Visa Awarded

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta has awarded Tison and Hendra a visa to come to the U.S. This is really good news for all of us--many people have worked on making this possible. This is a major step forward. Tison and Hendra, his escort, will be in Alaska sometime in the second week of December. This will be a wonderful year for Tison--he will be given all the medical treatment needed to repair his burn injuries. Tison will be going to private school while he is here. He will learn a lot and make some friends. I want to thank everyone who had a part in making this possible.

Great News

I wanted to update all of you on the progress in the effort to get Tison to Alaska for the medical help being offered to him. Tison is burned over 40% of his body and has suffered a lot following the kerosene spill accident. He is so brave and has been living with his disabilities.

The amazing Liz Wood, surgical nurse and unstoppable advocate, has been the coordinator of the medical effort to treat his injures. She has been successful in finding the medical team to help him and always wildly optimistic. Dr. Greg and Susan Johnson and their son, Andrew, will be his family while he is here for the year. They will give him lots of love and welcome him to American life. The support team is in place and we are ready for Tison to come.

The team in Indonesia has performed miracles of logistics and coordination. Peter Scarborough and Hendra have never given up and have put countless hours in travel and knocking on door after door. The U.S. Embassy gave Tison an appointment for December 22. That was a long time to wait. It would put a burden on Tison’s family. His father has to go to the Embassy and authorize his travel to the U.S. Yesterday I got a note from Indonesia that said—Tison’s father wants to go back to his home. He would come back for the Embassy appointment. This presented a huge challenge. Peter asked his father to stay until next week to see if the appointment can be earlier. Today we got a note that Senator Murkowski and her staff have advocated for an earlier appointment and it was granted. The new appointment is now on November 24. This is one day following Tison’s 10^th birthday. This will be a great birthday gift for Tison.

Tison is in the city of Manado. He has never seen some of the more modern fixtures we take for granted. He went to his first mall. He was fascinated by the escalator—he road it up and down. It was like an amusement park. Imagine what he will think of snow.

Thanks for your prayers. It is fun watching miracles.

One Step at aTime

Yes--it seems like getting Tison to the U.S. is just a small step at a time. Tison's parents were able to find a Notary who would sign the "power of attorney". The problem that was confronted was to find a Notary who could sign an English document (POA). The Indonesian Notary would not notarize a document that they did not understand. We had the original document translated into Indonesian and we had a translator on site to assist the Notary and instruct Tison's family.

This is just another step closer to the goal of getting Tison to Fairbanks. It is a stretch for us in the west to see the delays and steps that have to be taken to get these documents signed and the process moving forward. We just have to be patient with the progress and thankful that it is going in the right direction.

Bumps in the Road

I have sad this many times--it is hard work helping people. The efforts to get Tison to the U.S. are moving forward. We did run into a "bump in the road". We need to have the "power of attorney" documents signed and notarized by an Indonesian Notary. We had the POA translated into Indonesian and also in English. Tison and his family went to Ternate to have the documents signed They could not find a Notary who could read English.

It looks like the best option is to go to another city and find a Notary who can read English and notarize the documents. It gets complicated sometimes. The process to get Tison to Alaska for the surgeries is full of plenty of "bumps in the road".

Tison's parents will travel to Jakarta to meet with officials at the U.S. Embassy. We want to make sure every document is in order. When Tison is awarded the visa to come to the U.S. he will have passed a number of bumps in that road. It takes a lot of effort and costs to just get him to the place where he can get the help being offered to him.

Culture Shock

Imagine the shock Tison, the nine year old Indonesian burn survivor, will have when he steps off the warm Alaska Airlines flight onto the frozen walkway into the terminal. Fairbanks Alaska is a very cold place in the winter. I have been told the he is excited about coming to Alaska. I know he is excited but he will experience a cold that he cannot even imagine.

There will be the normal culture issues to overcome. He is a really great little boy. He will be safe and cared for by his host family. I know it will be a challenge but I believe he will do very well. The cold will definitely be something he will tell his children about. Indonesians think 75 degrees F. is cold. They put on sweaters and pull the hoods over their heads.

He is an active boy and might love the winter activities. He will get to have his first real white Christmas.

We are still waiting for the appointment at the Embassy in Jakarta. When he is awarded his visa--he will be on his way to the bitter cold of the north.

Next Step

The next step for Tison, the nine year old burn victim, is to get all his letters of support to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. We have organized and sent all the these letters from Alaska. We sent the package by Fedex to Indonesia. This Fedex package full of the letters he needs went from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Memphis to Anchorage in four days. It winged it way to China and was in and out of the distribution center in an hour and a half before arriving in Jakarta. Finally, the letters made it to Manado.

The next stop is the U.S. Embassy. Tison, his father and Hendra, the escort, will make an appointment at the Embassy. Once the time is set at the Embassy we can begin to plan his arrival in the U.S. Tison will receive the medical treatment he needs once he gets to Alaska.

We are hopeful that he will be awarded a visa to come to the U.S. We have done everything we can do on this end and it is up tot he Embassy to do the rest.