Don’t Forget the Kids in Haiti

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Shaquille O’Neal (the basketball player) wrote an article for CNN about what he and his organization are doing for the kids in Haiti.

A couple of thoughts (and I’d urge you to read the entire article):

  • The importance of having people with a “public” voice doing what they can to help keep the perspective on the needs of the children in Haiti can’t be overestimated.   The needs are huge and long term.
  • There is a need (and will be for a substantial period of time) for temporary care for the children in Haiti.    By temporary, I am talking about a couple of “scenarios:”    1. Children who have parents but require medical care that their parents can’t provide.    2. Children who are of an unknown status.   They don’t know who their parents are, don’t know the status of their parents, don’t know anything about their family. 
  • The idea that raising children in an orphanage setting is a long term solution for the children and is what’s best for the children is a fallacy.   Tara Livesay says it well at “The Case for Adoptions.” 
  • Given the lack of infrastructure, the best way for many of the orphans in Haiti to have an opportunity at a successful and productive life is to find them forever families outside of Haiti, get a good education and if they decide they want to give back to Haiti, that would be an awesome thing.   But with a “pre-earthquake” unemployment rate of in excess of 7 times what it is in the United States, how likely is it that they would be able to get an education, find a job and live a useful and productive life?   Until the international community steps up and helps Haiti rebuild with a better infrastructure and better education, medical care and industry, adoption is for many, the only way for these children to have a chance to give back.

It is very very important to do things the right way.   it’s very important to follow the rules of the Haitian government and the government of whatever country that you are from when working on helping in Haiti. 

But we are at a situation where things need to be done.   Statistically, there is virtually no chance that of the estimated 230,000 people in Haiti who died, every single person who died was part of the same family units.    There is no way that there weren’t countless (probably thousands) of orphans created on January 12.   Where are they?   Many of them were taken into the countryside with the flight of the refugees.   I heard of an orphanage about 5 hours from Port Au Prince that had 150 orphans before January 12.   Now they have 750.

If we (the international community) don’t step up, work together, and care for these children, then they will end up dying or being sold as restaveks (child slaves).

And that is in direct contradiction to what God calls us to do in James 1:27.

So, you’re probably wondering, “What can I do?”   A couple of suggestions:

  1. Pray and ask God what to do.   Ultimately, the challenges in Haiti and how to deal with them are way too big for us to solve without God leading the way.   Ask God to foster a much better and bigger and more proactive partnership between organizations, people, countries and industries to help Haiti become better than it was before.
  2. Support the organizations that are working in Haiti – and ones that are doing it in line with the way you feel comfortable.   What do I mean by that?   Read the information the organizations put out, look at their goals, their history and then respond accordingly.   Don’t just blindly give money to a “big name” just because they have a “big name.”
  3. Be in it for the long haul.   This won’t go away over night, so stay committed and help for the long haul.

Thanks for reading, thanks for the way you’ve supported God’s Littlest Angels already.   We are working on some additional detailed ways that you can be involved with God’s Littlest Angels going forward.   Just a bit of a “glimpse” into them, they have to do with sponsorships of the children, educational sponsorships, and the plan to get the children into an orphanage that is a hurricane and earthquake resistant place.

Stay tuned, keep praying and thank you,

Tom

Don’t forget the plight of Haiti’s children – CNN.com

This is a country full of young children who will be permanently affected by this catastrophe. It is our responsibility to help Haiti solve this problem, as long as it takes to do it. We must not only rebuild the country, its roads, its buildings and its government. We also have to rebuild its children.

It is an emergency to get these children back in schools. It was already an emergency before January 12, when a large percentage of children were not in school. It is an emergency to protect their human rights, it is an emergency to give them health services and prevent diseases that have long-term impact.
We must not only rebuild the country, its roads, its buildings … We also have to rebuild its children.
–Shaquille O’Neal
RELATED TOPICS

* Haiti
* Disaster Relief
* Education

We must treat these children like children. They need music and arts and sports. They need trained teachers who can educate and protect them during the school day. They need to have safe places to play. They need access to computer labs, technology and modern education tools.

I decided this is what I would focus on. How could I lead in contributing for immediate needs — but also for those that linger? A bed to sleep in and a roof over their heads. Schools. Computers. Teachers. Books. Soccer fields. Basketball courts. Parks. That is it.

Our team traveled to Port-Au-Prince and Jacmel over the past few weeks, and we are returning again this month. We have joined in partnership with the United States Foundation for the Children of Haiti. The team met with the most amazing woman, Gladys Thomas, who has been serving the children in her homeland of Haiti since 1981.

Thomas has led the foundation in developing a full spectrum of services for the growing number of children brought into her care. We will support her organization and work to support La Foundation Pour les Enfants d’Haiti, a nonprofit and nongovernmental Haitian organization.

Our foundation O’Positive, along with Greenhouse International, will support the ongoing need to rebuild the infrastructure and buildings for School of Good Shower, Hope Hospital and Children’s Hope Village, which both serve Haitian orphans in her care.

O’Positive and I will also be working on a partnership with Save the Children and Harvard University Innovation Lab in Haiti to help provide infrastructure and quality education, teacher training and supplies the children need to succeed.

So many people have already given so much. But this effort is just beginning. It has been four months since that horrible day. One-third of a year. Thousands of children are sitting in tents each day, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. It is easy to forget about what is no longer on the front page or staring you down on your TV or computer. We get back to our normal lives.

But remember, these children cannot resume their normal lives. We must not forget that in order to rebuild Haiti, we must rebuild its youth. We must not leave them behind. Their lives cannot end at the hands of an earthquake. Let’s find the light in the storm, and build a future for the children.

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