You have to wonder who the brains behind this operation was. WSJ gives this account,

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703357104575045794048725562.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

How about some charity to the folks? Do you really think they had bad motives, or is it easy to pick on them because they were the wrong kind of Baptists and maybe rural bumpkins to boot? They were trying to help the kids, not sell them into slavery. Not well thought out, not sophisticated, but not definitely not evil.

There.

Spoken as the multilingual, politically and socially connected, trans-racially adoptive father of two children born abroad -- and not one bit morally superior to these innocents abroad.

Fr. Bill Ledbetter
Diocese of Los Angeles

Sorry Father Bill, the 3rd world press does not buy that idea.

Perhaps nine were unwitting, but the leader is not getting a pass. They suggest more self-enriching motives, such as "adoption" to the highest bidders. Good for housekeeping and such. Grateful for any help rich folks can drop as crumbs.

David,

What the hell are you talking about, adoption to the highest bidder for housekeeping and such? What an insulting and gratuitously nasty thing to say. They were wrong to not follow the law, granted, but don't go impugning them all as human traffickers. One of these folks-- the only one I know much about-- is a young father and fireman from my hometown, and a volunteer youth minister. I guarantee that a fireman and father of three kids from North Topeka, Kansas is not some human trafficker. These are earnest, misguided folks trying to do the best they can to help out orphans. Quit gloating over their misfortune; they're not George Bush, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson or anybody else. Really, do you think that slamming them on this official Episcopal Church site makes our church look better than these presumably conservative Christians?

By the way, do you really think that little kids make the house cleaner? You are obviously not a father.

Fr. Bill

With all due respect, Father Bill, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Does it really matter what one's motives are, if the results are detrimental to others? And ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, in any country, as Thomas Jefferson emphasized. Anthea Butler really hit the nail on the head about this one. These ten could have just as easily volunteered their hands and will power humbly to the many experienced, well-funded and well-organized rescue and relief charities already at work in Haiti, in concert with the local authorities and attuned to the local culture, instead of attempting a ragtag, amateur effort with no knowledge or experience, on their own. Why they did not make that obvious, logical choice, given the sheer scariness of the situation, is a mystery.

Gregory Orloff

The point of this post is not that these folks were traffickers in normally accepted sense of the term but, more than breaking the law, they acted in a way that was both bad disaster response and, most of all, triggered a terrible history that they knew nothing about. They were not ignorant of the law, but thought they were above it however good their intentions might have been.

Gregory, et al.,

Absolutely, they are off track and need to follow the laws of Haiti. Absolutely, they need to follow international accords that protect children and their families. They are a repeat of the French and Belgians arrested with kids last year (or was it the year before?) in Africa. But, what is this glee in their being arrested? It's fun to see the underdog win, but these folks seem to be the liberal offering to atone for white/American guilt. Making them into human traffickers/modern slavers ala Dah.veed is perverse. Throwing in the little dig about the "rich" tossing a crumb to their adopted "house cleaners" is just plain nasty-- though I get it that he's probably read a NYT article about in the past about Haitians sending their kids to live with and serve the Haitian urban elite. Again, these small town Baptist Americans don't fit that profile. Well, enjoy your schadenfreude.

God bless the kids and these mistaken folks.

Fr. Bill

I don't see glee nor do I feel glee about this at all. I am happy for you that your adoption turned out to be great for your kids and you. This group is a sad mistaken bunch who went to Haiti with typical American hubris - much like the doctors a week or so ago who flew into Haiti thinking it was going to be like a rotation in a US hospital and were mad because the Haitians and other overworked long time relief personnel did not make way for them. I do not think it is because they are from Idaho or are hicks or Baptists. I know that people everywhere can act in ways that do not help either kids or themselves. I think David has seen this sort of thing up close - his personal experience counts as much as yours.

David,
What the hell are you talking about, adoption to the highest bidder for housekeeping and such? What an insulting and gratuitously nasty thing to say. They were wrong to not follow the law, granted, but don't go impugning them all as human traffickers.

Instead of flying off the handle perhaps you could go back and read what I wrote. I live in the 3rd world of the Americas. I read the periodicals of the 3rd world of the Americas. I reported to you what has been said of the leader of the group in 3rd world papers. You thought and lamented that she was getting slammed by the accounts you read in the often whitewashed US press. I was letting you know what is being said outside your field of vision. There was no glee in what I wrote. Nor did I inject any of my own opinion or judgement. No schadenfreude here.

But since you expected it, here is my opinion. I do not know what to think. I am at a loss as to what was going on. I have seen the US press raise a lot of questions about this woman's personal dealings in the US. I have seen 3rd world press reporting interviews with the group's Haitian interpreters, giving conflicting details to what the group has reported about their activity in Haiti and in gathering up these children. I have seen reports that most of the children are not even orphans. And I have seen reports that the group was not intending to send them to adoptive families, but to raise the children themselves in the Dominican Republic in a hotel, with a pool. It is all very confusing and there are definitely some conflicts in the account(s) being told. Plus there is more to life than a pool!

My most charitable opinion (on the "9 out of 10"):

It's the difference between being useful and feeling useful.

If you can't STAND to see one more crying Haitian child, or weighted down w/ despair Haitian mother, and you want to feel useful, then by all means, hop a plane to Haiti and "save them."

But if you actually want to BE USEFUL? Stay home, stay out of the way, and send all the money you can (to a reputable relief/development agency, like ERD) and let the professionals do the work on the ground.

JC Fisher

[NB to Dahveed: the issue is likely w/ your name again. Someone like Fr Bill sees "David Allen" and probably thinks "Who is this fellow gringo trying to out Raza me?" If only your name were . . . oh, say, "Juan Valdez" ;-) you wouldn't have this problem! OCICBW.]

Better?