Trash Found in Fish

This morning ABC's Good Morning America revisited the problem of the North Pacific Gyre - that large, Texas-sized collection of plastic out in the Pacific Ocean.  In the past, they had found plastic particles in fish - the fish actually feast on the plastic, mistaking it for food.  However, up until now, they had not found the particles in fish that humans consume.  That has changed as they have discovered plastic has been ingested by Mahi Mahi, a very popular item on menus.  This serious issue isn't limited to the Pacific.  This Christian Science Monitor article describes a "plastic soup" in the Atlantic Ocean as well.  It would be easy to blame these masses on corporate dumping, but that's not the case.  The plastic originates on land and is washed out or blown out to sea.  It is consumers who litter who are responsible, showing us that actions that seem little or insignificant can amount to serious problems.

Another 15 Minutes of Fame

Just when I thought I had my moment, when I was interviewed by our local paper last December about my fundraising for Haiti, I got another chance.  This morning I received a call from the BBC; they had discovered my blog entry about the plight of the Haitian children.  I mentioned the Americans who are under arrest for human trafficking in Haiti for attempting to cross the border with 33 Haitian children.  I was invited to participate in a BBC Radio show called, "World Have Your Say." 

Unfortunately, the show opened with my answering a brief question (which I didn't expect), then the conversation quickly moved from person to person.  Before I had a chance to jump in, I was thanked for my participation and that was that.  I wasn't sure if they wanted interruptions or not, but I noticed the two other participants didn't jump in either.  I expected it to be a conversation between the participants but it just moved from person to person.

It seems most of the callers were interested in ensuring the letter of the law be followed when it comes to removing children from Haiti.  The problem is, there really is no law, or at least any consistent law that can be followed with an end result in sight.  Now, I don't believe children should be randomly picked up on the street and taken out of the country.  However, there are plenty of children who were in orphanages prior to the earthquake who are eligible for adoption. 

In addition, there are approximately 2000 children who are taken across the border every year to become virtual slaves in the Dominican Republic.  Haven't heard any outrage over that.  It reminds me of the time I lived in Florida and many residents were afraid of having casinos in Florida.  Said it would open the door to organized crime in the state.  Organized crime?  In Florida?  Where had those people been living?  Now we have the issue of human trafficking in Haiti.  Suddenly it's a problem?  And it seems people don't care about that.  They just care about the letter of the law.  And don't get me started on the callers who were concerned (with much prompting by Ros, the moderator) with the Christian "agenda."

This is a complex issue but there are reasonable solutions.  I just hope the children aren't forgotten after the Red Cross and other international agencies move on to the next disaster spot.

I'm Angry...

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know of my connection to Haiti and my passion for the orphans there.  Prior to the earthquake, most Americans were blissfully unaware of Haiti.  The quake has put the country on everyone's radar and I have been thrilled to see the outpouring of the generosity of the American people.  So many people have donated their time, their money, their resources - many have offered to open their homes to the children who have been orphaned as a result. 

What hasn't come to light is the fact that there were about 490,000 orphans prior to the earthquake.  Many experts predict that another million or so children will be orphaned or separated from their parents as a result of this tragedy.  In order to assist the Haitian people and the Haitian government, the United States and several other nations expedited paperwork for children who were in the last stages of adoption in order to 1) get the children safely out of the country; 2) unite them with their adoptive families (many of whom have waited years); and 3) make much needed room for the new orphans.  As a result, many other families who were waiting to adopt and many children who were waiting for families had hopes of being matched up and united.

The story should end there, with a happy ending.  However, the United States government, the Haitian government, and several large international agencies have intervened, stating they are afraid of human trafficking and have put an end to issuing humanitarian visas for the orphans.  Right now, 10 Americans are in a Haitian prison after being charged with human trafficking because they attempted to take Haitian orphans across the Dominican border without appropriate paperwork.  Practicing human traffficking?  No, they were practicing love and compassion.  As you will see later in my post, thousands of Haitian children cross that border on a regular basis, never with the appropriate paperwork, always for nefarious reasons.

