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Founder of Haiti Orphanage Falsely Accused of Sex abuse

Paul Kendrick, a Maine activist for sexual abuse victims, from his desk in Freeport, led an email and blog campaign publicizing and accusing Michael Geilenfeld, the founder of St. Joseph's Home for Boys and North Carolina-based 'Hearts with Haiti' in false allegation of child abuse. In late 2011, he sent out emails to hundreds of people accusing Geilenfeld of being a serial pedophile and 'Hearts with Haiti' of refusing to do anything about him.

The jury has awarded $7 million in damages to Michael Geilenfeld and $7.5 million to the Hearts with Haiti, although seven Haitian men had testified that they were molested by Geilenfeld. However,, it has been learnt that Mr. Kendrick never met Michael or any residents or staff of the homes, and having never visited any of the three children's homes for disabled and disadvantaged children in Haiti. Many observers are of opinion that Mr. Kendrick had the intention to disrupt St. Joseph Family's fundraising network in the United States and Canada, targeting their largest donors, fundraisers in the U.S and Canada. The Department of Homeland Security had launched an exhaustive investigation into Mr. Kendrick's claims and found them to be baseless.

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Orphanage recruiters roaming Haiti with money or false promises

International adoption agencies have been taking advantage of poor Haitian parents, luring them to give up their children for adoption. The agencies offer money and assurances the children will be adopted temporarily until the parents can afford to take care of their children again.

The government of Haiti (GOH) has put new restrictions in place to close loop holes in the country's adoption system. The GOH now bans private adoptions, has made accreditation more difficult for foreign adoption agencies to receive, and restricts the number of children available for adoption every year. Rules have also been dictated to focus on grievances brought by parents saying they were persuaded to turn their children over, ignorant of the resulting consequences.

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Nearly Half of Haitian Children under 5 Suffer From Malnutrition, UNICEF

The children of Haiti are in need of nutrition support. Recently, a senior UNICEF official in Haiti has said that nearly one in two children under the age of five, suffer from malnutrition in the Francophone Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, for reasons including poverty, unfavorable feeding practices and disease. If a child is not nourished with proper nutrients during the first 1,000 days of his life, his brain and body never properly develops. In a far reaching consequence, it would affect his intelligence, school performance, and income and in a greater consequence, the chances of his contribution toward the overall development of his country will be almost negligible. Under-nutrition puts children at greater risks of infection and delayed recovery. This translates into the unnecessary loss of about 3 million young lives a year all over the world.

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SOS Children's Village Les Cayes

A staggering number of children were left not only homeless, but also parentless following the massive earthquake of 2010. Five years on, the SOS Children's Village in Les Cayes continues to provide a place for these motherless and fatherless children. To be correct, the foundation has provided now three such places in the southern region. The new village was built to house and support as many as 135 children and consists of private family homes equipped for 14 SOS families, plus a house for SOS's 13 "aunts," who give assistance to the mothers to care for the children.

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Santo Domingo Justice Ministry Rescues Victims of Child Traffickers

The Justice Ministry of Santo Domingo released information police, child humanitarian authorities, and representatives from Justice Ministry removed hundreds of trafficked Haitian and Dominican children off the streets where they had been forced to beg. Many of the children were too confused to give rescuers their families' whereabouts. In all 302 underage children were collected, some of them from tourist spots.

Of the total figure of abducted children, 58 of them were Haitian. National Childhood Council spokesman, Alberto Padilla, said Santo Domingo officials have been talking to Haitian officials to try and get the children reunified with their families. In the meantime, the children have been housed in shelters in Santo Domingo, Jarabacoa, and Santiago.

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Restavek Freedom Foundation's Mission to end Restavek in Haiti

Restavek is a cruel and inhumane practice that has been allowed to flourish in Haiti for decades. Restavek, translated from Créole, means "to stay with". In this system, ignorant parents, who cannot support their children, deliver them to families, who ostensibly can.

But in truth, they are anything but cared for. Sent to work as house servants, young girls between 5-15 years are beaten and sexually abused, forced to sleep on the floor. They must begin laboring at dawn, doing tasks that are humiliating, like washing out bedpans; or hard labor, carrying heavy pails of water from wells back to their houses.

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Rocco, Madonna's son in Haiti - Ti moun san Pantalon: Why?

Here is a picture of Rocco, Madonna's son in Haiti with a group of deprived children. In this particular picture, he is sharing a candid pictures as he is taking a group of children to something that looks to be one of the their charity work. Eske Li reellman necesè pou yo montre ti moun yo san pantalon?

Mon cher, mwen kapab di-ou, si pou yon moun kompran ke pou li fè moin Kado yon bagay, fok li himilye-m, mwen pa bezoin li.

I think that for a boy like Rocco, the son of a multi Million dollar artist to be thinking about poor, deprived children from a poor country such as Haiti, it is to be commended. However, my question stands: Why the humiliation, why can't you give me something why giving me all the respects I deserve.

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UN And Dominican Republic To Fight Human Trafficking from Haiti

Training will be provided to CESFRONT - The Dominican Special Corps for Border Security to identify human trafficking and offer protection to such victims. At the Dajabon border on October 5, 2012, a Haitian was prevented by the border guard of the Dominican from entering the Dominican Republic.

Signing Of The Pact

A pact was signed by the authorities in the Dominican Republic to train agents of a special group to focus on human trafficking. Agencies of the United Nations and military officials of the Dominican are teaming up to ensure security at the porous border of Haiti and the Dominican where human trafficking has proliferated.

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Eighty Percent of children in orphanages in Haiti are not orphans

Haiti has a serious problem with child-care facilities, costing the government of Haiti (GOH) a tremendous sum of money. A study, conducted by UNICEF and Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR), determined orphanages house 80% of children, who have parents or other living relatives.

With 70% of the Haitian population living in dire poverty, many of these families cannot afford to feed their children and abandon them. And it often takes place immediately after birth in maternity wards.

The GOH, due to budget concerns, has been forced to shutter 25 child-care facilities in the country. The 12,000 children from these facilities have been transferred to orphanages that meet green standards. IBESR inventoried 750-plus government-operated child-care facilities, assigning a rating system of "green, yellow, or red" to insure child safety.

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Facts On Children Living In Haiti

There are a lot of facts to know about children in Haiti. Primary school is attended by just about 20% of the children and after primary grade many of the children don't attend school. Many of the schools barely have canteens or cafeterias.

Estimates On Status Of Haitian Children As Per 1998
As per estimates of 1998, the death rate per 1000 children was 99. Lack of care and medication are the main reasons for 25% to 30% death of children in the provinces. It is through a church that the missionaries support around 60% of the private schools in Haiti. Around 60% of the children hardly get three meals per day. Many of the children have no breakfast or lunch.

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