Open letter to Uzodinma Iweala

Mr. Iweala,

I read your article “Can you stop trying to ‘save’ Africa" yesterday. It appears it was originally published in the Washington Post. I must admit upfront that I have not read your book “Beasts of No Nation” about child soldiers.

We are adopting a child from Ethiopia. In your article, you talk about the West turning to Africa for redemption for the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East. Your article states “They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions, or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way that my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs”

As an adoptive parent, I cannot begin to express how disconcerting it is to have our children compared to selecting a stray dog. My husband and I suffered years of infertility in our attempts to have a family, as did many adoptive parents I know. We are not “saving” a child through adoption, or “saving Africa” for a humanitarian crisis that we did not support or create, that child is “saving” us. Without our adopted children, we would not be a family. There has been no greater joy or blessing in our lives. And we are not alone in the sentiment.

In an interview, you stated that you wanted to understand the experiences of being a child soldier, which is an odd thing to say, you stated, because you can’t really understand it unless you have been one. I agree, you can’t really understand what it is like to be unable to bear children unless you have been infertile, and you can’t really understand adoption unless it has touched your life. You did extensive research to write your book about child soldiers, yet you compare adoption to you and your friends going to an animal shelter with little or no understanding of adoption, and certainly no research.

Your article attempts to bring light to the potential for growth in Africa through fair partnerships with other members of the global community. In our paper, your article was 162 lines of text long. Your mention of Nwankwo Kanu and Dikebme Mutombo encompassed 2 of those lines. Your article was published in the Washington Post and picked up by countless other newspapers. You had the audience, but in the end, you focused your attention on criticizing Bono and Angelina Jolie rather than drawing attention to Kanu and Mutombom, the AU, and what fair partnerships mean and how they can be achieved.

I wish you well in your future endeavors and pray that when you try to walk in someone shoes, you aren’t stepping on another person’s feet.

Article link without login required on Washington Post website: http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2007/07/22/opinion/editorials/doc46a2e6e1ee69b820799143.txt