DES MOINES — For more than 13 years, 6,100 miles, the Atlantic Ocean and a stack of paperwork separated Kofi Oduro Nsenkyire from his parents and siblings he had never met.

On Monday, the Ghana teenager was reunited with his parents and introduced to two sisters and one brother.

"I am very happy," Kofi, 16, said soon after he debarked from an airplane at the Des Moines airport where the reunion occurred in front of area media's cameras and microphones.

Kofi's parents, Daniel Oduro and Salomey Sarbeng, were granted a visa lottery more than 13 years ago that allowed them to immigrate to the United States from Ghana. The couple's sponsors did not have children and appeared not to be comfortable with the idea of children, Oduro said. So Kofi stayed behind with his grandparents in Ghana.

Oduro said after he and his wife left Ghana, Kofi would wake up each morning and immediately look for his parents. For weeks, the boy was inconsolable, said Oduro, a traveling nurse.

After settling in the United States, Oduro and his wife had three more children — Kofi's brother Desire, 12; sister Yaa, 11; and sister Ama, 5 months.

Desire and Yaa often asked their parents why Kofi wasn't with them in the United States. Oduro said he tried to explain why the separation occurred. He said the explanation didn't sit well with his children.

Kofi frequently talked with his family by telephone. When he was about 12, the boy told his mother "I don't know you," the family said.

About three years ago, Salomey told the story of her oldest son to the staff at Mercy Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit in Des Moines. Salomey works in the hospital's housekeeping department.

"When we realized she hadn't seen her son since she left Africa we wanted to know what we could do to help," said Lee Hoover, director of the neonatal unit.

The Mercy staff has worked for nearly three years to get Kofi here.

A team of co-workers from the hospital started by writing letters to the offices of Iowa Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley. Employees from both offices were helpful and sent information about how to get started.

"We went online; we had fundraisers; we had generous donations from some of the doctors," said Hoover, who with others at Mercy now plans to work to bring Kofi's grandparents to the United States. "During the process, Salomey became a citizen."

All the Mercy staffers' work paid off Monday in the form of a happy teenager.

"This is a dream come true for the family," Daniel Oduro said. "This is a heavy load off my shoulders."

Kofi wore a constant smile Monday. His mother squeezed him around the shoulders and held him close.

Salomey wiped away tears several times during the emotional reunion.

Kofi already knows much about his siblings because he has corresponded with sister Yaa regularly on Facebook.

Oduro said Facebook is an easier method of communication for Kofi because he finds American English hard to follow on the telephone.

"Sometimes there have been 10 e-mails a day," Daniel Oduro said.

As for Kofi, he's ready to continue his education. What's he planning to do with the rest of his life?

"Doctor," he said.

By Tom Alex, The Des Moines Register

Source: usatoday30.usatoday.com