My Personal Experience ---- Why I want to make a difference

I have been living in St. Catherine Jamaica now for one year. Before I moved here for good I use to travel to and from Jamaica. As I think back to my first few days living in Jamaica I can remember crying like a baby asking myself what in the world have I done, Now I can't think of any other place that I would rather be. During my time here I have seen people suffering in ways that I have never saw before in my life.


 I have lived in Washington DC so seeing homeless is nothing new to me but what I have saw is a different side of suffering here in Jamaica. After asking around about what type of resources they have to help people in need, I have got the look and sometimes been told "You are not in America", or "What programs or resources are you talking about?" ( And then a little chuckle after ), So I felt like if somebody was in need and asked for money just give it to them, If they ask for food go buy it for them and to always support the vender's that depend on that money to take care of their families. I thought up to now that I had been doing the best that I could do. (Boy was I wrong)




 All of these thoughts for me changed after my son Elijah's third trip to the hospital. Elijah has Asthma so from time to time the hospital can become his second home. The children's ward is filed with about 25 children from newborn to around 12 years old (All of these children are in one room) Every time that I have spend days at the hospital with Elijah the reality of what people are going through in Jamaica became more clear to me. I meet mothers that have children with special needs such as cancer, heart defects, asthma, diabetes and congenital conditions like cerebral palsy, etc. As I sit there and I see these mothers (some of them) come to the hospital everyday to bring food, snacks and to spend time with their children, some of them couldn't even make to the hospital because (no work=no pay).




As I would sit and talk with these mothers most of them taking care of their children without help from the fathers and having other children at home. The hospital doesn't provide you with things such as pamper, baby milk, wipes, toilet tissue- I guess you get the picture. To add there are no such things as monthly welfare checks from the Government, food stamps, Section 8 housing programs, etc. I see so much strength in these women. I had to ask myself God how they do it.


 Don't get me wrong there are single parents across the world but some of these mothers make less then 7,000 JA a week, let me help you with the math, that is less then $100. (US).The sad part about all of this is that some of these children (newborns) have been left behind by their mothers and live on the ward. Myself, I could not ever leave my child behind on a door step, hospital or wherever, but after I see the struggle that these mothers go through, I try not to Judge.


 So I thought to myself my God I know so many women who can no longer have children and I know they would love to adopt some of these children. So I came home thinking to myself let me spread the word via facebook , word of mouth and in any way possible to let people know that their are children in need of homes. I also started thinking about myself a woman with three children (16, 15 and 7) could I adopt one of these children in need. Also I was thinking about what could I do for the children that are sick in the hospital, where there are no TV's games, toys books (nothing kid friendly).




 A lot of the mothers would have complaints about the Nurses and Doctors not doing enough for their children but I feel with the amount of children they have to the amount of staff they have they are doing the best that they can do for the most part. Don't get me wrong anytime that Elijah is in the hospital I become stressed and can't wait for him to come home. After this last visit I even saw a mother bring her child to the hospital because the baby was sick and then after finding out that the baby had a problem (I will not post that because that is a public blog), but after finding this news she left her baby at the hospital. I came home and I was on a one-woman mission to save these children (as my brother always tells me that I want to save the world). 




So I joined some Adoption groups so that I could get these children some homes. As I was trying to find these children a good home and trying to get supplies needed for the children who are in need of clothes, pampers etc. The earthquake hits Haiti so at this point everyone is looking to adopt children from Haiti and I feel like that was the right thing to do, after I found out that all children that were brought to the US for adoption already had there paperwork in before the Earthquake hit and that for adoptions would take place for at least the next 3 to 4 weeks so I thought " Ok, this will be my time to push for these children in Jamaica." I found a few Women from the states; I told them they need that I saw for children in Jamaica in need of good homes. I gave them a few links on adoption in Jamaica and they seem to be ready and happy.




 I told them that I would do my part on this side because I felt like if they were willing to open up their homes and life to a child the least that I could do it get the information first hand since I am in Jamaica. After doing the research I found out that Adoption in Jamaica is no where near as easy as I thought it would be, I was thinking to myself I have been seeing so many children in and out of the hospital that need to be placed in good loving homes, but to my surprise and disappointment, there are a lot of children that need homes but they need foster homes (only persons that live in Jamaica can become foster parents).




 The reason why there are not a lot of children to be adopted is because the parents have just left the children behind but will not sign over the rights for the child to be adopted, so the children are the victims that get caught up in the system. However, it is still possible to adopt in Jamaica, yet it is easier if you have identified a child (if you and the mother have come to an agreement) but if you need them to search for a child that takes longer. After filing out the form you will receive updates every 6 months on your status but as the worker told me "You must join the line behind everybody else." That left me feeling a little down because I thought "Wow, these children could have a better life", but because of the parents being to selfish to sign over the rights if they no longer want the babies these children have to be stuck in the system. I wish now to help those children and let them know that they are not forgotten and I will do my best to see that these children have a face that they can see and say "Somebody does care". Anybody that would still like to try adoption here in Jamaica can apply online 

http://www.cda.gov.jm/foster_care.php and also can find useful information at http://www.rainbowkids.com/countries/CountryGuideLines.aspx?id=110.


I also started a website and all profit from commission will go to helping these children in need.

http://www.swfashion.webs.com


I have also asked friends with children to send clothing that are too small for their children and send it to me so that I can also donate those. I have looked into trying to become a non profit organization but it all seems to be a bunch of red tape. So my mission is to do what I can to help until I can do better. Also there are many Orphanages in Jamaica so if you come here on vacation, please take time away from the white sands and visit these children....