth names. Cory's "nickname" is Jhenya, as I have mentioned, pronounced with a soft J sound like Gigi. He's awesome - we are already in love. He's our son! We have had about 8 visits to the orphanage over the past 8 days, and he has really grown on us, including the three girls. Yesterday, Friday, we went before the judge who officially ruled that we were fit parents and that Jhenya was now our son. A powerful moment.

This morning the girls boarded an early flight back to Kiev on an old Soviet Aeroflot craft, which made me a tad nervous, but I then was able to speak to them at mid-day from their new apartment in downtown Kiev. All is well, thankfully. They fly home Tues, and other than a couple of hours of official paperwork on Monday for Suz, their time is their own. They are hoping to actually see a little bit of the beautiful sites of Kiev.

I have about 11-12 more days here in Mariupol, most of which is simply cooling my jets waiting out the mandatory 10-day waiting period before international adoptions can be approved. This period is no more than a formality, as yesterday, by the judge's decree, Cory became our son. It was a great day. The courthouse was interesting. Actually there was a 1,000 square-foot room with broken tiles, a few benches, and a table and chairs for the judge and his assistant. He asked Suzanne and me a few questions, and seemed genuinely interested in Cory and in our desire to make him our own. It was a simple, fairly quick, yet profound process. There were smiles and hugs all around afterward. Cory was not present in the court, so later we went for our daily visit to the orphanage. Unfortunately, he could not come out and play with the girls as he was struggling with a bit of a fever. So, it made the girls visit more difficult as this was the last time they were to see him until he and I arrive back in the States sometime in mid August. My time is basically my own now, and between visits with Cory, I may visit the Crimean Penninsula for a couple of days. It's called the Greece of the Black Sea.

In retrospect, it's nothing short of amazing to think of how fast the process of finding and adopting Cory has been. We began the process on Wednesday 7/18 with our appointment with the adoption center, and finalized the adoption on Friday, 7/27 - just nine days. Both Igor (our translator) and Yuri (our Ukrainian adoption coordinator) say they've never seen a more stream-lined, fast process. And we KNOW it is a credit to your prayers and the skill of our team here in Ukraine.

Please pray:

- After two intense weeks of paper chasing, etc., please pray that Suzanne and the girls (Emily, Hannah, Kylie and Zoe) have a relaxing, enjoyable time in Kiev and a safe return to U.S.

- health Cory has he recovers from a fever

- health and safety for me as I remain here to wait out the 10 days, and then quick processing of birth certificate here in Mariupol for Jhenya, transportation back to Kiev with Jhenya, and final paperwork "smoothness" with the U.S. embassy

- Bonding time across the language barrier between Jhenya and me as I continue to visit him at the orphanage and travel home with him in a couple weeks.

You have no idea what your prayers and love have meant to us. This has been an amazing journey, and we have seen God's love and guidance so clearly throughout.

And finally: I just learned online that in the late 90s, the National Geographic Society named Mariupol the second most polluted city on the planet. I'm not surprised :)

Love and blessings from the Duncan family.

More Good News

I am needing to write these dispatches on email, send them to my friend Tim, who then posts them, as I have yet to be able to figure out the Cyrillic translations. It's a beautiful alphabet containing 31 characters, but the trouble is, once you translate the letters to Latin, you then have to also translate the word from Russian to English. Those of you who have been to a Cyrrilic-driven culture know of what I speak.

I just was on the blog re-reading my post from four days ago, and it seems like a lifetime ago. First of all, just to let you know the good news that both Hannah and Suzanne are feeling much better. Emily and I have been trying to give Suz as much sleep as possible while we attend to the kids late at night (when they are too squirrely to go to bed at times!) and in the mornings. Suzanne is regaining strength and doing much better.

Yesterday Emily and H were able to join the rest of us for their first visit to the orphanage to visit Jhenya. It was moving to watch Hannah's expression when she first saw Jhenya, and how she quickly gravitated toward him and proceeded to play with him, Kylie and Zoe for over an hour. Jhenya was his typical jovial, energetic self. It was a great visit.

On the paper chase... we continue to break all sorts of Ukrainian adoption speed records. The big news is that we have our court date with the judge this Friday at 1030 in the morning, which will then allow Suzanne and the girls to return with Igor to Kiev on Saturday, while I stay back to finish up affairs here. Suzanne will then go to government offices on Monday to sign over power of attorney to me. BIG NEWS: Suz and the girls have been confirmed to fly home Tues 7/31, which means they will have been in UKR for just two weeks and a day--truly amazing.

