Dispatches from the Congo – A Journey of Love (Part 5)
~Andrew and Rev. Bashaka By Erin Pohland It’s night in Kinshasa. I know I live in Alaska, so I’m not a good judge of darkness, but it gets dark so early here! By 5:30, it seems to be pretty dark. It doesn’t help that there aren’t any street lights or very many buildings with electricity, I suppose. Andrew is napping — we had a BIG day again today! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he sleeps through the night. He actually napped for 4.5 hours yesterday afternoon, until 8:30 p.m., got up and ate (a vanilla yogurt, which he…
Dispatches from the Congo – A Journey of Love (Part 3)
By Erin Pohland On October 15, 2010, my world changed forever: it’s a boy!! I listened with wonder to the news of my little one: 10 months old and healthy. Due to lack of medical care and extreme, crushing poverty, his mother had died as a result of childbirth, just 8 days after giving birth to my baby boy. His father, an itinerant farmer, didn’t have any way of caring for his son. Through these very tragic circumstances, I received the gift of a lifetime: my son! I was the first adoptive family for the Congo for my agency, and we…
Dispatches from the Congo – A Journey of Love (Part 2)
By Erin Pohland [Read Part One HERE] After choosing to join a pilot program and adopt from the Congo rather than Ethiopia, I broke the news somewhat gingerly, aware that such news might not be welcome. The reaction was mixed. Friends and family members who were more savvy about world affairs were immediately worried; the Congo is not exactly the place where you want to send someone you care about for a few days, let alone an extended period of time. A certain loved one (who shall remain nameless) is an avid Fox News viewer. Given that Fox News doesn’t…
Dispatches from the Congo – a Journey of Love (Part 1)
By Erin Pohland “We’re opening a pilot program in the Congo. Would you consider being one of our first families?” With those words, my life changed. The Congo — the so-called “heart of darkness,” the rape capital of the world, and one of the most dangerous and impoverished countries in the world. I said yes. Less than a year after that conversation, I was on a plane to get my son. I had made the decision to adopt in February of that year, after consulting with various doctors and doing a lot of soul-searching. While I may very well be…