We are looking for a new caretaker for the Oranje Fonds and Andersson Elffers Felix (AEF). As a caretaker you take care and responsibility for our two monumental office villas with beautiful gardens on the Maliebaan in Utrecht.

Position : You are responsible for keeping our buildings and grounds (Maliebaan 18 and 16) safe, orderly and representative and you are the first point of contact for internal colleagues, suppliers and other external parties. The position is for 32 to 36 hours, spread over 4 days: 2 days at the Oranje Fonds and 2 days at AEF. We aim for 4-5 months of training time/overlap with the current caretaker, who is retiring.

Activities :

▶ Carrying out periodic checks on maintenance
▶ Minor repairs and minor maintenance work
▶ First point of contact in case of malfunctions and defects
▶ Involving, directing and checking activities of external parties, including: cleaning, gardener, painter, contractor, electrician and security
▶ Logistical work at events
▶ Carrying out periodic maintenance checks checking stock (food, cleaning products, office supplies) and replenishing it
▶ Part of the emergency response team
▶ Carrying out occupational health and safety-related matters
▶ Administrative work

What do you take with you:

About NOK 50,000. Norwegian couples had to pay directly to orphanages in Colombia in order to adopt a child.

This was in addition to the costs of the adoption itself.

Colombian authorities responded that the sum was called a "donation".

- After all, the children do not live in a six-star hotel, said the head of the Colombian adoption governing body, Beatriz Helena Guzman, to the Norwegian authorities when they were on an inspection trip to the country.

Nevertheless, 11 years passed from the time the Norwegian authorities were first notified of the donations in 1994 until they put an end to them in 2005. 

Despite receiving death threats, Israeli-origin Dr Michelle Harrison dedicated her life to providing safe space and a future to orphaned girls.

With continued bomb blasts and strikes leading to loss of life, property and basic resources, the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel has resulted in the killings and abduction of hundreds of children from both the countries.

While ceasefire remains a distant dream, Kolkata-based Dr Michelle Harrison, who has Israeli origins, says with anguish, “It is a nightmare for everybody. In this war, children are being used as pawns, held hostage, and ultimately, orphaned.”

A few decades back, Dr Michelle came to India to adopt a child. Being a single mother, she only had the option to do so from either here or Central America. In India — home to at least 30 million orphans — she saw how children are subjected to human trafficking and abduction. 

This, she noted, was however not a result of some war but due to the apathy of child welfare organisations. 

Annabel is geadopteerd door een Nederlands gezin vanuit Palestina, maar dat is niet helemaal volgens de regels gegaan, vertelt ze aan Nordin en Vonneke. Daarnaast vertelt Annabel dat ze elke dag meeleeft met haar Palestijnse familie en heeft ze een inzamelingsactie opgezet om de mensen in Gaza te helpen.

ANNABEL

Annabel vertelt dat ze samen met 200 à 300 andere Palestijnen is geadopteerd in de jaren '90. "Mijn Palestijnse ouders waren christenen en hun wens voor mij was dat ik bij een gezin terecht zou komen die ook Palestijns en christelijk waren", vertelt Annabel. Haar Palestijnse ouders kregen te horen dat dat ook zou gebeuren, maar niets bleek minder waar. Er heeft namelijk interlandelijke adoptie plaatsgevonden. "Ik ben samen met honderden andere Palestijnse kinderen geadopteerd door Nederlandse, Noorse en Zwitserse gezinnen", gaat ze verder. Annabel kwam erachter dat haar Palestijnse ouders zijn voorgelogen. "Tien jaar geleden heb ik mijn Palestijnse ouders voor het eerst opgezocht en ze vertelden mij dat ze hier niets vanaf wisten", zegt ze.

PALESTINA

Annabel heeft nu nog regelmatig contact met haar Palestijnse familie, maar merkt dat dat steeds moeizamer gaat. "Recentelijk had ik nog wel contact met mijn Palestijnse ouders en halfbroer, maar dat is nu wat minder. Mijn familie en kennissen daar vertellen dat ze niet makkelijk de deur uitgaan en geen Arabisch durven te praten. Ze hebben het gevoel dat ze in de gaten worden gehouden door de Israëlische overheid en er hangt een gespannen sfeer op dit moment", aldus Annabel.
 

