Corruption, bribes etc Reece Rainbow - Pleven

Publication date: 1 June 2014

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Julia Nalle is now fundraising again for Nicole Dewberry, despite the fact that Nicole has sent 4-5 teenage boys that she's professed her undying love to have fled to the hills rather and be adopted by her.

Perhaps the deity they claim wants the Dewberrys to adopt is not so subtly telling them otherwise?

http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-waste.html

March 28, 2014

4:55 pm

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CatDee

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June 28, 2013

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MoonGirl said

Perhaps the deity they claim wants the Dewberrys to adopt is not so subtly telling them otherwise?

http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-waste.html

The thing that bothers me the most, is that she doesn't mention the last boy at all.

I personally think, that something is going very wrong, if 5(!) boys change their mind..I'm aware that these boys are being told crap about adoptions and that you choose your bio family over an adoption one.. it's hard to say who is at fault, but I think she's moving way too fast.

Can you really fall head over heels with 7 different children in that short amount of time?

I assume the two 'new' boys will be better off in the US, given medical treatment and how they will be treated by their new home.

I think most adoptees are not aware of how difficult it is for these children to leave the orphanage, different language, different place, different food, different believes, different surrounding and so on.

It feels like that sometimes common sense is missing.

Out of curiousity: what happens if they don't manage to raise the money?

She won't be able to take the boys with her, I get that, but is she still able to adopt them, let's say 3 months later, when they've raised the money?

March 29, 2014

4:30 pm

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sprezz87

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Katogo said

http://littlethingsbigstuff.com/2014/01/01/word-year-2014/

I'm guessing this couple (who has been married for barely two years which immediately makes them unqualified to adopt from most countries) is adopting from DRC although she's careful to never say. But she does say this :

February: Learned we’d face an additional three- to six-month adoption delay. I left work “sick” and cried in bed.

May: Learned we’d very likely get smacked in the face with international adoption ethics we honestly didn’t want to deal with.

Now, I had to deal with lots and lots of delays in adopting my kids. They sucked but ultimately they were for good reasons like verifying the paperwork and the stories we were told about our kids pasts. But this whole "smacked in the face with…ethics we…didn't want to deal with" thing annoys me.

Africa is not the personal BABIES R US for the Christian adoption movement! No matter how hard they wish for it to be so, it still won't be okay for them to swoop in there and use Jesus to justify this glorified kidnapping! And I don't give a shit if you don't want to deal with ethical adoptions – these kids don't want to deal with knowing that you were so selfish, so greedy, that you couldn't slow your freaking roll long enough to obey the laws and ethical standards.

This attitude pisses me off. It makes all adoptive parents look bad and we're not all bad. We're not all baby hungry monsters who scoff at laws and believe Jesus wants us to ransom those poor little black babies.

I know the above was posted forever ago, but I wanted to point out that Natalie posted a great response here:

http://littlethingsbigstuff.com/2014/02/27/international-adoption-ethics/

Not trying to "white knight" (I normally follow the fashion threads but happened upon this one while procrastinating), but Natalie is a friend of a friend of a friend so I read her blog from time to time. Though we have very different lives and I don't necessarily agree with international adoption when so many kids are screwed by the US foster system, I think she is fairly open about the ups and downs of her experience. Given all the fundamentalist "crazies" out there buying babies, I think she and her husband are trying to go about it the most ethical way possible and will provide a loving, safe home for their kids. Yes, the fundraising and seeming "coolness" of Christians adopting African babies does make me uncomfortable, but as long as they are doing it legally, ethically and responsibly – I can't really begrudge a couple who does seem to have a genuine heart for opening their home to children in need. She's posted on her blog about volunteering with the foster system and I doubt they will become kid collectors. I kind of view them as "this adoption thing is not for me, but if a couple was to do it right, they are." Ok, two cents over.

March 30, 2014

9:11 am

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MoonGirl

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October 2, 2013

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Colleen Novit is dishing on Reece's Rainbow — while her "pleas" that it should be all about the orphans while ignoring what she considers little things that can be ignored like:

"-Families have been done wrong by the team in country.

-The team in country interfered with families adoptions that were using another team

-Their ethics are questionable at best

-They are functioning as an agency

-They are overstepping boundaries

-They are sabotaging adoptions

-Money is going missing

-Money is being withheld"

Oh my, she even writes that:

"You are taking away from an orphan every time you stir up the drama of Satan.

