Seeing the Judge

Often when a judge or INHFA calls and asks us to take a child or children, they promise the paper work the next day or the next week. They usually need to place the child immediately. By the time tomorrow comes, there is another emergency and the paperwork moves down on the priority list. We are required to have this paperwork. Karen has been diligently working on obtaining all of this paperwork. Today she needed to take four of them to the judge so we could, hopefully, get all the needed paperwork on these four. I went with her while Marc and Fernando and Brenda took the rest of the children to the required monthly visitation with parents.



Karen and I both new this day had a huge potential of being a real Honduran day. In many ways, we were not disapointed. The children were anxious. They have been to court before. Normally quiet Jonny talked a blue streak. Pamela chewed on her fingers. The first office in which we entered had six chairs at desks, with computers. That many computers in one office in Honduras. We filled the whole office. I wondered aloud if, at times there were six people working in that small space. We were quite cramped in there and we were not trying to work.



We were soon told we had to go to another office in another building that wasn't very close to the first building. Welcome to Honduras. The unusual thing about this was the social worker was going to go with us. She went in a car and we followed her. Thankfully, she went with us. We could have never negotiated they system without her. We were in a secretary's office, a lawyer's office, a judge's office. We were going to have to go to the third floor, but the lawyer wasn't busy so we went there first. As is so typical in Honduras, our plans changed frequently. Just depending on who was free at the moment. We were in and out of offices and in between waiting in a crowded hallway.



We did not actually leave with the paperwork, but Karen and I both felt good that a lot had been accomplished. We really think we will have the paperwork next week. Not only on the four we took today but on three others as well.



We took them to McDonald's for burgers. That was a treat for the emotional stress we had all been through. Since it was the normal day to go to the fruit market, we went on to the fruit market. Karen was most nervous about taking four kids to the fruit market. Pamela had Daniela's hand and told her do not let go of my hand. We promised one more stop for ice cream if everyone behaved at the market.



Before we finished at the market, Daniela had to go to the bathroom. Karen asked her if she could wait a few minutes since the bathrooms there are nasty. She started crying and insisted she could not wait. Karen told her she could go beside the car. No one knew when she said she had to go to the bathroom that she had to poop. We covered it with a newspaper, loaded the car and left.



I thought everyone did well all day. It was a very long day, in and out of offices and then the fruit market. There were four great big smiles as the ice cream as ice cream was served.



We were almost home, when Jonny looked at the clock in the car and realized it said 3:40. He said, "hey we did not have to take a nap today." I turned around and said, "we all take naps when we get home."



Johnny: "I am not taking a nap."



I don't know about him, but I sure took one.



Terri