Almost Real

Another dream about them last night. This time they were here in Georgia at somebody's farm, and it was Easter. They were having an Easter egg hunt, and there were a bunch of other kids there too, some of them Haitian. W was wearing this t-shirt (which I bought her) and a pink skort (that I bought for her sister). I was standing on one end of the open green field, and the kids were all outside, except for L. I asked W where her sister was and she said she'd wanted to stay in the house.(? In my dream I did go back to the house to check on her, as that was unusual behavior!) Then in halting English W proceeded to inform me that she was Catholic.(It was super-cute how she said 'Cath-o-lic', believe me this was a very realistic dream!) Apparently she wanted to make sure that the religious aspects of the Easter holiday were fulfilled. I told her that I was not Catholic, but that we would do what she needed to do---basically letting her know I was going to respect her religious background. She was happy with that, and took off running across the field with all the other kids, in search of Easter eggs, in her all-pink outfit.

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I have no idea what their religious background is. I suspect it was traditional, but I don't know if it was devout. Last Christmas when I was there they were very comforted by the singing of the church group that was meeting upstairs every night, but the baptism in the pool seemed bewildering to them. If they have a strong traditional Catholic background, that would make sense.



Another reason I suspect that it was traditional is because of what I saw on their 'certificat de naissance' (birth registration document)
which is different than their 'acte de naissance' (birth certificate).

Which brings me to another point. Their birth certificates are in (I pray to God!) the National Archives, which is why I only saw the birth registration document when I went to file the I600. M said the father did not bring the birth certificates (I assume she meant when he did the interview, or perhaps she meant when they were relinquished?) so now we are in the process of getting them from the archives through the Minister of Justice. She tried to explain it to me but she talks fast and I could only catch parts. When people talk fast and not in their first language, it can make for some interesting translation, as many of you know! So I found the link to the National Archives of Haiti to help further my understanding of the process.

The girls come from a rural area of Haiti. I would bet money they were not born in a hospital, and that the only birth certificate is in the National Archives. I have no idea how long this takes. M said she would let me know when it was complete.