Mother, Daughter Reunited After 10 Years
Published: January 19, 2006
A Twin Cities mother was reunited with her daughter who she had not seen in 10 years.
“I hugged her and said, ‘Sophia, this is mom,’” Blanche Ndanga said. “‘We are going to go home.’”
Ndanga’s former husband took Sophia to his native Cameroon when Sophia was 3 years old. Ndanga has been trying to get her back for the past decade.
Despite all her efforts, it took a chance visit at a local church to give Ndanga the happy ending she has been dreaming of.
For 10 years, Ndanga has held faded baby pictures, aching for her girl who was growing up a half a world away.
“I have carried Sophia every day with me in my heart,” Ndanga said.
On New Year’s Day, Ndanga got the miracle she has been praying for. A friend of hers happened to attend a baptism at a St. Paul Catholic Church and Sophia was the girl being baptized.
“I thought, ‘Is she crazy? Who is she talking about?’” Ndanga said.
It was true. Sophia has been living in the Twin Cities with her father’s relatives for three months while her father went back to Cameroon.
Relatives would not let Ndanga see Sophia and Ndanga learned Sophia’s dad planned to take her back to Cameroon on Jan. 7. On Jan 6, Ndanga was able to get an emergency court order granting her temporary custody of Sophia.
“Her first question was ‘Why weren’t you there at my baptism?’” Ndanga said. “And I said, ‘I didn’t know. I wanted to be there. I didn’t know.’”
For years, Sophia though Ndanga did not care about her.
“My dad told me she couldn’t take care of me, so I thought she didn’t want me,” Sophia said.
Sophia now lives with Ndanga, her new husband and his two daughters. The couple is also expecting a baby.
“I think I am safe now,” Sophia said.
The family still has to clear some legal hurdles. There is another custody hearing on Friday. Sophia’s dad is still in Cameroon and is not expected to attend. Another plus for Ndanga is that Sophia is an American citizen because she was born here.
Although family court can be unpredictable, the odds should be good that Ndanga will get permanent custody of Sophia, especially considering her father could technically face criminal charges in the United States of depriving Ndanga of her parental rights.
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