Well, I certainly didn't see this coming. If someone had told me three years ago that we would still be waiting for our daughter, I would have been shocked. But if someone had told me that we would be impacted by swine flu? Well...I can't say that I would have believed them. But here we are. No referrals were mailed this month (the last set of referrals went through 3-8-06 and were sent at the beginning of April), and every agency has a different explanation. Some agencies are just saying that they are late this month, and that the swine flu won't impact anything. Other agencies are saying that the CCAA has told them that they will be holding referrals for 20-30 days. Still others are saying that the CCAA is holding things until June. And yet another sent out an email yesterday saying that no referrals will be sent until September. Yes, you read that right.
So where does that leave us? Well, aside from the stress of not knowing anything (and the ridiculousness of the worldwide reaction to the sniffles), I am hoping that we won't really be impacted. The precedence that the CCAA has set from the SARS scare is promising. During that time, all referrals stopped, but the CCAA continued to make matches. Once all of the travel restrictions were lifted, they sent out huge batches of referrals (and more than one batch a month) to "catch up." We weren't going to get a referral this month anyways, so if they send out a larger batch next month, we would be in the same place. But I don't know. The not knowing is horrible, and the number of agencies that say that they have talked to someone at CCAA and have wildly different information is absurd. As Chris often says, we are adopting from a country that doesn't give out information, but this stinks.
As for the two of us, we are laughing in the face of swine flu, and flying to Mexico for our vacation on Monday. Really. Even after United cancelled our flights (would you believe that United has canceled nearly every flight to Mexico until JULY??), we have rebooked and are planning on spending a blissful few days on the beach in Cancun. No internet (so no monitoring the referral situation) will be a good thing. And hopefully we will come home to some good news.
Swine Flu? Really?
Please Help
I'm not one to normally go around asking for money. But, sometimes, situations call for it. As I'm sure you have seen on the news, many parts of China have been hit by a winter storm that has essentially shut down parts of the country. (if you haven't, you can click here for the latest) Many have been without power and water for a week. This includes the orphanages. Aside from the very obvious fact that our daughter might very well already be born and be in one of these orphanages, there are so many other children that we know are affected. Half the Sky Foundation has set up an emergency fund to help these orphanages. For those who don't know, Half the Sky is an amazing charity that works with orphanages around China. You can check out their website at http://www.halfthesky.org Please consider matching my donation to their "Little Mouse Emergency Fund" to help these children who are really in dire need of our help. You can read about the fund and donate here, or click on the Mouse below. Hopefully some referral news will be coming out soon, but this is clearly the most important thing right now.
URGENT!!
WE NEED YOUR HELP- NOW!
This holiday season, China is experiencing its worst weather in 50 years. The world has heard about millions of workers struggling to return home to family to welcome the Year of the Mouse. But for those who have no family to come home to, the situation is also dire. Half the Sky is setting up the Little Mouse Emergency Fund. Your donation to this fund will provide immediate relief to children living in welfare institutions during this difficult time. The needs are diverse and enormous: water, diapers, infant formula, coal, quilts and warm clothing and food. Any excess funds will be used to stock up for future catastrophic needs. Please help the little ones and their caregivers have a warm and safe New Year.
