A child of four or five sits colouring at a low table. Memory can be tricky: the image is dim and rather unstable. But I know that the child is me, and that she’s been caught showing off by her grandmother, who is looking after her. (Where are the parents? I don’t know.)

‘I’m going to show my mummy and daddy,’ says the little girl, about her picture.

‘They’re not your mummy and daddy,’ says the old woman on the sofa, witchily. ‘You have a real mummy and daddy somewhere else.’

The child I remember doesn’t show her face; she keeps on colouring. But words have magic powers. Real… somewhere else. This single sentence sucks the reality out of everything around her: the red carpet, the blue Formica tabletop, the buttoned upholstery of the sofa on which her grandmother sits watching her.

You could call it a life sentence, for this is the moment in which I learn that I am adopted.

The trial of Julienne Mpemba continued this Friday with the civil parties before the criminal court of Namur. Parents and children who are devastated and still waiting for answers to their questions.

Stolen lives, broken families, changed destinies, voices that tremble and eyes that moisten, emotion is felt on the benches of the civil parties. This Friday, June 28, the trial of Julienne Mpemba continued before the criminal court of Namur. " I want to give my little girl back her story," says the mother of Lucie (not her real name), one of the adopted children. "She only knows the readable part of her story." Sitting next to her, the parents of Théa (not her real name) also echo the same sentiment: " Our daughter is between two identities. Our goal is for her to be able to rebuild herself, to know who she is, where she comes from." For the mother, anger is also taking over. " I am here today because I don't want any mother, any other family to go through this. I also remember the contempt of the Belgian and Congolese institutions that helped Julienne Mpemba. We knocked on every door and none of them ever opened. I would have liked to look her in the face, tell her that children are not interchangeable, that she has no respect for these children."

Since the beginning of the investigation, Julienne Mpemba has taken refuge in Congo and is still running the orphanage. "Today, it's too much. We've been in the process for 8 years just to get a judicial truth since we can't count on a minimum of frankness from her," adds Théa's father.

"Are we really going to send these children back to Congo?"

But the challenge of the trial for these torn and powerless families will be to know whether or not Julienne Mpemba will be found guilty or not. Apart from the civil claims, some lawyers are asking sometimes to recognize her guilt, sometimes to exonerate her. Because if the woman from Namur is indeed guilty, then adoption is no longer worth anything. And what future for these children who have built themselves in Belgium? " Are we going to send them back home? Where crime and violence reign? Are we going to send them back to poverty?" , intervenes the counsel for one of the families. They are uprooted, they no longer know the language. Their life, their school and their friends are here, in Belgium." And another lawyer who is a civil party adds: " I am asking that all the charges be established. For her, the children are merchandise."

Lotte Debrauwer

There Complaints have been filed against the adoption service Het Kleine Mirakel, including due to negligence in medical examinations.

'What Het Kleine Mirakel had on paper about our daughter's health was completely different from what was ultimately diagnosed in our country. I would have liked to have known that in advance.' Sarah* and her husband Klaas* adopted a girl from Portugal last year. Because the file at Het Kleine Mirakel – medical documents that were present in Portugal – were missing, they filed a complaint at the beginning of this year.

Rare ratio

Sarah and Klaas are not the only ones. Nine families expressed their dissatisfaction with Het Kleine Mirakel, one of the three existing services for adoption abroad, with a complaint or report in the past year. The complaints concern the poor communication of the service, but also about incompleteness in the files of the children and the exertion of pressure on prospective adoptive parents. De Standaard already reported in October 2023 about the complaint of a couple who experienced emotional pressure to adopt a child from Hungary.

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Ankie Vandekerckhove

Ankie is currently involved in a project in Brussels to realize the social function in ECEC. In this project some 80 childcare centres get support to lower thresholds for vulnerable families (due to poverty, migration, problematic family situation...) and to adapt their working methods to the context of increasing diversity in the city.

The future of the sponsorship program is thus secured in light of the DIA's board's decision on a controlled winding down of its activities.

After thorough discussions, it has been decided to transfer the sponsorship activities to Terre des Hommes .  The transfer is expected to be completed during July 2024.

Terre des Hommes, a voluntary humanitarian association approved by the Collection Board under the Ministry of Justice, will continue the activities for the benefit of vulnerable children and families.

