The Dream Continues.......

     Even though Louvenet is not on his way to America, plans are still going forward.  Jaclyn and Autumn were contacted by an Immigration Lawyer, Terry Preshaw, who wants to work with them to get Louvenet here for school.  She has contacts with the AILA and they are starting to explore some options to help us move forward.  They want us to get the word out into the community, so Jaclyn and Autumn are going to give a presentation to the students at Grace Academy to increase their awareness of Louvenet and maybe spark some interests in becoming pen pals with him.  We will post the date of the presentation if anyone is interested in attending.  They also talked with the Principle of Grace Academy, and the school is going to hold Louvenet's tuition over in the hopes he will be able to attend there next year!
     At this time, Jaclyn and Autumn are looking into the educational opportunities for Lou in Haiti.  Right now, Lou is attending school in Port de Paix.  He is talking about wanting to go to school in Port au Prince.  He has an Aunt who lives there and a sister going to school there.  They are also looking into opportunities for Louvenet to become involved in his community....maybe he will be able to go on a mission trip inside of Haiti to help his countrymen this summer.

Autumn with Louvenet, January 2009

GETTING THE WORD OUT THERE!

After the setback and disappointment of the visa denial, Jaclyn and Autumn are not giving up on helping Louvenet!  Jaclyn wrote the heart felt letter, posted in the previous entry, and has sent it out to multiple media outlets.
The first to respond was the Everett Herald.  An excellent article was published in the Saturday, Jan. 8th edition.  It was on the front page!!!  To view the article go to http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110108/NEWS01/701089934/1122.
The second to respond was King5.  They came up to Marysville and had an in depth interview with both Jaclyn and Autumn.  It should air tonight, January 8th, at 10pm and 11pm.  Good thing for DVR's....I don't stay up that late!!
I know that Oprah and CNN have been contacted too.

DREAMS POSTPONED!

Unfortunately, Louvenet was denied again from the US Embassy on Jan 7th.  It is hard to tell exactly why his Visa application was denied.....multiple phone calls to people at the Embassy, with many hangups and not clear answers....but the gist of the denial goes like this:  Not the right papers (took care of that with the first denial...got the right paper work for the second interview), Louvenet's english is not good enough.....even though he passed Grace Academy's english testing,  Louvenet has two sponsors....Jaclyn and Autumn, so it is too confusing for the Embassy to understand, the two sponsors didn't know Louvenet for a long enough period before they agreed to sponsor him and last but not least.........the Embassy didn't believe that Louvenet would come back to Haiti after he completed his education in the US because "it's nicer in America and Haitians don't come back".
This has been a very frustrating time for Jaclyn and Autumn.....many tears and feeling helpless to make changes.  Now decisions are being made on where to go next....what is best for Louvenet....how to support his best interests.   Do we try again for a student visa in 12 months?  As for right now, we will be supporting his education in Haiti and looking towards the future.


One thing that really stuck out during this time is how the US Embassy in running in Haiti.  Jaclyn composed a letter and has sent it to multiple media outlets to bring awareness to the US public.  Here is her letter:

My name is Jaclyn Owings. Autumn Kostelecky and I are RN’s who work for the Everett Clinic. Two years ago we met a Haitian boy named Louvenet Fertilus. He is an incredibly determined and driven young man who wants to effect change in his country and community. We were approached by long time French missionaries who have known Lou for several years. They asked if we would consider sponsoring Lou for a US education visa. We said yes.

