When I first received Wellon Bridgers’ email about documenting their adoption, I was skeptical. We were living in Uganda and were in the middle of seeing so many hard and real situations of unethical orphan care. So we straight up asked Wellon why the children she was adopting needed to be adopted and how could she ensure they were truly operating inside an ethical adoption.
Her answers blew us away. She shared about how they came to find Mwana Villages, the organization in the Republic of the Congo where their children lived and how only after a broken adoption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo did they come to learn that many children living in orphanages and up for adoption had birth families who loved and wanted their children. Her love and admiration for Mwana was not centered around her adoption but how Mwana cares passionately for vulnerable women and works to keep families together.
Since we traveled with the Bridgers to the Congo, which you can see their adoption journey in photos here and in video here, Wellon has gone to work, stateside, for Mwana, advocating for vulnerable women and children and working to ensure that families can stay together!
In our podcast today with Wellon we hear why caring for birth families is a must, how Mwana ensures that they are operating ethically (they turned down an offer from an adoption agency for $10,000 a kid!!!), and how Mwana is making a lasting difference in the Congo!
To follow more of Mwana’s journey, visit:
Mwana’s Instagram: @mwanavillages
Mwana’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/mwanavillages
Mwana’s Website: http://mwanavillages.org
Listen to our first podcast with the Bridgers here: Episode 4
Watch the Bridgers’ Adoption Video here: Adoption Video
Watch Mwana’s Video here: Mwana
