The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

26 DECEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Indianan, Mother of Many BY BETTY BLEDSOE I am a proud Indianan from DuPont, a small town in my state’s rural south, where my parents owned a grocery store. I have four brothers and sisters. I was born with disabilities and have dealt with physical and medical challenges my whole life. I often have to use my purple wheelchair or purple scooter to get around. I’d dreamed of being a mother since I was 6 years old—I wanted to adopt 60 children! To date, I have had the privilege and honor to help parent 242 children of all ages! No, that’s not a mis- print—you read the number correctly. My life has been blessed, and I am living out all of my dreams. I am also the guardian of six children and foster parent to one. I had two children biologically and adopted 11 more. Twelve still live at home with me full time. All are from the United States, with the exception of one adopted son from Ethiopia. Most of my children came to me with physi- cal, medical, mental and emotional challenges. The International Visitor Leadership Program has also helped fulfill my dreams. This wonderful endeavor allows my family to know the world without the logistical difficulties of travel- ing to its four corners. Thanks to the wonderful people we have met through the program, I am able to bring the world to my children. I homeschool all of my children, and I want them to learn about citizenship and naturalization. My family became involved in the IVLP after attending naturalization ceremonies in and around my hometown, Indianapolis. At one such ceremony, I met two ladies who worked for the Indianapolis International Center. They were the first to tell me about the program and asked whether I’d be interested in hosting dinners. I said, “Sure! I cook for 13 to 15 every day—what’s a few more at a dinner table that has 10 leaves and seats up to 24?!” And so my family began hosting dinners for the foreign visitors who came to Indianapolis as part of their tour. Without exception, these guests are a tremendous asset, making a huge impact on my family. Each visit is an amazing experience. We have met people from Indonesia, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Australia, China, Korea, Sweden, Iceland, France, Zambia, Austria, Russia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Brazil and the United Kingdom, among other countries! My children interact with the guests, learning where they are from and what they do. They watched the blind deputy mayor of Paris serving food; they taught our guests from Africa how to bowl, played soccer with two visitors from Brazil in our backyard and rode mini-scooters around our playroom with guests from China. My autistic daughter makes handmade wash cloths for the guests to take home as gifts. Another similarly-affected child makes presents of her pictures for our guests. My sons enjoy trading U.S. coins for foreign currencies. The kids get so excited each time we host. Their world grows as they meet people, and simultaneously shrinks as they develop international friend- ships. Entertaining 13 male visitors from Saudi Arabia was one of our most memorable experiences. They had three interpreters and a liaison, and wouldn’t make eye contact with us at first. I realized this was culture at play, of course, and did my best to be patient and not offend them by serving pork, for example. And as time passed, they began asking questions and engaging us. They even served the food and cleaned up, something they admitted they had never done in their lives! We get phone calls, letters and cards from the guests we have hosted over the years. We really love the time we have with each of our guests, whether we bring them to the local bowling alley, sit around the living room singing “Amazing Grace,” watch a Pac- ers game or visit the canal in the center of Indianapolis. Betty Bledsoe with her family at the 2014 Global Ties National Meeting. Bledsoe was honored with the 2014 Volunteer of the Year Award. COURTESY OF GLOBAL TIES U.S.