Recommendations of the working groupOrigin search for supportof adopted people

On behalf of the board of the KKJPD, an interdisciplinary working group examined the possibilities of better support for adopted people in their search for origin. The working group consisted of representatives of authorities, adopted people and representatives of private organizations and tracing services. The work was carried out under the joint leadership of the General Secretariat of the KKJPD and the Federal Office of Justice (BJ). With the adoption of the technical recommendations, the working group has completed its work.

A mother has revealed how she has married her adopted son - after raising him from the age of 14. 

Aisylu Chizhevskaya Mingalim, 53, from Tatarstan, Russia, has left child welfare experts horrified by tying the knot with 22-year-old  Daniel Chizhevsky.

She first met Daniel when he was just 13 and working as a singing teacher at his orphanage.

Luc Nibbeling (29) and his partner Luuk started an adoption procedure in the US in 2018. Their dream fell apart when it was banned in 2021. Now they are in the middle of a surrogacy process in Canada.

Want to have children

“I have always wanted to have children. Coming out meant that I also had to acknowledge and accept that I would never become a father naturally. That's why it took me until I was nineteen before I dared to take the step. When I met Luuk shortly afterwards, I immediately discussed my desire to have children, which is unusual in the gay scene . Especially in the beginning, gay men are often concerned with accepting themselves, which causes any desire to have children to fade into the background.

Luuk thought the same; he also wanted to become a father. In 2017 we went to an information evening about LGBT parenting organized by the Meer Dan Gewenst Foundation for the first time and in 2018 we started the adoption process. You can choose to adopt in the Netherlands, but the supply of adopted children is not large here; Often the first search for these children is in their own environment. As a gay couple you can only choose from four countries: the Netherlands, US, South Africa and Portugal. We decided to go for the United States.

It was a big disappointment when we heard that international adoption was being suspended. Adopting from the US will probably be completely banned, because there are sufficient prospective parents in the US itself. We were disappointed and sad. What now? We gave ourselves a year to explore other options.

Many people appreciated Megan and her family for lovingly accepting Ami while many others criticized them for not adopting American kids and traveling to a foreign country for the same.

It is often said that family is more than blood relations, a woman named Megan and her family in the USA have proved this right as they have adopted and accepted a young girl from India as part of their family. Recently Megan shared a heartwarming video on Instagram that documented their one year with Ami, her adopted daughter from India who has Down syndrome. Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes intellectual and developmental delays. In her now-viral Instagram post, Megan captured how they took their first flight from India to the USA and how her family, including her two sons, gathered at the airport to welcome them. The clip then moved on to show the wholesome moments of learning, traveling, and playing they all shared with Ami.

While explaining their one year anniversary since Ami’s adoption, Megan wrote, “One year ago we met our daughter for the first time. Family of five, greeted at the airport, playing. In October 2022 we became parents to the spunkiest, silliest, most beautiful “baby" girl born in India. She is smart, has the biggest heart, and rocks an extra chromosome. She was a missing piece to our family puzzle and we are so grateful to have spent one full year together. I wasn’t sure what kind of video I wanted to put together so here is some never before seen footage of our arrival in the United States and a montage of what life has been with our sweet Ami girl.️ We could have missed this."

This clip has over 1.8 lakh likes so far. Appreciating Megan’s tender mothering skills, an Instagram user wrote, “You’ve given life to a child which is only a dream for many. God bless you. You have the kindest heart". Another person wrote, “My sister and brother are both adopted and older (I randomly appeared haha). My sister is Sri Lankan and I love stories like this, this one was a little closer than normal, congratulations mum and dad, and gorgeous baby girl too."

While many people appreciated Megan and her family for lovingly accepting Ami, many others criticised them for going all the way to India for adopting kids in need when there are many kids in America as well.

Citing some of the judgments of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that India's legal framework has been frequently weaponised to systematically oppress certain communities.

In a report by Bar & Bench, CJI Chandrachud added that judges should be cognisant of social realities as the marginalised social groups have been subjected to "horrendous wrongs".

He said that in both India and the US oppressed communities were denied voting rights for a long period of time.

The CJI underscored that the constitutional democracies must make sure that safeguards for these marginalized communities are upheld and policies are made for their upliftment.

Speaking at the Sixth International Conference on the 'Unfinished Legacy of Dr. BR Ambedkar' organised by Brandeis University, CJI Chandrachud said that advised that marginalise communities should have a meaningful voice in decision-making process as well.