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Longing for Liberia
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President Bush told African journalists: “We care deeply about the plight of the African citizen.” That is a pledge many families with ties to that continent are counting on. For one mother in Rockville, Md., help from the U.S. can’t come soon enough. She fled Liberia seven years ago, and she is now trying to find ways to help the rest of her family stay alive. |
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(Abbie Kla-Williams/5 children in Liberia): “I just want to hear that my children are coming along all right, have something to eat, something to wear.”
Abbie Kla-Williams is worried. Her five children are caught in the middle of Liberia’s civil war.
Abbie Kla-Williams: “My children are on my mind every day. Sometimes I cry. I miss my kids a whole lot.”
Abbie’s brother Saba brought her to Maryland in 1996, to get medical care. She was malnourished – a common and deadly condition in Liberia, one that already claimed two of her grandchildren.
Abbie Kla-Williams: “One was 7 and one was 18 months. There was no food and no medication … just starved to death.”
Today Abbie works part-time as a caregiver for the elderly. She sends most of her modest income to her children.
Abbie Kla-Williams: “If I was not here, I don’t know how they would manage. They would not have made it at all.”
Her oldest son is a United Methodist church leader in Monrovia. She saw him for the first time in seven years when he made a trip to the United States in March.
“When I saw Edwin, it was not easy. I hug him; I kiss him; I cry. I miss him so much.”
Since their visit, Edwin’s home has come under attack and he has lost everything. The family is hopeful that the U.S. will intervene and help restore peace soon. In the meantime, this mother does what she can to help … and prays every day.
Abbie Kla-Williams: “Lord, thank you for my children. Lord, hold my children up. Lord, bless Liberia and Lord, bless the world.”
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Abbie’s brother brought her to the U.S. on a visiting visa, and she has been able to extend it each year due to the ongoing unrest in Liberia. She will try to renew the visa again this September. In addition to her five children, she has six grandchildren and one great-grandchild in Liberia.