Baptist nitwits damage Haitian orphan efforts

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — “God wanted us to come here to help children, we are convinced of that,” Laura Silsby, one of 10 Americans accused of trafficking Haitian children, said Monday through the bars of a jail cell here. “Our hearts were in the right place.”

Unfortunately, their brains were somewhere else - south and in back. Where it’s really dark. So to speak. You’d think that this group had heard about what the road to Hell was paved with.

This bunch tried to smuggle 33 children out of the country, but were detained at the Dominican Republic-Haitian border. Now they’re in a Haitian jail cell - which can’t be nice - and people are understandably upset.

The 10 missionaries are mostly from Idaho. Sorta figures.

Click to read more ...

Breaking Good News from Haiti

This hasn’t even reached the news media yet, but I just got a phone call that 78 Haitian children from the God’s Littlest Angels orphanage are being prepared to board a United States Air Force military transport for Miami, Florida where they will be met by their adoptive families.

Dixie Bickel, co-founder of the GLA orphanage, will accompany them and then head right back to Port-au-Prince to process 12 more ophaned children.

MEDICAL NEED UPDATE: There is, according to Dixie, an urgent need for Tetanus vaccine for the incoming children.

Even before Tuesday’s deadly magnitude-7.0 earthquake, Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, was awash in orphans, with 380,000 children living in orphanages or group homes, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported on its Web site. This was the result of repeated natural disasters like hurricanes in addition to crushing poverty unlike any other country in the hemisphere.

The number of ophaned children now in immediate need is anticipated by some agencies to grow to nearly one million.

According to GLA orphanage officials the immediate need is for Tetanus shots, and they simply don’t have the vaccine.

Since Tetanus vaccine must be kept cold during shipment, a solid plan for transport is crucial.

The call is going out from Maven&meddler to anybody with contacts in the pharmaceutical industry for donations of Tetanus vaccine in packets of 100 or 1,000, to contact me or GLA directly to arrange for pickup and transportation to Haiti.

This is a critical need.

Thanks.

maven

First groups of Haitian orphans on the way to safety

As I was told just earlier this afternoon, a small group of orphans were being airlifted to Pennsylvania, while a larger group from the God’s Littlest Angels orphanage - which I’ve been talking about - is on their way to Holland.

The story doesn’t end here, though.

The United Nations Children’s Fund has estimated Haiti had 380,000 orphans before the quake hit. This means that an unbelievable influx of new orphans will be flooding the existing orphanages in the days and weeks to come.

These facilities are just not able to support that tide without a lot of monetary support. One bit of good news, two airplane loads of supplies will be on their way to Haiti with funds raised in Colorado by God’s Littlest Angels Ministry.

But, really folks, this is going to be really dire for the weeks and months to come.

Please, make even a small weekly donation if you can to the GLA folks. I vouch they are honest, caring and highly experienced to deal with this crisis. And, keep an eye out here for further news on some upcoming plans to re-build sustainable, earthquake resistant housing in Haiti.

There is a glimmer of bright on the horizon if we don’t falter.

Hey, if an atheist can be this committed to the GLA cause, so can you.

maven

Monday Musings: January 18, 2010

This morning, I happened to replay the interview between Bill Moyers and Thomas Frank - author of “What’s the Matter With Kansas” and “The Wrecking Crew”. If you haven’t read these two books, then you may not have a firm grasp of the current sociopolitical landscape and how it has been taken over by the so-called ‘conservative’ right - the election of Obama notwithstanding.

It was even more disturbing than when I first saw it. Frank is right that Americans have become part and parcel in a culture with an attention span shorter than a gerbil. The media is a black hole. Todays’ ‘big story’ can be forgotten in the blink of an eye. I don’t exactly blame the media for this. They’re chasing dollars. But what is the excuse for the American public? Or our legislators?

This is most apparent in the current round of Obama bashing from both left and right.

How soon they all forget who and what caused all this. And, the mainstream media lets the bashers get away with it. So does the Democratic Party.

Click to read more ...

You can help Haiti's newest orphans

My employer, Lori Carpenter and her husband, Clay Cooper, have had a long association with the God’s Littlest Angels (GLA) ophanage outside the village of Fermanthe, in the mountains above Pétion-Ville, Haiti.

In May, 2007, they traveled again to the GLA orphanage with a team of eleven engineers and architects, to locate a clean water well, and design new facilities to better serve the needs of Haitian orphans.

Lori and Clay are parents to two lovely Haitian orphans, brother and sister, Shedy and Kendy.

Here is a great film detailing the week long efforts at Fermanthe in 2007 (use the hyperlink).

Meanwhile. the need is growing exponentially at GLA, as the loss of human life - parents and caregivers - will swell the ranks of GLA’s ability to provide without help from us.

Here is an interview with GLA co-founder, Dixie Bickel with Today Show host Matt Lauer, speaking about the night of terror at the orphanage:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You can go directly to the GLA website and donate, but as things are, the website is busy, and you may have to check back in. Don’t let that deter you. Please come back and give what you can.