BRAZIL: A diplomat from Niger who had been stranded since she was robbed after the Rio+20 summit, returns home with the help of a Brazilian teacher

Record ID: 236268

  • Title: BRAZIL: A diplomat from Niger who had been stranded since she was robbed after the Rio+20 summit, returns home with the help of a Brazilian teacher
  • Date: 3rd July 2012
  • Summary: ANADOU TAKING PHOTOS WITH PEOPLE INSIDE AIRPORT
  • Embargoed: 18th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA4BP0O5NUC8OQZBP93UIHTN9J
  • Story Text: A diplomat from Niger, who had been stranded in Brazil since being robbed after the Rio+20 summit, caught a flight back home on Tuesday (July 03).
    Fifty-three-year-old Hadijatou Anadou, who had her passport and money stolen in a Rio de Janeiro mall, was barred from taking the same flight as her delegation after the sustainable development conference closed on June 22.
    Brazilian teacher, Elida Hederick, who had been escorting another delegation, saw a scared and confused Anadou crying in the airport and decided to take her home. She had no more than $70 dollars which had been given to her by her fellow delegates before their departure.
    Hederick helped Anadou arrange a "laissez-passer" -- an emergency passport -- through Niger's embassy in the U.S., since the West African country does not have any representation in Brazil.
    But the airliner said Anadou needed an original copy of the papers in order to take her flight and she had to wait an extra week for the documents to arrive.
    After three failed attempts to return home, Anadou's story ran in the local media and she became a celebrity in Rio's international airport.
    Surrounded by cameras and curious passers-by, Anadou told reporters she was without words and could not thank Hederick's family enough for their help.

    "I only speak French. But I can say I thank everybody who tried to help me get a solution for my problem and for my family. I don't have enough words to qualify the thanks I will give them. I only say obrigado (thank you in Portuguese)," she said.
    Hederick said she was only glad to have helped.

    "When I noticed she didn't have money for the hotel, I took her home and she accepted my invitation, so I took her our house," she said.
    Anadou said she would be able to make it in time for her daughter's wedding on July 14.
    She told reporters she was happy have a new family in Brazil.

    "The best thing is I have a second family in Brazil. I have another family with Elida and her friends, her husband, her children, all of them are nice. All the people from Brazil are nice; I like Brazil and people from Brazil," she said.
    Anadou said the Rio+20 organisation did not offer to help her when she contacted them following the incident. She also complained that the shopping mall's security did not pay attention to her when she warned them about the theft.
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