FRANKLIN, TN – A new Vice TV special, ?? ‘??????’ ??? ??? ??????” (The ‘Orphans’ from Greece), aired nationwide recently on Antenna channel in Greece. This beautifully done film by acclaimed Greek journalist and author,Andreas Bousios explores the questionable adoptions of thousands of Greek children, primarily to the United States, in the dark Cold War decades of the 1950s and 1960s.

The film exposes this tragic period of Greek history as seen through the eyes of three different people: two Greek-born adoptees, Merrill Jenkins and Linda Carol Trotter; and a Greek biological family member, Bobby Kalogeropoulos. Their poignant and gripping stories, while different, are also the same — born in the aftermath of World War II and the Greek Civil War that gave rise to adoptions that were accomplished in a matter of a few weeks to a few months, with virtually no oversight by either the Greek or U.S. governments.

Merrill Jenkins was left on the steps of a church at approximately 15 days of age with a note that said he had been baptized with the name Mitsos. He was taken to the Vrefokomeio Patron (Patras Municipal Orphanage) by the Patras police and a few months later was adopted by American parents in St. Louis, Missouri, through the International Social Service. His orphanage, adoption and alien files contained no clues to his biological family. A clue from a DNA test in 2021 gave him reason to hope, but that, too, proved to be dead-end. Twelve years of fruitless searching came to an end in September 2022, when volunteers of The Eftychia Project found his biological family in the Achaean mountain village of Drosia. The Eftychia Project provided free DNA tests to Merrill’s potential first cousins, which confirmed the relationship and led to the discovery of the identity of his biological father. In November 2022, ‘Mitsos’ was welcomed to Greece by 50 members of his new-found family at a grand celebration at a local Patras taverna.

Linda Carol Trotter during filming of The ‘Orphans’ from Greece. (Photo: The Eftychia Project)

Linda Carol Trotter was born in the remote village of Stranoma, near Nafpaktos, Greece. At 45 days of age, she was taken from her biological mother’s arms and given to the Vrefokomeio Athinon (Athens Municipal Orphanage) by her own godmother. Baptized Eftychia by her biological mother, she was adopted by loving American parents from San Antonio, Texas, when she was 8 months old. Through a truly miraculous set of circumstances, she was reunited with her biological mother and her large extended Greek family in June 2017. The happiness, peace and closure she experienced at finding her roots, culture and heritage inspired her to found The Eftychia Project in May 2019 to help other Greek-born adoptees do the same. Today, Linda Carol is known to many by her original name of Eftychia and spends six months of every year in Greece, to be near her biological family and to continue the work of The Eftychia Project.

Children need and have a right to be cared for by their parents and to grow up in a family environment. This has been recognized through years of experience and research as well as formally recognized under national and international laws, including the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Yet millions of children live in residential institutions; no one knows just how many. Around the world, over one million children have been orphaned or separated due to armed conflict, and 15 million children under the age of 15 years of age have lost one or both parents to AIDS. In many countries, institutions remain a major response to poverty or family breakdown. In many more, few or no mechanisms exist to ensure the most appropriate placements, encourage and support guardianship and adoption arrangements, and to provide support and monitoring for foster families. Much needs to be done to prevent unnecessary family separation by supporting families and communities and to develop better care alternatives when separation is inevitable.

Recognizing the urgent need for concerted action, the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) and the Africa Bureau for Sustainable Development of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Save the Children UK, came together to form the Better Care Network (BCN) in 2003. Initially, BCN functioned as a loose affiliation of organizations and individuals exchanging information through a newsletter. As the listserv grew, and more information was exchanged via the Network, it became clear that BCN served a vital role and a more formal, full-time structure was required.

In response, in 2005, the organizations mentioned above, together with Cooperative Relief and Assistance Everywhere (CARE USA), agreed to form and serve on the BCN Steering Committee and establish BCN Secretariat, housed at the UNICEF Headquarters office in New York.

In June 2006 BCN launched the Better Care Network website, in partnership with the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN).

