Children in Haiti

We've all been reading and watching stories about all the orphans in Haiti. Did you know that half of Haiti's population is under the age of 18? And BEFORE the earthquake over 300,000 children were orphans (eta: that's about the population of the entire U.P) ? We see images and our hearts want to take a child's hand and bring take them away from what they are enduring right now. Many people asked me if we considered, since the earthquake, adopting from Haiti. Of course it came to mind. ...this is how it is in my mind: Our adoption journey is like being on a straight, speeding train. It's getting to be a LONG track, but very straight; domestic, infant. If we decided to try adopt a child from Haiti it would be like suddenly taking a sharp, 90 degree turn, going 100 miles an hour. I haven't been able to re-route my thoughts, my feelings- it's like being derailed. Yet I still think about it every time I pray for those children. So I called our adoption attorney today. We see all these stories on the news about children that ARE being brought over. As it turns out, the States department is only flying children into the United States who have already been matched with adoptive families. Even this is a long process because of the chaos and paperwork being lost. However, some families that were just beginning the process of adopting from Haiti are getting their children much sooner than anticipated, which is good. If, say we, wanted to adopt from Haiti, we're could be looking at years. When things start settling down, they will first try find family in Haiti for the children. If no family is found, then they will be placed for adoption. But the United States government has not yet set a concrete plan on bringing unmatched orphans to the United States. I tend to shy away from talking about politics. But I want governments across the world to fly over and bring those children to safe homes. So, for the first time I am going to research my local represenatives and write a letter. I've never done so before, but THIS is something I am passionate about. I hope that a program is set up, and laws are implemented so that if something like this happens again, the children will be taken care of. I know it's easy to criticize flaws in the wake of disasters. And I believe there are people- people much more powerful than myself- that are doing what they can to help. I guess I just pray that when the next disaster strikes, the children- especially those too young to care for themselves- aren't left on the broken roads, wondering what's happening to them and their loved ones.

Prayers to the children in Haiti.

ETA: There is only one adoption agency in Minnesota that has a Haiti program, but they don't currently have anyone that was matched. :(