In March 1997 I was in Albania, Europe adopting a 3 year old boy. While I was there a revolution broke out and the Albanian citizens, the military, and parts of the government attempted to overthrow a then corrupt government infrastructure. One minute the country was peaceful, and literally within moments there were riots everywhere, people starting fires, and people shooting machine guns in the air. The courthouse where I adopted my son just 2 days prior was burned to the ground. The airport was closed. I was told there was no way out of the country. I was taken captive at the American Embassy where corrupt Albanian government officials attempted to trade my freedom and the freedom of my newly adopted child in exchange for American Visas for themselves and their family members whose lives were at risk of being assassinated. It was all over CNN. My congressmen got word to a US military ship that was doing training maneuvers off the coast of Italy and to make a very long story short, a secret rescue mission took place where myself, my adopted son, and other Americans were airlifted from the US embassy compound and taken back to their naval ship. My son was given emergency refugee status and I had no problem getting him into the states. If emergency refugee status could be granted to the orphans in Haiti, I believe they could be relocated immediately. It's a complex situation however, because there's a risk that some children are not actually orphans, but merely displaced from their parents in the midst of chaos. To give all those kids refugee status will require tough decisions. It will not be a "win win" situation for everyone. Hopefully the person in charge of that decision will be able to set tradition and bureaucracy aside and do what's best for the kids. My heart goes out to that person.
My adopted son is 16-years-old now and a wonderful young man. I can't imagine life without him. My family would graciously accept a Haitian child or sibling group in need of a family. It would be a bitter-sweet privilege. Unfortunately, because of my previous experience with foreign adoption, I predict government bureaucracy and lack of common sense won't allow it to be so easy. Sadly, children will die as a direct result of that- heartbreaking.
I am a nurse and ironically I work for the government. Even more ironically, my job is to provide nutrition education and food vouchers for families in need. I wish my tie to government provided me a head start to help the Haitian orphans who will die, but it’s just not that simple. If anyone becomes aware of a Haitian child in need of a home, temporary or permanent, my email address is somethingtobelievein at live dot com. And yeah, I know it’s “just not that simple”, but then again sometimes the impossible happens.
