6918 km Love Story
Donation protected
Hello new and old friends! Welcome to our campaign to get (legally) married! Rolando and I (Megan) are so glad that you’ve taken the time to visit our page.
We are raising money for me to travel from Toronto, Canada to Bolivia and complete our legal marriage. We’ve had some delays in this complicated process, and could really use some help. Until we are legally married, we can’t submit the papers for Rolando to come live here with me in Canada...which means we will continue to be 6918 km apart.
Rolando and I have already tried to complete the documentation in Bolivia once, but because of the delays of some unprofessional officials, couldn’t finish the process before my visa ran out. We can’t afford another trip right now, and every month that goes by is another that we can’t start our life together.
Scroll on to read the rest of our story.
The beginning:
Rolando and I met on September 29, 2015. I work for a charity, and had travelled with a small team to Bolivia to see the projects we fund. Although I have travelled to Europe, Asia and Africa, it was my first trip to South America. I was in for a big surprise! Little did I know that a handsome pilot and MBA student named Rolando would be one of our translators.
Both of us felt immediate attraction for each other, but kept a professional distance….until the second to last day of the trip. Driving back from a rural project, we began to talk- really talk, about our values, families, and dreams. Rolando and I discovered that we had both grown up outside our home culture- he in the U.S. and me in Senegal. Something was sparked, and continued that night over Facebook messenger.
The next morning, I knew it was my last chance to get his attention. We were going to a conference, so I took my time doing my hair, and put on a pretty skirt and lipstick. It worked. During the conference, we couldn’t keep our eyes off each other. The two hugs he gave me before I got on the bus to the airport sealed the deal. I was falling for this man. As we drove away, instead of sadness, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace.
It was a long journey back, and by the time I got to my little apartment in Toronto, Ontario, I was exhausted. But a message Rolando had sent me the day I left distracted me: “Don’t go. Stay with me.” Who was this man who was so honest with what he was feeling? I messaged Rolando that I was home, and after a few minutes of conversation, he wrote, “I think I like you.” That was all it took. Both of us sensed that this was something special.
Things happened quickly from there. Very quickly. During Canadian Thanksgiving, over Skype, Rolo asked my parents for permission to marry me . We had a long road to get to know each other, but we were already certain of where we wanted it to end.
Over the next few months we made plans for how I would go to Bolivia to marry him, then come back to Canada and start the sponsorship process to bring him here. Every night on Skype we would pray and talk together. I had a lot of paperwork to prepare, some of it quite stressful. But I got it done. Time went by quickly, and soon it was time for my trip!
The wedding that wasn’t:
Seeing Rolando at the airport was better than I could have imagined. After months apart, I practically ran into his arms and we shared our first kiss. On the second night I was there, Rolando planned a romantic dinner and “officially” proposed with the ring he had custom made for me- a rose gold flower design with an aquamarine centre. It was one of those golden moments that you hold on to, in more difficult times.
It was a public holiday in Bolivia for the first few days I was there, and that time together was perfect (except for me having a terrible cold!) We visited with his family, watched a parade, and had a barbeque with some of his closest friends. I never wanted to leave!
When the holiday was over, we went to the office of a judge (a friend of his aunt’s) to register to be married. That’s when we realized that things weren’t as simple as the Bolivian embassy made them seem. We had all the papers they specified- but there was much more we needed. Many of the things required seemed totally arbitrary. By the end, I had my papers translated into Spanish three different times!
We were forced to cancel the plans for a wedding ceremony and party Rolando had planned, in order to have enough money to pay for the documents. This, and running around the city getting the rest of the required documents was extremely stressful, but our time together was precious. I was forced to extend my trip by two weeks and pay a hefty flight change fee.
On the second week, we were getting frustrated by the delays in our paperwork. We needed a win. My mother suggested that my dad, an ordained minister, marry us over Skype. This little ceremony, held on February 14th, gave us something to hold on to. In the eyes of God and our families, we were married. We had so much fun with my mom, dad, sister and her fiancé witnessing our vows, and then toasting with cupcakes and some bubbly. We took some pictures for our friends and family in Rolando’s garden. That night we went back to the restaurant we had eaten at the night we met. It was romantic, beautiful, and full of hope.
On my last day in Bolivia, confident we now had all the documents we needed, we dressed up in our white cotton shirt (for him) and dress (for me) and headed to the civil authority’s office.
But when we arrived, we were told that my visa expired too soon to process the paperwork. We were four days too late. Some of the officials processing our documents had made mistakes which delayed our papers, and because of that, we lost our chance to have our marriage legalized during my stay.
We were crestfallen. All those weeks and months of preparation, all the thousands of dollars we had spent, had led to nothing. I left not knowing when I would get to see Rolando again and how we would work this out. The only thing we knew was that I would have to come back.
The next chapter:
The vaction time I have left doesn't cover the three weeks I will need for the legal process. This, added to the cost of my airfare, another visa, and other legal expenses, are unexpected additions to our already strained budget. I’m currently paying off student loans and Rolando is still in school. We simply can’t afford it, and so we are asking for help.
We’re so grateful to those who have already been a part of our journey. If you would like to be as well, we would love to thank you in our own special way.
