Colombia Program Updates

We now have 10 families with dossiers in regional offices, awaiting assignment! In addition, we have another 12 families with dossiers being reviewed in Colombia that have asked for older children, sibling groups, or who were born in Colombia that should be sent out soon to regional offices. We also have two “baby” families whose dossiers were approved in July 2005 that we hope will be sent to regional offices soon for assignment. We are going to be very busy over the next couple of months! 

We have five families whose dossiers are in regional offices awaiting assignment – two of them are for babies! It will be exciting to have them assigned soon.

Ana just returned from Colombia and Caroleana will be returning to work in the Colombia program full time in March. We are very happy that we'll have more staff to serve you soon.

We look forward to a great year in the Colombia program. We have quite a few “baby” families that should be assigned children this year. We will also continue to place sibling groups and older children so it should be an excellent year for the program.

Congratulations and Welcome Home! Rejoice with all these parents and children who will be spending their first holiday season together!

As predicted, 84 children will come home this year to 44 families. It has been an amazing year for the Colombia program. Each one of these children is precious and very much chosen and wanted, some for the first time in their lives. Please say a special prayer as ALL of these families begin their adjustment period during the holidays, with all the events and gifts and general chaos that comes with the season. I know the families will appreciate it!

Colombian adoptions are really busy here at the end of the year. The Colombia Team is in the rush of trying to figure out who can travel this year and squeezing in everyone possible.

Children’s Hope currently has 10 families in Colombia and 5 more families leaving this coming weekend. Based on families currently assigned with travel dates, we'll see at least 84 children come home to 44 families this year—a new Colombia record for Children’s Hope!

Boy, have we been busy! This is a great time for the Colombia program with assignments and arrivals keeping the Colombia team hopping. Children’s Hope is excited for all the children coming home this year. So far, 55 have come into their forever families. We have 17 children currently assigned. It's going to be our best year ever!

Colombia Program Director Julie Eagleson is currently in Colombia for two weeks visiting with ICBF officials and getting the latest up-to-date information which she will pass on upon return. Five families have completed their adoptions and returned so far in September. Two other families will complete and be home next week, leaving two families currently in Colombia. Children’s Hope has four other families who have accepted assignments and will be traveling soon. The Colombia program is hopping!

With the recent homecoming of seven children (three families) and four other families in Colombia now finalizing their adoptions, August is keeping the Colombia team busy. We have 11 other families with dossiers in Colombian regional offices who should be assigned soon – a couple for infants; most are for already-identified older children, special needs children or sibling groups. Two are Colombian families. This is really an exciting time for the Colombia program! Our patience is paying off and placements are picking up.

We currently have two families in Colombia. One is adopting a 20-month-old girl with a corrected congenital heart defect who is the cutest little girl on the face of the earth. The other is adopting a sibling group of four, ages 9, 8, 7, and 5—two girls and two boys. Both will be home by the end of July.

April was a busy month for assignments for Colombia adoptions. We are seeing families traveling and preparing to travel. Currently in Colombia we have a family adopting 3 brothers (ages 14, 13 and 8) and two families adopting infants. They have reported that everything is going very well for them and their kids are great! In the next couple of weeks, four more families will leave for Colombia, adopting: 3 sisters (ages 11, 10 & 8), another sibling group of 3 (boy 6, girls 4 & 3), an infant boy, and another sibling group of 3 (boys 5 & 2 and a girl 3). We have additional assignments pending, so the program is going very well.

During the first week of April, two of our families are in Colombia spending the first few days with their new children. One family is adopting a 9-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother. The other family is adopting three sisters: 6, 5 and 2 ½-years-old. There are three other families who are not far behind in their Colombian adoption, as they recently received their assignments for three siblings.

Two siblings groups recently arrived home from Colombia: a sibling group of three—a boy, 8, girl, 5, and boy, 3, from Manizales; and another sibling group of three—a girl, 8, and twin brothers, both 2-years-old, from Bucaramanga. Congratulations and welcome home!

There are three families in Colombia finalizing their adoptions. Two of the families are adopting sibling sets of three and the third family is adopting an 18-month-old boy. Everyone is happy and healthy. More assignments are expected soon.

Children’s Hope finalized 55 adoptions from Colombia in 2006.

Two families are in Colombia this January. Both families are adopting three siblings! Congratulations to the amazing transformation in your families: from happy couples to families of five after a three week trip to Colombia. We are hoping for more assignments toward the end of the month!

Children’s Hope finalized 55 adoptions from Colombia in 2006.

Children’s Hope currently has four families on their adoption trip to Colombia. With the competition of these adoptions, Children’s Hope will have found loving homes for 55 orphans from Colombia this year.

The wait for an infant is getting lengthy; around 24-to-27 months. The delay has to do with the number of families wanting to adopt. The more families adopting, the longer everyone waits.