All sponsors will be contacted directly by Terre des Hommes, who will inform about the practical conditions and the future communication between sponsor, projects and sponsors. Terre des Hommes welcomes all sponsors and looks forward to presenting their activities and membership offers. Additional information will be shared in early July.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or Terre des Hommes.

Not knowing where your child is. For Yoo-hee (69), this has been the nightmare she has been living in for almost forty years. In 1987, she gave birth to a cloud of a baby in South Korea, but before she could hold it once, her son was taken away. “Against my will,” the mother testifies. An adoption service brought him to Belgium and since then there has been no trace. The Korean woman tells her story for the first time. Desperate, she begs: “I want to be able to hug my son just once before I die.”

Jeroen Bossaert 27-06-24, 06:00

0 COMMENTS

Paralakhemundi : An incredible inspiration for those childless parents who deserve foster care by adopting those vulnerable children of Gajapati.This indeed a landmark perhaps care & protection of those children a great grip for their rising.Again by DCPU(District Child Protection Unit)handed over their 55th adoption care.Jharkhand couple showed interest for adoption.
That girl child who had no claim of parents had been restored & rehabilitated at Utkal Balashram for all care & management.Later under central child adoption portal that girl details uploaded to acknowledge those childless parents.So by seeing such information Jharkhand couple applied for adoption. That girl’s age is 14.After proper verification of that couple district administration conveyed their signal for adoption. The couple looked happy while received that child.
On this occasion Collector Smrutiranjan Pradhan,ADM(Revenue) Birendra Kumar Das, DCPO Arun Kumar Tripathi,Dr.Milan Kumar Adhikari,Nisaan Salem institution care taker Pratyush Kumar Surya, Chairman of CWC Aswini Kumar Mahapatra & members of DCPU were present.

Police have busted a child trafficking racket, and rescued six babies (aged between 11 months to 2.5 years) in Karnataka's Tumakuru district. Four people, including an owner of a private hospital and three nurses who allegedly sold babies to childless couples have been arrested.

The accused have been identified as Mahesh, a nurse at a government hospital in Kunigal, and Mehboob Shariff (owner of a private hospital). Two female nurses, Sowjanya and Poornima, who were the delivery nurses involved in the case.

Mahesh and Mehboob Shariff used to secure babies from parents who didn't want the child and sold the baby to other couples for Rs 2–3 lakh by illegal adoption procedure.

These babies were mostly born out of extra marital affairs or pre-marital affairs and hence, their biological parents didn't want to keep the babies.

MODUS OPERANDI

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Reality TV star Paris Hilton called for greater federal oversight of youth care programs at a U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing on Wednesday as she described her traumatic experience in youth care facilities.

Hilton, 43, the great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton, has spoken publicly about the emotional and physical abuse she endured when she was placed in residential youth treatment facilities as a teen.

In remarks to the committee on Wednesday, she described being taken from her bed in the middle of the night at age 16 and transported across state lines to a residential facility where she experienced physical and sexual abuse.

"This $23 billion industry sees this population (of vulnerable children) as dollar signs and operates without meaningful oversight," she said.

"There's no education in these places, there's mold and blood on the walls," she added in response to lawmaker questions. "It's horrifying what these places are like. They're worse than some dog kennels."

Investigating the theft of a 11-month-old boy, the Tumakuru police unearthed an infant trafficking racket and arrested a gang of five, including three nurses, allegedly involved in selling newborn babies to prospective clients. The gang reportedly has been active for the past two years and sold nine toddlers, said the police.

The accused on June 9 sneaked into a house and stole the 11-month-old boy, Raki, while the family was asleep in another room, near Channabasaveshwara temple, Tumakuru city, according to the police.

District Superintendent of Police K.V. Ashok formed a special team which tracked down Ramakrishna and his associate Hanumantharaju, who were working as daily-wage labourers. Based on their information, the police arrested Mubarak, a tamarind dealer from Belluru Cross, and rescued Raki.

According to the police, Mubarak had three daughters and wanted a son. He approached the accused through Mahesh, a manager of a private hospital, and allegedly offered ₹1.7 lakh. Mahesh, in turn, engaged Ramakrishna and Hanumantharaju and allegedly gave them ₹30,000 each after they handed over Raki.

The police arrested Mahesh and two other staff nurses, working in private hospitals, identified as Soujanya and Poornima, for allegedly being part of the racket. During questioning, the accused reportedly confessed to have operated for the last two years and to have sold nine babies to different couples.