It is a valid enough question, and one a lot of people are asking. After all, it will take a long time, a lot of effort, a lot of money and, as so many have pointed out.... there are children right here in WI that need homes.
I wish I could tell you a beautiful and inspiring story as to how God led us to Haiti, but instead I'll have to go with the truth :) I felt strongly that God was leading us to adopt our 5th child. (We adopted our second) My husband Sean fully agreed, although he thought it might be many years off. We had begun talking about our next adoption and where this child would come from. We had previously adopted domestically through our state (then California) but neither of us felt that we wanted to go the foster care route again. As for other domestic adoptions, we are absolutely not interested in fighting over the healthy domestically born infants!
We also knew that as awful as it may be for children in the United states who are waiting in foster homes; those children will get to go to school, they will eat dinner tonight, and if they are sick there is a hospital who will care for them. I am not trying to belittle the circumstances of any child or family. There is no doubt that American children can face abuse or that they may lack the health care available to the wealthy. Orphans in third world countries are not battling for better health care or the opportunity to attend college, they are simply trying to live until tomorrow. Children eat dirt just to make their stomachs feel full. When they fall ill there is no free clinic, no matter how long they wait. There are not foster homes and there is no free school. If these children are not adopted they face terrible odds. Many will die or be sold into slavery before they reach their teen years.
I sat down at my computer and began to research foreign adoption. I learned that the children with the greatest need and smallest adoption numbers were from Haiti, Philippines, Ethiopia and other African countries. We know a couple who are adopting from the Philippines. In fact, he is a citizen of the PI who is married to an American woman. They have had a terrible experience and have been waiting more than 2 years to bring their "baby" home. African adoptions often require multiple trips by the couple adopting and the stay is 10-15 days per trip. While I would love to visit Af
rica someday, it hardly seems possible with 4 young children at home. Haiti is very close and it is possible to visit and meet the child(ren) you are adopting during the process. The need is severe and the cost is far less than many other adoptions. While I prayed diligently for God's leadership, it continually seemed to me that Haiti was the only logical choice. Sean was content to let me research, he liked Haiti because while growing up in South Florida he had a lot of Haitian friends. He jokingly added that he was happy because it was easy for him to find on the map. (And, the most famous building in Haiti is also shown in Star Trek as the Klingon headquarters! Citadel de Haiti)
rica someday, it hardly seems possible with 4 young children at home. Haiti is very close and it is possible to visit and meet the child(ren) you are adopting during the process. The need is severe and the cost is far less than many other adoptions. While I prayed diligently for God's leadership, it continually seemed to me that Haiti was the only logical choice. Sean was content to let me research, he liked Haiti because while growing up in South Florida he had a lot of Haitian friends. He jokingly added that he was happy because it was easy for him to find on the map. (And, the most famous building in Haiti is also shown in Star Trek as the Klingon headquarters! Citadel de Haiti)Haiti is a very tiny island country with 8.5 million people. That is a whole lot of people to put in such a small place! I live in Wisconsin, we have about 65,000 square miles of land in this state. Haiti has only 10,000! Despite having won their independence from France in 1804, the government has long been very unstable. More than 80% of adults are unemployed and of the ones who have jobs, more than half are not stable, regular jobs. There are more than 200,000 total orphans and more than 10,000 live on the street with no care or supervision. Many of the ch
ildren live in the trash dumps because they provide some food and shelter. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and the 4th poorest country in the world. The national religion is Voodoo and child sacrifice is still a common religious practice. Despite hundreds of orphanages there are simply more children than can be cared for. Of every 1000 children born, 170 will die before reaching age 5. Dysentery, malnutrition, infection and starvation are leading causes of death. Only 16% of Haiti's population has access to clean drinking water. I could go on with these statistics, but my point is simply that life there is beyond our capacity to understand poverty.
ildren live in the trash dumps because they provide some food and shelter. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and the 4th poorest country in the world. The national religion is Voodoo and child sacrifice is still a common religious practice. Despite hundreds of orphanages there are simply more children than can be cared for. Of every 1000 children born, 170 will die before reaching age 5. Dysentery, malnutrition, infection and starvation are leading causes of death. Only 16% of Haiti's population has access to clean drinking water. I could go on with these statistics, but my point is simply that life there is beyond our capacity to understand poverty.So... why Haiti? Because these kids need homes.
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