We are raising money for me to travel from Toronto, Canada to Bolivia and complete our legal marriage. We’ve had some delays in this complicated process, and could really use some help. Until we are legally married, we can’t submit the papers for Rolando to come live here with me in Canada...which means we will continue to be 6918 km apart.
Rolando and I have already tried to complete the documentation in Bolivia once, but because of the delays of some unprofessional officials, couldn’t finish the process before my visa ran out. We can’t afford another trip right now, and every month that goes by is another that we can’t start our life together.
Scroll on to read the rest of our story.
The beginning:
Rolando and I met on September 29, 2015. I work for a charity, and had travelled with a small team to Bolivia to see the projects we fund. Although I have travelled to Europe, Asia and Africa, it was my first trip to South America. I was in for a big surprise! Little did I know that a handsome pilot and MBA student named Rolando would be one of our translators.
Both of us felt immediate attraction for each other, but kept a professional distance….until the second to last day of the trip. Driving back from a rural project, we began to talk- really talk, about our values, families, and dreams. Rolando and I discovered that we had both grown up outside our home culture- he in the U.S. and me in Senegal. Something was sparked, and continued that night over Facebook messenger.
The next morning, I knew it was my last chance to get his attention. We were going to a conference, so I took my time doing my hair, and put on a pretty skirt and lipstick. It worked. During the conference, we couldn’t keep our eyes off each other. The two hugs he gave me before I got on the bus to the airport sealed the deal. I was falling for this man. As we drove away, instead of sadness, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace.
It was a long journey back, and by the time I got to my little apartment in Toronto, Ontario, I was exhausted. But a message Rolando had sent me the day I left distracted me: “Don’t go. Stay with me.” Who was this man who was so honest with what he was feeling? I messaged Rolando that I was home, and after a few minutes of conversation, he wrote, “I think I like you.” That was all it took. Both of us sensed that this was something special.
Things happened quickly from there. Very quickly. During Canadian Thanksgiving, over Skype, Rolo asked my parents for permission to marry me . We had a long road to get to know each other, but we were already certain of where we wanted it to end.
Over the next few months we made plans for how I would go to Bolivia to marry him, then come back to Canada and start the sponsorship process to bring him here. Every night on Skype we would pray and talk together. I had a lot of paperwork to prepare, some of it quite stressful. But I got it done. Time went by quickly, and soon it was time for my trip!
The wedding that wasn’t:
Seeing Rolando at the airport was better than I could have imagined. After months apart, I practically ran into his arms and we shared our first kiss. On the second night I was there, Rolando planned a romantic dinner and “officially” proposed with the ring he had custom made for me- a rose gold flower design with an aquamarine centre. It was one of those golden moments that you hold on to, in more difficult times.
It was a public holiday in Bolivia for the first few days I was there, and that time together was perfect (except for me having a terrible cold!) We visited with his family, watched a parade, and had a barbeque with some of his closest friends. I never wanted to leave!
When the holiday was over, we went to the office of a judge (a friend of his aunt’s) to register to be married. That’s when we realized that things weren’t as simple as the Bolivian embassy made them seem. We had all the papers they specified- but there was much more we needed. Many of the things required seemed totally arbitrary. By the end, I had my papers translated into Spanish three different times!
We were forced to cancel the plans for a wedding ceremony and party Rolando had planned, in order to have enough money to pay for the documents. This, and running around the city getting the rest of the required documents was extremely stressful, but our time together was precious. I was forced to extend my trip by two weeks and pay a hefty flight change fee.
On the second week, we were getting frustrated by the delays in our paperwork. We needed a win. My mother suggested that my dad, an ordained minister, marry us over Skype. This little ceremony, held on February 14th, gave us something to hold on to. In the eyes of God and our families, we were married. We had so much fun with my mom, dad, sister and her fiancé witnessing our vows, and then toasting with cupcakes and some bubbly. We took some pictures for our friends and family in Rolando’s garden. That night we went back to the restaurant we had eaten at the night we met. It was romantic, beautiful, and full of hope.
On my last day in Bolivia, confident we now had all the documents we needed, we dressed up in our white cotton shirt (for him) and dress (for me) and headed to the civil authority’s office.
But when we arrived, we were told that my visa expired too soon to process the paperwork. We were four days too late. Some of the officials processing our documents had made mistakes which delayed our papers, and because of that, we lost our chance to have our marriage legalized during my stay.
We were crestfallen. All those weeks and months of preparation, all the thousands of dollars we had spent, had led to nothing. I left not knowing when I would get to see Rolando again and how we would work this out. The only thing we knew was that I would have to come back.
The next chapter:
The vaction time I have left doesn't cover the three weeks I will need for the legal process. This, added to the cost of my airfare, another visa, and other legal expenses, are unexpected additions to our already strained budget. I’m currently paying off student loans and Rolando is still in school. We simply can’t afford it, and so we are asking for help.
We’re so grateful to those who have already been a part of our journey. If you would like to be as well, we would love to thank you in our own special way.
Organizer
Sharon Winsor-Radford
Organizer
Halifax, NS