Porridge in Haiti

Many of you know that I ate porridge for a year after the experience I had at the 30 hour famine a couple years back. Little did I know that that experience would hit me in the face all over again, this time on the other side of the world. When it was time for dinner at the orphanage, all the kids sat at long picnic like tables inside the dining area. Each child was given a metal bowl filled with a corn meal porridge that looked exactly like what I had eaten and a spoon.

I ate my porridge out of choice. There was no choice with these children.

I did not have a perfect track record in eating my porridge. There were days when I forgot, days when I did not plan ahead and ate something else on the road, and days when I just skipped lunch b/c I didn’t feel like eating it again. But this past week I sat with beautiful little boys and girls who eat this every night for dinner (and perhaps lunch and breakfast too, I was afraid to ask). Not out of choice, or because it’s cool to write a blog about. They eat this porridge every night because it’s all they have to eat.

I took pictures through my tears. Porridge for dinner everyday and no mommy or daddy to tuck you in bed at night. This is their world. This is a world I cannot even imagine being a part of everyday as a little child.

I know the big question many of you will ask yourself.

And the answer is yes. Yes, it is potentially possible to adopt these kids. If you really want to. And really wanting to is going to involve a level of grit and commitment you have never had to muster before. Adopting from Haiti is different. It's complicated. But it is the complicated children who really need adoption.

Feel free to ask me about adoption if you are interested ...if you believe you have the grit and commitment that will be required. These kids are older, they are sibling groups, they have special needs and yes, it will cost a tremendous amount of money ... but children like this are among the most needy. Adoption is not for everyone, but I can point you in the right direction if you are genuinely interested. Please know that I do not have any special connections, just information about who to talk to in order to ask questions.

And, please do not "shop" for children in any of my pictures. This is not the purpose for which I took these pictures and I do not personally know the individual stories of any of these children.

Instead, please let the faces of these children prompt you to pray and to advocate.

For them specifically, but also for the children all over this world who live parallel lives to these beautiful children in Haiti.

Our world is huge. The need is even bigger.

Be a voice of change. Be an agent of change.