Autumn Kostelecky and I are now Louvenet Fertilus's sponsors. We are American citizens. Over the last year Louvenet passed all pre-enrollment English testing and was accepted to Grace Academy. We have paid for Louvenet's tuition to Grace Academy and obtained all of the necessary SEVIS forms and paid all of the required fees. On December 7th Louvenet was seen for an non immigrant, F-1 visa. I accompanied Louvenet for his visit but was not allowed to enter my own embassy, which I found unacceptable. Subsequently, Louvenet was denied after a 5 minute appointment, although the form letter was not clear on specific rationale for his denial. Autumn and I then contacted House Representative Rick Larsen's office. Mr. Larsen's office reviewed our file and then sent a request to your office to have the file pulled and reviewed. Congressman Larsen's office sent a packet of information to Lawrence Jones which should have clarified the misunderstandings in regard to Louvenet's denial on December 7th.  We were told to make a new appointment, which we did for today, January 5th 2011. We also had to pay a new $140.00 fee, which we did. We are dissatisfied with today's meeting, which was quite frankly, a sham. Louvenet was told that he was denied; again, today because, quite simply the consular officer's personal opinion was that he did not believe Louvenet would return to Haiti when he finished his education. This child's future is dictated by the whim of a 5 minute visit during which the evidence, careful planning, financial investment and clear dedication to the educational advancement and personal growth of a capable, compassionate and level headed future leader of his country, Haiti, is denied.

As a US citizen, we have been raised to believe that our government is just and fair. If we abide by the guidelines and laws of the government, which we have and then some, we should bear the fruit of its benevolence and justice, which we have not. We believe in Louvenet and his determination to better himself so that he can return to Haiti, stronger and wiser, to effect change in his country, his community and his family.

We expect this child's file to have an honest, unbiased review and for open and honest communication to occur on how it is that Louvenet can show his intent. We will not allow Louvenet to be dismissed. We intend to continue to advocate for what is right and just.

What we ask from you is that the social injustice occurring in Haiti, committed through by the US Embassy, be brought to light through your true, effective and insightfully candid dialogue. It is our firm belief that a miscarriage of justice has occurred in Louvenet’s case, but more importantly, for the Haitian community as a whole. Each day 100-300 Haitians, who have all paid non-refundable visa application fees lineup and are ushered though the consular office for their 5 minute visit. As you may imagine, the great majority of these applicants are not approved for visas and are treated in the same manner as which Louvenet has had to bear. When we called to find out the rationale for the denial we were told quite simply, “Every Haitian on the island wants to get out. And we just are not giving out visas, for anything, right now.” I wish we had the name of the individual who shared this information with us, but it is the policy of the embassy not to give out their names.  What I find appalling is that the US embassy is taking money, upwards in some cases, of several hundreds of dollars, knowing full well that they are not giving out visas. The yearly average income in Haiti is roughly $600 USD. For our government to know, premeditatedly, that they are not giving out visas but to continue to take the visa fees is incorrigible and unthinkable. Louvenet is fortunate in that he has us to advocate for him, most of the other Haitian applicants do not. My desire is that the US public be aware of this travesty; that the US government considers their protocols regarding visas.  If they are not giving out visas they should put a moratorium on applications and stop taking the money from these people. Please contact us and we would be happy to answer more questions. We need your help to us bring an end to this injustice.

Our contact information:

Jaclyn Owings 206-992-5754

Autumn Kostelecky 425-268-0385 

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter,

Jaclyn Owings

If this hits a nerve, call you congress person and ask for changes to be made for all Haitians!

The Ups and Downs of getting a VISA

It has been awhile since we've posted last.  A lot has happened......or not happened in this time.
Jaclyn took another trip to Haiti in the beginning of December to accompany Louvenet and his parents to the Embassy for his Visa interview.  The week before his interview, Jaclyn spent time with Sean Penn's group helping with the cholera outbreak. 
Finally the day arrived for the interview.  Jaclyn, Louvenet and his parents arrived at 6am to get into line to go into the embassy......waiting, waiting, waiting......once they got to the entrance, Jaclyn was not allowed to go in with Louvenet and his parents.  Talk about tense.  All the hard work of fund raising, getting the right papers and the financial paperwork together, getting the passport, getting Louvenet accepted into a private high school.....all in a little folder, being carried into the Embassy by Louvenet.
They were in there waiting for their turn for many, many hours......from what I understand, the interview took less then 10 minutes.  He was denied!  The disappointment was heart breaking!  Multiple calls back to the United States to Autumn.  Desperately trying to find a way to talk to someone that could explain what was happening.  Autumn remembered one of the top level people from The Everett Clinic, where they work, come to a fund raiser lunch and told them if they ever needed some help to let him know.  Well.....they needed some help!  Autumn sent him an email explaining the situation.  Asking him if he knew of anything that could help.  He just happened to be in Washington DC and  went on Louvenet's behalf to Rick Larson, Rep. office to see if there was anything that could be done.  What timing! 
Talking with people at the Embassy, it was discovered that all Visa applications were being denied.  On the day of the interview, only 1 was granted to a very sick child for medical reasons.  Jaclyn also found out that Louvenet could request another interview.  All the application paperwork needed to be resubmitted, but this time we would have the backing of the support of Washington State's House of Representative, Rick Larson.
With new paperwork in hand, Louvenet and his father will be reinterviewing January 5th.....keep them in your thoughts and prayers!!