Tomorrow morning Igor will meet privately with the judge to see if he can get the 10-day waiting period waived. If it is waived, it means I will be able to pick up Jhenya from the orphanage and take him back to Kiev next Tuesday (the same day the girls go home). I will need to do the medical exam in Kiev and get a passport for Jhenya, visit the U.S. Embassy, etc. This means that he and I might be able to fly home around Aug 2. If the judge does NOT waive the 10-day waiting period, I will need to stay in Mariupol until the 10 days are up (until Aug 7), and then an additional 3 days or so in Kiev until flying home with Cory Yevgen Duncan (official name on adoption papers) around Aug 11 or 12.

Yesterday we were able to escape to the sea for a day at the beach. Very Long Island looking - saw grass, small dunes, tilting picket fences, interesting sea shells, and green water. It was a very welcome respite from the heat of the city.

Finally, something bizarre and different: A little bat decided to visit us last night, and Igor and I jerry-rigged a plastic jug to catch the little friend and release him outside. It definitely enlived the evening.

Some general observations:

Ukrainians are friendly and honest and straightfoward. We've appreciated that.

Extreme poverty and beauty hold hands comfortably. Fifteen-story Soviet-era block apartments dot the streets like concrete beehives, and everyone emerges in the cool of dusk to buzz and chat, men often stripped to the waist, young women dressed to the nines in mini skirts and high heels, stepping carefully over man-hole sized potholes and empty beer bottles. It's a country of startling contrasts. Beautiful, well-stocked grocery stores equal to those we know. Stroll air-conditioned aisles, grab gelatti on your way out. Walk outside and in the distance loom the smoke stacks of the largest metallurgical plant in Ukraine spewing out tons of waste in the form of ginger-colored smoke. Trash everywhere, cars careening between pedestrians oblivious to the shouts of the drivers. There's a middle class just bursting to emerge from the hive, but still, as with much of the poorer nations of the former Soviet bloc, two classes dominate, lower and upper. Fifty-year-old Lada's putter along next to $100K Lexus SUVs and Land Rovers.

We appreciate your continued prayers for:

- Continued health and safety for the girls

- continued favor with the judges and adoption officials

- waiving of the 10-day waiting period

Thanks much. We appreciate you all.

Kyle

WE HAVE DECIDED TO ADOPT JHENYA!

Eventually his full name will by Cory Yevgen Duncan, "Yevgen" being his birth name (Eugene), and Jheny being his nickname, which everyone calls him. Please pray we get the best opportunity to share his new name with him. If he gets nervous, we may simply call him Jhenya for a while til he gets used to Cory. Cory means God's peace,' which we felt was apropos.

We visting Jhenya for the first time at the orphange on Friday. When we drove up to the orphanage we were pleasantly surprised to find it to be very clean and nice--some of the orphanages here can be very bleak places. The first thing we noticed, after the clean, nice grounds and play areas, were about 20 little ones in bathing suits taking turns swimming in a little plastic pool. They all looked very healthy and well fed, happy and smiling. A great sign. We then met with the director of the orphanage, and though our translator was interpretting for us, we could tell by her office, demeanor and body language that she was a very professional, warm-hearted person. Very impressive. Igor, our translator, explained to us that this was one of the nicest orphanages he had ever visited in Sonechko (which means little sun).

During the meeting with the director, she explained that Jhenya was a very healthy, smart little boy - a stand-out in the orphange, and that his mother was not an addict of any kind, but rather, she was often out of the country with work, and would just "drop off" Jhenya and his little brother, Oleg, at an orpahange, almost like a long-term daycare. After a while, neighbors and others complained and she then had her parental rights terminated by the court. Jhenya and his brother entered the orphanage in late 2005, so it's been about a year and a half for them. Oleg was recently adopted by a Canadian family, and so there is the possibility, of course, of the brothers being able to see each other in the future, which is a very nice option.

After the meeting with the director, we went out into the play yard and were able to see Jhenya from a distance, just interacting with the other kids naturally, not knowing we were there. He stood out to us as a leader of sorts of the other kids, most of whom were younger than him. He hugged the female worker/teacher several times while we we were watching. Then we approached him and he came up to us as Igor explained to him that we wanted to meet him, etc. He immediately gave us big hugs and said, "I want a momma and papa, and if you do not take me, I will run away and find my own momma, papa and bubushka (grandma). It was classic, and he said it in a funny way rather than sad way. We spent about an hour with him, just chatting, etc. We gave him two small toys that he liked very much. The experience was great, though a bit overwhelming, as you can probably imagine. Here you are with this little guy and in your head you are saying, "Is this our son?" etc. So, we told the workers that we would think and pray and come back again. Later that day, after a great conversaton with our America World rep, Kate, on the phone, we knew that Jhenya was the boy God had picked out for us.It was an amazing moment.

