For Isabel
If you’re here, it’s because you’ve chosen to come along on our journey. And that means you are coming along for every.... happy, sad, amazing, difficult, inspiring, and heartbreaking part of it.
Today, I received news that another beautiful little girl died waiting for a family.
She couldn’t escape the terrifying and devastating fate that her society has created for children like her with special needs.
So many of us are oblivious to the harsh realities going on throughout the world, and selfishly, we choose to stay this way so we don’t have to carry the burden of guilt or take any responsibility. We turn off the news so we don’t have to hear about the latest heart wrenching story, scroll past the donation requests on Facebook, and switch the radio station during a telethon. We’re all guilty of it... Someone else will step up to help, right?
Even being a lifelong supporter and an [informal] advocate for foster care and adoption, I was still naive to the reality of orphanages around the world. And I still have a lot more to learn. But, now that we are knee deep in the adoption process, its time to open more eyes.
"Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do"
Many people ask me 'why international adoption when there are so many children who need families in the USA?' And yes, I know there are many, many kids here in the foster care system that need families. And yes, I know our system is still very flawed and there are many children in bad conditions here. And, yes, I certainly know that those children are just as worthy as the children in foreign countries. I know. I really do and trust me, if you know me personally, then you know that I wish I could save them all.
But, the reality is that I (we) can save one, at least right now. So, I am going to share the fate that our son would be facing if we weren’t coming for him... and unfortunately you got a preview of that at the beginning of this post but I’ll inform you on how he’d get there.
First of all our son was likely abandon at birth due to his diagnosis because in his society he, along with any other children with special needs, are considered invaluable, uneducable, and essentially worthless. So, even in the case that his parents would’ve wanted to raise him, society essentially would’ve made it financially and culturally impossible. He was then transferred to an understaffed, underfunded, and undereducated orphanage/baby house where he waits alongside thousands of other children in hopes that a foreigner will come and give him a family. Luckily for us, and our son, we found him in time and we will bring him home before his next transition.
The children who are not adopted by the age of 4 will start to make their transitions to adult mental institutions. There the children are locked away where they can be forgotten by all of society. Here they are provided no education, very little to no medical treatment, no therapies, and no love. Once institutionalized, the children spend their days confined to a crib, sedated, extremely underfed, and left to spend their days laying in their own waste. Over 80% of children who are transferred to mental institution die within the first year of transfer and that number increases to 90% for children with Down Syndrome.
So... if you stuck with me this far, maybe you are feeling inspired to help save a life. Make a change. Or share the responsibility. And I know everyone cannot go adopt but there are so many things that you CAN do.
Donate. Donate to a family that is bringing home a child or donate to a child that is waiting for a family.
Fundraise. Participate in a fundraiser. Buy the t-shirt of a family working hard to bring home a sick child or a sibling group. Bake for their bake sale. Drop off your unwanted belongings to their yard sale. Volunteer your time to help with their auction.
Pray. Pray for a waiting child. Pray for the family struggling to decide if this is the right choice for their family. Pray for the children who couldn’t wait any longer.
Educate. Research the facts. Talk to the families. Ask the questions. Read the books.
For more insight into the life of a Special Needs Orphan, please read:
Advocate. Share their stories. Share their pictures. Pick a child and share, share, share until you come across the family that’s been waiting to find their perfect missing piece.
You can advocate for waiting children with special needs by sharing this site or a specific child's listing: http://reecesrainbow.org
One more thing... to anyone worried about the “burden” that they think our special needs child may have on our life, please stop. Worry about the children who don’t have families coming for them. The ones like sweet Isabel who had to die alone.
Comments
Post a Comment