First, though, I need to comment on the press release below that I got last week. It laments that kids in an orphanage in Haiti weren’t allowed out of the country. I know nothing about this group, never heard of it. But the attitude that permeates this press release is that children are commodities to be moved around at the will of unrelated adults who think they know best. And when they’re poor children, especially poor children of color, why, it’s even more reason for foreigners to move them away from their homeland. What arrogance. What cavalier dismissal of these kids’ homeland, no matter how poor or ailing it is, and the attachments they hold to it, not to mention to whatever relatives they still may have in Haiti. It’s a good bet that some of these “orphans” still have living parents. I do feel for the prospective adoptive parents, but the kids should be the most important consideration, not any adults. So cheers for the Haitian government in slowing down these kids departure. In crises like the one Haitians are going through now, it’s way too easy to take advantage of kids. This story from Reuters confirms that such exploitation is, indeed, happening in Haiti.

The press release from the group, For His Glory Adoption Outreach, is pasted after descriptions taken verbatim from organizations’ Web sites of what some child-focused groups are doing in Haiti.

UNICEF

Photo from UNICEF

Assistance to unaccompanied children, who have lost or became separated from their families, is a focus of UNICEF’s Haitian humanitarian operations, in the wake of the deadly earthquake which struck on 12 January.

While it continues daily delivery of critical life-saving supplies such as water, nutrition, shelter and medicine (so far, UNICEF supplies for 250,000 children have arrived and are being distributed), UNICEF and partners like Save the Children have also begun registering unaccompanied children found in the streets of  Port au Prince. A programme will then begin to trace the families of these children, if they exist.

“Safe Spaces” for unaccompanied children including infants are now set up in the capital. These locations allow UNICEF and its partners to assist and protect children who have nowhere else to go, until their families are found or alternative arrangements are made.

Save the Children

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Jan. 30, 2010) — Seventeen days after the catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, Save the Children is distributing food rations to 200,000 children and families in partnership with the World Food Program.

Latest Field Report Highlights

• 144,158 beneficiaries have been reached to date. including medical supplies for about 85,000 in Leogane, Jacmel and Port-au-Prince.
• Our mobile clinic in Leogane continues seeing patients, roughly 100 per day. 70 health workers were trained in Leogane and another mobile clinic was established in Jacmel.
• 16 Child Friendly Spaces were established in Jacmel and Port-au-Prince, providiing activities for over 10,400 children for the past 10 days.

Orphans Blocked From Departing Haiti

Undefined Haitian exit procedures halts departure of humanitarian
paroled orphans

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (MMD Newswire) January 26, 2010 --
Seventy-nine of the 106 children from Maison des Enfants de Dieu
(Children of the House of God) orphanage, who were granted
humanitarian parole, arrived in Florida on Saturday, January 23rd.
The Haitian Government has blocked the remaining 27 children,
including the adopted son of the For His Glory (FHG) Adoption
Outreach President, Kim Harmon, from departing Port-au-Prince. In
a surprise announcement, Haitian Prime Minister Bellerive stated
that all future cases of humanitarian parole would have to complete
an exit process with his office. He has not yet defined this exit
process so no action can be taken to bring the remaining children to
their adoptive parents in the United States.

The Maison des Enfants de Dieu orphanage staff announced that
they soon would be accepting 30 children orphaned since the
January 12th earthquake. Over the past week, the orphanage has
received numerous requests to take newly orphaned children. In
one instance alone, it was asked to accept 70 orphans. The
orphanage and FHG remain firmly committed to the children and the
people of Haiti. Pat Flowers, an FHG board member who has been
in Haiti this past week consulting with the orphanage staff, agreed,
"we must act responsibly in accepting new orphans to ensure that
we will have sufficient supplies and facilities to care for these
children." Pat explained that not only is each child, who is united with

adoptive parents, helped, but much-needed space is opened up at
the orphanage to help other children. He added, "The need in
Port-au-Prince is great."

Kim Harmon reiterated the need to quickly complete the departure
process of the remaining 27 children, who have been granted
humanitarian parole. She stated "These children have adoptive
families waiting to care for them in the United States. The faster we
resolve the departure issue, the quicker we will be able to reach out
to those unfortunate children in Port-au-Prince who now have no
one." FHG urges adoptive parents, supporters and all those
concerned about the welfare of the orphans in Haiti to contact their
Congressmen, Senators, Governors and the White House to urge
the Secretary of State to quickly resolve this issue with Prime Minister Bellerive.