Open Letter to those wishing to adopt in Haiti
January/Friday/2010 21:18
Thank you for your inquiry regarding your interest to adopt an orphan affected by the recent Earthquake in Haiti. We want you to know we have personally read your inquiry, and if you supplied information to us about your specific situation, we will start a file for you and begin to reference your information as the situation in Haiti becomes more clear. Here is what we know as of this time:
1) Out of 18 ministry (Government entities) buildings in Haiti, all but three were destroyed in the earthquake. Important Government leaders such as the courts chief justice and others have been killed.
Most records related to adoptions in Haiti have been destroyed. Much of the record keeping in Haiti was manual, and as such, no backup exists.
2) This is still a recovery operation. Initial assessments show loss of life and property to be catastrophic. There are no flights into Haiti other than rescue and humanitarian until (our sources say) at least Friday the 22nd of January. There is extremely limited communication to the island.
In America, we have a "can do" attitude which is great. As such, we would normally expect answers to our questions in reasonable time frames - such as one or two days. In this case, we may be talking MONTHS. That is right - months. Let me explain why:
In order to adopt a child into the United States, a number of things have to be accomplished. One important step is to confirm that a child has been orphaned and is adoptable. If that were not the case, then folks would quickly be selling and stealing human life for monetary transactions. In the case of Haitian orphans - the Haitian authorities must be able to be organized enough to process a child. Right now - that is impossible, and considering the current infrastructure in Haiti - at best it is hard to even guess when there will be any functional structure to the adoptive process.
At a minimum, the birth records and immigration information is buried at the bottom of tons of concrete and dust. In most cases, for young newly orphaned children, a new birth certificate and origin would have to be recreated in Haiti for the children before they can even be considered as orphans. Imagine a 2 year old wandering through the streets with no parents. Both have been killed and no one knows the child. Clearly they are of Haitian origin, but the child cannot recite his / her name and there is no date of birth or address. That is just such a child that needs to be adopted - yet without the most basic information of birth date, parents, name and address, there is currently NO system in place to facilitate the adoption within Haiti.
As a result, Hope For Families founder, Dr. Kenneth Brown is meeting with representatives of the Haitian Government this coming Monday, January, 18,2010. At this meeting, we will be recommending emergency adoptive procedures for the proper identification of Haitian orphans, and the creation of a database and processing facility to enable the children to be saved into adoption.
We are blessed with the opportunity to be able to communicate so freely with those connected to the Haitian government. We hope to be a solution to the challenge, as we have a background in international adoptions.
We will present our idea of an emergency framework that may be used to help get this critical situation of Haitian earthquake orphans under control. We will update you as this process continues. We will also be looking to the US State Department to offer adjustments in immigration policy to allow such a plan to proceed. We believe we have keen insight into the problem and offer practical executable solutions that can be accomplished in a short timeframe.
In the meantime, hundreds of you have expressed an interest to help or adopt orphans from Haiti's earthquake disaster,and we appreciate that very much. We know your heart hurts for these children, as do our own hearts. As fellow American's we want to make a positive difference.
You can do so by being patient to adopt a Haitian child, praying, and sending donations to an organization of your choice. Most of the orphanage children are sleeping outside right now as they have no safe shelter to seek. We are praying for them and are working to send supplies an donations to the orphanage staff in Haiti that we work with. We will update you as the situation changes in Haiti and will let you know of any substantial changes regarding immigration and the US State Departments reaction to this crisis.
Paul Munsie, CEO. Hope For Families Adoption and Counseling Services, Inc
1) Out of 18 ministry (Government entities) buildings in Haiti, all but three were destroyed in the earthquake. Important Government leaders such as the courts chief justice and others have been killed.
Most records related to adoptions in Haiti have been destroyed. Much of the record keeping in Haiti was manual, and as such, no backup exists.
2) This is still a recovery operation. Initial assessments show loss of life and property to be catastrophic. There are no flights into Haiti other than rescue and humanitarian until (our sources say) at least Friday the 22nd of January. There is extremely limited communication to the island.
In America, we have a "can do" attitude which is great. As such, we would normally expect answers to our questions in reasonable time frames - such as one or two days. In this case, we may be talking MONTHS. That is right - months. Let me explain why:
In order to adopt a child into the United States, a number of things have to be accomplished. One important step is to confirm that a child has been orphaned and is adoptable. If that were not the case, then folks would quickly be selling and stealing human life for monetary transactions. In the case of Haitian orphans - the Haitian authorities must be able to be organized enough to process a child. Right now - that is impossible, and considering the current infrastructure in Haiti - at best it is hard to even guess when there will be any functional structure to the adoptive process.
At a minimum, the birth records and immigration information is buried at the bottom of tons of concrete and dust. In most cases, for young newly orphaned children, a new birth certificate and origin would have to be recreated in Haiti for the children before they can even be considered as orphans. Imagine a 2 year old wandering through the streets with no parents. Both have been killed and no one knows the child. Clearly they are of Haitian origin, but the child cannot recite his / her name and there is no date of birth or address. That is just such a child that needs to be adopted - yet without the most basic information of birth date, parents, name and address, there is currently NO system in place to facilitate the adoption within Haiti.
As a result, Hope For Families founder, Dr. Kenneth Brown is meeting with representatives of the Haitian Government this coming Monday, January, 18,2010. At this meeting, we will be recommending emergency adoptive procedures for the proper identification of Haitian orphans, and the creation of a database and processing facility to enable the children to be saved into adoption.
We are blessed with the opportunity to be able to communicate so freely with those connected to the Haitian government. We hope to be a solution to the challenge, as we have a background in international adoptions.
We will present our idea of an emergency framework that may be used to help get this critical situation of Haitian earthquake orphans under control. We will update you as this process continues. We will also be looking to the US State Department to offer adjustments in immigration policy to allow such a plan to proceed. We believe we have keen insight into the problem and offer practical executable solutions that can be accomplished in a short timeframe.
In the meantime, hundreds of you have expressed an interest to help or adopt orphans from Haiti's earthquake disaster,and we appreciate that very much. We know your heart hurts for these children, as do our own hearts. As fellow American's we want to make a positive difference.
You can do so by being patient to adopt a Haitian child, praying, and sending donations to an organization of your choice. Most of the orphanage children are sleeping outside right now as they have no safe shelter to seek. We are praying for them and are working to send supplies an donations to the orphanage staff in Haiti that we work with. We will update you as the situation changes in Haiti and will let you know of any substantial changes regarding immigration and the US State Departments reaction to this crisis.
Paul Munsie, CEO. Hope For Families Adoption and Counseling Services, Inc
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