U.S.A, Italy and now France!

U.S.A, Italy and now France! Apparently, three little girls were referred to their families in France late last week. We have been keeping one another up to date on the newest referrals and it appears that Nepal sent out another 20 referrals. We know the highest legal number is 25 and all of the children referred are little girls.

One of the agency reps informed their families that they can expect to travel to Nepal at the end of July or beginning of August (approximately 2 1/2 to 3 months from referral to travel time). The interesting news is that they (we) will need to plan to be in Nepal for 15 business days, so a total of 3 to 4 weeks in country. If this is true, it is going to be an interesting -- and complicated – travel situation.

Everyone keeps asking what you are expected to do in Kathmandu for that length of time. Apparently, once a person travels to pick up their child the following must be done: Collect adoption decree, visit your child's orphanage, apply for travel documents, visit the US embassy to make an appointment for the exit interview, get a final medical check-up, collect necessary documents (referral info) to translate for the embassy, submit documents to the embassy, participate in an exit interview with the embassy, pick up your child's visa and then … fly home. In this case, the travel time looks like about 36 hours. I can’t imagine anything more fun than traveling with an infant and a seven year old for a day and a half!

This should be an interesting week full of news for many waiting families.

Italy has received their first 4 referrals!

The Yahoo Group I moderate has been an enormous blessing to me and many other families that are in the middle of this adoption process in Nepal. Today, four families from Italy posted information that they have received their referrals! Their legal case numbers were very low, but ‘rumor’ has it that the Ministry is matching another 150 files and another 25 matches have been made. Again, my agency has not given any official word on this process (nor was part of this information chain) and this is completely taken at the word of some great people that I have come to really trust in the NepalAdopt group. It is certainly better news than we expected to hear this month. Congratulations to all of the families that are starting to "meet" their children from Nepal.

Some Good News....

I loved reading Joel and Bonnie’s post today about the referral of their daughter, Anita Lee. Anita is three years old and they will be traveling to Kathmandu at the end of July to bring her home. If you haven’t had a chance to read their latest blog post, please take time to do so. It’s really heartwarming and offers the rest of us hope that the process will continue to move forward in the weeks and months to come.

http://donohueadopt.blogspot.com/2009/05/things-are-moving-along.html

Congratulations!

Travel Warnings and a New PM

Today the United States Department of State issued a travel warning for travel to Nepal. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_927.html The notice basically is the first update since the State Department issued a travel warning back in November 2008. Today’s notice warns Americans about traveling to Nepal and asks folks to prepare to change travel plans on very short notice. As we have all heard, a new Prime Minister was elected today. The legislature-parliament elected CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. Mr. Nepal (it definitely is the easiest PM name to remember, don’t you think?) was elected unopposed as no other candidates were even nominated. It’s no surprise that Maoist lawmakers walked out of the parliament hall, boycotting the election process.

Political violence runs rampant in Nepal. The opposing factions are difficult to track. To me, it is a bit like walking through a corn maze in the dark, blindfolded. To get a better understanding of the groups involved in the upheaval, it may help to just remember four main groups (otherwise, we could be here all night). The Young Communist League (YCL), a Maoist Party subgroup, as well as youth groups from the other two main political parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the United Marxist-Leninist Party (UML), are also involved. The State Department mentions that they are also concerned about many of the armed splinter groups in the Terai region – which borders India. Today, a bomb exploded at the Assumption Church, Dhobighat, killing two and injuring 15 people. The involvement of the Hindu extremist group Nepal Defence Army has been suspected, but no arrests have been made. It’s definitely heating up, as far as one can tell from this far away and limited broadcast news coverage, and we are all watching closely.

It’s no surprise that the events of May 4th, when the former PM resigned, have caused increased political instability. For our adoption community, the news has been mixed. These past few weeks have also given three families the gifts of their daughters in the form of a formal referral. Questions continue to fly about the next step. Will the process continue or will it be halted by the changes in the government? No one knows for sure, but all we can do is continue to pray that it works out the way it is meant to.

Twitter, Tweet, TweetScan... What is this thing?

