A Two-Poster Day

We had thought it would be a good plan, in order to reduce my length of stay in Congo, for me to fly directly to Kinshasa (embassy) and meet Paul with Miriam. It is there that we complete the immigration process. If all goes well, that would take about a week. Trusting the people who are helping facilitate the adoption in Goma, we were advised that it would be better for me to fly to Goma (via Kigali), so that I could meet Miriam's mother. With our meeting, she would be willing and able to release Miriam to us. Being a mother, I thought that was a completely reasonable request. After all, this is likely the last time she will ever see her daughter.

I was asked by one of my post readers to explain Miriam's orphan status...Last December her father died of AIDS. Her mother is HIV+. She has been gravely ill in the past, but is now in a period of recovery. Access to anti-retrovirals is very limited in Congo, so we doubt that she is using them to maintain her health. The U.S. Department of Immigration (USCIS) defines an orphan as either a child with no parent, or with one parent who is unable to care for the child. Miriam's HIV status is negative. USCIS will not allow an HIV+ child to immigrate. Part of what we have to do in Kinshasa is see an embassy referred physician who will test Miriam for several communicable diseases.

So it seems we have overcome the problem about our departure with Miriam, just in time for a new complication to arise. I just got a text message from Paul, letting me know that the attorney in Kinshasa was unable to get a passport, so we won't have one until next week. Apparently the government office that issues passports has run out of the official booklets. They are due in "next week"--whatever that means.

Right now the attorney is preparing the documents at the place where Paul is staying. The compound has a generator, and Goma has been without the usual few hours of electricity today, so he was unable to use his computer.

The latest plan is that I will leave for Goma on Sunday. I'm so ready to go! I'll write again this afternoon.