Friday, July 4, 2008

A Wonderful Alternative to Adoption

Saving girl child, adoption of villages top FLO agenda

Commemorating the silver jubilee of its formation this year, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organisation has set saving the girl child, adoption of villages for empowerment of women, and planting of trees as its top agenda.

SAVING THE girl child, adoption of villages for the empowerment of women, and planting of trees top the agenda of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Ladies Organisation (FLO), as the organisation goes into an overdrive to commemorate the silver jubilee of its formation this year.

Addressing the media, Anuradha Goel, president, FLO, said, "The ‘Save the Girl Child’ project, to be launched on July 23 by Renuka Chaudhury, Union minister for women and child development, has been designed to raise the awareness levels in women, children and menfolk in villages and semi-urban areas. The objective is to create awareness of the detrimental effect of the declining sex ratio in various parts of the country."

Goel said, under the project, "we will go to the factories and other household industrial clusters, call in the local Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and women panchayat leaders, and impress upon them the need to create mass awareness of the socially and morally reprehensible practice of female infanticide."

During the year, FLO also proposes to adopt a village and make it a model village. This will encompass entrepreneurship development programmes for women, planting of tress, training of women in converting kitchen waste into bio-gas as a cooking fuel. Such a village, the FLO chief said, would also provide recreational and other facilities to elder citizens. "We will adopt a holistic approach. The idea would be to involve whole families in community care, where women will be joined by children and men in the making of a model village."

Goel said, during its silver jubilee year, FLO would plant 2,500 tress throughout the country. FLO would also impart training in nurturing and care of tree saplings and each tree would be under the charge of a tree-custodian or parent.

In a bid to promote entrepreneurship and professional excellence in women, FLO, as part of its ongoing programme, proposes to organise 25 training programmes across India at the grass root, middle and senior levels. Five of these will be at the grass

Goel said, FLO will take up a programme of mentoring 25 professional FLO members as also continue with showcasing of the talents of FLO members in its seven chapters throughout the country.

She announced that the postal authorities would release a special postage stamp/cover to commemorate the silver jubilee year.

The Press meet was also addressed by FLO past presidents – Abha Dalmia, Dr Manju V Mehta, Kusum Ansal, Mukta Jain, Sudha Jhunjhunwala, and young FLO member, Shalu Jindal.

Wouldn't it be grand to see Ethiopia, Russia, China, Guatemala, Vietnam, and other nations that are having their children taken from them create similar projects?

Projects like this are a great alternative to suggest to those who complain about the high fees involved in adopting on child. One can only guess how much good $40,000 could do to improve the lives of an entire village - build a school? Buy books? Medical supplies?

The US could use funded affordable day care!

This is Family Preservation in practice!





3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I applaud the work you higlight encouraging the value and importance of maintaining a strong population of females in developing (and all) nations. I take issue with some of your comments condeming adoption. Many families lack the ability to have biological children, while the system(s) are imperfect, adoption provides these parents with children. I agree that an adopted child is best served retaining their name, intimate knowledge of their culture, and, if possible, connection to their biological families. Many children are without families, unfortunately most by economic and social hardship. In a perfect world, all who desired to raise their children would have the means to do so. Many other children are without families because that was their biological parent(s) choice or because of illness. When any child without a family receives the kind love and provision of needs that adoptive families offer, I find it a beautiful thing. Your website is interesting and, again, I am a huge supporter of maintaining natural family units and providing men, women and children the means for success. I am also an adoptive parent who is madly in love with my child, her child's culture, and, if it were possible, madly in love with the notion of maintaining contact and relationship with her biological parents. Crystal Tower

AdoptAuthor said...

Crystal,

Thank you for visiting here and sharing your perspective. I, likewise, agree with most of what you have said.

I do not "condemn adoption" per se. I am opposed to the way it is currently practiced including the accepted the belief that:

"Many families lack the ability to have biological children, while the system(s) are imperfect, adoption provides these parents with children."

Adoption was never intended to "provide" children for infertile couples. Infertility is a medical problem and needs to be resolved medically and prevented or reduced through education.

I notice that you "wish" you might have a connection with your child's family - yet you chose an adoption which disallowed that. That was your CHOICE!

Each of has choices in life. We can either chose to be part of the solution or part of the problem.

I am sorry to sound harsh. But that is the fact of the matter. There are more than 100,000 children right here in the US who might benefit from adoption -- adoptions which I do not condemn -- but instead you chose to participate and be a party to the unscrupulous baby broker industry that often kidnaps children and SELLS them to adoption agencies.

No need to tell me how ethical the agency you dealt with is - everyone wants to believe that. But the truth is the agencies often do not who they are dealing with down the line (or at least claim not to). The reason for the Hague and the reason many countries have ceased allowing international adoption is because of the corruption in orphanages around the world.

80% of children in orphanages worldwide have family who visit and who hope to be reunited, as was the case with David Banda adopted by Madonna.

Without having met your child's family you have NO IDEA what their circumstance was. Mothers are coerced and exploited globally to fill a demand created by people like you who feel "entitled" to a child - anyone's child - and with no strings (read: mother) attached!

If you truly: "applaud the work you higlight encouraging the value and importance of maintaining a strong population of females in developing (and all) nations" you would not be a party to a process which takes from poor women and gives to the rich.

AdoptAuthor said...

Addendum'

When I said i do not necessarily condemn adoption from foster care...let me amend that to say that I do condemn children taken from their families and put into state care unnecessarily, as far too many are.

Those that truly are orphaned and truly have no family capable or willing to care for them with support, should be placed in a guardianship situation.

It is never in any child's best interest to have his name taken from him or to b disallowed to know any living sibs or other family.

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