For those of you with Twitter accounts, you might consider following @NewsFromNepal. You can access the site by clicking on http://twitter.com/NewsFromNepal Basically News From Nepal is information collected in nearly real time from www.bbcnepali.com, www.nepalnews.com, www.ekantipur.com and other sites and content publishers. For those of you who have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, Twitter (www.Twitter.com) is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send and read other users' updates. These updates are known as Tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length and updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Hey, this is how I found out that Nepal got the patent rights on pashminas. Pretty handy information for even the most irrelevant topics.

You may also try your hand at TweetScan (www.tweetscan.com) and use the search term “Nepal” or “Nepal Adoption” to see what is being tweeted about every day (or minute, as the case may be). So take a minute and sign up. Hey, if you are really bored, you can follow me @llovek.

And if you are really brave, you can set up a TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com ). It’s basically your personal browser and a one-stop-shop for staying in touch with what’s happening and connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and other social media applications.

If I have made your head spin, forgive me. Its time to turn off Twitter, Facebook, Yammer, Yahoo Groups and LinkedIn and hit the sack.

Progress?

It has been an interesting few weeks… to say the least. The first three ‘test’ referrals have been made in an effort to test how the international adoption process will actually work. I am so happy that two of my new PAP friends were in this initial group and received pictures of their young daughters. Given how shaky this process continues to be, they are both remaining very private about it. I believe they are right to keep it under wraps until they receive final confirmation from the Ministry. It gave the rest of us hope that things might continue to move forward, even though the current state of affairs is not necessarily conducive to rapid progress.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare posted an announcement which basically outlines Nepal’s dossier submission and matching guidelines. Most importantly, it reminds all of us that they are busy people and will not possibly be able to answer specific questions on specific files under most circumstances. Hey, I figure with only five hours of electricity a day, a food crisis, the Prime Minister resigning and a bit of a political upheaval, we should probably let them do their jobs and stay out of their way. I have pasted the notice below; in the event you are interested in reading it.

http://www.mowcsw.gov.np/opensection.php?secid=463.

Date 17 May 2009
Notice
The Ministry would like to draw attention of all concerned Embassies, Diplomatic Mission Adoption agencies, and Representatives relating to Inter Country Adoption on the followings:

1. Information regarding the referral of Children will be only provided through those Embassy, Diplomatic Mission or Adoption Agency which have forwarded adoption dossiers to this Ministry.
2. Information regarding those adoption dossiers - which are under process - will not be provided as per the decision of Government of Nepal.
3. Telephone enquiry on the status of matching will not be entertained until and unless final decision on the child to be adopted will be made.
4. Upon the submission of adoption dossier, the Ministry will verify the documents as per the "Terms and Conditions". Respective Embassy, Diplomatic Mission, adoption agency and local Representative will be notified for any incomplete / faltering documents.
5. This Ministry assures that timely information will be provided to respective Embassy, Diplomatic Mission, Adoption agency, and local representative once the final authorization will be made on the child to be granted for inter country adoption.

Nepal: What is Next?

Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned on Monday after a crisis sparked by his sacking of the country's army chief, plunging the Himalayan republic into political turmoil. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE54317M20090504

Here are some scenarios of what could happen next in the young Himalayan republic and their economic impact.

NEW COALITION IS FORMED
The main opposition Nepali Congress party and the moderate Communist UML party could try and form a government with the help of smaller groups. This coalition may or may not include the Maoists. This is the most likely scenario, analysts say, and one that would have the least economic impact.

FRESH ELECTION
This is the most unlikely scenario. No party is even near-ready to go to the polls. It is not even necessary as last year's election was part of a process to write a new constitution that will spell out how a permanent parliament is to be set up. The constitution has to be written by May 2010.

STREET PROTESTS
Maoist supporters have already hit the streets. These protests are expected to intensify and the Maoists are expected to resort to other forms of civil disobedience to make it difficult for any new coalition to govern.

DAMAGE TO THE PEACE DEAL
Political uncertainty may delay drafting a new constitution, a key part of a 2006 peace deal. But the former rebels, whose fighters are in U.N.-monitored camps under the deal, are unlikely to return to the jungles and resume fighting. If that's the case, then the economic fallout could be contained.

