Urgent Advocacy Needed On Proposed New Haitian Adoption Law

Haiti is currently operating under an adoption law that was decreed in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier. The 1974 adoption law is outdated, has serious limitations that are not in the best interest of children and causes confusion in its application resulting in significant delays in legal processing of adoption cases.

Children in Haiti matched with adoptive families are waiting as long as 4 years to complete their adoption. Other children awaiting adoption will endure this same wait unless a law is passed now.

With the help of UNICEF and others, a new adoption law has been developed for both domestic and intercountry adoption in Haiti. The law clarifies adoption processing protocols and mandates clear government oversight responsibilities which will correct many of the problems with the present adoption system.

Many Haitian children are in desperate need of adoptive families and will benefit from this new law. This includes children who have been waiting in the adoption system (many up to three years) due to confusion and difficulties surrounding the outdated law.

URGENT ACTION NEEDED:
The Haitian Legislature will convene soon. It is URGENT that the new Haitian Adoption Law be included for approval in the agenda for the upcoming session.

Contact your Congressional Representatives and urge their strong support of the new proposed adoption law in Haiti. Please ask them to contact the Haitian authorities.

Please share this Call To Action with friends and family to join this effort

A look at how Holt is helping children and families in Haiti

By: Bruce Dahl, Director of Programs for Africa

On a recent trip to Haiti, Country Director, Mansour Masse drove Dan Lauer and me around to see the wonderful work Holt is doing in the lives of families and children in Haiti.

The Holt Fontana Village
When we arrived at the Village, the children were taking their afternoon naps, and it was quiet as the midday heat surrounded the compound. Inside, the almond trees and other tropical plants provided abundant shade and a small, almost cool breeze below the canopy.

During my last visit to Haiti, the construction of the Holt Fontana Village had just been completed, and our first children, six girls, had been accepted into care. Today there are 31 children in care, and the second phase construction of four additional houses is close to completion, which will allow the intake of another 20 children, expected by the end of this year.

Family Preservation
We traveled the half hour north from the Holt Fontana Village to Montrouis, where we met Abdullai, who is managing Holt Haiti’s Family Preservation program.

Holt’s Fanmi Ansam (family together) program has about 90 participating families. The central focus of the program at this time is the provision of school sponsorship and family trainings, which family members are encouraged to attend each month. Besides learning about health, hygiene, family planning and other practical information, the families receive useful kitchen utensils, dishes, a pot or pan, a tool, or cleaning supplies at the end of the training to improve their lives and, of course, to encourage their participation.

The monthly trainings are instrumental in bringing the families together, but also teach people who live in dire poverty how to protect themselves from disease and to improve health, through adopting simple daily behaviors, such as washing hands with soap and water.

Mansour shared a story of a single mother whose child had become seriously ill with diarrhea and a high fever. She took her sick child to the doctor and was told that he had parasites. This had been a recurring problem with all of her children and no matter how much medicine was prescribed, the condition would always reappear. Read the rest of this entry »

Mansour Masse recently spoke to the Holt Headquarters staff about ‘keeping the faith’ for the children.

By: Mansour Masse, Holt Haiti Director

What strikes me the most about working at the Holt Haiti program, as I talk with people and we share our stories, is the dedication and passion they have for doing this work. That’s personally what keeps me going.

When you have people who are so dedicated, so motivated to help kids, like we have in Haiti, it is just overwhelming. Sometimes we get discouraged, but we always find a good reason to start over. The kids go home to be with their permanent families, and that’s what keeps us going.

When I was hired at Holt, I told them this is not only a job for me.”Wow, this is a God-given opportunity for me to make a difference,” I thought, and I don’t think that I could ask for anything better than that. It’s not about money; it’s not about a job, because we all struggle daily in Haiti.

Adoption processing for kids has been extremely difficult recently. It takes a long time, but this is something that I do with my heart and I am very passionate about what I do. Whenever the kids enter the village, Read the rest of this entry »

Simple, nutritious food given with love continues to be one of Holt International’s most important ingredients for helping vulnerable children.  But recent cost increases and disasters are threatening Holt’s ability to meet the need. This blog entry includes excerpts from Holt International magazine, Fall 2008.

by Alice Evans, Holt Managing Editor

Since Holt’s earliest beginnings, food and nutrition have been vital components in its efforts to save weak and malnourished children and to help them toward healthy development.  Through the years Holt and its partner agencies have brought countless children back from the brink of death simply by feeding them basic, healthy food while coaxing them with affectionate holding and words of encouragement.  Recent events, however, are making it more and more difficult to provide this simple but vital component of Holt’s care for vulnerable children.

