We entered the front door to a small living area adorned with a table and chairs and the echo of low voices in the back of the house. Behind a small curtain we discovered a narrow hallway lit only by the open back door. I was greeted by two women who were tending to seven, small toddlers seated on the floor feeding themselves from small plastic bowls. To the right, I found another room where Robin sat discussing with Dora how to properly take measurements of children for medical evaluations. In Robin’s lap sat a 2-week old baby. Another child, around the age of three, wandered in with 30 black yarn braids in her hair. At this point questions swirled in my head. I knew that the children outside this house came from the local village to attend school, but who were these babies sitting in the hallway? Who were these other children? The two receiving Robin’s attention, the girl with the braids and the infant, were abandoned separately in banana fields the week prior. I asked who had braided the girl’s hair, and they told me she was found already braided. It made her abandonment so real to me. It was an all-too-real, tangible reminder that this child, at one time, had a family. I felt as though whomever left her still loved her and gave her all they could give – thirty yarn braids and a paper bag of neatly folded clean clothes. The children in the hallway were there for a different reason. They had been removed from their families due to neglect. When I went back out to visit with them they had finished their meals and were sitting on a woman’s lap. Quickly, I realized these children were severely malnourished. Their arms and legs seemed too long and thin and their heads seemed so large for their tiny bodies. I had no way of knowing how old they were. Robin later explained how difficult and delicate the task was of nourishing these children back to health. She also explained that the Queen Esther Center is a safe place for children in need, while Action For Children works with the extended families to help foster a safer home environment.
H olt I nt e r n at i on a l / W i nt e r 2010
I was speechless. I sat for a while in the small front room with Esther in my lap while she eagerly munched on a muffin. Suddenly this new daughter I had known for only a week seemed so healthy, so loved, and so well cared for. I was grateful that these children at the Queen Esther Center were finally getting the love and care they so desperately needed as well. While it was heartbreaking to meet children abandoned in a banana field or see the utter weakness in a starved child, I was deeply inspired by the dedication and faith fostered by Action for Children and Holt. I knew Holt did more than facilitate adoptions, but seeing exactly what they do, truly filled me with pride as a new member of the Holt family. Our adoption, and relationship with Holt, not only provided a family for a child but also helped keep Ugandan families together, intervened when a child was in danger, helped educate parents and provided education for children who would otherwise go without. My husband and I hope to return to Uganda again, but not to adopt, as we’ve been inspired in another way. Holt and Action For Children showed us how to make very real and tangible differences in children’s lives with very few resources, a willingness to love and the drive to do something about it.
6
Above: Children who enter into care at the Queen Esther Center have often been neglected and are malnourished. The caretakers have the difficult job of nurturing them back to health, while AFC works with the families to establish a betUFS IPNF FOWJSPONFOU t $IJMESFO who have been abandoned are also brought into the Queen Esther Center. These two precious children were both found in banana fields on two separate occasions.
Erika Ives adopted her daughter, Esther, from Uganda as part of Holt’s Pilot Adoption program. If you are interested in adopting a child from Africa, Holt offers one of its least expensive adoption programs in the country of Ethiopia. Check out the Information Below:
Adopting a Child from Ethiopia The Children: Infants through school age Most are healthy and within normal ranges for development. Some children with medical conditions or special needs are available through Holt’s Waiting Child Program. We especially need families for boys and children 2 years and older
The Adoption Process: Quick, relatively uncomplicated Generally 12-18 months from approved application to child placement One of Holt’s least expensive programs, even with travel to Ethiopia At least one parent must travel to receive their child, and stay approximately one week to complete processing.