Photo: Courtesy Lacinda Lewis
Afonso (left) and Kelvin (right) ended up in the same orphanage in Mozambique. Kelvin stayed with relatives at first but his aunt couldn't afford to feed him as well as her own children
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Kelvin Lewis and Afonso Slater grew up in Mozambique before being adopted in Gilbert, Arizona
Afonso arrived to the US in January 2008 and Kelvin followed six months later
Their families didn't know about each other's adoption plans and lived less than two miles away at the time
The boys have both been accepted to Brigham Young University and will be roommates
Read their heart-warming story after the cut ...
Two boys who became best friends at an orphanage in Africa found each other again after being adopted in Arizona.
Kelvin Lewis and Afonso Slater, both 18, grew up in Mozambique after losing their parents to AIDS.
Two
families from Gilbert, Arizona, adopted them eight years ago. The two
households didn't know each other well at the beginning of the adoption
process but their houses were less than two miles apart.
Kelvin
and Afonso have remained friends throughout the years and are now
headed to the same college, where they will be roommates in the fall, AZ Central reported.
Photo: Courtesy LaCinda Lewis
Afonso
Slater (left in both pictures) and Kelvin Lewis (right), both 18, went
to the same orphanage in Mozambique and later found each other again
after being adopted by two families in Gilbert, Arizona
Kelvin (left) and Afonso (right) met
at a very young age as their mothers were friends. Both became orphans
within the same year after losing their parents to AIDS
They met a a very young age as they mothers were friends. Both boys became orphans within the same year.
Kelvin's mother died of AIDS when he was only four years old.
The
little boy, who didn't know his father, stayed with other relatives at
first, including his aunt and his grandmother, and spent most of his
days on the street.
His aunt brought him to an orphanage one day as she couldn't afford to feed him as well as her own children.
There, Kelvin found Afonso, whose parents both died of AIDS before the little boy turned four.
They
learnt the rules of the orphanage together. Children who wet their bed
had to sleep on the bottom bunks, AZ Central wrote. Those who didn't
could sleep in the top bunks.
Meanwhile, John Lewis, who is now the mayor of Gilbert, and his wife LaCinda, set out to adopt an eighth child.
Kelvin (left) didn't know his father
and his mother died when he was four years old. Afonso (right) lost both
of his parents to the disease before he turned four
Photo: Courtesy LaCinda Lewis
They traveled to Mozambique six times and faced four judges before they adopt Kelvin at the end of a six-year process.
Greg
Slater and his wife Sharon, who later became Afonso's parents, hadn't
planned on adopting a child but had a change of hear during a trip to
Mozambique.
Their guide told them he knew children in an orphanage who needed families, AZ Central reported.
'The minute he told me I got this overwhelming feeling I was supposed to adopt them,' Sharon told the newspaper.
'It haunted me the whole time I was there. I kept trying to push it out of my mind and it wouldn't go away.'
The
Slaters also went through a convoluted adoption process as Mozambique
judges feared adopted children would end as victims of slave labor in
trafficking rings.
They eventually brought Afonso back to the US in January 2008 and Kelvin followed six months later in the Lewis household.
The two Gilbert families didn't know
each other and became friends during the adoption process. Greg and
Sharon Slater adopted Afonso (right) and Kelvin (left) became John Lewis
and his wife LaCinda's eighth child
The two boys remained friends
throughout the years and went to high school together. Kelvin (left) and
Afonso (right) have been accepted to the same college and will be
roommates in the fall
The two families didn't know each other well at first and became friends during the adoption process.
They organized a surprise reunion when they found out Kelvin and Afonso had been best friends in Mozambique.
The two boys happily reunited.
'I
was so happy to have him around. I was grateful, of course, but being
put in this new family of people that looked different than me… It was
hard to acclimate,' Kelvin told People. 'I felt like if we were together, everything would be okay.'
'To
have someone from home I could share this new life with was
incredible,' Afonso added. 'To have him living only two minutes away was
something like fate.'
They both went to Gilbert High School together and joined the soccer team.
Now,
Kelvin and Afonso have both been accepted to Brigham Young University
and will be roommates when they head there in the fall.
Kelvin
told People he wants to become a doctor in Mozambique and Afonso wants
to get a degree in international studies to improve adoption between
different countries.
'We
talk about growing old, like sitting on our porches in a rocking chair,
and living next door to each other, having our kids be best friends,'
Kelvin told People. 'We're definitely more than friends, we're
brothers.'
Afonso (right) wants to get a degree
in international studies to improve adoption between different
countries. Kelvin (left) plans to work as a doctor in Mozambique
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