A Family for Rodrigo
Donation protected
Rodrigo is my wife's nephew. His father, my wife's brother, died when Rodrigo was 5 years old. Since then Rodrigo has been living with his mother who is mentally ill.
As time went by Rodrigo's mother became more and more mentally ill and incapable of taking care of him. Because of lack of supervision, he spent his day's playing in the street and stopped going to school. His mother wouldn't cook, stopped cleaning the house, the top of the stove was covered in mice feces, and he couldn't eat there because of it. For example, he would eat Cheetos three meals a day. He would eat a fresh meal only when the neighbors offered to feed him.
After talking with Tereza, Rodrigo's mother, and her doctor they agreed that she no longer can take care of him and she asked us to finish raising him.
We decided to adopt Rodrigo. Cordelia, my wife, quit her job and flew to Brazil on June 6th, 2014. We were told by our US attorney that we should bring him to the US, and once he was here on a visa we could file for adoption.
We applied for a travel visa the first time in July, 2014 and it was denied. We were advised by our visa agent to wait 6 months before applying again. Meanwhile, we also filed for Rodrigo's custody and due to the bureaucracy of Brazilian law, it wasn't granted until November, 2014.
On February 13th, 2015 we had another interview with the US consolate in Brazil and Rodrigo's visa again was denied. We were devastated. My wife has now been in Brazil for 10 month's.
We have spent all of our savings with paperwork, Lawyers, and living expences, and we found out that we are just begining the process.
My wife quit her job to go recue Rodrogo. I am self employed and my businessis not going well.
Rodrigo is a smart boy who loves to play soccer. His dream is to have a family. He now has 3 warm meals a day, and a clean warm bed to sleep in. His weight was only 65 pounds when we started to take care of him and now he has gained 5 pounds. He also seemed short for his age because his father was over 6 feet tall, but now he is growing fast. For many of us we eat whenever we want to, when we are hungry, it's taken for granted. For Rodrigo he thinks he is now wealthy, because he gets to eat 3 good meals a day. He says " I'm rich, I eat whenever I want and I gained 5 pounds." When Cordelia first picked him up she told him we would take care of him and feed him 3 meals a day and he cried , he was astonished. "Three meals ? Every day ? " He just sobbed and hugged her.
We taught Rodrigo how to pray, we took him to church and he loves to read the scriptures. He enjoys going to school again while we wait for his visa to be granted. His greatest fear is not being able to come home with my wife and not being able to go to church every Sunday, not having enough food to eat and going back to the misery he onced lived in. Last night he told Cordelia that he couldn't sleep well every night, because he worried that she would go home while he was asleep; and in the morning he runs to see if she went home without him.
It took alot of courage for us to ask you all for help, but we are desparate. We have been doing everything we can, but we are now broke and without your help we won't be able to adopt Rodrigo.
We now have HAND IN HAND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS assisting us through the legal process.
They say it will cost us anywhere from $25,000.00 to $30,000.00 more to finish the adoption. We have spent at least that much already.
We need your help to give a family to Rodrigo
Thank you so very much for whatever you can help us with.
Sincerely,
Don and Cordelia Sommers
As time went by Rodrigo's mother became more and more mentally ill and incapable of taking care of him. Because of lack of supervision, he spent his day's playing in the street and stopped going to school. His mother wouldn't cook, stopped cleaning the house, the top of the stove was covered in mice feces, and he couldn't eat there because of it. For example, he would eat Cheetos three meals a day. He would eat a fresh meal only when the neighbors offered to feed him.
After talking with Tereza, Rodrigo's mother, and her doctor they agreed that she no longer can take care of him and she asked us to finish raising him.
We decided to adopt Rodrigo. Cordelia, my wife, quit her job and flew to Brazil on June 6th, 2014. We were told by our US attorney that we should bring him to the US, and once he was here on a visa we could file for adoption.
We applied for a travel visa the first time in July, 2014 and it was denied. We were advised by our visa agent to wait 6 months before applying again. Meanwhile, we also filed for Rodrigo's custody and due to the bureaucracy of Brazilian law, it wasn't granted until November, 2014.
On February 13th, 2015 we had another interview with the US consolate in Brazil and Rodrigo's visa again was denied. We were devastated. My wife has now been in Brazil for 10 month's.
We have spent all of our savings with paperwork, Lawyers, and living expences, and we found out that we are just begining the process.
My wife quit her job to go recue Rodrogo. I am self employed and my businessis not going well.
Rodrigo is a smart boy who loves to play soccer. His dream is to have a family. He now has 3 warm meals a day, and a clean warm bed to sleep in. His weight was only 65 pounds when we started to take care of him and now he has gained 5 pounds. He also seemed short for his age because his father was over 6 feet tall, but now he is growing fast. For many of us we eat whenever we want to, when we are hungry, it's taken for granted. For Rodrigo he thinks he is now wealthy, because he gets to eat 3 good meals a day. He says " I'm rich, I eat whenever I want and I gained 5 pounds." When Cordelia first picked him up she told him we would take care of him and feed him 3 meals a day and he cried , he was astonished. "Three meals ? Every day ? " He just sobbed and hugged her.
We taught Rodrigo how to pray, we took him to church and he loves to read the scriptures. He enjoys going to school again while we wait for his visa to be granted. His greatest fear is not being able to come home with my wife and not being able to go to church every Sunday, not having enough food to eat and going back to the misery he onced lived in. Last night he told Cordelia that he couldn't sleep well every night, because he worried that she would go home while he was asleep; and in the morning he runs to see if she went home without him.
It took alot of courage for us to ask you all for help, but we are desparate. We have been doing everything we can, but we are now broke and without your help we won't be able to adopt Rodrigo.
We now have HAND IN HAND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS assisting us through the legal process.
They say it will cost us anywhere from $25,000.00 to $30,000.00 more to finish the adoption. We have spent at least that much already.
We need your help to give a family to Rodrigo
Thank you so very much for whatever you can help us with.
Sincerely,
Don and Cordelia Sommers
Organizer
Cordelia Sommers
Organizer
South Jordan, UT