margaret
redmond
whitehead
JACQUELINE KASONGO, Kentucky
waiting since 2014
"Sometimes I feel stressed and frustrated, especially when I cook and realize there’s nobody to eat the food. Knowing that maybe they don’t even have any.
"But as a Christian, how do I feel? I believe that at some point, I will see them, and it is just a matter of time. It is just a matter of time. But I believe that one day, and my hope is that, I will see them."
Jacqueline and her 6 children scattered during a 2007 massacre in her native province of South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She believed them dead, and resettled to Lexington, Kentucky in 2014.
LEFT: Jacqueline realized that her eldest daughter Ponga was alive when a friend in Lexington showed her this picture in 2014. In this picture Ponga wears a purple head wrap.
With her friend's help, she immediately called Ponga and learned that all 6 of her children were alive.
It took her 6 months to save up enough money for the required DNA tests to prove that they were her children.
RIGHT: Jacqueline sits at home alone on her couch.
She is not yet reunited with her children. All refugee family reunification is currently on an indefinite hold.
She calls her children every Saturday morning.