A New Week With a Passport

Internet has been down for a while and when we had it, it was not good enough for a blog post.  Here is what was going on over the last few days...

Keela D

December 12

Imara is a tough cookie. She is very injured, but is tolerating the pain remarkably well! Her lip is healing very quickly and doesn't look like it will need surgery.  We are still waiting on her passport...the passport office said tomorrow....although that has been their line for the past 3 days....

Keela D

December 14

Well....the last 24 hours has been rough. Imara is in fairly extreme pain most of the time. The pain killer knocks it down for an hour or two, but other than that, she is shrieking and doubling over in pain with tears pouring down her face asking for more medicine. The cerebral swelling appears to be worse, she says her belly is hurting a lot, and we are worried about septicemia – the increasing pain is concerning. It is definitely hard knowing there is excellent medical care waiting for her in the U.S., but until the passport is printed, we can't really help her. On top of that, I was bit by something (not a mosquito) 7 times on my face. I have big welts all over my face with a pretty gnarly headache. And on top of that, I'm here with another ABI volunteer, Luke, who was robbed on the street this morning! He is not hurt and the robbers only made off with $50, a key, and his Congo phone, but it was scary. To sum it up, we'll take any prayers we can get for safety, quick paperwork, and to keep Imara's body strong while we wait this out.

Today's Update:

We finally got Imara's passport!!!  Thank you Lord!  The office that prints passports apparently did not have power or internet for a few days and was not able to print any passports.  While we were waiting last Thursday and Friday we met with an Advisor and Director for DRC's Ministry of Gender and Family to tell them about Imara's story.  They were horrified by what happened to Imara and are offering their support to help get the remaining documents prepared and approved.  In addition, they are considering using Imara's case to advocate against this type of violence in Congo - it is horrible this happened to Imara, but it is our hope that her story can help prevent a similar situation happening to another child.

Imara is still in significant pain.  Her brain is still swollen and we notice different neurological effects every day.  Her injured right arm is significantly colder than her left arm which indicates a circulation issue and it hurts her quite a bit.  She is leaking a clear fluid and some blood from her rectum indicating internal organ injury.  Poor thing also has scabies all over her head.  Needless to say, she is very uncomfortable and in a lot of pain, but luckily the pain killers give her periods of relief.  She is an absolutely adorable and sweet little girl.  It is hard not to keep thinking about why anyone would do this to her.  As we learn more about her story, we slowly start to see pieces of the situation that led to the abuse.  The radial "christian/evangelical" churches and followers are popularizing accusations of witchcraft/sorcery along with the exorcism rituals and the misfortune some families see leaving them completely destitute to the point where adults eat one meal one day and children eat one meal the next day significantly contributes to the horrific phenomenon of "children witches".  That is not to say those are excuses, just that the issue is complex and increasingly prevalent.  It is comforting to know that the Congolese government officials responsible for children's social affairs are working to stop this violence against children.

Now that we have Imara's passport, we can meet with the U.S. Embassy in hopes of Imara being issued a medical visa.  We have an appointment for tomorrow morning, but there is a visa fee that has to be paid at a local bank prior to the meeting.  The bank is only open for visa fees Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30-12:30.  We did not get the passport in hand until after 1:00PM today.  Even though it was after the allotted visa fee time at the bank, I went over there today to see if they may possibly let me pay her fee based on the urgency of the situation.  By the time we figured out the bank's location and sat in the car for 45 minutes in grid-locked traffic to travel 2 miles (and yes, I tried to walk, but I was told twice it is not a good idea and I would probably get robbed in that area of town), the guards at the bank would not let us in because the bank was closing.  They said we have to come back Wednesday (which means we will miss the visa appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning).  We told the guards about Imara's urgent case and they said we can come back in the morning to try and see if the bank will let us pay the fee on a Tuesday since she is an exceptional case.  We are going to the bank when they open at 8AM in hopes that they will accept and process Imara's visa fee and then get back to the U.S. Embassy for a 9AM appointment.

If this does not work, we will have to wait until Thursday for a visa appointment.  At that point, the likelihood of getting the exit letter from Congolese immigration before Christmas will be slim - and most Congolese offices close for 1-2 weeks starting at Christmas through the new year.  So, we're on the clock to get Imara's travel authorizations together as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who has helped work on Imara's case directly or indirectly and thank you for every prayer.  Our wish for Imara is that she can get to the awesome hospital waiting to give her the care she needs by Christmas!