Orphan - Haiti Observer Blog

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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Brother Franklin Armand and Brother Auxillian of Community of the Incarnation (COI) established Little Brothers and Sisters of the Incarnation Orphanage in 1976. Their mission has been to minister to Haiti's peasant class. Called upon in 2010 to provide shelter and food for displaced children of the earthquake, the two siblings gave them a safe place, clothed, and educated them.

The brothers have also built several private schools, a healthcare facility, a vocational- training institute, and an agriculture school. The cost to educate agriculture students is exorbitant by Haitian standards, $2,000 per student annually. And yet the brothers manage to keep it going, with about one-third of funding coming from the European Union, and the rest from GOH and international-aid donors.

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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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Adoption is a process of providing couples with new members to add to their family, and most especially a process of giving abandoned children a loving family and a home. That is why a nation's adoption regulations and policies are highly essential in ensuring the well-being and protecting the rights of every child. In Haiti, thousands of smuggled orphans have been reported and most orphanages that cater to about 50,000 Haitian children are poorly managed and have very limited resources.

Based on the poor state of the country's adoption system, the Haitian governments moved to reform and strengthen its legislation on the adoption process of Haitian children. According to several officials, the proposed reform in legislation is committed in ensuring that the state's obligation to the protection of children is being met. It included the policy of having both biological parents to give legal consent when filing their child for adoption. Other requirements noted in the new legislation is that couples trying to adopt a child should have been married for at least five years, with one of them being at least 30 years of age while a single individual filing to adopt should be at least 35 years of age. It has already been thoroughly discussed and documented in the Senate and is now awaiting an approval from the country's Houses of Parliament.

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With the weak economy and poor living conditions in Haiti, many women, including teenagers, have settled to becoming prostitutes just to earn. Prostitution is illegal in the country but this does not stop women from getting paid for sex. Since the 1940s, prostitution rings have been active in the country and it only got worse as time went by and catastrophes hit the Caribbean nation.

According to a report in 2005, Haitian children were being trafficked in the Dominican Republic, where they were forced to work as slaves or prostitutes. Many of these children were orphaned, while others can no longer be supported and fed by their parents. As a result, they are brought to the Dominican Republic and sold to families and individuals looking for a child laborer. There were reports that the trafficked children have been physically abused too and some were so traumatized they can not recall how they got to that situation.

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