Our daughter Maya was adopted from Vietnam at the age of about 8. This is what the birth certificate said. Maya did not know how old she was and looked no more than 6. It was the summer of 2008 when we traveled to Tam Ky ,Vietnam to bring her home after a long and difficult process. . We had learned she had attended school in a nearby village. What we learned later from Maya was horrifying.
Maya was abused each and everyday she attended school in Vietnam because she was an orphan and because she was a girl. Maya was diagnosed with PTSD and learning disabilities once in the USA,but what happened next is the saddest of all. Our public school system refused to give her a proper education,one that would let her heal and learn.
Well it took a year of blood sweat and tears along with detailed reports from world experts ,but the school system finally gave in and placed her in a special ed private school where she is finally thriving. I could have gone into some really gritty details about how we fought for the rights to a education for a girl who's life once had no hope. I won't because I am so thankful.