Do you know who your representative is? Here's a handy way of finding out. We wrote several letters today asking that they contact the USCIS on our behalf and request that, with the cooperation of the Hatian government, the proper permissions and visas be issued for Haitian children to leave Haiti who in the process of being adopted by parents abroad. I also thanked them for their support in granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for those Haitians living in the United States without proper paperwork or awaiting deportation. Both of these issues are of particular significance to our family and it means everything to thousands of families-- politicians can make things happen in a swift and meaningful way and wouldn't it be rad if they used their power for good?
Adoptions-- especially international adoptions-- all hinge on one precious and very tangible thing: paperwork. Can you imagine? I want to throw up just thinking about it. It will be years before things get sorted out.
- PIH Updates
- The BRESMA girls and what's happening right now.
- Heartline Blog and Troy Livesay's updates.
- edited: friends of ours in Miami are helping to coordinate a huge effort to get fuel and cash into the hands of smaller agencies that were in Haiti before all of this and have been working very hard with very little. They've done a whole lot of good already.
This issue is getting a lot of press at the moment. I hope that it makes a difference, but you and I both know that people grow tired of seeing the same sadness over and over again. There were more than 200,000 orphans living in Port-au-Prince before all of this began, and however you feel about these issues-- and they are complicated-- none of this intervention is meant to undermine the integrity of the Haitian people or their desire to look after their own children. It is just not possible for them to do so. This is a humanitarian issue.
Also, if any of this mess has you thinking about adoption, there are loads of countries (including your own!) that provide sponsorship or placement for parentless and abandoned children with families just like yours.
