OPINION:
A new report released this month reveals that there are more than 700,000 people currently displaced within Haiti, 52% of whom are children. Haiti is experiencing an unprecedented crisis that has affected the entire population, including the many orphanages operating there.
Haiti is home to more than 700 orphanages, many of which are run or supported by missionaries — missionaries who went there with a heart to serve, motivated by compassion and a willingness to make sacrifices. I understand their motivation because I was once one of them. I moved to Haiti after college and worked in an orphanage that was home to about 100 children.
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My experience in that orphanage makes me hurt all the more for the children in Haiti’s residential care facilities today, as well as their caretakers. The current violence has forced some orphanages to make an unthinkable decision: Keep the children where they are despite the danger, or embark on the overwhelming task of moving the children to a different, safer location. We’ve all seen the stories. Both options seem bleak.
But what if there is a third option?
My own journey working with Haiti’s most vulnerable has taught me there is another option. The vast majority of the children in orphanages have families they could go home to, and should go home to. And while the task for missionaries and organizations caring for children in Haiti today is overwhelmingly heavy, that doesn’t change their responsibility — Haiti’s child welfare workers must prioritize keeping children in or returning them to safe and loving families, particularly during such unprecedented unrest.
SEE ALSO: Another town in Haiti comes under attack a week after gangs killed at least 115 people
The third option: Reunification
At age 19, I traveled to Haiti for the first time to volunteer in an orphanage for the summer. I knew quickly it wouldn’t be my last trip, and I returned each summer until moving there in my 20s. What I didn’t know until years into living in Haiti is that 80% of children in orphanages there are not actually orphans. In reality, the majority of these children – including those in the orphanage where I worked – have parents or other relatives who have just struggled to provide for them.
After a decade of experience in Haiti, I began working for a child protection organization with a focus on preventing and responding to the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. Our survivor care programs include providing temporary residential care for young girls who have been trafficked or abused, with the goal of reuniting these children with their families and empowering them toward sustainable freedom.
As gang violence engulfed more and more areas of Port-au-Prince over the last two years, our leadership team had to grapple with the impact of this new context on our ability to provide residential care safely. We had to wrestle with questions of whether the children would be safer in families within communities, even if those communities faced the potential risk of gang invasion, as families have flexibility and mobility that organizations with a group of children in care do not. We concluded that it was best for the girls in our care to return to their families more quickly than our typical reintegration timeline. Once the children were reunified, we were able to offer support to their family units rather than just the individual children.
Research backs our decision — family is where children grow and develop best, even if those families are poor. That’s why reunification, when possible, should be the aim for missionaries and other child welfare workers in Haiti, and also why it’s so important to support families at risk of separation before it ever happens.
Barriers to reunification
SEE ALSO: Over 6,000 people in Haiti leave their homes after gang attack killed dozens
Reunification is not always easy. There are numerous barriers to safely reunifying children with their families during a crisis like the one Haiti is facing today. Housing is a major concern, with more than 700,000 people currently internally displaced. Limited social work resources have also hindered reunification efforts. Due to rampant inflation, parents who were in poverty several years ago are almost certainly in an even more vulnerable financial position now. On top of all of this, the people of Haiti continue to be deeply traumatized by what is happening around them, leaving many suffering from mental health issues.
But despite the significant obstacles, there remains no doubt in my mind that the benefits of family reunification still make it a worthwhile pursuit. And in many cases, the children’s parents are living just minutes away from the orphanages housing them. Overcoming the barriers to reunification can be challenging, but it is not impossible. Our own organization has facilitated many successful reunifications over the years, even in the difficult context of recent events, and we have seen multiple other organizations do the same.
Why reunification is still the right choice
The hard truth is that the situation in Haiti is dire right now. There is no quick fix. This crisis will undoubtedly have generations of impact. But we will keep working towards reunifying children with their parents because our personal experience in Haiti reflects what decades of research and child protection experts agree on – that children do best in families, and that the best way to keep children safe is through strong families within strong communities. The children and families we work with on a daily basis and those you read about in the news, aren’t just stories – they are real people who have no choice but to live in the middle of violence, unrest, and uncertainty.
The missionaries and organizations caring for children in Haiti have a remarkably heavy responsibility, but as partners with them through our prayers and finances, we can all support and spread the word about the benefits of a holistic, family-centered approach to care. As small as it may seem, together each of us can help lighten their burden through our continued prayers, our attention to what’s happening in Haiti, and our giving to organizations committed to family-based care.
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Heather Nozea is the Programs Director for Rapha International, and she also serves as the chair of the Haiti Family Care Network. She has spent most of the past decade living in Haiti, working with child survivors and engaging in efforts to prevent the trafficking and exploitation of children.
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