Bunco for Louvenet

Just go home from a wonderful evening of dice rolling, food and friendship.  30 people gathered this evening at Ginny's house to raise money for Louvenet's journey and play a little Bunco.  Jaclyn and Autumn put together a great time.  They had many door prizes......one of which I won!! A beautiful red platter.  We all brought an appetizer, so the food was great too!  Nothing like little quiches, sausage rolls and meatballs, washed down with a glass of wine, sangria or a margarita!!!
Martha was our big winner...17 wins, while we had to have a roll off for our biggest looser!  All in all, we raised $500 dollars tonight!  And had a lot of fun doing it!
Jaclyn is planning another trip down to Haiti, leaving November 29th.  She is combining a mission trip, to help with the cholera outbreak and go with Louvenet and his parents to the Embassy Visa interview on Dec 6th.  Please keep her in your prayers while she is away!! 
It is amazing how quickly everything is coming together.  Hopefully, Louvenet will be here within 3 months!!

Trip to Haiti a Success!!

It has been awhile, but Jaclyn is back from her trip to Haiti.  She was able to get Louvenet's application in for his Visa.  It had to be done online, so she brought her computer.  It was challenging getting Louvenet's picture on the application to fit all the qualifications the government set up.  I saw it.....looked like your average mug shot....guess smiling for small pictures is not common place in Haiti.  Luckily there was a computer savy guy that helped them out.  It is amazing how difficult it is to transfer a tiny picture onto an application!  Now a date just needs to be selected for the oral interview at the consulate.
Jaclyn had other adventures on this trip to Haiti.  It was raining for a lot of the time she was there.  Not the little sprinkling, drizzling rain that we get here.....but torrential down pouring that caused 3-4 inches to be running down the roads and hills.  She was riding into Port a Pax, when the moto (motorcycle to you and me) she was riding with 2 other people on it, got into a minor wreck.  Now a minor wreck here would not mean much....but the bike fell over and landed on Jaclyn's calf....with the muffler.  She then walked in the run off with a large, deep burn.  When she finally got home, can we all say....".infection"?  She went to the walk in clinic and had to get a antibiotic shot in her hip and have the burn debreded.  It is looking much better now...but there's going to be evidence of this trip for a long while!

Jaclyn in Haiti

     The on going story of Louvenet......Jaclyn's in Haiti!!!   Autumn and she signed all the papers at Grace Academy and paid the tuition for next year schooling.  They received the Sevis (sp?) forms from Home Land Security to take to Haiti to be able to apply for the Visa. She flew down on Saturday 9/18 to Miami and into Haiti on Sunday.
     From the little tidbits I can gather from short phone conversations and  phone texts plus her FB posting, she arrived safe and was able to get from Port au Prince to Port De Paix without problems.  She will be starting the Visa application process soon.  I did hear about a little motorcycle accident.......nothing broken, that I am aware of, but did have a exhaust burn to her calf..Praying she is OK!

     Here is her FB posting:
          In Haiti. Made it just fine. Slow going getting stuff done here. No big surprise though! Lou is well. I am ok. hoping to get application done tomorrow. hot! miss my family alot. see you guys in a few more days.

She will be coming back on Monday 9/27...Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for safe travel!