Since 2014, BCN has been implementing key changes to its governance, management and administration to reflect its maturity as a network, in line with its strategic plan (2014-2017). Its fiscal and hosting arrangements have evolved to better enable BCN to operate as an independent network organization. In November 2014, BCN moved to its own office space located opposite the UN Headquarters in New York and in September 2015 it launched a brand new independent Website. Since July 2016 BCN is fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Advisory Group

Steering Committee | Advisory Group

In January, 2006, the Better Care Network had its first Advisory Group meeting in London. The Advisory Group is made up of individuals from national and international NGO's, academic institutions, international organizations, government ministries, and independent consultants, all of whom have extensive experience in issues around care and support for vulnerable children and families. Currently, there are 53 members, 37 of which took part in the first meeting. The Advisory Group is regionally balanced, and members do not pay fees.

It was agreed at the first meeting that the Advisory Group will:

Advise on strategic priorities and workplans of the Better Care Network secretariat;

BCN Initiatives

Better Care Network Advocacy

Research and experience show that families and communities under considerable strain (whether from HIV/AIDS or other health problems, income or other forms of poverty, conflict, etc.) find ways to cope with the growing numbers of children in need of care. Traditional family and community coping mechanisms, however, need support to ensure children have access to basic services, and are protected from exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Similarly, caretakers need to be supported in ways that encourage and stimulate quality care for children. Institutions, including orphanages, should be avoided, as this type of care is often detrimental to children's well-being and is far more expensive than supporting children in families. Families and communities are the first line of defense for children, and the only sustainable option. Community-based monitoring mechanisms, supported by government departments responsible for social welfare, education, health and justice, are needed to guard against abuse, exploitation and neglect. And in all cases, the best interests of the child are paramount.

When formal care is in the best interest of a child, family and community-based options (foster care, guardianship, small residential facilities that are connected with the community, in-country adoption) should be developed and prioritized. The Better Care Network advocates for the development of appropriate standards and guidelines for formal care, and the training and resources that are needed to ensure they are adhered to.

The Better Care Network has an active working group on advocacy, which has opened up constructive dialogue with faith-based partners, bi-lateral organizations and non- governmental organizations on these issues. Advocacy meetings and consultations are convened wherever appropriate and possible. In addition, the Network is developing a paper that outlines the range of alternative care options that should be in place for children. To learn more about some of the advocacy work, and how it relates to the Network's structure, visit the advisory group page, or contact us.

Introduction

The preparatory phase of CRIN dates back to 1991, before the Committee on the Rights of the Child ever convened its first session. At this time experts from child rights organisations – including UNICEF Geneva Regional Office, UNICEF New York, Defence for Children International (DCI), and Save the Children Sweden – were already asking what would happen with information generated through the reporting process of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The group muddled over questions including: 'What would happen with the information?', and 'What would be the documentation handling process?' The group met on numerous occasions and visited the OHCHR Documentation Centre to see how the documentation system was organised (at that time Microfiche was used), and UNICEF Geneva's information resource section.

To its present day, the development of CRIN has seen a move from Geneva to London; and a move from an informal Facilitating Group (which consisted of a group of international NGOs with UNICEF) to a formally structured management team. It is now a viable information network that includes over 1,200 organisations.

Geneva years: CRIN is an informal secretariat based at DCI

Margaret Tuite | (Chair), Child rights activist

After 33 years of EU public service, the last seven of which were focused 100% on rights of the child, I am happy to contribute on a voluntary basis. I'm interested in everything to do with children's rights and love to connect people who can work together. I see clear benefits in system-strengthening, high standards for NGOs working on children's rights, child safeguarding (that's the least we can do), and lots more effort for children in migration.

When I was younger, I thought everyone knew better than me. But that's not true. Had I figured that out sooner, I could have fought harder for some people. Can I make up for that in the time I have left? There's a fantastic global community of people working hard for children's rights, I hope we can expand that. And there is hope in children's activism for climate justice at a global level.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito [in the room].”

— Unknown

AHMEDABAD: A Gujarat court has rejected a 24-year-old woman's petition to legally renounce her adoptive parents by cancelling the adoption deed and having the names of her adoptive parents removed from her certificates and documents.

She claimed she wanted to legally separate from her adoptive parents because of ill-treatment over the years. Turning down the demand, the court cited Section 15 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, which bars such cancellation and prohibits such renunciation either by the adopted child or the adoptive parents.

