Wolcott Enterprise Article

Treasure the Journey

By Pat Berger






Zach and Karena Price began a journey quite some time ago. They started the process of adopting a little girl from Haiti, named Derline. There is quite a story to be told. In March of 2010, they submitted an application. This was shortly after the January 2010 earthquake that greatly affected Haiti, with a death toll of over 230,000. The Haitian government restricts many adoptions to couples that have been married 10 years, are at least 35 years of age, and are Christian families. The Price’s met most of the conditions except the age restriction. For that reason, they began the adoption process thru an independent orphanage instead of an agency.






Because international adoption can be very expensive, the Price’s raised funds in several ways. Karena began selling products from ‘thirty-one’, a home sales company that specializes in purses, bags, and organizational products. Zach has been taking on side jobs as well. Proceeds all go to the adoption fund. They also have been selling t-shirts that say, “Treasure the Journey” and “All things are possible if you believe.” (Mark 9:23) The logo on the shirt is a modern family tree design. The design was created by Jayne Price, Zach’s Mom as a gift for Karena in April of 2011- an oil painting that hangs in her office. They have t-shirts in several colors- navy, kelly, brown and pink- and sizes youth small to Adult 4XL ranging in price from $12-20, as well as sweatshirts and hoodies. If interested, contact Karena at 219-208-0106 or krp1021@gmail.com. They worked with Martha Osteen from Monticello in creating an adoption fundraiser. Martha’s business is called Marketing Martha.






Karena and Zach applied in March of 2010, and only heard that their application had been received. By January 2011, Karena believed all doors were closing with the ‘His Home for Children’ orphanage. Karena writes a blog, and in March 2011 she wrote there were 145 million orphans worldwide and goes on to say, “From a purely statistical stand point, American Christians (236 million) by themselves have the ability to house every orphan in the world.” She goes on to mention that not everyone could adopt due to age, unemployment or the call to do so. She finally emailed the right person. They had applied to the ‘His Home for Children’ orphanage and inquired as well with ‘New Life Link,’ ‘Children of the Promise,’ ‘Kingdom of Kids,’ and ‘Rivers of Hope’ orphanages, then finally back to the original ‘His Home for Children’ orphanage. The director of this orphanage, Chris Nunngester, is originally from Ohio and began the orphanage in 1999. In February 2011, they resent their application to this orphanage, as somehow the original one could not be found. They did a sponsorship page for $35/month, where they could look at pictures of specific children, and the funds went towards food and items that the children needed. They had chosen a little girl, named Derline.


Meanwhile in Wolcott the family had some ideas to support children at the orphanage. Karena’s Grandmother, Mary Holder and her two aunts, Kim Holder and Lisa Green sought donations of items that could be sent to the orphanage for Christmas gifts last year. They gathered things like flip flops, backpacks, Barbie dolls, makeup, cars, coloring books, baby toys and balls. These were all shipped to Ohio and then on to Haiti. The family might repeat this project this coming year.


On May 6, 2011 Karena got an email from Chris while at a dentist appointment, telling them that they could move forward with the adoption process for their little girl, Derline.


Adopting thru an independent orphanage costs less than thru an agency. The agency fees may total $15,000-20,000. With the independent orphanage, the cost might be $9,000 plus costs of the home study, document fees, Derline’s Visa, and trips they make to Haiti. The new President of Haiti wasn’t to pass legislation to make laws stricter for adopting Haitian children.


Now, about the journey. The ‘His Home for Children’ orphanage allows families to visit four times a year. Zach and Karena just returned from their first visit with Derline. They stayed in a hotel and the children come to the hotel and stay with their adoptive family for the week. The Price’s had to take everything they needed- a Pack n Play, diapers, formula, toys, etc. Fourteen families came at the same time they were in Haiti, all staying in the same hotel. Families were adopting children from five weeks of age to 15 years of age. The orphanage sponsored some excursions-to the beach, to church, and a Baptist Mission Trip.


Zach and Karena left on August 12 flying to Miami, Florida and then leaving on August 13 for Port-au-Prince (PAP) Haiti. This journey was the first time either of them had EVER flown. They flew to Haiti on American Airlines, which has its own terminal at the airport in Haiti. They took a bus to immigration, and had to securely latch on to their own luggage as Haitian’s want paid to handle their bags in any way possible. They had been advised to strongly say “NO.” The orphanage picked them up in a vehicle with three bench seats in the back, and bars on the back tailgate. This vehicle was fondly called the “Shake and Bake.” Karena posted a long list on her blog of things learned on the trip. A few items are: You can’t take peanut butter as a carry-on, watching lightning from an airplane window is pretty amazing, the PAP airport is not for the weak-very scary surreal experience, don’t care for the lizards in our room, and a day in Haiti is like 48 hours.






While in Haiti, they attended a Baptist Church with services in English. It was attended by about 200 people, some 20% Americans. At home in Wolcott, the Price’s attend the Wolcott United Methodist Church. Haitians speak Creole and French, but many speak English. On their last day there, Zach took out extra food they had and passed it out to area children.






The journey, or the process, to adopt Derline may take another two years. Derline was born on August 2, 2010 and their hope is to have the process completed by her third birthday-hopefully much earlier. Why does it take so long? Karena attributes to all being part of the journey. There are many steps and the culture is slower paced. Sometime in September they are expecting their home study. Then their next step is to finalize their dossier. This is a binder filled with required documents such as their birth certificates, marriage license, police report, psychiatric evaluation, home study, reference letters, work certifications, bank reference, and power of attorney - to name a few. These documents must all be notarized and authenticated, sent to Indianapolis, translated into French and travel to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago. Copies are made. Then the Haitian social services must approve which can take 2-6 months. At some time closer to the adoption, they will have to appear in civil court in Haiti. Derline’s dossier is put with theirs. The next step is the parquet. This is releasing the child’s files, which can take 2-12 weeks. The birth parents much give permission. In Derline’s case, the mother died, and the father is a farmer with 7 other siblings. Derline was taken to the orphanage after her mother died. The next step is civil court which is finalized in 2-8 weeks, then the minister of internal affairs office takes 2-14 weeks to get Derline’s passport. Then there is DHS processing, where the I600 is filed, taking 1-3 weeks, DNA testing if needed takes 0-6 weeks, and a visa appointment that can take a week to get Derline’s visa to travel. After all these steps, Derline will get to travel to her new home in Wolcott.






The next opportunity for a family visit to Haiti will be November 14. Since their return August 23, Karena has had four couples inquire with her about adopting children from Haiti. Zach and Karena have two boys, Kaden, age 10 and Wesley, age 4 and they reside in Wolcott. Although the journey continues, the Price family is busy with White County 4-H, baseball, and now football. This summer they had visitors from Spain, a former exchange student from 2009, Miren and her brother, John who stayed with Karie Holder. The Price’s look forward to the day when Derline can be part of their family, but for now they are taking the steps as they come. The long journey is part of the treasure!