I fell madly in love with a 2"x 2" picture of Bina sent to me in June by the government of Nepal explaining I'd been matched with her. Contained within the two pages of basic information accompanying her little picture, was some medical background regarding her difficult beginnings. Bina was severely undernourished when she was brought into orphanage care, as well as being born with the birth defect of a cleft palate. Bina remained a resident of the same orphanage from the day she was found until I came to Nepal, visited with her over a 5-day period and then signed her adoption decree August 8th 2010--- the day before her 4th birthday, and the day when she began living with me in a hotel room in Kathmandu, Nepal.
In many countries, even the U.S., a special needs sickly child like Bina is often the first to be abandoned due to shame, lack of education or simply the inability to adequately care for the child. I came here to claim her, bring her home to the U.S. and provide a simple, happy life for her and me. I never imagined when I traveled here, I'd be living in politically unstable Nepal for more than 4-months and counting. I could never have anticipated I'd be here this long, existing as a new mother, in one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, renting an apartment with a room mate in a similar situation, while holding down my mortgage in Boston and living off the equity line on my home.
If you had told me I'd leave my career for this long and be separated from my 80-year-old mother who I live with for this extended period of time, I would have said, "No, that's just not possible." But , here we sit waiting for news of her Visa home. Despite all the reasons we should be home, despite the extrodinary difficulties existing here in this country, Bina and I are learning how to love one another deeply and be a family as we wait to get our Visa home granted and be re-united with our friends and family in America.
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| First Time I Held Bina |
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| Bina's Orphanage |
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