{"id":1818,"date":"2011-10-22T09:42:26","date_gmt":"2011-10-22T13:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=1818"},"modified":"2011-10-22T09:42:26","modified_gmt":"2011-10-22T13:42:26","slug":"haiti-closes-orphanage-for-neglect-while-campaign-for-wider-investigation-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/10\/haiti-closes-orphanage-for-neglect-while-campaign-for-wider-investigation-continues.html","title":{"rendered":"Haiti closes orphanage for neglect while campaign for wider investigation continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your voice has been heard.<\/p>\n

The government of Haiti acted swiftly yesterday<\/a> as police moved on the Son of God orphanage<\/a> in Haiti<\/a>, blocked off the streets, and permanently closed the Son of God orphanage<\/a>. Haitian authorities loaded children onto UNICEF buses and moved them to a different location. This happened because of you. Because you cared to sign and share a petition thousands of times.The resulting AP wire story\u00a0 detailing Haiti’s closure of the Son of God Orphanage has been picked up by hundreds of newspapers and blogs AROUND THE WORLD. <\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

And we are going to need you to keep doing that…<\/strong><\/a> While we applaud and celebrate this victory, this fight is NOT OVER<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As you will read below, we are calling for an immediate and complete investigation of the IBESR<\/a>–a call we have been making since the beginning of this campaign. We will continue this fight. We need you to share the petition asking President Michel Martelly to order this investigation now, to close more corrupt orphanages, and to ensure the safety and security of orphans in Haiti.<\/p>\n

Below is the official statement on yesterday’s events:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
( Dieu Nalio Chery \/ Associated Press ) - In this photo taken Oct. 19, 2011, orphans are seen at the Son of God\u2019s orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The orphanage, whose director was accused by U.S. missionaries of not feeding children and selling donated goods, was closed Friday in a rare crackdown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HAITIAN OFFICIALS HEAR OUTPOUR OF SUPPORT TO REMOVE ORPHANS FROM ABUSIVE SITUATION<\/a><\/strong>
\nRelief Organization Members Say This is Only the First Step<\/a><\/p>\n

Following a highly effective Change.org<\/a> petition campaign calling for the removal of children from the Son of God Orphanage<\/a>, the closure of the facility<\/a>, and the investigation and retrieval of over 50 missing children, Haitian leaders permanently closed orphanage for neglect.<\/a><\/p>\n

SIGN THE PETITION CALLING FOR WIDER INVESTIGATION OF ORPHAN ABUSE IN HAITI.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Megan Boudreaux of Respire Haiti has been on the ground in Haiti <\/a>meeting with government officials and working with other organizations (Adventures in Missions, Bridgeway Church, Timberline Church, Children\u2019s HopeChest, and Journey Community Church) on the removal of over 70 orphans remaining at Son of God Orphanage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Via written statement, Boudreaux said:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we are extremely encouraged, we are also aware that Son of God orphanage<\/a> is only one of more than 20 orphanages that are in similar situations. The existence of these corrupt orphanages that are victimizing children\u2026must be addressed immediately.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The six aforementioned organizations continue to call on the global community to ensure that a thorough investigation occurs<\/a> and perpetrators are brought to justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure that this does not continue and that a full investigation of IBESR (Institut du Bien Etre et de Recherches) takes place. The signatures on the petition released have made a big difference, but this is only the first step. Please continue sharing the petition with everyone you know,\u201d<\/strong> urges Mark Orphan of Timberline Church in Fort Collins, Colorado.<\/p>\n

SIGN THE PETITION CALLING FOR WIDER INVESTIGATION OF ORPHAN ABUSE IN HAITI.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

According to the organizations involved, a complete investigation<\/strong><\/span><\/a> would include the search and rescue of over 50 missing orphans, the indictment of those involved and those collaborating in the trafficking and abuse of children at Son of God orphanage<\/a> as well as the investigation of other orphanages who have been accused of similar transgressions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your voice has been heard. The government of Haiti acted swiftly yesterday as police moved on the Son of God orphanage in Haiti, blocked off the streets, and permanently closed the Son of God orphanage. Haitian authorities loaded children onto UNICEF buses and moved them to a different location. This happened because of you. Because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiti","category-orphans"],"yoast_head":"\nHaiti closes orphanage for neglect while campaign for wider investigation continues - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/10\/haiti-closes-orphanage-for-neglect-while-campaign-for-wider-investigation-continues.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Haiti closes orphanage for neglect while campaign for wider investigation continues - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your voice has been heard. The government of Haiti acted swiftly yesterday as police moved on the Son of God orphanage in Haiti, blocked off the streets, and permanently closed the Son of God orphanage. Haitian authorities loaded children onto UNICEF buses and moved them to a different location. This happened because of you. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1820,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818\/revisions\/1820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}