Another excuse the powers that be are giving is that they are afraid that many children are not orphans but merely separated from their parents and that the parents wouldn't want to lose their children.  First of all, as Soledad O'Brien (who truly "gets it") said on CNN recently, the definition of orphan in Haiti is not the same as in the U.S.  In Haiti, children in orphanages often have one or both parents living; the parents surrendered their child because they could not FEED him.  Oftentimes, Americans report being offered children on the street because the parents know if they remain in Haiti, they will die.  However, before nongovernmental agencies ever need to begin placing these newly-orphaned children with families, there are thousands that are already living in orphanages and are eligible for adoption.

The organizations that are trying to have orphans removed from Haiti to the U.S. are talking about children who were living in orphanages prior to the earthquake.  And being placed in homes that were already approved as foster or adoptive homes.  These are not child traffickers.  One thing the big wigs have not explained is how on earth the country of Haiti will feed, clothe, house, and educate an additional million orphans when they weren't even caring for the ones they already had.  It's the lucky child who is taken in by a private organization where they are fed, clothed, and loved.  These organizations are not funded by the Haitian government; they are funded by compassionate individuals.  The cynic in me believes the large child aid organizations see this as an opportunity to increase child sponsorships and add to their coffers.  And the governments are using it as a way to advance political agendas.  All at the expense of the children.

This little boy is 3 years old and weighs 11 pounds.  His photo was taken by a missionary we know who is in Port au Prince trying to rescue children to take back to her orphanage to care for them in the wake of the disaster.  The problem with this photo is that this child did not become this way as a result of the earthquake.  He was slowly starving to death under the watch of the government who say's it wants to stop the humanitarian visas for orphans because it's dangerous for the children.  How much more dangerous can it be? 

Another way Haitians care for the children is by allowing them to be "restaveks."  This is a practice whereby families send their children to live with wealthier families (often paying for the privilege with hard-earned money) with the promise that the children will be fed, clothed, and educated in exchange for doing chores.  The reality is that these children are turned into slaves (and girls often become sexual slaves) in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  This is real human trafficking that has been going on for decades right under the watch of the Haitian government that is now pretending to protect their children.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser for Mercy and Sharing, an organization that funds, among other things, the Abandoned Babies Unit at the public hospital in Port au Prince.  Yes, you read that right, the Abandoned Babies Unit.  Babies are regularly abandoned on the streets in Port au Prince.  Sometimes the mother has died, sometimes she just cannot feed the baby, sometimes the baby is unwanted.  Regardless of the reason, these babies are left to die.  Some of the babies end up in this unit at the hospital where they often live for years...yes, I said years.  Susie Krabacher, the founder of Mercy and Sharing, works tirelessly to ensure that these children are loved and cared for - to the extent that the Haitian government allows.  At the fundraiser I learned that often the government will not issue a death certificate for a child from the unit; this prevents the child from receiving a proper burial.

For those of you who are moved by the plight of the children in Haiti, I urge you to call the United States State Department, your elected representatives, UNICEF, World Vision, Compassion International, and even Oprah or any person of power and influence you can think of.  Tell them that this shameful situation is unacceptable.  Children should not be used as pawns.

Quote for the Day

Time lost is time when we have not lived a full human life, time unenriched by experience, creative endeavor, enjoyment, and suffering.

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

So Little Time

This past week I haven't been blogging because I've been up to other things.  Like starting grad school.  I put off doing that for a semester because I wasn't certain I was up to all that it requires.  But I kept feeling that tug and last month finally registered for classes.  I'm taking a virtual class and it's a whole new learning environment for me.  Online learning involves discussions via message boards and I'm slowly getting used to that venue.  Another new aspect of this environment is doing research using the university library's portal where I have tons of professional journals literally at my fingertips.  My memory of college research required hoofing it to the library, digging through the stacks, and photocopying from books and journals (and ponying up the money to do it).  I could get used to this kind of research.  In addition to the online library resources, I stumbled upon a new tool offered by Google - Google Scholar, which also provides a way to access professional and academic material.

Although being back in school is a bit stressful right now, I'm enjoying the challenge of it all.  It's the deadlines that I dread.  So, if I'm a bit absent now and then, you know why.

Quote for the Day

Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake.
~Henry David Thoreau

Inspiration for the Day

Be careful what you water your dreams with.
Water them with worry and fear and you will
produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.
Water them with optimism and solutions
and you will cultivate success.
Always be on the lookout for ways to
turn a problem into an opportunity for success.
Always be on the lookout for ways to
nurture your dream.

~Lao Tzu

(Thank you to Kaileenelise for sharing this)