He wants you to shift focus, he wants them to remain in orphanages.

Every time you start drama, you are making the plight less and less "real",

Less desirable to want to be a part of,

You are causing families and advocates to think twice before jumping in.

You are not saving anyone.

Leave the saving to Jesus."

Love love love that she considers corrupt facilitators, bribes, large sums of missing money to be "drama" getting in the way of "rescuing" orphans — as opposed to flat-out criminal behavior that will likely get adoptions from a given country shut down. That it's okay to ignore CRIMES to "ransom" orphans!

http://thestarsaligned.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-ole-grey-mare.html

(If anyone's interested, the "priest" she mentions in her post is a Ukrainian priest who reportedly set up an orphanage for special needs orphans and encouraged Ukrainians to adopt those kids — many RR families who had illegally pre-selected an orphan who was illegally photo listed on RR to adopt, but hadn't actually received an official referral for that kid were upset, including Lora Lund:

http://mycamokids.com/2012/09/in-my-heart.html

"Teri Lynn" was a Ukrainian girl illegally photo listed on RR that had been adopted, yet still listed as desperately in need of a family on RR. Adeye Salem begged for and received a ton of cash to "ransom" a girl who was no longer an orphan:

http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2011/07/update-on-teri-lynn.html

"Pleven"

The now-fired director of the Pleven, Bulgaria orphanage severely neglected many SN orphans. New NGOs were set up to accept donations to mitigate the pitiful conditions the kids were found in:

http://theblessingofverity.com/2012/10/the-story-of-katies-adoption/

Folks can make tax-deductible donations to the Pleven Project that is NOT 501c3 yet, as it's "umbrella-ing" under the About A Child Adoption Agency's tax-deductible status which is totally shady:

http://www.plevenproject.org/501c3.html

Missing/withheld money / alleged sabotaging of adoptions

$35k for Lera for the Higbies

http://savinglera.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-scoop.html

$30k for various kids for the Burmans (who, to be fair, "accidentally" forgot to tell the social worker updating their homestudy that they're being investigated for medical neglect by CPS)

Carringtonscourage.blogspot.com

Bad behavior from the infamous Ukraine facilitator Serge Z

http://ralphcrew.blogspot.com/search?q=Riding+rainbow&max-results=20&by-date=true&m=1

http://theadoptionspotlight.wordpress.com/?s=Serge&submit=Search

http://somewherebehindthemorning.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-saying.html Kari handed over $11k in cash to Serge, little sketchy, dontchathink??).

March 30, 2014

9:08 pm

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novitc

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Aww Shucks MoonGirl, you continue to flatter me with your love of my blog and desire to help spread awareness by reposting it in so many places.

As I responded on Reform Talk

"Kudos to you in not having the courage to put a name with your comment. Hide behind whatever links you want, never did I say what any facilitator is doing is acceptable, but those who stir up the additional unneeded drama toward anyone other than that facilitator, yeah not going to do a whole lot of justice to the situation. Teri Lynn was not in Ukraine, so again, as always, your “facts” have fallen short….tragic.

Money was witheld from *US* so again, you can make all kinds of claims but as stated, I have been on both sides and I will continue to tell my story."

I HAVE LIVED THE CORRUPTION. You and everyone else are only a disservice to yourself by acting so foolishly. Fact based, level headed conversation is the only thing that will ever change things and no one on this side nor that side are willing to have such a convo so it will continue to spiral downward.

In other news, someone donated $100 courtesy of you attacking our blog again, so I do want to thank you for that and for the traffic you bring! I have a great group of friends who have decided that every time you want to rant about us or our adoption, they will donate. So THANK YOUUU for funding our adoption, YOU are making a difference and are single handedly playing a part in getting our kids home. I so appreciate that! Lots of love headed your way!

March 30, 2014

10:01 pm

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MoonGirl

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novitc said

Aww Shucks MoonGirl, you continue to flatter me with your love of my blog and desire to help spread awareness by reposting it in so many places.

As I responded on Reform Talk

Money was witheld from *US* so again, you can make all kinds of claims but as stated, I have been on both sides and I will continue to tell my story."

I appreciate the shoutouts!

Getting the kids home is one thing — whether you'll keep them for more than a year or two is something else altogether. They'll soon join RR buddies who get kicked to the curb for GASP displaying institutional behaviors. (Which is better than what happened to the kids that died or injured such that they are comatose and fed thru a tube, certainly — like Selah Clanton, who would like have been WAY better off in the Ukrainian mental institution than with her "forever family").

