What are YOU for?

Adoption research involves learning about some of the saddest and cruelest things man does to his compatriots every day. Today, in fact.

I'll spare you the graphic- I'm sure you've heard plenty just being alive. One story I gotta tell you, though, sounds just like the set-up to a crummy joke: Did ya hear the one about the American parents who neglected their kids for video games, starving them with abundant food in the house? Child services found them in time, thankfully. Now that we're in the thick of looking at adoption, every news bit about international instability and poverty makes me wonder what is happening to the kids there, a though closely followed by, 'hmmm, do they have adoption programs for US families?' Did you even know that some insanely desperate countries still close their doors to adoptive families? Did you know that Romania is one of the worst countries in which to be an orphan, and yet a certain politician barronness (Cruella DeVille, we'll call her) pretty much single-handedly stopped foreign families from adopting -SAVING- those kids a few years back by suddenly closing that program entirely? Romania now records fewer institutionalized kids thanks to her efforts. Notice I said "records", not "has". Google it if you don't believe me.

You're thinking, blahblah dee blah. Everyone knows the world is depressing, what am I supposed to do about it? How about arranging something tax-deductable with monthly auto-giving available and extremely high ethics ratings? Seriously.

Please think about sponsoring a kid through World Vision or any other program you like. If you are sitting at a computer in a warm dry place and know you'll have food, friends, and safety for the next year, you know you should be giving back. World Vision is a good thing and I hope to get seven more kids sponsors this year- please do check it out and maybe tell a hundred friends.

The link is also in my sidebar.