Meeting Vengee's Mother

Today I was sitting in the kitchen talking and Mends came up and told me Vengee's mother was here to see me. I knew that I was going to see her but I didn't know when she was going to come to the compound. When Mends told me that she was here and waiting for me my heart started racing....how do you prepare to meet and talk to a mother who she loved so much that she was willing to give her up for adoption so that she could live? I said a prayer and asked for guidance as I was nervous. I went and grabbed the video camera, the pictures as well as the supplies my father sent for her to sell. When I saw Decontee I was immediately comforted and there was a peace that was with me. I went to give her a hug and she seemed a little uncomfortable. She is the smallest thing ever....she is shorter than me and maybe weight 100 pounds soaking wet. Vengee looks exactly like her from her eyes to her smile...even her teeth. I told her how excited I was to meet her and she started asking tons of questions about Vengee, James, Nan and my dad. I showed her the pictures of Vengee and James and her face lit up. All she kept saying was "there is my baby....she looks so so happy." As we went through the pictures we came to a picture of Vengee's bedroom. Decontee made a comment how she was so happy that Vengee was sleeping in a bed because she doesn't even have a bed to sleep on. Those pictures meant the world to her as she told me she was so worried about her surgery. I then showed her the video of Vengee and she started to cry...not from sadness but she was overjoyed that her precious daughter was alive and not sick anymore. She repeated over and over again "Praise God she is all better". She even commented on how big she was and I told her that she has gained weight since her surgery. Decontee stayed with me for 3 hours. We (Abagail, Princess, Decontee and I) went through all of the supplies that my dad and Nan sent and added up how much she would make and it came to $130 US dollars. That is a lot of money...the average income here is $30 US dollars a month. As we sat there and she became more comfortable with me she shared that when Vengee was living with her she was in the hospital all of the time because she was so sick and the doctors there gave Decontee a letter stating that Vengee had a heart problem that needed to be fixed. Decontee then went from doctor to doctor begging someone to help her and was constantly turned down because she has no money and nobody was able to help her with Vengee. The people in the town told Decontee that she was crazy if she thought any doctor would help her because she has no money to pay for help. That is when Decontee said she decided to give Vengee up for adoption. Then the people in the town started telling Decontee how the people who would adopt her would never let her see Vengee again and that the parents were adopting her to sell Vengee's kidneys in America. So after Vengee was taken back to America people started spreading rumors how Decontee was paid to give Vengee to Americans and now she is buying clothes with the money that she was given. The mindset of the people here is so different and it is due to the lack of education. People here don't understand what adoption means. Decontee said that she was going to take the pictures back to all of these people and show them that Vengee is fine and that her parents are good to Vengee as well as herself. Decontee called Vengee's father and I spoke to him. He lives in Bomie County which I will be going to on Saturday and I told him that I would come see him and show him pictures and a video of Vengee. Decontee asked me when she could see me again and I asked if she would come to church with me on Sunday. She agreed and I told her I would like to go see her at Old Road so that I can see where she lives and the Market. She told me where to find her at Old Road. I also plan to see Vengee's Grandma and Grace. Meeting Decontee was such a wonderful experience and listening to her talk about Vengee it sounds like she has a real peace with the decision she made a year ago to give her precious daughter up for adoption.