A Worldwide Food Crisis
Beginning early in 2008, food issues rose to the forefront in many countries served by Holt.  In China, the costs of food were already on the rise when severe winter storms spiked prices even more, and lowered supplies.  A few months later, a major earthquake hit southwestern China, bringing more stress to those least able to manage it—the poor, and children of the poor.  And then came the tainted milk crisis.

In Haiti, four hurricanes struck in less than a month, bringing floods and landslides that destroyed houses and wiped out crops.  While children at Holt Fontana Village were safe, Holt stepped up efforts to double the number of cottages, doubling its capacity to care for children.  Holt also stepped up efforts to increase its family preservation program, and quickly began delivering food vouchers to help ward off starvation.

Holt International is an adoption and child welfare agency—not a disaster relief organization.  But when disaster strikes a Holt project or program area, Holt must find a way to continue meeting the needs.

China: Nutrition and a Hand to Feed Them
“Children’s faces won’t lie,” said Holt China Director Jian Chen.  She knows by sight a baby who has been receiving adequate protein and one who has not.  “Children in Holt projects don’t get sick as much, they’re more alert.  You look at skin color.  A baby who is being fed congee and rice milk may be getting fat, but that child is not as healthy as a baby who is getting proper formula.” Read the rest of this entry »

“You cannot lose sight of the goal” say Holt International adoptive parents Tom and Debbie Lizer, who are now in process of adopting a second daughter from Haiti.  The Lizers live in Iowa, where they find time in their busy lives to serve as Holt Ambassadors.

by Debbie Lizer

“We live vicariously through the Lizers.” That’s what our good friends tell their friends!

Who are the Lizers? My husband Tom and I and our brood — seven children, four of whom are adopted or in process of adoption from other countries —  are the Lizers. We are somewhat set apart from our “normal” friends.

Our adoption journey began 19 years ago when we brought home our first daughter, Reka, from India at 22 months to join two big brothers. Our tiny little girl flourished and soon our family grew by another son. We put the thought of future adoptions not out of our minds, but still buried rather deeply.

After years of waiting for the right time to make the decision about another adoption, we realized that time was making the decision for us. If we were going to do this, it was now or probably never. I started searching Holt’s Waiting Child website “just to see who was out there.” We thought we might be interested in a preschool-aged child and soon came upon a little girl from India with many unknowns. She stole our hearts and before long, we were working on a dossier, knowing that the choice wasn’t necessarily “safe,” but it was right. Four-year-old Vaishali joined us in a year, and we thought our family was probably complete.

It was during the post-placement phase of this adoption that our social worker urged us to consider Holt’s new Haiti program if we should want to proceed with any subsequent adoptions. We smiled and said, “We’ll see,” but thought, “That won’t happen.” In time, though, curiosity got the best of us. We started reading about the Haiti program in Holt International magazine and checked out the waiting children on the website, “just to see who was out there.” Our interest grew as we noticed the older girls needing families. We reasoned we could handle the placement of an older child, as we had already mastered the ’tween and teen years (to the extent that that’s possible!) and, we rationalized, we really could use a playmate for Vaishali, a sibling closer to her age. We noticed a little girl 7 years old, and our interest continued to grow. Maybe she would fit our plan. But God had a different plan, one much more complex than our own, one that started us on a new journey down a long and rocky road. Yet, God’s plan was a perfect one, and this is how it has been unveiled… Read the rest of this entry »

by Alice Evans, Holt Managing Editor

We ask you to join us in helping these poor families, in the name of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave me food… I was a stranger and you took me in.” (Matthew 25:35)

Holt International senior executive Dan Lauer is currently on the ground in Haiti, working out of Holt Fontana Village and the heavily hit village of Montrouis, where Holt does family preservation work. Speaking by telephone late yesterday afternoon, he reported all children at the Holt Fontana Village to be safe and well and already back in school. But there is heavy flood damage in nearby villages, with roads out and chaotic scenes of houses filled with rocks and mud from the mountains. Suffering from the blast and aftermath of three recent hurricanes, children and families in Holt International care in Haiti need our help now more than ever, he reported.

