In the afternoon of July 21, 2003, Gift volunteered to go to the market to buy rice for the family dinner. As she crossed the street, a mortar hit the tent where she was staying, killing her three sisters and brother instantly. Gift, whose parents were killed years earlier, was left completely alone on that day.
A woman agreed to take in Gift in exchange for housework. Gift had no other choice and began a period of almost slave-like living.
After reading Gift’s story published in the Chicago Tribune in Dec 2005, Jody Bender, an American who lives in Pottstown, PA, decided to adopt her. Bender traveled to Monrovia in Dec 2006 to bring Gift to the States.

copyright(c)Kuni Takahashi