The Big Picture

You may have heard in recent news about the 10 American missionaries who are being convicted for trying to adopt Haitian children and take them out of the country. This news is unsettling to say the least. 

The Facts:

• 10 American missionaries tried to smuggle 33 Haitian children out of Haiti through the border to the Dominican Republic.
• When the missionaries were stopped at the border, they said that they were taking the children to an orphanage.
•  Since then, investigators have discovered that some of the children still have parents living.
• “The children, who are from age two to 12, are now in the care of the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in Port-au-Prince.” (BBC NEWS)
• “The missionaries have been charged with child abduction and criminal conspiracy.” (BBC NEWS) ~Damn straight.

The 10 missionaries have claimed to have done this out of the goodness of their hearts, only taking children who had either lost both of their parents or lost one and were abandoned by the other. When asked about the incident, one of the women missionaries commented, “I feel good. I trust in God.” Because so many lives have been lost (the most recent report is that 200,000 have died), it is true that there are going to be many children who have lost parents and will need to be cared for. However, you cannot just take children (or anyone for that matter) out of the country without any documentation! These missionaries are grown men and women. How did they not know something like this??!! 

Additionally, how could anyone take a child away from their home without getting their parents approval? Or at least doing research and discovering what has happened to their parents. Yes, the earthquake is a terrible disaster and many are in need, buy you cannot just take people away from their homeland and loved ones. Especially children! Children who have gone through hell and are so emotionally distraught and confused right now that they could not be expected to make a decision in whether or not to go with the missionaries. This is not the kind of help that Haiti needs right now.

Although this news is outrageously troubling, perhaps the most problematic aspect of it is that it is distracting American and global attention from focusing on helping Haiti during their time of need. Today, United States media is focusing almost all of its attention regarding Haiti to this case. It can be found in The New York Times, BBC News, Fox News, MSNBC (there are 7 articles on this case alone, all focused on the Americans in the story), and I’m sure many others. This is so not okay.

Now is the time for the world to come together and help Haiti in their time of need. There is no room for distractions. Every minute that people are focusing their attention on this case is precious time that is being lost for Haitians. I am not trying to say that this case is not important. The children who were involved deserve to have their stories told. But, the articles regarding this incident are not focused on the children- it’s all about what is going to happen to the Americans. Clearly, we are missing the big picture here. Instead of focusing our attention on what the media tells us, generally the more, shall I say, juicy information, let’s focus on what is really important here.

It is easy for people who are disconnected from disasters to not pay attention to them altogether. Out of sight out of mind, right? Wrong. Of course, not thinking about it all together is certainly the easiest way to avoid problems and sadness. Especially if you are not seeing them happen first hand. And we are all victims of this behavior, myself included. BUT, I challenge you to continue focusing on what is really important here:

• Helping Haitians during their time of need.
•  Doing so with compassion and with a humanitarian mindset.
•  Understanding that America is a country of privilege and we should use that privilege to help others.
•  Giving support and funds to help Haitians rebuild their nation, not to increase privatization or to make America look and feel good.
• And lastly, spreading awareness about Haiti’s history as well as it’s current events.

Awareness eliminates ignorance. And ignorance certainly is not bliss. At least I don’t think so. Do you?