“This is my second family home. I am happy when I come back here. I really appreciate the warm welcome I receive every time I visit Kasisi and the lovely, beautiful children. Today I am also extremely happy about the gift of having a loving family in Norway and the opportunity to get an education and a happy life,”says Hellen. Anne is sitting next to her and looking at her lovingly.

Anne was sent to Zambia by the Norwegian government to work as a special education teacher. She spent four years there. Her son at school had a project linked to Kasisi. Children from this project came to visit the Children’s Home, each with someone assigned to play with them. Anne’s son ended up with Hellen. The children became very fond of each other. The boy talked about her at home. Six months later, Anne also met the then 3-year-old girl. The woman loved her immediately. With the permission of Sister Mariola, the little one used to spend weekends with them.

Anne wondered how else she could support her. A year and a half had passed when she finally thought about physical adoption. Although she knew it would be very difficult for her, a single mother, she felt in her heart that this was what she wanted, that she wanted to give Hellen a real home.

She told Sister Mariola about it and the sister was very supportive. They found Hellen’s biological father. The man did not want to hear about adoption and took his daughter away from Kasisi.

It was a difficult time for Anne. She was anxious. She had to check that Hellen was okay. After 3 days of searching, she found her. The little one was very sick. She was being cared for by a 14-year-old girl because Hellen’s father had been sent to prison. Anne, not thinking much, packed the sick child into the car. She went to talk to the man who, after much persuasion, agreed to the adoption.

There was a lot of bureaucracy. Visits to the court, explaining that you are a single mother after a divorce, to finally being able to hear that the court agrees to the adoption. “Little Hellen was sitting on my lap at the time,” says Anne. It was a happy day.

We met the women in Kasisi in December 2022. They had flown in from Norway to give their Christmas wishes.

When we asked Hellen about Kasisi, she said that the image that stayed in her mind was of the kids playing together. She felt very safe here and had the feeling that they were all family. Sometimes she just wondered who her parents were and why she was here with a hundred other children, but she still felt that this was her HOME.