Our first Court Appearance

I don't actually remember a lot about the first court appearance. I just remember that I was having a hard time figuring out who was who. Usually you would have a state's attorney, guardian ad litem for the child, and then various and sundry other people who make up the court. Everyone was in black robes! From the roles that each one played we could kind of figure out who was who. Benin's legal system is based on the French system and that is totally different from the American system.

We did know that someone had been appointed as a cultural consultant for our case. We would have to meet with him and with our attorney. I didn't even know if this was the filing of the petition or severance of parental rights. We knew that for the final hearing we wanted someone there who could explain things to us!