I saw a segment tonight on NBC Nightly News about UNICEF and the work they are doing to reunite children who have been separated from their families because of the earthquake. They were highlighting a 7 year old girl named
The worker was surprised when they happened upon a cemetery that was the cemetery in the little girl’s picture. They started out on foot, following the little girl as she became excited seeing familiar sights. Then she became confused and stopped since nothing looked familiar to her because of the fallen buildings. As they kept walking she darted into an ally and ran to the spot where her house once stood just 7 weeks ago. The little girl calmly said “My house is broken.” They continued down the ally and found her aunt and some other relatives. The aunt called her father from her cell phone and he immediately came running and embraced his daughter with tears streaming down his face. He had been searching for the little girl since the earthquake.
I was touched by this story from seeing the joy and relief in both the father and the little girl named
There was a part of me that wondered if
I must 100% agree with Valerie on her post. Non-profit worldwide aid agencies (such as UNICEF) provide a service that is unmatched by any political aid agencies (countries). These agencies, and more importantly, the people who work for them, genuinely care about the well being of the afflicted people(s) and not about how other coutries "perceive" their aid efforts.
ReplyDeleteThe Haiti earthquake (and most recently, the Chile earthquake) clearly demonstrated this exact point. During the initial stages of the Haiti relief effort, there was much confusion over what country (or organization) was in control of organizing and distributing the supplies the to the afflicted people. In the first few days, with the US military controlling the major airport utilized to airlift supplies in, there was a major incident involving a French mdeical plane that was not allowed to land initially because of the runway being crowded at the particular time. The pilots were ordered to turn back until further instructions could be given. The plane eventually landed safely and delivered its supplies but, after the incident French foreign minister Alain Joyandet accused the U.S of trying to "occupy Haiti instead of help it. (http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/3188/))
This above example is exactly why, as Valerie stated above, organizations such as UNICEF are instrumental in situations like this. When countries who are supposed to be helping the relief effort bicker about "politics" rather than helping, the people who suffer the most are the ones who they were there to help in the first place.
After hearing about the ten US Baptists that tried to take 33 children out of Haiti without the governments permission, I respectfully disagree with the notion that Sterling would be better off if she wasn’t reunited with her father and other family members and was adopted or put in an oprhanage. The Baptists said they were trying to do the ‘right thing’ by saving the Haitian children. Prime minister Max Bellerive said that the group was arrested and under judicial investigation “because it is illegal trafficking of children and we won’t accept that.” While the church group said they only planned to identify children without immediate families, one 8 year old girl recovered from this incident was crying and said, ‘I am not an orphan. I still have my parents.” My question is who are they to think they know what is best for children they have never met? How can people who have never met these children or their families determine that separating them from their families is the best option after the earthquake? Obviously times are tough over in Haiti and things won’t be the same for a long time, possibly never again. However, that does not give anyone the right to take children away from their parents. There is a lot of help over there and resources will continue to come to them. The best place is for children to be with their parents and the ones they love after this horrifying event in their lives. Never seeing their families again may place added stress and burden on top of an already emotionally scarring event. I tried to place myself in their shoes, and I would never want to be separated from my mom and brother and sister in law. Regardless of the circumstances, being together through tough times would be better than worrying and wondering how they were as I got a ‘better life’. I feel as though I would be more traumatized by being separated from my family in a highly emotional time.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that a child is better off with their parents/family and it would be more traumatizing to remove them from the country. My reference to my "guilt" was me realizing that my ideal of a better world would not matter one ioda to Sterling and her dad...as it wouldn't to me either if I was in their shoes. I was moved by the program and was happy for her and her dad to be reunited, although I do worry for the people of Haiti, especially the children with the horrific health and environmental conditions they will be facing for a long time. Organizations like UNIFEC and other relief groups are doing amazing work.
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