When a village steps in

Dinner parties can certainly be life-changing experiences. Guests find new friends, romances, business contacts … but finding an African child to adopt? Pasadena’s P.J. Johnson — editor, videographer, documentary filmmaker — became a mother because of a 2006 dinner party in Altadena, and not through the traditional means. As a result of the party, Johnson found her son and has created relationships in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and the nearby village where her adopted son’s grandparents barely eke out a living.

Johnson is now the single parent of a boy she felt was her destiny to raise. She first saw Patson, whose full name is Mphatso Kamwendo, at an orphanage nursery in the Southeast African nation of Malawi. “At first, I picked him up because I hate flies, always have, and I was grossed out by seeing the flies buzzing around his little face. He was only a month old,” she said. “I just needed to help him get the flies away.” Now, back in Pasadena with her 2-year-old, she needs help from our “village” in getting some volunteer social work done.

While many of us were engrossed in the primaries, the war, etc., Johnson was facing the challenges of raising an internationally adopted baby son as a single, first-time mother. But when you contrast the pictures of Mphatso as an infant and now as a toddler, Johnson has more than risen to her challenge. It’s hard to believe how a malnourished, medically fragile infant could turn into such a robust, bouncy baby boy.

“I’ve wanted to adopt a child all of my life,” Johnson said when I asked her when she got the idea. “I just didn’t know how or when it would happen.” She knows now. What an unpredictable journey it has been.

Back to the dinner party. Dr. Joyce Kohl — Altadena resident, art professor and sculptor — invited Johnson to her home for dinner, and conversation soon turned to Africa. They discussed the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the situation in Malawi (which, according to UNICEF, is one of the most dire on the continent), and what they could do to help. It’s estimated that almost 10 percent of the population is now living with HIV/AIDS. There are hundreds of thousands of children orphaned, with scant resources to care for them.

Dr. Kohl suggested that Johnson accompany her to Malawi to work on a documentary project about the lives of 10 boys who live in a residential “half-way” house. They envisioned having the boys — whose ages range from 8 to13 — tell their stories through art and video. When Kohl suggested that Johnson come along as videographer, she was daunted and hesitant, since her work situation as a filmmaker was “iffy.” But with the help of various sponsors and donors — including Pasadena-based Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) — Johnson and Kohl set out for Malawi.

“The Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance is this small charity doing big things, and the folks at All Saints Church in Pasadena have been so amazing in their support of me,” Johnson said. All Saints has had a local GAIA presence since the 1980s. Through introductions facilitated by Pasadenans involved with GAIA (www.thegaia.org), Johnson visited the crisis nursery on a day off from her video tasks.

Having come to Malawi just for a video project, she soon realized she was also there to become a mother.

The baby at the orphanage nursery, listless, frail and non-responsive, abuzz with flies, responded to P.J. like he’d found home in her arms. She saw in him the son she’d always longed for. She couldn’t adopt him right then and there, but has taken the steps to do so. She’s qualified as an adoptive parent through LA County, but still needs to complete certification rules set out by the Malawi government, which has jurisdiction over the final phases of adoption.

Now P.J. needs support in having a social worker check her home and Mphatso’s developmental progress six times over the next 18 months. Since LA County’s system is not set up with the qualification licensing that Johnson needs, she needs financial or volunteer help from social workers outside the county system.

I am always looking for “Think Globally, Act Locally” stories, as well as nonprofits that involve local actions that make the world smaller. How grateful I am that P.J. was able to draw on her own conscience, the Pasadena community and dinner party conversation in order to transform the life of one little African boy forever. If you know how to assist Johnson and Mphatso, please e-mail them at beproductionTV@gmail.com.

Contact Ellen at www.snortland.com.