Suzanne Stone: Changing Lives

By Edita McQuary

Many of us have had the desire of traveling to a country on another continent to live, study, or work but few of us have actually done so. Suzanne Stone is one of the few who has done this and it has changed her life forever.

Suzanne is the executive director of Above the Line-Homes for Kids, a nonprofit Treatment Foster Family Agency in Aptos. Suzanne’s interest in working with abused and neglected children was sparked by the first psychology class she took at the University of California-Santa Cruz. After majoring in psychology, she went on to study Marriage and Family Counseling at the University of San Francisco.

She was a counselor and then supervisor of a program for juveniles at the Santa Cruz County Probation Department before she became a social worker, program director, and then the executive director of Group Home Society, a residential treatment program and foster family agency. In 2000, Group Home Society merged with Above the Line.

In 1998 Suzanne had the opportunity to fulfill a life-long interest in anthropology by living in a remote tribal village in the Volta region of Ghana, West Africa. While there she was able to study and document tribal life through interviews with chiefs, warriors, farmers and the women of the village. She had full access to the village and was able to videotape the events of daily life. While doing her ethnographic study, she saw the need for basic medications and dental supplies as well as for cottage industries. Suzanne and a partner founded Ghana Rural Action for Sustainable Projects. This nonprofit sent donations of over-the-counter medications and dental supplies to the village chiefs. They also helped members of the tribe to start small businesses in agriculture, clothing, and other enterprises.

Each afternoon the members of the tribe would gather in their family compounds to socialize. Everyone was curious about the “white woman.” Many villagers would come to see and touch Suzanne. One day a four-year-old girl, more curious and confident than the other children, gently pushed her way through the group and climbed onto Suzanne’s lap. This ritual was repeated each day during her stay in the village. Although Suzanne did not speak Ewe, the tribe’s language, and the little girl did not speak English, they developed a close, non-verbal bond.

Eight months later Suzanne returned to the village to continue her work with project development. The day she arrived back in the village, the father of Suzanne’s young friend approached her and told her that the child, Sedem, wanted Suzanne to be her mother and to take her home to America. In the culture of this tribe children can choose with whom they want to live and they frequently live with relatives other than their parents for extended periods of time.

Suzanne was initially skeptical about what Sedem’s father told her but when the two of them reunited it was a powerful emotional experience for both of them. Although she had not considered adopting a child, Suzanne made an instant decision to adopt this beautiful little girl.

Later she learned that the name Sedem means, “Destiny has smiled upon me” — a name that proved prophetic.

Although Suzanne quickly assembled all the documentation for the adoption and returned it to the Ghanaian Social Services Department, the adoption stalled and there were no responses to her attempts to finalize it. Finally, she enlisted the help of a Ghanaian friend who investigated the situation and determined that the problem was that Suzanne, being unaware of the custom, had not paid bribes to the court! This was quickly remedied. During the waiting period, Suzanne wrote to Sedem regularly and sent school supplies and gifts for her and the other village children.

In 2003, Suzanne’s friend from Ghana, his wife and four children brought Sedem Akposoe to her new home in Aptos. When she arrived she found her home filled with photos of her Ghanaian family and she was able to watch videos Suzanne had made of her family and others in the village. Because she had been so well cared for and loved by her parents, she expected to be loved and cared for by Suzanne and she quickly and happily adjusted to her new life. Suzanne’s daughter, Ursula, took Sedem under her wing and tried to interest her in dressage riding but to no avail. Being a big sister was a new role for Ursula and she was very kind to her new sister.

Although Sedem was seven years old when she arrived, she had not been taught how to read and she required special tutoring to get her up to grade level. Her parents had explained to her that they expected her to be a good student and, once she mastered reading, she was a top student throughout her schooling. Suzanne wanted her to have the best opportunity to enter an excellent college so she enrolled her in Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School. While there, she received many awards for academics and athletics and the school honored her for her altruism. This fall, Sedem started her freshman year at Mount Holyoke, a women’s Ivy League College in Massachusetts.

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Adopt-a-Child for Christmas Program

Suzanne’s joy in raising her adopted daughter is matched by her passion for working with children in foster care. As we enter the holiday season, Above the Line is inviting the community to participate in their Adopt-a-Child program. This is an opportunity to make a child’s Christmas wishes come true. There are two ways to become involved in this rewarding activity: 1) Make a donation and the agency will shop for gifts, or 2) Contact Tracy Gill at 831.662.9081, Ext. 202, for a list of gifts to purchase. There is a particular need for gift certificates for teens. The Above the Line address is 9081 Soquel Drive, Aptos, 95003.

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Thanks to Suzanne Stone for help with this article. For more information visit abovetheline.org