'Saving' The Children
From the Feb. 15, 2010 issue of TIME Magazine
There are few children more vulnerable than the youth of Haiti. So when the western hemisphere's poorest country was ravaged by the Jan. 12 earthquake, people in the developed world turned their Brad-and-Angelina eyes to the tens of thousands left orphaned in the rubble. Well-meaning interest in adopting Haitian kids has spiked worldwide, prompting the Haitian government to apply the brakes for fear that amid the chaos, children might be whisked away illegally. On Jan. 29, that concern seemed borne out when 10 Baptist missionaries from Idaho were arrested trying to ferry 33 children out of Haiti without proper documents. The Americans called their efforts caring, but many Haitians sided with Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, who called the missionaries misguided "kidnappers" — especially since many of the kids weren't orphans at all. The incident struck a raw nerve in a nation where children are prey to human traffickers and thousands of youths live in slavery. It was also a reminder that the best way to help Haiti's children may not be plucking them from their country but helping rebuild it as a safer place for them to grow up.