Towels for Haiti

It is hard to believe that the two year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated a large portion of Haiti is coming up. On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked this nation. They have not recovered. I have many family members who have visited there in the past year and they come home with broken hearts and a regained sense of the urgency that is faced by the Haitians every day. The need is great.

In light of that, I have to tell you about a neat girl and what she is doing on behalf of the Haitian people. She is a Chinese exchange student who is living in my home. As part of a Christmas dinner, she saw a movie clip on the earthquake and the needs that Haiti has. She leaned over to me and said, “Mom, I want to help.”

That was all it took. She decided to collect bath towels for an orphanage that was started in Port-au-Prince to help the orphaned [street] kids. Her goal was 41 towels- one for every child. At last count, she had over 65 towels and has not stopped collecting. She spent hours making informational posters and hand-outs. It was sweet to watch though we had to laugh when she held up her completed beautiful poster that read, Towls for Haiti. I think that everyone got the idea. Anyway, she got such a great response that she began collecting soap, washcloths, toothbrushes and toothpaste. We are going to put together little kits for them to hand out to each child.

Amazing things have been happening for Haiti. People are giving in record numbers. Yet, there are many children who simply want a mom and dad. This is where adoption steps in. If you are interested in adopting from Haiti, I cannot stress the importance of finding a reputable agency and dealing directly with them enough. When devastation occurs in a poverty stricken area the threat of fraud multiplies. This is not fair to you as a prospective adoptive parent or the Haitian child. The children of Haiti often suffer from malnutrition and can have learning disabilities associated with that. Haiti also has a stricter age requirement as the youngest age eligibility is 35 years old and the oldest, I believe is 50.

At this point, Haiti is open for adoption. They are not party to the Hague Convention and do not hold to its statutes. If you are interested in adoption information about this country contact a reputable agency in your area. The Joint Council’s website is a great place to start. www.jointcouncil.org

~Angie
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