“The houses in Holt Fontana Village weathered the storm well,” Lauer said. “Peter Fontana did a great job in choosing the original site and locating the houses relative to potential water damage.” Lauer noted, however, that Holt contracts with a nearby resort for the water supply to the Village, and because of damage to the resort’s equipment, Holt currently must pay to transport water in tanker trucks from Port-au-Prince. Water costs $100 per load, and so far four loads have been necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Director Mansour Masse reports all the children in Holt International care at Holt Fontana Village in Haiti are safe and sound in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. Holt International Senior Executive Dan Lauer spoke by phone with Mansour on Wednesday afternoon, and Mansour said all had survived the storm.

The hurricane hit southwestern Haiti on Tuesday, dumping torrential rains. Mansour said that the effects of the storm have shut down Port-au-Prince. Holt Fontana Village is situated about an hour’s drive from Port-au-Prince, and families adopting children from Holt Fontana Village travel to Haiti to and from the Port-au-Prince International Airport. Several families are due to travel to Port-au-Prince early next week, but none were in Haiti when the hurricane hit. Read the rest of this entry »

You can give critically needed items to orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children through “Gifts of Hope.” Our online catalog lists items and services you can fund to bring hope to children in our projects around the world. These items also make especially meaningful gifts in honor of someone you care about. Give an item from Holt’s “Gifts of Hope,” and we’ll send an acknowledgment card to your spouse, sibling, parent or friend. Imagine… children in Ethiopia receiving milk formula because of a gift given in your name. Wouldn’t you feel honored?

When it comes time to share your spirit of giving, what better way to do so than by helping a vulnerable child. Together, we can make the world a better place for children–one child at a time.

John Aeby, Director of Communications

Holt Fontana Village, Montrouis, Haiti—Two men and a little girl arrive at Holt Fontana Village one afternoon. The girl, about 4 years old, wears a pink party dress and shabby shoes. After their initial interview, the men stand outside the office and talk with members of the Holt Fontana staff. The little girl tries to occupy herself, walking around and twirling, like she’s trying out her dress. Was it purchased just for this visit? I try to fathom what the little girl is thinking as the adults talk. She seems oddly oblivious of the serious discussion. The men claim to be cousins of the girl’s mother, and they ask if Holt Fontana can take in the little girl so she can be adopted. Her father has died, they say, and the mother can’t care for her any more. The staff is helpful, earnest about the girl’s needs, but they are cautious too. Yes, Holt Fontana staff want to help, but they can’t do anything until they meet with the mother. Also the mother must bring the father’s death certificate. Read the rest of this entry »

John Aeby, Director of Communications

Montrouis, Haiti—“Welcome to paradise,” announced the pilot after our plane bumped down hard on the airstrip seemingly in the middle of a vast tropical village. Paradise is an apt description… when you view Haiti from a distance. North of Port-au-Prince it was truly spectacular: an azure sea laps lazily on a white, curving shore; deep green mountains soar in the background; palm trees, bougainvillea and other lush tropical growth overflow nearly everything. Up close though, Haiti presents a harsh reality.

Our drive on the coastal highway (a narrow two-lane road) was a gauntlet of washouts, rubble, wicked speed bumps and crater-size potholes. The third poorest country in the world, Haiti’s inability to provide adequate opportunities for its people is evident in the shanties jumbled together, sellers struggling to hawk a vegetable or two from a scant basket, people wringing a few pieces of laundry washed in a mocha-colored flood. In rural areas of Haiti, four out of five households live below the poverty line, over 60 percent of children 1 to 4 years old are underweight, only 38 of every 1,000 children who enter kindergarten will complete secondary school. The country’s stability appears to depend upon the UN forces patrolling in jeeps with soldiers carrying guns at the ready. Armored personnel carriers positioned at strategic intersections projected a contradictory message: they’re here making it safe, but they’re here because it’s not safe. Read the rest of this entry »