Grace practicing on the tightrope

Tino enjoying his holiday making his own car!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.  The children here at Fairfield enjoyed a weekend of church activities to celebrate here in Zimbabwe.  We have now started a holiday month from school, and the children have kept busy by helping in the fields, reading and playing.  We have two girls from Sweden, Ellinor and Guro, who will be staying for 4 months.  Along with Lina, a student nurse from Norway, they have taught the children to walk on a tightrope, held running races and taught the younger children lots of new songs including the Hokey Pokey!

The HOPE children have been bringing their report cards and so far everyone passed the first term of school with flying colors!  Guro, Ellinor and Lina helped me to take shoes, socks and uniforms to some of the schools during first term.  We also found a huge box of pencils hiding in our storeroom and passed them out to every student at St. James’ Primary School.  There were lots of smiles that day!  It is great to see so much happiness from such a small gesture.

Guro with the children at House 4

Abby and Grace continue to grow taller each month-I can hardly believe that they are now fitting into their 2T clothes!  They are both talking and singing more and more each day.  Grace especially loves to go around the house labeling everything to show off her knowledge.  “Window, door, table, chair, cup, boot.”  Boot is the word both girls use for spoon at the moment and for some reason they both LOVE playing with boots.  Grace uses her “boot” to mix imaginary meals to feed her baby, while Abby can turn any cup, dish or table into a drum using her “boots” as drumsticks…she has perfect rhythm!

I am very grateful to my Social Worker in West Virginia who worked hard over the last month to make sure all my paperwork and state clearances are in order.  She will be filing my first set of adoption paperwork within the next week or so and says it usually takes 8-12 weeks for a response.  Please pray that this first step is approved quickly and that the right people will help me know the next steps to follow in Zimbabwe.  It is my hope that once the US approval is complete, the foster care order can be reinstated and Abby and Grace can move back home! 

Thanks to everyone who has contributed toward the adoption fees through CornerStone.  So far, I have used the funds to pay for the home study and the I-600A filing fees to be approved as an adoptive parent.  Thank you for helping us to become a legal family!

Love, Janine, Abby and Grace