3.31.2008

Day 11- Leaving Liberia

O'rehta, Macey, Vanessa- the final day!

Jacob, Greg and a really adorable Liberian baby!

Today was a sad day and a happy day. We were so sad to leave our wonderful friends in Liberia. We are so happy to be returning to our wonderful family! We had the pleasure of having our final meal in Liberia with a group wonderful people from the churches. It was a wonderful time.

At the airport we are pretty sure we witnessed a child being stolen from the country. This was so disturbing. We are truely heartbroken over it. We noticed a man going through immigration with a young boy, about 8 or 9 years old. It was clear as they questioned him that this boy was not his son, although he was trying to convince them that he was (they did not have the same last name either!). The boy did not even know this man's name. By the time we were forced to go through another area for security the boy was crying. The man was from Nigeria, and the boy was Liberian. After we went to the next area we were watching and praying that they would not let the boy travel with that man. The man came through alone and we thought all was well. All was not well. We assume that he bribed the officers, this is common practice in Liberia. The boy came through and joined the man about 10 minutes later. The man had a smug smirk on his face and we were appalled! So, Greg sought out every airport official he could locate, and told them we wanted an answer for why they let this boy get through. They all promised they would bring someone of higher authority over, and after repeated attempts and Greg being threatened by the guards, the boy and the man boarded a plane that was leaving prior to ours. Please pray for this boy, and for other children like him who are sold into other countries daily. This was such a hard thing for us and our kids to witness. It will be with us forever.

1 comment:

Donna Barber said...

We can be thankful that Alma and other consulars do what they can do to curb as much of this as possible with their positions as well. How sad for that boy. How sad for the millions of children who are sold each each.