How to Get a Passport?

How do you go about getting a passport in Mozambique for a little girl who has been abandon? If anyone has the answer to this question, please let me know. I have been working on figuring this problem out for the last few weeks.

Today, this question took me to the Social Welfare Office of Matola, Mozambique. After a long walk, I was able to talk to the caseworker through my fearless interpreter Luis. The S.W. Office informed us that we first needed to have a birth certificate. We took the long walk home, grabbed Aninha’s paper work, and we were on our way to figure out how to get a birth certificate for an abandon child in Mozambique (Nothing is simple in Africa).

We rode the chappa to the Department of Identification and Certification in Matola. As I walked up to the building, I noticed that there was a really large group/line in front of the building. As we approached, I was estimating in my head that it was going to take approximately all day to stand in this line. As I walked up to take my spot in line, I caught the chief’s eye, and she waved me into her office along with Luis, and who was I to argue with a Government Official. Luis swears that I am his front of the line pass because of my complexion.

After sitting down across the desk from the chief of the office, I explained though Luis, that I was working on getting a passport for a little girl so that she could visit a doctor in South Africa. Automatically she asked Luis if I was trafficking children, which is big business in Africa. He responded by sharing that I was a missionary and helping run an orphanage and we showed her our government documents. I then showed the chief Aninha’s yellow card, which has all of her birth information from recorded by a doctor on it. She then asked to see other paperwork, which showed that she was abandon by her parents. This is where the problem started!

The two documents had conflicting information on them. The documents had two different fathers listed on each of them. After much discussion, I finally convinced her that it didn’t matter if there was a father’s name listed because neither of the men were involved in her life.

The next problem was that one of the documents listed Aninha’s birth year being 2000, which would make her seven years old. The other document listed her correct birth year of 2003, which would make her about 4. The chief made this very difficult; we talked and argued for a long time. I didn’t have the little girl with me to show that she was only three, so I told her that she was very small using my hand to show her approximate height. The chief’s response, which I found hysterical, “Maybe she is just really short!”

I sat there dumbfounded at why this was such a complicated process. I continued in the argument with this African Government Official, who should be respected and admired, by saying, “She still makes Ashe-she in her pants!” This translates into, “She still poops her pants.” I only knew the word “Ashe-she” from having to take some of the kids to the bathroom in the house, but it seemed to get my point across.
The chief gave me a big smile and then a hearty laugh. I instantly knew that I had won her over with my language skills and charm. She sent us over to another desk, where one of her employees quickly filled out all of the paperwork for Aninha’s birth certificate. As this all happened, the chief continued to sit and laugh to herself and shake her head at me, saying “Ashe-she.”