Bonjour from Kinshasa! Kinshasa used to be known as Kinshasa La Belle — Kinshasa the Beautiful. Now, it’s known as Kinshasa La Poubelle — Kinshasa the Garbage Can. It’s a very apt description. This city is wearing on me a bit. What was new and exciting for the first 5 days or so begins to [...]

By Erin Pohland Good evening from Kinshasa! As I write, there is a dance party happening on the street in front of my hotel.  Luckily, Andrew is a good sleeper — too bad his mama is not. Today was relatively uneventful, as far as things go.  We had no appointments and nowhere to be.  Instead, [...]

Greetings from the DRC- Andrew and I had a rough day — harder on him, unfortunately. It started at 3 a.m. when he woke up screaming. He seemed freaked out by both me and his surroundings — like he didn’t get why he wasn’t in Goma and why I wasn’t his foster mom. I walked [...]

~Andrew and Rev. Bashaka By Erin Pohland It’s night in Kinshasa.  I know I live in Alaska, so I’m not a good judge of darkness, but it gets dark so early here!  By 5:30, it seems to be pretty dark.  It doesn’t help that there aren’t any street lights or very many buildings with electricity, [...]

~Kinshasa   Forget whatever I told you last night….I love the Congo! Well, more importantly, I love my son — he is just the sweetest little thing. But I really am finding myself loving Kinshasa despite the overwhelming poverty and dispair. The people are just amazingly friendly — it’s been fantastic. I woke up bright [...]

By Erin Pohland On October 15, 2010, my world changed forever:  it’s a boy!!  I listened with wonder to the news of my little one:  10 months old and healthy.  Due to lack of medical care and extreme, crushing poverty, his mother had died as a result of childbirth, just 8 days after giving birth [...]

By Erin Pohland [Read Part One HERE] After choosing to join a pilot program and adopt from the Congo rather than Ethiopia, I broke the news somewhat gingerly, aware that such news might not be welcome. The reaction was mixed. Friends and family members who were more savvy about world affairs were immediately worried; the [...]

By Erin Pohland “We’re opening a pilot program in the Congo.  Would you consider being one of our first families?” With those words, my life changed.  The Congo — the so-called “heart of darkness,” the rape capital of the world, and one of the most dangerous and impoverished countries in the world. I said yes. [...]