Help Us Adopt Our Niece and Nephew from Zimbabwe

The pandemic of 2020 brought about devastating loss to our family. Darlington, the oldest of Tawanda's siblings, died from complications of Covid-19 after a very short illness. Darlington was married to Chipo and the they had two kids, Kupakwashe and Selasi. As our family was still grieving Darlington's death, we experienced even more loss when Chipo died unexpectedly from a stroke this July - the same week that Darlington had died three years ago.

Tawanda writes, "When I heard the news about Chipo's death, I was immediately taken back to the day Darlington died. Back then, I was in US immigration limbo and travel had been restricted because of the pandemic. I couldn't go to my brother's funeral. And so when I received this news, I knew I needed to go home. It took me almost 24 hours to get to Harare. I was in shock the whole time and it wasn't until I got out of the airport in Harare and saw Kupa and Selasi waiting to welcome me did I fully understand what my role was going to be. My heart broke for these kids and I knew I was being called to do something about it."

After the funeral, our family met and decided that the best thing for Kupa and Selasi was for them to live with their uncle and aunt in the United States. We were going to raise them as our own children - which they already were in our culture.

Since we live in the United States, we only had two options to bring them over because of U.S. Immigration Policy. One was to apply for their residency - much like you would for a spouse. But that required we move to Zimbabwe and live with them for at least two years. The second option was to legally adopt them and apply for their immigration status as orphans.

International adoptions are complicated. They are also very expensive. Which brings us to why we are asking for your help. We deeply love these kids and we will do everything we can to give them the life that Darlington and Chipo wanted them to have. But we need your help to get them here. We are community oriented people and so we hope that you, our community, can help us through your generosity. Beth says, "it will take a village, our village, this village, to raise our children in a way that honors their mom and dad. We will also need your compassion, prayers, and hope as we weather the long journey and mountains of paperwork that go into an international adoption. We are eagerly waiting to have our family together in one place".

Below is a breakdown of what the money you donate will go towards:

Home Study (Lutheran Social Services) $7000

Primary Provider Fees (St Nick's) $16000

Filing Fee to USCIS $2585

Attorney in Zimbabwe $5000

Travel to and from Zimbabwe $12000

Travel Visas $750

Total Cost for Adoption: $43335

Right now, we have already paid $4000 from our own savings. Our next expenses are to finalize the Home Study and to pay the lawyer to adopt the children in Zimbabwe. That gives us a goal of $12000 to raise in the next two months.