The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare placed Levi with Acres of Hope in March of 2007. He was abandoned in a local hospital. Abandonment of children, especially special needs children, is all too common here in Liberia.
(Levi, March '07, right before he was placed in our orphanage.)
Levi still does not have an adoptive family.
We don't know exactly how old Levi is, since he was found abandoned, but when he came to us
almost two and a half years ago, doctors said he was about 18 months old. Levi has been diagnosed with moderate to severe cerebral palsy, along with extreme developmental delays and microcephaly (and a few other possible problems). In my observation he behaves like a 2-3 month old. He is easy to please, eats a lot, and loves to be sung to. Levi's adoption fees have been reduced by $2000.
(Levi in October of 2007.)
When a Liberian mother of a child with severe special needs realizes her baby is not developing normally, and he is getting bigger and bigger, she has to find a solution for his care. (There is no way your average poverty-stricken Liberian woman can make an honorable living while having to care for a severely handicapped child at the same time). Healthy, normal children are abandoned as well, though this is not as common and usually it is small babies. Teen mothers, or simply those who feel they are unable to care for their child, will abandoned their babies under market tables, in boxes floating down rivers, or even on garbage piles or buried in a hole in the ground. It is a very sad reality. Poverty brings people do to do things one would never imagine in good conditions. Illiteracy, and a vast lack of Biblical training makes the options for these desperate women seem very few. Those who abandon their babies in hospitals actually love them. They know that the child will probably be placed in an orphanage, which is much more loving than leaving them on a garbage pile where they will die if no one finds them in time. (A newborn baby in our neighborhood was abandoned on a garbage pile a couple years ago. Unfortunately no one discovered her in time…)
The wonderful thing about adoption is that it gives these desperate single mothers (and sometimes fathers) a loving option for their children. Some people are surprised to learn our orphans usually have one living (or present) parent. But as you can see, adoption in Liberia is offering a loving option to those mothers who feel there is no way they can provide their child with the care they deserve and need to survive (like Alvin's mother). Adoption truly saves lives.
Though physically Levi's body is broken, he is a beautiful child that God has created for a purpose. His handicaps were not an accident and God has a plan for this little boy's life. While Levi will never be "normal" he is a testimony of God's love for the least of these, as his life was preserved, he was placed with an adoption agency, and God's children have become His hands and feet to care for this needy little one. The family who adopts Levi will be storing up treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20) as they give to someone who will never be able to repay them (Luke 14:13-24), as they reach out to the least of these with God's love (Matthew 25:40), and as they seek justice for the orphaned (Isaiah 1:17). Those who live in light of eternity are the wise ones on this earth.
Because of Alvin the Liberian government has decided to start processing special needs children for adoption, in spite of the moratorium. A homestudy ready family could bring Levi home very soon, if everything were to go as speedily and smoothly as we hope. Do you know of a family who could bring Levi home?
Is it you???
-Melodie (AOH Volunteer)
