Ugandan boy reunited with parents
Victor and Kari Kimera are getting exactly what they wanted for Christmas this year: Their 13-year-old son Marvin has finally come home.
The Kalispell area couple has waited well over two years to bring Marvin to America from Uganda. First they had to raise the thousands of dollars it cost for the immigrant visa and accompanying paperwork, and then came the endless waiting while the visa request chugged slowly through the government of the African nation.
Kari met Victor several years ago while she was touring Uganda as a lead teacher for the African Children’s Choir. Choirs made up of children from several African nations such as Uganda and Kenya travel the world performing.
Victor, a native of Uganda and once an African Children’s Choir member himself, was also a chaperone on the same tour Kari was assigned to.
They finished touring in 2011 and got married the following year. Marvin’s birth mother is not involved with him and he has been cared for by Victor’s parents. Victor has full custody of his son.
As newlyweds struggling financially, there weren’t able to save enough money for the expensive process of bringing Marvin here until a local fundraising effort called “Operation Marvin” was started in September 2013.
Growing in God’s Love Daycare and Preschool in Whitefish, where Kari is now the director, led the fundraising effort to raise roughly $8,000 for the visa paperwork and airfares. The money came together fairly quickly, but it was still a waiting game for the Kimeras.
“We honestly don’t really know why it took so long,” Kari said. “It’s been a waiting game and a long time coming.”
During the long wait, Victor became a U.S. citizen and the couple had a baby, Calvin, who is 1.
The Kimeras left Kalispell on Nov. 19 and returned Dec. 19 with Marvin by their side. The paperwork was finalized at the embassy in Kenya.
They left the blistering heat of Africa and came home to a winter wonderland. It’s the first time Marvin has seen snow.
“Montana is about as opposite as you get from Uganda,” Kari said. “He’s doing really well. He’s a good kid. He’s adjusting well and is very interested in what we do here.”
During the two-year wait they communicated with Marvin via Skype, but there’s nothing like finally having him here.
Their Christmas celebration will be very traditional and actually quite similar to how Marvin spent Christmas in Uganda, Kari said. They will go to church at the Whitefish Church of the Nazarene on Christmas Eve and then head to Kari’s aunt and uncle’s home.
On Christmas Day Victor and Kari will host a house full of relatives at their home. Grandma is cooking the prime rib.
“We have a really good sledding hill,” Kari said, expecting some outdoor fun to be part of the holiday.
Marvin and his younger brother hit it off immediately, she said. “It was like they had an instant brotherly connection.”
After the holidays, Marvin will attend Evergreen Junior High School, where Kari’s parents, Geno and Pam Penrod, are teachers.
“We think it will be a good fit for him,” Kari said. “It’s a smaller school and there’s the familiarity of having [his grandparents] there.”
Even though the wait to bring Marvin home seemed endless at times, the timing in the end, was as it was meant to be.
“The Lord totally had his hand on it,” she said. “It’s just perfect.”
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.