African Blog: ADOPTION IN KENYA

ADOPTION IN KENYA

Kenya is a country with over 2.4 million orphans, whom majority of them have no hope for tomorrow even though it’s hard to control the children being born and abortions being illegal, the rise of abandonment is great and something needs to be done. These country of 80% Christians as it is claimed but it shows the decay in morals. Adoption doesn’t seem like an option in this country at the same time the stigma of adoption still haunts those who want to adopt and most of the adoptive parents have been so traumatized with the process that barely talk about it. From my research in this country it’s easier to start a Children home than to adopt because one hustles and resources wasted and time wasting that one can die or become bankruptcy or lose your job with court mentions and some intimidating judges, the adoptive parents whether local or international they are not willing for that victimizing experience again. That’s why about 90 parents in 2007 came together to form the adoptive parents of Kenya even though we have met several time most parents what things done in secret; for they to stigmatized with adoption process and in the fight for orphans, adoptive parents contribute to this stigma, for they don’t really advocate for adoption and this group have really been slow to advocacy, but within the committee one can note the complacency of their responsibility and lots of board meetings that bear no fruit but looking to me us the problem I being the chairman, its easier how people forget that the Constitution is the guide it’s a problem in this country people easily forget the objective and defend their interest more than others, while they violate and I don’t know why in this country orphans tends to enrich people in the name of charity. The most annoying thing is that how can stigmatize parents lead stigmatized parents or how can stigmatized parents advocate for orphans, it’s a circle of confusion in the adoption world. I think the issue of ethnicity tends to affect most things in this country, us if one tribe seem to work effectively with their own than another tribe where suspicions tends to dominate the whole meetings, , what people think of others its what they are but the question is, is it about the welfare of the children or ourselves? So for the adoptive parents to be more effective they must come out of their cocoons of stigma and talk about adoption as the best thing that ever happened to them. The world is a small place while the adoptive parents hide there secret it will be revealed by time Another issue that really affects adoption in Kenya is the African culture, which different societies have upheld, to this time and that is every married woman must give birth, and those who don’t give birth are really victimized because of their state and ridiculed and even driven off with the in laws. Most people have not fully embraced adoption because of the out come of those children, there is this myth that those abandoned children can turn out to be worst due to their immoral parents this perception has put fear on most people who want to adopt. Another very disappointing issue is that of wealth because in this country adoption is regarded for the wealthy couples because they only can afford the finances to pay the lawyers and the lawyers seem to make money out of these and so affects the normal average couples who really want a child, the perception that the adopters have money still is strong in this country, from most domestic parents it’s a burden for life is full of financial complications. Another factor is the wealthy Europeans who come to adopt in this country and pay well the lawyers and their firms, them to have contributed to hurt domestic adoption I believe they don’t mostly understand there negative impact on the local adoption if they did they would have allowed Africans to solve there problems despite a child having a better life abroad they can still have a better life in Africa that’s what I believe , no matter how many Europeans adopt the local adoptions should be prioritized for domestic adoption is a problem and remains huge. I don’t know how true this is but it’s said that the Europeans who adopt in this country, most of them are returned back the money spent in Africa. If it’s true then that’s why the adoption agencies prefer more the Europeans than their own. Is this reasonable whereby one European couple can adopt a child in Kenya and spend over a million shillings and the process of adoption takes over three months and deny more than twenty locals an opportunity who could have taken over twenty orphans into there homes, because they cant afford that money for the legal process its truly absurd and at the same time these Children homes can only take in a certain percentage of children the rest remain on the streets and their populations is growing and our streets are a dangerous place to walk when darkness fall. If nothing is done we might have orphans uniting to fight institutions because they have nothing to gain or loose, and that’s very serious in these century to get terrorist is easier than twenty years ago. While other charitable institution have selected a few and made them their own children, to look like private property, no one knows what is going on in this institutions that has always raised many an answered questions even though they seem to be protecting this children, this have been a thought that these children’s are atypical and abused that destroys self esteem in this orphans. The environment we subject the child affects creates emotional disturbance and this produce physiological changes this always concerns with problems of morals. One would not that those who have charitable institution tend to have excess wealth that sometimes raises questions, while the children in those intuitions seem to be struggling with life. There is nothing wrong having the necessary money but a lavish life and the institutions are not well managed I think that’s a big problem but if you live in these country people tend not to empower the poor that fear makes people be more rulers than leaders. From my personal analysis of most charitable institutions in my country those managed by Europeans are the best, because you will never hear weird scandals that are going on in our media. Another area that these institutions have not been effective is in sensitizing the community around them about orphans, that’s why most orphan children think they were a mistake and feel rejected and integrating in the community becomes an issue. It’s very important not to overlook the work of these charitable institutions they have done a superb work and they really need compliments because Kenyans have not taken the issues of vulnerable children as the Kenyan problem and the mistakes of our fellow country men but the wickedness of women forgetting that men have contributed to this. The actual record of charitable institutions in this country I have no idea but one thing I know there many and the secrecy of this institutions have bred dishonesty in this institutions. In this country I only know four adoption agencies that am sure, this is where the whole circus is; even though they help there have been silent rivalry between this agencies; some agencies tend to do well than others and it seem it’s a kind of who acquires more client from abroad and these agencies seem to like affiliating with abroad agencies more because of the rewarding ignorant clients than encouraging domestic adoption. And this donor funding that seem to flow in this agencies tend to raise questions, another thing is very interesting is that it seems every agencies have their own lawyers, while others run the whole show from the institution to the agency to the law firm. Because of few adoption agencies and few lawyers who practice family law, the adoptive parents are held hostage by them; the adopter has no choice but to pay the high fee. And because the bureaucratic nature of the adoption system in this country, them in the system they all are good friends to each other and they have been there for long, no matter your complain to the children services they take long to respond and they can even sue you if you raise some complicated issues. The adoption agencies mostly destroy information’s of parents who have given up there children for adoptions with collaborations with the children homes so that the child in my opinion may never trace back where he came from, and they tell the adopting parents to tell the adopted child the truth, if the child should know the truth then it should be the whole truth without fear of its repercussions. Another thing to note is that lawyers seem to work with these agencies through the social workers and it seems there issues that they collaborate with them, then they are given some cash, so the question arises why do that social worker only want the adoptive parents to go to only that specific law firm and not others. And why the courts through the agencies do only appoints the some specific social workers as the Litem. I visited two agencies for the first time in my country, and because I walked in, in simplicity and I sat at the reception waiting to see those in charge, its amazing when few Europeans came in they got kind of attention more than me their country men and I was sent to see someone who can’t help me who was subordinate and in the other place I was under interrogation. I think the problem in Africa is Africans themselves. Orphans are African problem of this century; the Africans should take responsibility and the Europeans should help Africans first solve there problem than creating another problem in Africa which makes the Africans look idiots, those international adoption agencies should help the natives adopt more and more, and those Affiliations with the local adoption agencies who don’t advocate for local adoption they should severe there partnership. And they should help the Africans adoptive parents do the advocacy for adoptions in all societies

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