Mubita

We received good news last week. Ida had been in Lusaka helping Trevor Parr, the New Zealand Missionary Doctor and his wife, Helen, to jump through the various bureaucratic hoops necessary to register and to work here. But earlier in the week Ida handed the ‘Consent to Adoption Forms’ in to the Ministry of Social Welfare as part of the process for us to adopt Mubita.

It has taken since January to get this far. We had managed to get the paternal and maternal sides of Mubita’s family to complete the forms, and were greatly helped in this matter by Brian the District Social Welfare Officer. He’s the only social worker for a population of 90 000. The forms had then been signed and stamped by the Magistrate at a hearing with all concerned present at the end of June, and given to Ida to submit in Lusaka.

On Thursday morning she was given a letter by Social Welfare granting permission for the Adoption Hearing to be held at Sesheke at the Court’s convenience. Hopefully it will not be too long before we are granted a slot at Court. Once the Adoption Order is granted all that remains is a trip to Register House in Lusaka for an amended Birth Certificate, showing us as parents. We were granted the initial Committal Order for Mubita in October 2007. We had to foster him for a year before we could start adoption proceedings. So it is wonderful now that finally we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.