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Liberia
There were a couple of families who were also waiting while we were through AFAA. We haven't heard any complaints from them. We've talked to AFAA several times and would use them ourselves. They have the best prices for an agency for Liberia. (We didn't know about them until later, as when we started we weren't planning on Africa so we hadn't researched it.) As far as the time frame, any agency should currently take 3-6 months after the homestudy for Liberia. Our problem was the US visa officer only issued ONE visa from last November to when he evacuated in July. Then the 32 waiting cases started clearing up fairly quickly and now most of the kids are home. The current visa officer is great. You can look into the specifics of that on the Ethica website - they are an adoption advocacy group for ethical adoption, work with Congress, helped us get these kids out, Cambodia too, etc.
My husband picked her up in Ghana as there wasn't an available escort for all of the kids, he actually escorted three others from a different agency. There are pros and cons to escorting and to travelling. I think we got the best of both worlds by going to Africa but not going into Liberia when it is still very unstable.
I know AFAA is now in Paynesville, they were in Monrovia 2 years ago. The director talks regularly to the orphanage director there, which is a big deal that they have reliable cell phones since the land lines are not reliable if they even exist.
Melissa
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