Also, Coleen — what's the deal with Pleven People funding babas? That are funded by the charity the Bedfords/Mussers et up? Or giving out tax receipts under About a Child Adoption Agency's 501c accreditation? Double dipping much?!??

March 31, 2014

5:14 pm

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novitc

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MoonGirl said

I'll gladly answer this if you want to elaborate! This is a topic I do know a lot about and can address your concerns, I however do not fully understand your question/concern.

March 31, 2014

8:02 pm

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IwantQuiet

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novitc said

MoonGirl said

I'll gladly answer this if you want to elaborate! This is a topic I do know a lot about and can address your concerns, I however do not fully understand your question/concern.

Just taking a stab in the dark here, but it's possible MoonGirl is concerned about the appearance of impropriety in using AAC's 501c3 status to collect donations for a charity that funds babas in an orphanage from which AAC makes money by placing children for adoption. I know I have concerns, as do many others in the adoption community. It leaves the potential donors with serious questions about how their monetary gifts will be appropriated or kept separate from AAC's operating funds. Off the top of my head I can think of several questions that deserve honest answers:

How is the donor to be assured their donation is actually being spent on babas / therapists? Where is the accountability?

Will AAC account for every Pleven Project donation dollar that comes into their coffers? Will these donations be listed on their tax returns?

Will the orphanage provide an accounting of how many workers were actually hired as a result of the charity's donations?

Why was it even necessary for The Pleven Project to be founded? What happened to the charity set up by the Mussers and Shelley Bedford? Why can't their charity just continue to collect donations on behalf of The Pleven Project?

Leaving all these questions aside, the more important ethical question is, should an adoption agency and its foreign counterpart who both stand to profit from future adoptions from the Pleven orphanage be involved, even indirectly, in the process of hiring and firing workers at the orphanage? How is the donor to be assured the orphanage director isn't receiving kick-backs to quietly make sure AAC and The Dreams Foundation get "first dibs" on any orphans listed for adoption in the future? Thanks to the massive media coverage of Katie Musser's story, adoptions from Pleven have made adoption agencies, including AAC, a significant chunk of money over the last few years. If AAC and The Dreams Foundation were to receive inside information about newly listed children before the information was made available to other agencies, they could stand to make a whole lot more.

To put it mildly, the ethical implications of the relationship between the orphanage / The Dreams Foundation / About a Child / The Pleven Project are a little disturbing, and could quite possibly be a serious violation of Hague regulations, if not Bulgarian adoption laws.

March 31, 2014

10:53 pm

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novitc

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jsmom – CHI families are the only ones with those concerns ironically [really, no surprise there]. I'm headed to bed but will answer your individual questions tomorrow.

April 1, 2014

1:46 pm

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IwantQuiet

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novitc said

jsmom – CHI families are the only ones with those concerns ironically [really, no surprise there]. I'm headed to bed but will answer your individual questions tomorrow.

Oh really? Are you sure about that? LOL I suppose you will believe what you need to believe. But in reality, it doesn't matter WHO has voiced these concerns, they're still valid. I'm sure those who have these concerns, whoever they are, would be more than happy to have them proved baseless. I for one will be waiting on pins and needles for your explanations. popcorn

April 1, 2014

5:38 pm

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novitc

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jsmom said

novitc said

jsmom – CHI families are the only ones with those concerns ironically [really, no surprise there]. I'm headed to bed but will answer your individual questions tomorrow.

Aww darn, I struck a nerve…. I have no intentions of responding to you on here just because I know your game and your beef with AAC, Dreams, Pleven Project etc. so I will direct you to http://www.plevenproject.org/contact.html and you are more than welcome and encouraged to C&P the same questions and we will address them through that channel and still prove your concerns to be baseless.

April 1, 2014

6:59 pm

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CatDee

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June 28, 2013

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Why no repsonse like you promised?

And can someone answer my question?

What happens if you travel to the country and run out of money? Can you go back to adopting the child/children once you've got the sum you need or won't you be allowed to do so?

Or do you need to have the sum before travelling?

Countries: Bulgaria

Organizations: About A Child, Reece's Rainbow, Pleven babyhome, Mogilino 2, Bulgaria

Persons: Serge Zevlever