29227: Hermantin(News) Children of the Americas (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Sep. 23, 2006


A SERIES BEGINS
Children of the Americas

By NANCY SAN MARTIN
nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com

When news reports out of Haiti this summer revealed that the director of an 
orphanage had been kidnapped, they prompted the question: What happened to the 
children?

On a trip to the troubled Caribbean nation, The Miami Herald visited the 
orphanage in the village of Simonette and discovered that the children of the 
Tytoo Gardens orphanage had been left alone for more than a month. They did not 
go hungry, thanks to another nearby orphanage, which ensured the delivery of 
food. But with no adult supervision, Tytoo Gardens was in disarray, even as the 
children did their best to take care of each other.

Although Haiti has the highest rate of orphans in the Western Hemisphere, it is 
not alone in failing to meet the needs of the region's most vulnerable 
population: its children.

The Miami Herald hopes to take a look at several of the issues affecting kids 
in a series titled Children of the Americas, from extreme poverty to 
illiteracy. The orphanage story out of Haiti is the first installment of the 
series, which will take readers to various nations around the hemisphere.

The series will not only highlight problems but also profile some of the 
efforts that offer solutions, such as the orphanages featured in today's story.

''The vision that the mission has for these children is not for us to change 
Haiti, but for the children to change Haiti,'' said Travis Smith, co-director 
of Mission of Hope, the agency that reached out to the orphans at Tytoo Gardens 
while their director was in the hands of kidnappers.

``Sure, we're a scratch on the surface here, but we're gaining experience in 
what works and doesn't work.''

Whether they have lost parents, been abandoned or abused, are the victims of 
armed conflicts or don't have access to healthcare or education, there is one 
underlying reality that affects all the Children of the Americas: today's 
victims are tomorrow's future.