I was reading the children's bill on page 51 section 99.2 and the areas leading up to that. This is exactly what I was afraid of... it seems like Liberia doesn't really want international adoptions to continue so they will make it very difficult for those adopting. I understand they want to protect the children but what I have learned about recently from a family in our agency is not protecting children at all!
Basically, the government wants to be 100% sure that children are true orphans (I agree), they want to explore every option to care for the child before the child is adopted out of the country (I can understand this but if you don't have the means to do this, then how is it effective.)
We have a family who qualified for their children to leave the country. They're court decrees were present before the ban so the president sent them a letter telling them they can proceed with their adoption. They did all the necessary paperwork to complete their adoption and had a friend traveling to Liberia to escort the children home for her to her surprise when she arrived she could not get a visa issued for the 3 children. Why? Our Embassy! I'm thinking..."you've got to be kidding me! Issues on OUR side now?" Our embassy will not issue a visa because they believe the father of these 3 children is not poor enough to provide for his 3 children. This is the OPINION of a man who works for our embassy and has never personally met or visited the home of the father wanting his children to be adopted.
Let me tell you, this man lives in the bush. Literally...here is her story of her travel there and what she experienced
"a small, mud hut, deep in the interior of Liberia. It took us several hours to drive there, the one time I was there, driving across paths, not roads and small bodies of water cover with broken boards as I prayed the car would not break the boards and drop into the water. The hut is so small that at 5' 4" I could not stand in it. Mr. Yanty has many children who are older, he has no work and has had no work for a very long time. When his wife died giving birth to twins, and one died, he placed the youngest child in a very poor orphanage several miles from his hut and we placed that child for adoption. His other children are in total rags, the hut is extremely bad. Mrs. Yanty is deceased. The previous consular officer, Alma Gurski, interviewed the father and required DNA testing which was all clear. The three children have lived with AFAA for several years. They never attended school when living with their father in the very small hut. This is the US Embassy at it's worse. I am sending a copy to several people to ask for help."
So this man at the us embassy has an opinion, what he's basing it on I don't know b/c he's never visited with the father or seen his home. In my own words he's saying,..."suck it up, you CAN care for your three children with no job and no mother. No clean water, no means to feed them or give them medication when they have malaria attacks, no school so no future for your children, they will more than likely then carry on another generation with no hope, but you can do it!" Seriously! Is this helping Liberia and the children?
I'm so afraid for these children! And Onah and marie...will they have the same future of unfortunate children in Libiera because of one man's opinion? Having gone to Liberia and holding babies who are without a doubt in God's hands now because of the extreme poverty and lack of clean water and malaria, is something I don't want to even imagine for these children and Onah and Marie. Who gives this man the right to deny a child a future and LIFE? What gives him the right to tell a parent who cannot care for his child and wants a better future for them to say, "yes you can...I'm not going to allow you to have your children adopted." I would almost expect this from the Liberian government, sad to say, but not ours! UUGGHHH! I'm so disgusted!
Please please pray for these 3 children and all the children. I have met all the children in our program and they each have a special place in my heart. My heart hurts for the family and the 3 children going thruogh this right now. Pray for the situation to be resolved, and the us embassy to release them. Thank you!
3 years ago
