An interesting and disturbing Guardian article I just saw.
Another side of this practice (international adoptions of orphans) was the subject of a superb expose by the ABC TV network in Australia in 2009. One of the journalists (Mary Ann Jolley) reflection on this assignment, entitled
A Heartbreaking Assignment provides an overview of the process of "harvesting". The other journalist involved was Andrew Geoghegan.
If you have the time, read or watch the two stories entitled
Fly Away Children and
Fly Away Home as they make for sobering viewing.
Reply to this Great articles - will find the time to check out the fly away links. This is the reason I always make an unscheduled visit to an orphange with nothing more than rice and toys. Sad that its come to this. Poor children of this world.
Reply to this Sad indeed ... But somehow the same applies when kids and "mother" carrying their "baby" (under drugs to remain quiet even tough it is 3 am and cold) are begging for money outside of the places visited by foreigners ... By giving money you might have the impression to help a mother and kid in need while the only thing you actually end up doing is encouraging the practice ...
Helping people in need can be done by anyone willing to set aside time, energy and patience ... you can volunteer in your own country a few hours a week, support regularly institutions abroad or move to the humanitarian sector if you have the right profile & a real motivation to do so but combining holidays with a short one time " feel good" stopover is just not right and might end up doing more harm than good ...
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