In the meantime, the paperwork side of things has been nothing short of miraculous. I will try to tell the whole story in another entry, but suffice to say that the gov't officilals have been very kind, efficient, and have been doing things for us after hours and even on Sat and Sun! Igor tells us that he has NEVER seen an adoption process go so smoothly. Right now we are just trying to pull together all the necessary adoption papers, which will be airmailed to Kiev on Monday. They will return here to Mariupol on Wed. We are hoping and praying that we will have our court date before the judge on Friday. Igor says it is looking good. If not Friday, then the following Monday. This means that Suzanne and all the girls could possibly be able to travel back to Kiev on in a week (next Mon or Tues), and then head home on Wed or Thurs (9 days or so). If this all falls into place, Igor says it will, literally, be the fastest adoption process he's ever seen, and he's worked with dozens of international families.

A little about Jhenya. We have visited him three times and I can tell you that he is very smart, very strong (a leader), and a bit mischievous, but not cruel, with the other orphans. One of the folks at the orphanage, an Italian woman who is adopting also, and has been there hanging out with the borther and sister she is adopting, said to us, "Oh, Jhenya! He is a wonderful boy - very healthy, unlike some of the kids here. And have you seen him run? He is like Speedy Gonzales. Yesterday an 8 year old boy challenged him to a race and Jhenya gave him a 10 meter head start and still beat him!" We laughed and shook our heads because I ran track and was similar as a kid, and my Dad (grandpa or "Dee" to Jhenya) is a track fanatic. It was really hilarious.

Kylie and Zoe have been able to visit J with us three times, but Hannah has had to stay back due to flu, which she's been fighting for 2.5 days. She is slowly getting better but it's a bit scary when your child is ill and you are staying in a remote city that is the industrial center of the country (very polluted). In any event, that brings me to prayer points:
1. Hannah that she would recover quickly. Full health and no dehydration.
2. Suzanne's health. Suz has had anxiety about Hannah and little sleep, so she is exhausted. She is not feeling well today, so needs prayer for good SLEEP and recovery.
3. That the adoption process would continue to race along at the amazing pace it's been going at so far.
4. That Suz and the rest of the girls can fly home by a week from this Thursday, which is Aug 2, I believe. That would be less than 2 weeks in-country for them, which really would be miraculous. ( I would stay and finish up paperwork, visa and passport stuff, medical exam - about another 10=15 days).

Finally, we could not be able to do this without Emily's help. She has been a godsend and an incredible help. She is doing well, considering that we are in a pretty intense, poor area.

Thanks so much. There is much to talk about but little time between doing this and that. Our major activities revolve around changing money, going to the orphanage, exchanging money, doing paperwork stuff, and thinking about making easy meals in the apt! It's been intense but a great bonding time for the whole family, including Kylie and Zoe, who are healthy and REALLY bonding with Jhenya. (I'll try to post some pics in the next few days - that's a whole different task I have not delved into yet - I hope it's possible.)

Blessings all! We appreciate you so much!
Kyle on behalf of "the girls" and Cory!

We have a referral

We went to the state dept. of adoption yesterday at 4pm for our meeting with the govt adoption folks. It went very well. As you all know, we were hoping to see at least 5-6 viable profiels, and we actually were able to look at 8. One boy was too young, another was too old, and a few had some health concerns. So, we had two to choose from and ended up picking a little guy named Yevgen, but they call him Jhenya (jshen-ya). He is six years old, born March 2001, is "friendly, sociable, and a bit stubborn," according to the profile information. Sounds like he'd fit perfectly into our headstrong family! The profiles are very sparse on info, just two pages with an attached 1/2 page medical report. So, here we were, sitting in this little upstairs office in the old part of the city, in a hot, stuffy room with three smiling Ukrainian officials looking at you while you try to decide between two little boys' pictures, with the rest of the profile written in cyrillic! It felt like something out of one of Fellinni's more bizarre films. Sweat's pouring down our heads, and of course at first Suz liked one little guy and I liked another, but after about 10 minutes of private time (we asked to be alone so the officials went in the other room to drink lukewarm coke), we both agreed that \yevgen looked very good. The other little guy had two siblings still living with the mother, and we felt that might get a bit complicated, whereas Jhenya has no siblings with the mother (he has a younger sibling that has already been adopted out to a UKR family). jhenya has a cute, miscievous little grin, brown eyes, dirty blond hair.

