After the earthquake, the number of children brought into the orphanages more than doubled. People were coming out of the woodwork trying to get these post-earthquake children adopted or "moved" out of the country (some for good reason, some in ridiculously idiotic ways, others for personal gain and reasons too horrible to imagine). The problem was that nobody knew if these children were truly orphaned or if they had families somewhere looking for them. One of the reasons why new adoptions were going to take so long was because the government needed to give time for families to come forward and claim their children or find documentation showing true orphan status (ie: parents passed away during the earthquake or relinquished their parental rights, etc.). Frustrating to wait, but clearly for a good reason. It would be devastating to adopt a child and then find out that they had a family looking for them.
This period of time where the government was waiting for families to come forward is coming to a close. And last week I got a report that 25 of the children who were brought in to the orphanages I visited have been reunited with their families since the earthquake. 25, just in the orphanages I visited. Amazing. There are of course several more who are sill in limbo, waiting for documentation one way or another. And there is a much smaller number (about 6 or 8) of the new orphans brought in after the earthquake that have finally been determined actual orphans and will become available for adoption very soon. I really feel like one of these is mine. Gina (the amazing orphanage director) has been reviewing my home study and is extremely insightful in her decisions of which child should go to which family. It is a very personal and spiritual process for her, and London and I have been praying for her every night that she will be directed to the right child. Needless to say, I am dying to find out who he or she is. I think I check my e-mail like 50 times a day at least, waiting for word on which children are available and if we have been matched. Every time I get a little bit of information on the process, it is like my empty tank gets refueled. Everyone I know who has gone through an adoption has described the process as a roller-coaster of emotions. Which it absolutely is. Got to hang on to those ups.
Hopefully in my next post I will be able to include pictures of the little guy (or girl)...
If you are interested in statistics (I am and I’m not afraid to say it) here are a few stats on Haiti. Keep in mind, all of these numbers were from before the earthquake:
Haiti is considered to be the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world
Population 9.2 million
Number of estimated orphans in Haiti (in 2007) 380,000
% of the country with no access to clean water or basic health care 60%
Percentage of the country living in poverty 80%
Percentage of the US living in poverty 13%
Percentage of the Haitian population that is illiterate 50%
Percentage of the US that is illiterate 01%
Average total years of education in Haiti 2.5 years
Average total years of education in the United States 16 years
Average life expectancy in Haiti 57 years
Average life expectancy in the US 78 years