MAOISTS' FUTURE
By quitting the government, the Maoists are seen as claiming the moral high ground which is likely to help them win the sympathy of the people. The ball is now in the opposition's court to move the political process forward.

ECONOMIC WOES
Nepal's government has so far failed to fully implement its economic agenda in one of the world's poorest countries. Nepalis have been hit by high inflation, sluggish industrial output and power shortages, all of which could remain or worsen now.

Nepal's tourist industry, one of its biggest foreign exchange earners, could also take a hit just as it was tentatively recovering from the 10-year-old civil war.

What is the Impact of today's News in the Adoption Process?

Although I have not heard this directly from my agency, there are several PAPs that are reporting that their agencies have said that just before the resignation, Nepal was working on figuring out a referral and acceptance process. The reports are saying that new ministers will be appointed, but there will definitely be a delay in all levels of work including international adoption. I know this is a very tough day for many waiting families.

Here is the official news report.

Maoists lose majority after Nepal army chief sacked

Nepal was plunged into political turmoil today after the second-largest party in the Maoist-led government pulled out of the ruling coalition in protest over the sacking of the country's army chief.

Gen Rookmangud Katawal, 61, was dismissed following a long confrontation with the prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and his Communist party of Nepal-Maoist, a former guerrilla group that was elected to power at the head of a five-party coalition last year. Despite opposition from his four coalition partners, the prime minister sacked his army chief.

The Maoists, who abolished the monarchy and turned the nation into a republic, now face the biggest political challenge of their short reign. Demonstrations in support and against the army chief's sacking erupted in Kathmandu shortly after the government announced its decision, and top army commanders met at an emergency meeting.

"It's certain that Gen Katawal will challenge his dismissal in the supreme court by arguing that the prime minister has no authority to sack the army chief, since the president is the commander-in-chief," said Prakash Rimal of the Kathmandu Post.

Katawal is a capable yet controversial officer with strong support within the army, unlike his number two who has been named as the new army chief by the government. Even though he was adopted by the royal family and grew up in the palace, he did not oppose the move to abolish the monarchy. He became army chief despite doubts about his alleged role in a particularly brutal phase of the 10-year civil war between the Nepal army and the Maoist People's Liberation Army.

But the main cause of his tussle with Dahal is his resistance to inducting into the army more than 19,000 former Maoist guerillas who are housed in camps run by the United Nations. As a result, the prime minister faced a virtual rebellion from militant sections in his party led by the defence minister. If he did not act against his army chief he risked losing control of his party.

There was never any doubt though that the Maoist coalition partners as well as the opposition Nepali Congress would not tolerate the army chief's dismissal.

After Dahal's government lost its majority yesterday, the Maoists were said to be talking to smaller parties in search of new allies in the national assembly, while opposition groups were exploring the possibility of an alternative government. Recent rumours of an impending army coup also gained momentum.

Matching in the Absence of Swine Flu and Electricity

The chatter has definitely increased regarding placement, but I keep feeling that it’s only real once I see some true movement. Our agency hasn’t released anything ‘official’ but what I am hearing online and through our forum group is that matching has begun. Apparently a few files have been matched, according to my fellow members of NepalAdopt on Yahoo, and these will be the first since the program closed in May 2007. If this is true (and we have yet to hear from those families), the families probably have their child's file, medical records and activity records (if available). They are consulting pediatricians regarding the health report and reporting back to their agency their acceptance of the match. Apparently the referral will then go back to the Family Matching Committee (FMC), who will then send it to the Legal Review Committee, who will then send it back down to the FMC who will then provide travel guidelines. Truthfully, no one knows the timeframe between referral to travel. Some say it is three weeks. Others say four months. I guess we will know once we know. That seems to be the attitude to take here. I feel fortunate to be able to have this experience and I am a firm believer that timing is everything. It will all happen exactly when it is supposed to happen. And not a second sooner.

Hey, on the bright side… there are no reported cases of Swine Flu in Nepal and there is power at least four hours a day.

It's quite simply all about your perspective.