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Unfortunately, the orphanages are not always safe as well. The first orphanage I visited we had worked closely with, appeared fairly good initially. Of course, there were 40+ children in a 800 square foot home, and an 8 & 9 year old girl provided the majority of the care for the younger children, but no abuse was apparent. Until the children came home & we began learning of abuse, both physical & sexual. In the other orphanage we visited while there, we soon learned that there was also severe physical abuse. As if this is not terrible enough, there are others not Haitian who take advantage of this situation--one individual who set up a home for teenage boys was later found to have sexually abused all the boys in the home.
The changes in Haiti's political system & the adoption process were implemented to protect children, unfortunately this has significantly impacted the ability to locate homes for these children. When I helped with one of the first adoptions from Haiti about 11 years ago the biggest challenge & expense was getting INS approval, then we were quickly able to locate a sibling group of 3. It took about 8 months from start to finish, and cost less than $10,000 total for the children. Now, fees are easily $12,000 per child--not including travel and any "fees" (bribes) to government officials, and most adoptions are taking 18 months or longer. In the meantime, children are languishing in neglectful orphanages & the well-run orphanages are unable to take additional children and are coming close to no longer being able to meet the children's basic needs. Most of their funding comes from adoptions, and since adoptions are basically halted there are no additional funds coming in.
If you are able, please consider assisting with sponsorship of these children while they are waiting to join their adoptive families, or to keep them in foster care in small group homes in Haiti. You can find such organizations through a simple google search--or if you PM me I can give you the contact information for organizations I have worked with who I trust to use the finances appropriately. I am not associated with any of these agencies at this time, but am willing to pass on their contact information.
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