Hello Friends,
We have Big News!
We are adopting two girl children from, Lusaka, Zambia, which is in Southern Africa. We are so grateful for this opportunity to grow our family in this way. The two girls, Hannah (9) and Tapiwa (13) are actually related to us, through Mutale. They are the daughters of Mutale's older brother, Michael. The girls are half-orphans, this is, following the death of their mother, who died after a long illness, four years ago. Their biological father has been unemployed for several years and is unable to care for these girls. He has asked us to step in and provide a forever home for them.
As this will be an International Adoption, this process will be governed by The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which is an international agreement to safeguard intercountry adoptions. We have estimated the cost of the adoption process at around or above $80,000.00. As you'd imagine, these types of savings take years to accumulate. We have reserved $20,000 for this process and are seeking your support in bridging the gap. We are also crowdfunding on GoFundMe. Between the two sites, we are trying to raise a total of $60,000.00.
Having these girls join our family, will be an answered prayer, and your support will help us get closer to meeting our goal.
Thank you so very much for your support!
In Gratitude, The Bingley Family
Dearest Friends,
Kevin and I cannot begin to thank you for your continued support. Neither of us knew with any level of certainty, the length of time that would be involved with our International Adoption. It’s been over a year. Imagine that?
They’ve been more lows than highs, as we’ve worked to promptly address the needs of this process, in addition to managing all the other aspects of living. 2023 had some challenges but we are an optimistic family. Life will Life, right? Our heads are up! :-)
We stay in touch with the girls via WhatsApp weekly. I can only imagine that this long wait gives them plenty to think about. My messages to them are always hopeful and encouraging. At the moment we are waiting on a decision to be made on the I-800A, which we recently resubmitted. USCIS needed International Background Checks from all of the countries in which we’d previously resided after the age of 18. As you might guess, this was no small task. Nonetheless, we were able to get the I-800A resubmitted, and now we are awaiting a decision that will hopefully move us in the right direction.
We are getting some adoption paperwork notarized today…
Hopefully by next month, we’ll have some good news to share.
I apologize for not providing timely updates. There are so many small phases to this process, that I sometimes think the bigger updates are likely more meaningful to donors.
Friends, we value your support. Thank you for continuing to spread this message (our story) and for giving your support. We are so grateful to you!
Much Love,
Mutale & Family
This update is entitled: "Let's Get Back on the Saddle." Those were the words of the representative from our Adoption Agency, with whom we spoke via TEAMS, this afternoon. She shared that she had just returned from an 18-day trip to Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia. She explained that while in Zambia, she met with Government Officials from the Department of Social Services. Part of her visit reportedly included emphasizing to the Zambian Officials, the importance of expediting their responses, with regard to pending cases, impacting lives that are essentially, "ON HOLD." When I lamented during the call, that we started this process back in October of 2022, she responded: "Zambia has been slow with getting up to par with HAGUE CONVENTION." However, her visit has opened up an avenue to "get everything in motion." What this means is that communication between the involved agencies, will start to flow better, or at least we hope so.
So presently, more information gathering is taking place. We received our HOME STUDY packet this afternoon via email, it is a very extensive packet, seeking criminal background check information, marriage certificate, birth certificates, financial information, etc. It is no small feat. However, I will begin working on it tomorrow. The Home Study can take anywhere from 2-3 months to complete. Please pray for us.
As part of this Inter-Country adoption process, we have also been asked to have four letters of reference/support from people who can, with assured certainty, endorse that Kevin and I are good people and that we are capable of providing a supportive and loving home, as parents, to Tapiwa Mutale (14) and Hannah Mwaamba (9). Please let me know if you'd be willing to help with this. We'd be grateful for your support.
I can't tell you how grateful I am to each of you for your GENEROSITY, LOVE, and SUPPORT. You are going to change lives, FOR THE BETTER. Your impact can not be quantified or measured in words alone. We want so much, to grow our family, by giving these two beautiful girls a stable, and, loving home. We want to give them the best chance at life.
Please continue to spread the word regarding this fundraiser. We need all the help we can get.
All my LOVE and GRATITUDE,
Your Friend,
Mutale
