The last few weeks I’ve been getting updates from the organization I volunteered with in South Africa.
While I was volunteering at the home, I learned of one of the high school girls’ past home life. The abuse she had suffered from her family was absolutely horrifying. Still, though, she remained friendly and driven in her studies. And when I went on my morning runs, she was usually one of the girls joining me. The first email I received informed me that she had been returned to her family by the government’s order, and she was recently found working in a brothel. She is only 14. I am absolutely heart broken thinking about this. And now reminded how far my life is now from what I was doing just a year ago. I feel quite useless at this moment.
But in a bright spot of news, the organization emailed me yesterday saying that inter-country adoptions will be OK’d starting April 1. That means that some of the kids who have been there since they were babies have a much better chance for adoption. There are a handful of these young kids (under 5) who’ve basically been raised in the home and have no emotional or physical problems…but just have to share their house with about 35 others.
So if you or someone you know has ever thought of adopting internationally and want to have a super-sweet kid (that I can completely vouch for in the sweetness department) who probably speaks pretty good English, let me know, and I’ll put you in touch with the organization and their lawyer.
