We first introduced you to the kids of Camp Hope last summer when eight orphans from Russia visited Iowa looking for a new home. Two metro families working to adopt Camp Hope kids had hoped to have them here by Christmas, but their wait continues.
Rob Christensen of West Des Moines volunteered as a translator for Camp Hope last summer. By the time the week ended, this single guy decided it was time to become single dad.
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“People at work, they've been great. They keep saying we're going to throw you, not a baby shower but a ‘kid shower,’” said Christensen.
He's already got the books, the bunk beds, and the backpacks. And after months of paperwork, he's on his way to Russia this week to become the father of 11-year-old Ivan and his 13-year-old brother, Victor.
“Their father passed away in 2000,” said Christensen. “After that their mother became an alcoholic.”
It’s a sad but all too familiar story in Russia, leaving kids like Ivan and Victor to grow up in an orphanage until their government considers them ‘adults’ at age sixteen.
“When they age out it’s basically here's a little bit of money. You're on your own,” Christensen explained.
That is until a trip to Iowa last summer through the local non-profit Camp Hope changed everything for the boys.
“I actually have some school work, homework, for them to do while we're over in Russia so they can get a little head start because there will be some down time while we're over there, just waiting for paperwork to be processed,” said Christensen.
In Waukee, Joe and Kari Lang are waiting on paperwork of their own for 12-year-olds Sergey and Vitaly. Like Rob, they'd hoped to have the boys home to join their son, Devin, by Christmas.
“Christmas was bitter sweet,” said Kari Lang. “It just was a void because we thought that they would be there,” she said.
Of course the test of patience goes both ways as Kari recalled from their trip to Russia in October when they found the boys waiting outside.
“We didn't even call to say this is what time we're coming so we have no idea how long they were waiting outside the orphanage, and when we pulled up I mean the car wasn't even stopped and they were opening the door,” she said.
During the required visit, the family got to have some fun. They visited a swimming pool and went grocery shopping. But Joe and Kari also got a chance to learn more about the boys’ past, and the substance abuse that ruined their families. Vitaly has spent seven years at the orphanage and Sergey, the last two.
“I know Sergey has said over and over, ‘I will never drink. I will never smoke. I will never do drugs.’ He is very, very sad. He had a good relationship with his mom,” said Kari Lang.
Rob made a similar trip in the fall to see Ivan and Victor. Thanks to an understanding employer, he's now returning to Russia to spend the next month there finalizing the adoption.
“It will actually probably turn out to be almost like a pregnancy. It’s going to be about nine months from the beginning of the process to the end,” said Christensen.
The Lang’s hope they won’t be far behind. They've tried to use the extra time to prepare, holding fundraisers to cover the adoption costs. The bills are expected to total more than $40,000. From there they say they can only hope they'll be ready.
“There was a time when we were like, ‘Wow! Can we handle it?’ And we know we can. We know they were put in our lives for a reason,” said Kari Lang.
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