Kenya Gains More in International Adoptions
Posted on May 24, 2015
By Benjamin Njoroge, LL.B (UON)
A Foreign family that intends to adopt a Kenyan child has to spend a mandatory three months foster care period with the child in Kenya.
The Adoption process itself takes upto 12 months, though the ideal period should not be more than 7 months.
WHEN WE GIVE UP A KENYAN CHILD, WHAT DO WE GAIN IN RETURN?
The child is not really given up, since the child is on loan, so to speak, to a foreign family, who brings him/her up.
Upon maturity nothing bars the child from returning to Kenya.
WHAT DO WE GAIN?
The Foreign Families that we are now meeting arrive in Kenya armed with some knowledge about our Country. They are eager to share, make an impact and leave a mark before they depart from Kenya, with their adopted child. They want to give back something, leave a memory, before taking the child to their home country. They live in homes where they pay long term rents to Kenyans. They employ askaris, househelps, cooks, gardeners and drivers, contributing directly to our economy, which is a good thing.
During the adoption process, the foreign couples receive visitors be it their parents, siblings or friends.
Despite the travel advisories warning against none essential travel to the Kenyan coast, families and friends have been visiting from Europe. It is these same visitors who upon return to their countries sell the good images of Kenya abroad. They market our Country. They go on safaris and pay directly into our crippled tourism industry.
DIRECT IMPACT INTO KENYAN LIVES
I know of a couple who during their stay in Kenya came up with a list of 29 local children who needed education sponsors. By the time they were leaving, they had linked up 7 sponsors with 7 children. These are 7 Kenyan children whose school fees will probably be paid up till College or University level by people who would otherwise never have known of their plight.
I know of a couple who arranged a full wedding for their cook and his wife and even offered to be the best couple, making a dream come true for a simple Kenyan family and giving them a day to be proud of and memories that they will never forget.
There is a couple that has dug a borehole in Maasai Land at a village where their night guard hails from. And the entire community now benefits from a chance encounter of one villager with this wonderful foreign family.
Another couple is putting up a house for a destitute family they met in Kwale, during their foster care period.
A couple has bought several sewing machines and set up a women’s group who sew scarfs for sale in Norway. A foreign market has been opened up by this linkage.
A trader in Diani is now able to export his wooden carvings to Holland thanks to a Dutch family that assisted him set up such an enterprise, opening up our country, thanks to the Foreign Families.
These wonderful stories would never have been realized was it not for the International Adoptions and the foster care period.
WAY FORWARD
We intend to encourage foreign families to come and share their special skills while in Kenya for free, during the foster care period.
A few examples are:
- Chefs can teach village groups or school kids how to cook or bake.
- Teachers can offer to teach foreign languages in the local schools.
- Musicians can donate and set up music classes. Perhaps a violinist or a saxophonist would arise from Kinondo Primary school as a result of such an opportunity.
- Cyclists can teach kids how to ride professionally.
- Firemen can teach school children fire safety.
- Doctors can teach school children first aid and CPR.
- IT people can set up computer classes and donate laptops.
- Artists can teach Art classes to schools.
- Designers can set up design classes for free
As a Country we can benefit from the 7 months duration when these special skilled people are living amongst us.
When they take away a child on loan, they will leave their skills behind.