Haitian Orphans

Have you heard about the US church group people in jail in Haiti for "trafficing" - after approaching families in Haiti that they were in the country looking to help children who had lost their parents in the earthquake and offering them a better life in the US?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/02/haiti.border.arrests/index.html

I saw a bit of this on the news this morning. I think I have mentioned before that seeing the children there with no family/parents affects me greatly and I would, given the opportunity, seriously adopt one of these children.

This is SO heartbreaking. Hearing the Haitian people say that they love these children so much that they without much hesitation would put them on a bus with the promise of a better live just KILLS my heart.

I haven't read enough about the situation yet. I don't fully know the intent of the church group. It all just disturbs me greatly.

Your opinions, thoughts? Can't something be done to guard the lives of these children in a better way?

I honestly believe their hearts were in the right place, but this just goes to show how your heart can make you do really stupid things. Now more than ever those children need to be protected, so you make sure you're doing everything RIGHT, crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. Knowing that some of these kids had family still searching for them...that just makes me angry. Then knowing that other families denied being family in the hopes of getting their kids a better life...that's just tragic.

It bothers me, the arrogance of this group, to think that their rescue mission was more important the possible family left behind. Just not right. BUT I don't believe they had illicit trafficking in their plans, either.

I hope this gets settled soon.

I have been following this story since it happened. I don't know whether to believe these people are just plain stupid or actually were up to no good.

Just because they say they are part of some Church group, and God told them to do it, doesn't make it right and it doesn't mean they are good people.
For anyone to think they can just waltz into a foreign country and scoop up children and take them to another country is crazy and wrong.

Haiti has had problems over the years with child trafficking. I can understand why these idiots are behind bars.

There are people from all over the world in Haiti working their butts off to save lives, get food and water to these people and these morons decide the best way to help is to take children without papers, passports or permission out of the country.

Some of these children weren't orphans....There are so many ways they could have helped rather than doing what they did..

Hi Renee

Jane, I also had heard they were trying to take kids that were not orphans. I find that unnerving and very scary.

You really never know what people might be up to. I so hope their intentions were good and things get sorted out quickly.

I would also take in a child or two if I could, the poor little things. It does break your heart to see them without their parents. Some babies are being held by kids only about 10 years old.

I don't know what to believe either, but something tells me they were up to no good. I've heard a lot on it because there are two of them in jail there from here. Two of them are from a Baptist church in Amarillo, so we hear about it a lot. There were 5 of the children who belonged to a woman and they weren't orphans. One of the little girls kept saying "I'm not an orphan, I have a mom and dad." But they wouldn't listen they put them on the bus anyway. And they just said this morning they were planning to send them to the Dominican Republic not to the US. Which that makes me suspicious. Another sad thing about this is there are teenagers sitting in prison with their parents because they were on the "mission" trip with them.

I'd take one of the babies every time they talk about it on TV, I say I want one!! They showed some newborn orphans on that American hospital ship thing off the coast that are being breast fed by a nurse who left her 3 month baby behind at home to care for the orphans, and everyone was saying how they wanted to take those little babies home.

If they find out these people were up to no good, I hope they face the full wrath of justice. I just really really hope they were stupid and not evil.

They said that someone told them that what they were about to do was probably wrong and could be illegal also, but they went ahead and done it anyway.

I can understand wanting to go in there and scoop up all the children and save them but its a crazy political climate there right now. The US is seen by some other countries as taking military action to conquer Haiti because they went in and declared martial law and somewhat took over the government of the country in a bid to help.

It has to be a very careful thing to remove a child from there. If they are so intent on saving them - take your resources and go house and feed them there until you can go through proper channels to remove them.

Imagine a major earthquake strikes your town while you are 20 miles away at work. Your husband is killed in his workplace and you are trapped in the rubble. Even if you weren't injured - you can't drive on the roads - maybe can't even recognize them anymore and it's 20 miles home. You're injured - maybe even unconscious and fighting for your life. Twenty miles away your child's school has collapsed and the few children who have survived are being passed from one adult to the next in a desperate attempt to feed and care for them wherever food and water are available. Children don't carry ID - no one knows who they are or who their parents are - only what the child is old enough to say. Still it means nothing because you don't know where they are anyway.

Along comes the ' savior ' church who whisks them away to America to be 'sold' by a lawyer to the richest couple available and never see their mother again.

No matter what thier intentions are. . . NO child should be leaving that country unless they were already deemed adoptable before this tragedy and it can be proven. In the meantime use the resources the church is spending on transport and house the children in need there. They need fact finders to reunite these people - not churchs to 'save ' them in a misguided effort to bring them to a ' better ' life.


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And it seems from what I've seen on the news, that while they are probably overwhelmed, Haiti seems to have an orphanage system in place. Granted THEY need help now as well, it would make more sense to set up a system through the orphanage system to offer time for "temporary orphans" until it seems that no family can be found for them.

It bothered me so, though, to also see some Haitian parents/families so willing to put their child on a bus in hopes of a better life and kiss them goodbye -forever. (I choke up just thinking about it.)