|
Tsunami
- n. A very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic
eruption.
We
saw the footage. We read the headlines. We followed the FoxNews.com casualty
totals. We watched as Oprah's sweetheart interior designer, Nate Berkus,
recounted his story of survival and loss. We know about the Tsunami that
hit Asia and eastern Africa.
Now
we're sending checks to the Red Cross, dropping change in cups at the
gas station and adding a "Dollar for Support" at the store. We've gone
to pancake breakfast benefits, had our cars washed by teens in parking
lots and watched Tsunami Aid on TV. But, still there's a buzz. A buzz
that just won't go away - "what about the children?"
Daily
I hear it - in the grocery store, at the gym and over coffee - people
want to help the kids. It's natural. We're cosmically programmed to do
it. It's our job as adults to take care of kids. And, when they're hurting
like these kids in India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
Somalia and Kenya are, we feel like we need to go over there and take
care of them. So, is it possible to adopt the children that are now left
as orphans by this great wave? Well, yes and no.
While
there will undoubtedly be hundreds and potentially thousands of orphans
from this latest natural disaster, right now, there is no plan in place
to make these children available for adoption. However, considering the
Tsunami's effects on the government, the people and the infrastructure,
it should come as no real surprise. There is an exhaustive effort underway
to reunite children with their parents or other family members who may
be able to care for them.
According
to UNICEF, the top priorities are: "Keeping children alive. Caring for
separated and orphaned children. Protecting vulnerable children from trafficking
and exploitation. Getting children back in school as quickly as possible."
Finding homes for them in the U.S. is very far down the list. In some
of the countries, such as Indonesia and Bangladesh, adoption by foreigners
isn't even permissible by current law. And in other countries, such as
Malaysia the current adoption laws require up to a two-year in-country
stay. Only India has an existing, extensive international adoption program.
So,
while it may not be possible to adopt one of these orphans for some time
(estimates are up to two years), there are children available who are
victims of huge destructive waves of a different
|
|
nature.
Hard numbers are difficult to find, but most estimates show that there
are as many as 34 million children across the globe awaiting a "forever
family." These are the children who are victims of waves of poverty, addiction,
war, famine and parental death. Many of these are children who are victims
of disasters from years ago and have just now become available for adoption.
Right
here in the U.S., there are approximately 126,000 children currently awaiting
adoption in the state systems - and that doesn't take into consideration
the children who are currently in the process of adoption or simply in
Foster Care and not yet cleared for adoption, or the infants born each
day and placed for adoption. The total number of children already available
for adoption here in the U.S. nearly equals the total number of casualties
in this latest natural disaster.
After
the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, there was a rash of attention
given to orphans in the formerly Soviet-occupied countries, some of which
are only now processing international adoptions. In the small Baltic nation
of Latvia - a country approximately the size of West Virginia - there
are more than 4,000 orphans. Russia and Ukraine both have many children
waiting. There now exists a situation like what we may see again in a
few years - while a disaster remains in the news, people experience an
overwhelming desire to help, to adopt the children left in the wake of
the disaster. But, when the news subsides and all of the legal red-tape
has been cut away, people forget about the passion they once felt. And,
the children are left to live on the streets or in institutions - forgotten.
Each
one of the children awaiting adoption has a hope for a "forever family."
They hope to find a family who won't pity them, but rather love them.
Someone to raise them and to nurture them. They hope to have a family
to call their own not just now, but as they grow older and need a support
system - a family to share holidays and grandparents for their own children.
Interested
in adoption? Find a reliable, reputable agency (public or private) and
begin to ask questions. Can't adopt a child? Hey, that's okay, you can
help others who have the heart but not the wallet by making a donation
to an adoption assistance program like the Stevey Joy Club which is part
of Shaohannah's Hope Foundation run by Christian rocker Steven Curtis
Chapman at http://www.shaohannahshope.org/, to The Gift of Adoption fund
at http://www.giftofadoption.org/ or at most reputable adoption agencies.
|
|
