Of Haitian Children and Idahos

I have been stunned into a blogging silence by the natural disaster in Haiti and the ensuing man-made disaster involving the morons from Meridian, Idaho. Adoption, and adoption-related issues, seem to crop up in the strangest places and under the most unlikely of circumstances these days (as is the case with last month's catastrophic earthquake). I could never have predicted that a predatory group of Americans would descend upon the rubble of Port-au-Prince to "gather" up a fresh supply of obscenely poor foreign children for sale in North America(!)

And then when Sainte Angelina touched down in Haiti, I could only assume that she was on another international shopping spree:


"This one will match my couch perfectly!" Jolie is rumored to have said of this young Haitian girl (held up here for her inspection by Wyclef Jean). [Photo lifted from a January 15th article in Le Figaro.]

In addition to Haitian relief efforts through organizations like The Red Cross and Yéle, there are some innovative aid partnerships that I'd like to draw your attention to. Starbucks has teamed up with The Red Cross to accept donations in participating US and Canadian locations, MicroPlace has added a note that allows investors to help Haitians rebuild their livelihoods over the long term, and there is a cover of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" available on iTunes that was recorded recently in The UK to raise money, as well. (Proving to Baptists worldwide that there are other ways to help a devastated country than to steal its children!)