Children's Hope International E-Newsletter

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

The Best Father's Day Gift?
For Kurt, There are 3

DEVELOPMENT AID:

	China Earthquake Daily Updates Amongst the Suffering
	Emergency Food Relief for Ethiopian Children
	Night of Hope Will You Be There?
	Artists Relay the Message

PARENT-TO-PARENT:

School's Out!
Slide into Summer

PROGRAM UPDATES:

	China Referrals and Adoptions Kick-Off June
	Colombia 10 Children with Recent Homecomings
	Ethiopia Flurry of Action in Ethiopia Program
	Kazakhstan Some Families Are Traveling to Kazakhstan
	Russia 34 families from 16 States Have Completed Adoptions from Russia in 2008

Request a copy of our Adoption
Guide to see which program
is right for your family.

Help the lives of orphans by sponsoring a child today!

Get your church involved
with orphan ministry.

Our Accreditations

VIETNAM PROGRAM UPDATES

Last week, three families received referrals for adoptions from Vietnam! There was one referral for a healthy boy 3-years-old and two referrals for children with special needs. The family that received the healthy boy waited 19 months for their referral.

Congressional Writing Campaign
The Joint Council (JCICS) "A Child's Right Campaign" received over 2500 Emails asking the US State Department to work in good faith with the Vietnam Government to keep adoptions open in Vietnam past this Fall. We can only hope that just as many calls and emails were also received by US Senators and Representatives. The JCICS is compiling all of the emails to be submitted to Condoleezza Rice's office as well as Congress.

During the last week in May, our Vietnam representative was in Hanoi for the USCIS quarterly meeting with all licensed agency representatives. During our representative's trip to Hanoi, she also visited with the Vietnam's Department of International Adoption (DIA). She submitted over 80 letters from our families who have dossiers submitted in Vietnam. These families are requesting that the Vietnamese government continue to process all dossiers even after September 1, 2008.

The response to the letters was very positive. The Vietnamese government does not want to continue referrals and the processing of all dossiers logged in with the DIA unless the US is in agreement. Their fear is that they would continue to process adoptions and then the US would not issue visas for these children which would put thousands of families in limbo with their adoptions. So the Vietnamese government is still discussing this issue with the US government. The DIA also reported to us that they are preparing everything for their president to make a trip to the US in June. They are very hopeful that the discussion of a new agreement will occur during this visit.

Dads are there through the tough stuff, like your first haircut in America. When Camdanh's hair, although fashionably long, became unruly, dad was right by his side. There's no one like Dad to remind you to not sweat the small stuff - and smile - too. Camdanh became Roger Allen's son in April 2008 and he's been smiling ever since.

Happy Father's Day, Roger!

If you would like to share your thoughts, experiences or stories about your adoption,
email: Jennifer.Newcomb@ChildrensHope.net

We would love to post your family pictures!