To justify the legal provision, additional senior civil judge at Mirzapur court R C Sodhaparmar also cited Hindu rituals associated with the adoption process. The court said that in Hindu culture adoption is considered a "samskara" and, for this occasion, the ritual prescribed is "homam", considered divine. Lawmakers based Section 15 on this concept and it was declared that the adopters are required to perform their duties towards the adoptee as biological parents would, while the adoptee must perform all duties a biological son or daughter would.

According to the case details, the applicant woman and her biological parents filed the application in court last year and sought cancellation of the adoption deed. The court was informed that the woman was born in Gandhidham in 1999. Seven months later, she was adopted by her father's brother, who was childless then. A deed was notarised in 2007. Her adoptive parents live in Jaipur, while her biological parents live in Ahmedabad, where she currently resides.

Seeking cancellation of the 2007 deed, the woman told the court that she found out late that she was an adopted child. She claimed that she got admission to a dental surgery course in Udaipur but could not pay the fee due to her adoptive parents' poor financial condition. So she turned to her biological parents for help, and they arranged for her to study medicine in the Philippines. For this, she required documents from her adoptive parents, who allegedly refused to give them to her as they disapproved of the help given by her biological parents. Her admission was cancelled and her birth parents had to bear the financial loss.

Are you part of an organization for adoption stakeholders and do you have ideas for a joint project, in collaboration with at least 2 other organizations? Then you might be eligible for this one-off incentive! Until May 31, 2023 you can submit a project application to the Adoption Support Center for financial support (€ 2500) and the possibility of guidance.

The Adoption Support Center is launching this one-off call in the context of the policy action 'expanding low-threshold care and guidance' and the policy recommendation 'professional development of peer contact for those involved in adoption' of the 'care and guidance' working group.

Here you will find more information and the conditions to participate. You can submit a project via this form . Good luck!

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When Khaled Quzmar was 14 years old, his brother was arrested by Israeli occupation forces and Khaled was only able to see him through an “iron net” when he visited. His desire to break through this iron net and give his brother a hug – a simple request denied by the Israeli prison authorities – is what inspired Khaled to become a lawyer: “I found that the only way was to become a lawyer and visit him in prison and hug him inside.”

He studied for his law degree at Oran University in Algeria, and returned to Palestine 5 years later to find his brother still in prison. Two days later, he was inside his brother’s cell and was finally able to hug him.

For the next 20 years, Khaled continued to work as a defence lawyer representing mainly child prisoners inside the Israeli military courts.

However, after 20 years, Khaled became so frustrated that he felt that he could no longer continue to battle in the Israeli military courts system.

“I got aggressive with my children. I couldn’t accept it when I came home after working 10 hours in the military courts, leaving children alone behind bars without anybody to take care of them, subjected sometimes to torture and ill-treatment, while my children asked me to go to a restaurant or to the cinema. So I became aggressive. But then I thought to myself, ‘Why am I doing that? Why am I blaming my children? Why am I punishing them?’ So I decided to stop working, to have a rest, and to study something.”

When Khaled Quzmar was 14 years old, his brother was arrested by Israeli occupation forces and Khaled was only able to see him through an “iron net” when he visited. His desire to break through this iron net and give his brother a hug – a simple request denied by the Israeli prison authorities – is what inspired Khaled to become a lawyer: “I found that the only way was to become a lawyer and visit him in prison and hug him inside.”

He studied for his law degree at Oran University in Algeria, and returned to Palestine 5 years later to find his brother still in prison. Two days later, he was inside his brother’s cell and was finally able to hug him.

For the next 20 years, Khaled continued to work as a defence lawyer representing mainly child prisoners inside the Israeli military courts.

However, after 20 years, Khaled became so frustrated that he felt that he could no longer continue to battle in the Israeli military courts system.

“I got aggressive with my children. I couldn’t accept it when I came home after working 10 hours in the military courts, leaving children alone behind bars without anybody to take care of them, subjected sometimes to torture and ill-treatment, while my children asked me to go to a restaurant or to the cinema. So I became aggressive. But then I thought to myself, ‘Why am I doing that? Why am I blaming my children? Why am I punishing them?’ So I decided to stop working, to have a rest, and to study something.”