I have been very busy collecting and cleaning stuff
to sell at the consignment sale so I can
donate the money to Downside Up.
So I have not had a lot of time to blog.
But I did want to announce the release of the documentary trailer that we are in.
I am very excited for this upcoming documentary
because it is done by a Russian film crew and
will have both English and Russian subtitles.
The goal of the film is to raise awareness for the children being
raised in orphanages.
It is for all Nations to come together to help them.
It is not a documentary that focuses on Americans adopting Russian children
as the solution but does show us as one of the families who were trying
to adopt when the ban happened.
Those opposing international adoption were also interviewed
and allowed to express their opinions on how things should be done to fix the problem.
The goal is to come together with all ideas that can help the children
not have to grow up in orphanages.
One of my ideas is helping organizations like Downside Up that help families
stay together instead of feeling their only option is to give their children to the orphanages.
I am not sure how much of that made it into the documentary but it is one idea
that I will be devoting more time to on my blog.
Of course, my idea does not help those children who are already stuck
in the orphanages so other ideas need to be expressed.
I have also heard that in Moscow they are once again working on getting all
the children into foster homes and closing the orphanages.
There is a wonderful woman working on this and much is being done due to this documentary
that will be shown in St. Petersburg this month.
The problem still remains that not very many resources exist for children with special needs
and without providing resources for the foster families things could actually be worse
for the children than in some of the orphanages.
So there is lots to be discussed as this is not going to be an easy fix.
I have been accused of thinking Americans adopting
Russian orphans is the only way to help and I want
to once again express that is not my view at all.
I honestly believe that children should live in their first
families first when at all possible.
Then they should be adopted by local families if there is no first (biological)
family option for them.
But I do think that keeping a child in an institution when all other options
have been exhausted just because the family who wants to adopt them is from a
foreign country is very wrong.
I have also been accused of not caring that children who have been adopted from
Russia have been hurt and killed here in the US.
Again, this is not true. I do care that the US has failed these children
and do feel that something needs to be done to better protect them.
Our group did speak with Washington DC about things we thought
would help and asked them to relay this to the Russian government.
Obviously things are very complicated between the two countries
right now and so no negotiations are being done.
I believe both countries are at fault when it comes to
negotiating on behalf of the children and families who were stuck in the process.
I do not believe American adoptions should have been completely
shut down leaving children to grow up in orphanages.
Most of the children have been placed in other homes but
that does not help those who were not and have very little chance
of finding a family in Russia who feels capable of taking on their needs
if the government does not step up with resources to help them.
I do feel this documentary is important and needs to be seen all
over to help raise awareness for the children.
The documentary will be shown in film festivals first before
being released as a DVD or for download.
We need to generate as much publicity as possible on the FB page
to show that there is a large amount of people who care
about the Russian orphans and to make sure the documentary is successful.
Please take a moment to watch.
Then like the FB page and invite your friends to do the same.
