Haiti

Today we had a wonderful 12 hour paint day at the new house with beautiful results. We still have work to do, but I can't wait to show the pictures!! Just looking at the before and after right now makes every aching muscle worth it. The kids and staff will soon have a colorful new home.

At times while painting, I imagined the herculean efforts that will go into rebuilding Haiti. The years of work after an earthquake of mere minutes. Unfathomable!

But mainly, my thoughts are with the vulnerable child and the many, many issues a catastrophe of this sort creates. I just listened to a message by the president of Compassion (did you know he got married in Haiti?) and read this article, Orphanage: Adoption plan needed for Haitian children. My heart goes out to the orphanage directors facing very hard decisions right now.

We always have our problems in Bolivia of not enough government staff to process adoption papers, and a never-ending stream of children entering the system, but Haiti's top adoption official is rumored dead in the rubble of the courthouse. I will stay tuned to see if some solution is reached within the international community.

From what I've seen from the inside of the Bolivian system, even though children (especially those with no parents) should be a priority, I am certain that any significant change of the situation in Haiti (or Bolivia) for the good of the children would be a huge miracle. Let's pray!!