Here is an interesting and sad news article about boys living in a child prison in Port-au-Prince, Haiti from The Washington Post:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- In a small, walled courtyard ringed by coiled razor wire, a scrappy little boy punched and kicked at the humid air.

Mackenzy Sonson strutted one moment, cowered the next. Acted like a big man, then slipped into baby talk. "I'm not tough," he said on a recent afternoon. Then he smacked a kid twice his size.

Mackenzy, better known as "Little Baron," lives in Cell C-4, back wall, bottom bunk, at Fort... more

We had a fantastic time at Disneyland. It was wonderful to be in California where there is so much racial diversity. The weather was beautiful and made it hard to return to cold and snowy Utah. We loved being with Tana's family. We were comfortable with each other right away. I've known Tana for some time now, but our husbands had yet to meet, and it had been awhile since our children had seen each other. It didn't take long for our kids to find a buddy in Tana's family and before I knew it, I was watching my kids walk hand-in-hand with their new best friends. Tana gives a terrific run-down of our trip, so you can read more about it there.... more

“A blanc [white person] is coming to visit today. He’s your papa, but when you see him don’t call him papa. Say ‘Bonjour, monsieur’ and disappear. If the neighbors ask you who he was, you tell them you don’t know. He is such a good man, we have to protect his reputation. That’s what happens when men of good character have children with dogs,” said Florence to me in Creole when I was about seven or eight years old.

So begins Jean-Robert Cadet’s autobiography, Restavec. Mr. Cadet’s story starts with seeing his father for the first time. His mother died when he was around one year old, and his father brought him to be cared for by a Haitian lady named Florence.... more

Continued from Part One...

When we were in Ethiopia, Beth told us that she was older than the orphanage claimed she was. We adjusted her birth year, making her 5 months younger than Sahara.

Adopting three kids at once was an event in and of itself, nevermind having three new kids of varying ages blend into our family. Our adjustment issues were more about our new kids fitting into our family, more than age-related problems.

Then we decided to adopt again. We found out about our daughter, Georgia in Haiti. We did not know what her birth date was at first, only that she was about... more

Adopting out of birth order is a hot topic in the adoption community. Should it be done or not? You will find advocates for either side of the coin. Like most situations in life, I believe that it depends on the family involved. We have adopted out of birth order a couple of times. It has worked out well for our family for the most part.

Our first three adoptions were of babies. We adopted our daughter, Sahara first. When she was almost three years old, we started our son, Ryland’s adoption. When Ryland was five years old, we adopted our daughter, Claire. We stayed in birth order and life was fine and normal. Then we decided to adopt from Ethiopia. Ryland was feeling the... more

In two days, my husband and I will head to California with our six children for a visit to Disneyland. Ever since we brought our three kids home from Ethiopia two and a half years ago, we have been promising a trip to Disneyland. We thought about the trip many times, but it never panned out. Then my friend, Tana mentioned that she and her family were going to Disneyland, and it suddenly seemed like the perfect time to go.

I look forward to seeing Tana again. I can’t wait for our husbands to meet, or our kids to get to know each other better. I look forward to enjoying the happiest place on earth with a family so similar to my own.... more

Continued from Part One...

Few monuments help illustrate those connections, though a Miami society is looking to change that. The Haitian American Historical Society is planning a monument in Savannah, Ga., to honor the Haitians who fought alongside colonial soldiers in the siege of Savannah during the American Revolution. At least 500 free black men from the French colony that became Haiti volunteered with American colonists and French soldiers in October 1779 in an unsuccessful attempt to drive the British from the coastal Georgia city.

Their little-known contribution... more

Here is a fascinating article linking Haiti with Black History Month:

Published Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Haitians celebrate cultural legacy during Black History Month

By JENNIFER KAY Associated Press Writer MIAMI Abolitionist Frederick Douglass and writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston are among the heroes celebrated every February during Black History Month. Shadowed in history, however, are their ties to Haiti, the first free black republic.

That relationship is being examined this year by the founders of Black History Month. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History designated this year's theme... more

Continued from Part Two…

Children being adopted from Haiti or other countries generally come home with some issues. Besides being developmentally delayed, they will most likely also be malnourished. They will most likely have skin problems (be it scabies or ringworm or molluskum). They will probably have quite a bit of dental work to be done. They may even come home very sick. They will be unsure of their place in your family and in their new country.... more

Continued from Part One...

Why should one consider homeschooling the internationally adopted child?

Many children adopted internationally, including those adopted from Haiti, are past the baby stage. With the length of the international adoption process, among other varying reasons (such as a child needing to be older than a certain age to be considered available for international adoption), internationally adopted children usually join their... more