Idaho Baptists

I have been asked by many of you about my personal opinion on the “Idaho Baptists” who are being charged with child trafficking in Haiti. It is no doubt an unfortunate incident, but portions of their story are much more common then you'd hope.

Good Intentions, Poor Approach
First of all I would say that the individuals who were moving the children to the Dominican Republic from Haiti had every good intention–they saw a need and wanted to respond to it. In their mind, and the mind of most people in America, the best way to respond to orphans is to build an orphanage. They were acting with every good intention… just with a poor approach.

The original news story I heard said that the children were being taken to a hotel in the DR until an orphanage could be constructed. The average orphanage takes 3-5 years to build. Were they really going to put these 30 children in a hotel for 3-5 years? Additionally if you are going to build a new orphanage, why not build it in Haiti where the children already speak the native language and could potentially be reunited with their families?

Poverty is Not a Good Enough Reason
Another portion of the story which the media has distorted is the fact that the children in question have living parents. The media seems very distraught over the fact that children being taken to an orphanage have living parents… and rightfully so! However they communicate that this is not the norm, and it very common. A recent study of children living in orphanages by Save the Children estimates that close to 85-95% of children in the custody of orphanages have at least one surviving parent. We should not be caring for children simply because they are poor. Poverty is not a good enough reason.

Alternatives
Here are a few lessons that I would propose to individuals and organizations wanting to care for Haitian orphans:

1 – Support Existing Families
Do not remove children from their families, instead work with the families to get them the resources they need. Build schools, initiate substantive farming, provide work, and complete other community-development projects.

2 – It Takes a Village
When a child must be removed from the care of their biological family (to protect the child) the government must be involved. Yes, the church has a moral responsibility to care for children, but the government has a legal responsibility to care for them as well. Work together to act on behalf of children; otherwise you may be at risk for handling the situation outside of legal boundaries.

3 – Family Based Care
Institutional care has been shown by various studies to be a poor substitute for family. Instead engage local communities to launch a network of family based care. Casa Viva is a good example of family based care in action.

4 – Consider Long Term Consequences of Giving
When an organization or individual walks into a community and provides everything needed to accomplish one of these projects you may accidentally begin to create an entitlement mentality. Instead partner with local governments and community leaders to build structures that can be supported without an indefinite amount of international funding.

/// Added Note ///

Great article by the president of CAFO:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/februaryweb-only/15-31.0.html?start=1