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2010 proved to be a wonderful year and so many things happened in Congo.  I have been to Kinshasa three times this year.  In February I was gone for 16 days, July/August I was gone 19 days and then my big unexpected stay in Nov/Dec I was gone 42days.  I can tell you it was the hardest but definitely the most rewarding of my trips so far.  Every trip has its wonderful moments and its tears.  My trip in Nov proved to be the one that tested my faith. I left the Sunday before Thanksgiving with my lone box of stove top stuffing and a trusty hot pot.  I traveled with one family and met four more families in Congo.  I am hear to tell you that a US hot pot in Congo does nothing but blow fuses.  After ten attempts to heat water on Thanksgiving it was finally hot enough to make our stuffing.  It was the best stuffing I had ever tasted.  We all sat around the table and shared the stuffing and talked od things we were thankful about. The friendships that were made are priceless.  Tears were shed of laughter and sadness.  Children bonded with parents and families were made in front of my eyes.
My memories of the children included laughter, French and Lingala language, singing, the eating and the food they consume, bathroom habits that still make me smile, break dancing in the showers, begging for candy from anyone they didn’t know, love and hugs. Did I mention the laughter?  We had many challenges put in our pathway and all where handled carefully and systematically.  New rules where put into place while we were traveling but the moment we knew about them, documents were gotten.  The DGM office proves as always to be an ever changing entity.  They are learning along with our own government, so be prepared for the hiccups that come along with working in a newly established program.  In 2008 this country only did 8 adoptions all year. In 2010 I helped with 12.  And this is just one agency.  We currently have 14 families and 16 children waiting for travel.  This is going to be an exciting year.

We are always looking to expand the program in Congo.  Last year we started working with three more orphanages.  The children are in need of many things and we are working to get them food and formula.  This is their immediate need. Our hope is to find families for those who are free to be adopted.  I am always greeted with such warm smiles and I cannot forget the innocent children who brought me to this country.  My heart has been stolen by these precious children, and I will continue to work on their behalf.  They are my reason for getting up in the morning and for my sleepless nights.  In the beginning of my stay I put all of the eight childrens pictures up on my mirror in my room.  They were the last faces I saw before I closed my eyes and the first thing I saw when I woke up. When the children finally started to leave I would take them down.  One at a time my mirror started to clear until I saw only one face and it was mine.  The joy I felt as I looked at the empty mirror was beyond anything words can describe. We started a ritual as each family left.  We would all go to the porch, take a group picture and say our good byes as Matthew or Andre would drive them to the airport.  Many tears of joy were shed and many friendships were bonded on those good byes.

I would like to share with you my blog entry about my Christmas.  Yes I missed Christmas with my family but it will be one that I will never forget.

At the urging of Molly, Heather, and Sr. Petronille the car showed up for me at 12:30. I went to be with the children on the holiday. Little did I know I would learn so much in the next 7 hours. I was greeted, as always to the smiling happy hearts of 35 children. Their Christmas was not like yours or mine would have been but filled with the excitement of the tree and the plastic 99 cent toys each of the small ones received. They got to have a pop today along with a more generous portion of chicken. They were all just beaming ear to ear.  Thanks to Catherine, Robbie, and Fr. Prosper (who left for Kenya last week), the children were taken on a picnic to the seminary were he lived. The brothers greeted them with open arms, music, laughter, and joy. There were no toys given just time and grass to run in and food. They were happy as I took video and picture after picture. Each one spent time on my lap and I love them for that. I thank them for making me their family on Christmas and they all looked at me like I had two heads. As sister explained I already am their family and their hope for a brighter future. I did not see all the children as 17 of them had gone the day before to their picnic so I only spent time with 18 yesterday. I will remember the looks on their faces as we turned the corner into our picnic area.  Tables were set and pop was iced, balls were blown up and ready to be kicked. You see these children have no grass to run on and no trees to protect them from the sun.  This was their day in heaven. 
They played until the sun retreated behind the horizon. All 25 of us piled into the 12 passenger bus we sang all the way home. When we got back to OLJ it was dark and several of them were sleeping.  A day I will remember forever.

The one thing that keeps coming back to me all the time is the happiness these children share with all who meet them.  Never a stranger in the crowd and they all think their lives are good.  I find them to be very inspirational.  The people I have come to call my friends give me the insight I need to work in this country.  They help me to understand the culture and the rules.  I love going to this country.  It has captured my heart and my soul.

My Trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
By Julia Holtgrewe

This is such an exciting time for Wasatch Adoptions.  I just returned home from the Democratic Republic and it was an absolutely amazing trip.  It is very important for the agency to establish a good working relationship with the people of this country and while in Kinshasa I visited several orphanages and saw many beautiful children.  The children living in the DRC are displaced due to loss of parents, often times because of war, but always because of circumstances beyond their control.  The first thing I noticed was the happiness of the children.  The orphanages we established connections with take very good care of the children and the children are loved and are fed at least one time each day – something that isn’t common for children without families to take care of them.  Food centers established in the DRC that take care of street children only serve 3 meals a week, so the children living in the orphanages are the lucky ones.

The Congolese government has little restrictions as to the children available for adoption.  However, we have made the commitment to help children who have no parents or at least no mother to take care of them.  In the DRC it is customary for the women to take care of the child, so if the mother passes away the father is not required to provide for the child.  Some children have grandparents, aunts or uncles but this extended family cannot take care of the child.  And, some children have been accused of witchcraft and have been tossed out of their homes. 

While I was in Kinshasa I visited seven orphanages.  Out of those seven orphanages I chose only three of orphanages to work with.  Some of the things I looked for in these orphanages were does the orphanage really take care of the children living there, and if a child is too old to be adopted does the orphanage help them access programs that will train the child so that he or she has an employable skill when they leave the orphanage.  One of the things Wasatch Adoptions will do is donate $1,000 of the foreign fee to the orphanage the child being adopted lives in so the children left behind can be helped. 

While there I made many friends and, as always, the people are wonderful.  I was treated to many Congolese meals that were scrumptious.  The Director of General Migration was gracious and we were able to have a wonderful discussion on what his expectations for this program.  He wants nothing but good things for these children and I enjoyed my visit with him tremendously.  Also, another positive thing is that the US Embassy is on board with adoptions from the DRC as long as they can see that we are operating within the laws of the DRC and the US system.  Money paid to others outside the adoption process is frowned upon and something we do not do – our program is very transparent and adoptive families will always know where their money is going.  We work with a wonderful attorney who is very responsive to our questions, and he has been highly recommended by the US Embassy in Kinshasa. 

The one world of caution about adopting from the Congo is that communication with this region can sometimes be difficult.  Very few people have internet access, but instead must go to an internet café to pick up emails.   The people may visit the internet café once a week or once a day, so questions may not be answered immediately.  Anyone adopting from the DRC must be able to have patience at times, but we will get questions answered as quickly as we can.  The people in the Congo are anxious to find families for these children and love America.  They are happy when a child can be adopted by an American family because they know this child will be loved, taken care of, and will have opportunities for a good life.

If you have any questions about adopting from the Congo, please don’t hesitate to contact Wasatch regarding this program.  For more information, please email Cyndi Peck at cyndi@wiaa.org anytime.