So, I am just grabbing some "internet cafe" time before heading back to the apt. to help the gals all pack. We will leave in about 2 hours for the airport and will be flying as there were no overnight train compartments available on such short notice. We will be travelling to a town on the Azov Sea (on a map that's the body of water just east and north of the Black Sea) - the town is Mariupol, and the oprhanage is located just outside this town. Yuri, the Kievite who has been so helpful, actually became a hero to the girls yesterday when he suggested we eat at TGIF's - yes, that's right, rife with chicken fingers, french fries, English menus and lemodade! uri will not be going with us, but an associate named Igor (yes, that's correcvt, an assistant named Igor!) will be taking us to Mariupol, and will serve as our red-tape cutter, coordinator, translator, etc. And no, he does not have a hump! He actually looks like a model (according to the girls!).We should get into Mariupol this evening by midnight, as we have to fly to Donyetsk, which is about 60 minutes van ride from Mariupol. Tomorrow we hope to be able to see Yevgen - that is why we are in sort of a rush: if we don't see him tomorrow, we will have to wait til Monday as they don't do visits on the weekend. We are very excited and lookingforward to finally moving into this next phase. And just because we have accepted this referral does not mean tha we necessarily have to adopt this child. We will see - need to meet him, spend time with him, etc. and because we are near the sea, we will probably be able to have some R&R this weekend at a beach about 50 minutes from Mariupol - Igor says the water is beautiful there, whereas Mariupol is sort of like a Long Beach or San Pedro - port city.

The girls are all doing well. No sickness or any "bad" things of any sort, which has been a real blessing. Emily is so helpful, and has really been a trooper, watching the girls yesterday for about 3 hours while Suz and I went to the SDA.

I hope to post over the weekend. Thanks for your lvoe an prayers as we go to visit Yevgen tomorrow!

Das Vy'Danya
Kyle

Safe Arrival

We made it safe! I'm at a cyber cafe while all the girls are still sleeping. We are all well, and have a very nice apartment just off the main square in downtown Kiev. We had no problems with air travel except for an hour delay out of Mn, but otherwise, things have gone very smoothly so far.

Wed. at 3pm UKR time Suz and I will meet with the officials at the national adoption center. Please be praying that our appointment goes well and that they will have ample profiles available for boys 5-7 in good health. Our hope is that one profile will just jump out at us. Once we think we have a good potential profile, Yuri, our man on the ground here (who is a great guy - spent two summers working as a counselor at Mount Hermon Christian Camp in Santa Cruz, Ca (bizarre, huh?), will arrange for our trip to the orphanage, wherever it might be located - most likely more than 3 hours from Kiev. Most folks take a sleeper train overnight, but because there will be seven of us, it might be more economical to rent a van.

Please pray for favor tomorrow with the adoption center, no illness for our crew, and swift approval from the adoption center of whatever boy we want to go visit (they will issue us a referral, which we will need in order to go visit an orphanage).

We can't thank you enough for your prayers and love--we can feel them and know that God's going to continue to direct us, just as He has since we first decided to go for the adoption (more than two years ago).

More later!

Kyle

Three days and counting

I'm trying to imagine all six of us actually boarding that KLM flight on Sunday night at 9PM, but with all we have to do between now and then, and only about 68 hours in which to do it all... well, it will be interesting. The good news is that we have all our paperwork in order and all the "big" stuff. But you know what they say about the details... In any event, our excitement and anticipation grows each day, and I am simply trying to parse out the important tasks that need to be done in the amount of time we have to do them.

Our itinerary:

--Depart Minneapolis Sunday at 9:40pm; lay over in Amsterdam and then arrive in Kiev Monday around 2pm
--Meet with national adoption center staff on Wednesday, July 18 at 10:30AM, which is 8 hours ahead of Central Time, or 2:30AM CST, 3:30AM ET, and 12:30AM PST.
--Hopefully head out of Kiev within a few days of Wednesday the 18th to visit a prospective child.

Thanks for your prayers for smooth preparations and travel, with no illness or delays.

I'll try to post again right before we leave or right after we arrive.

Cheers,
Kyle