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Un nou turnir pentru casele copiilor cu dizabilitati

Un nou turnir pentru casele copiilor cu dizabilitati01/07/2010

Edilul-sef al municipiului de pe Trotus nu renunta la initiativa sa legislativa care prevede ca locatie pentru construirea caselor de tip familial in care vor locui copiii cu handicap din Onesti zona de pe malul Casinului. Astfel, pentru a treia oara consecutiv, propunerea primarului Lemnaru nu a primit girul consilierilor PD-L si PNL deoarece, printre altele, nu sunt indeplinite cerintele Uniunii Europene.

Pentru cea de-a treia oara in ultimele doua luni, pe agenda Consiliului Local Onesti s-a aflat proiectul de hotarare privind darea in administrarea DGASPC Bacau a suprafetei de 1500 metri patrati pentru constructia a doua case de tip familial pentru copii cu handicap in municipiul Onesti. Proiectul, initiat de primarul Onestiului, Emil Lemnaru, certifica faptul ca doua fundatii (SERA Romania si “Hope and Homes for Children” Romania) vor construi aceste case cu o capacitate de 12 locuri fiecare, pentru oferirea de servicii specializate de calitate copiilor cu dizabilitati in conditiile in care Centrul “Alexandra” si Centrul de zi pentru copilul cu dizabilitati din Onesti urmeaza sa intre in proces de inchidere. “Prin realizarea acestor investitii, ce reprezinta o oportunitate si devine una prioritara pentru comunitatea locala, sunt acordate sanse egale persoanelor cu handicap”, a mentionat primarul Emil Lemnaru in expunerea de motive a proiectului, care in comisie a primit aviz negativ cu majoritate.

Solutii identificate

La dezbaterile asupra acestui proiect consilierul local Gelu Nicolcea a mentionat: “La Centrul «Alexandra» sunt 45 de copii cu dizabilitati din Onesti. Daca se construiesc aceste doua case pentru 24 de copii, inseamna ca 21 de copii nu vor beneficia de acest substitut de familie, ce il ofera casele. S-au propus alte locatii (in curtea «Onedil», in apropierea Colegiului National «Dimitrie Cantemir», la Borzesti, la fostul restaurant «Stejarul»). Locatia de pe str. Casinului este insuficienta, deoarece vor trebui construite si alte case pentru copiii cu dizabilitati”.

Mai mult contra

Consilierul Ciprian Zarzu a declarat ca “s-au creat destule suspiciuni in privinta acestui proiect de hotarare”, iar consilierul Gheorghe Ene a fost si mai transant in dezbaterea din legislativul onestean, declarand ca “avem rezerve fata de locatia gasita. Ma asteptam ca dupa esuarea dezbaterilor precedente primarul Emil Lemnaru sa ia legatura cu liderii celorlalte partide, sa avem un dialog, sa mergem pe teren, sa comparam cu celelalte variante pentru a alege cel mai bun loc pentru aceasta locatie. A lipsit dialogul, primarul Lemnaru sperand ca acest impas sa fie depasit”. Consilierul Cetean Balanica Mircea a accentuat faptul ca “atunci cand un proiect de hotarare atinge un interes comun, el trebuie sa fie obiectul unei consultari a populatiei, pentru ca premisa de buna credinta mai exista in Romania”. La fel de ferm, consilierul Stefan Martin a mentionat: “Acest proiect a girat nu numai dispute politice. Locuitorii municipiului sunt indignati de locatie. Ultimul lucru care se poate face pe malul Casinului este amenajarea unui loc de recreere”.

Pledoarie in van

Cuvantul primarului Lemnaru s-a vrut a fi unul convingator, dar nu a putut schimba parerile alesilor locali onesteni. Emil Lemnaru a declarat: “Locatia a fost analizata de urbanisti, de viceprimar si de specialisti pentru a face aceste case. Cladiri cu parter si mansarda se regasesc in Onesti doar in zona strazii Casinului si am considerat ca este cea mai potrivita locatie, terenul fiind proprietate a municipiului. Nu putem face referendum pentru ca acesta sa ne coste mai mult decat cladirile propuse a se construi. Pe str. Daciei terenul este alocat pentru constructia de locuinte ANL, in curtea «Onedil» avem 14.000 metri patrati, teren ce poate fi valorificat in intregime. In plus, acolo este in apropiere Piata agroalimentara, ce e inconjurata de numeroase firme. La Colegiul National «Dimitrie Cantemir» consideram ca pe acel teren s-ar putea construi un stadion cu 8000 de locuri. In TCR, la blocurile de interventie sau la sera, toate sunt zone lipsite de utilitati. Va fi o mare durere pentru Centrul «Alexandra» daca se va pierde constructia acestor imobile. Nu este interesul nimanui, ci al copiilor. Procedati cum va spune constiinta”.

„Opozitia“, deschisa dialogului

Juristul Daniel Spanu, secretarul primariei onestene a mentionat faptul ca terenul de la “Onedil” a fost expertizat la valoarea de 2 milioane de euro. Consilierul Cetean Balanica Mircea a facut o trista remarca: “Daca referendumul ar fi hilar, la discutiile cu specialistii pot fi cooptati, conform Legii 230, si membrii Consiliului Local. Am sti si noi astfel ca suntem utili comunitatii”. Votul consilierilor onesteni, 8 pentru si 11 abtineri, a fost consfintit si de o declaratie a presedintelui de sedinta, Cezar Olteanu: “Structura actuala a Consiliului Local Onesti genereaza un impas. Singurul ce poate rezolva problema este dialogul, care trebuie sa vina de la primar. Puncte de vedere avem cu totii si tinem la ele”.

Post factum

Primarul Emil Lemnaru a fost dezamagit ca nici la a treia interventie nu a fost aprobat acest proiect de hotarare, faptul fiind vazut de unii onesteni si ca o discriminare la adresa copiilor cu dizabilitati din municipiu. Emil Lemnaru a mentionat ca astepta de la consilierii PNL si PDL sa mentioneze motivele pentru care ar fi cea mai buna o locatie pentru constructia celor doua case. In opinia sa, aceasta lupta darza de a nu fi de acord cu proiectul de hotarare, a majoritatii consilierilor onesteni, dovedeste faptul ca la nivelul municipiului alianta celor doua partide inca functioneaza.
Ion Moraru

„As fi dorit un parteneriat cu CL Onesti“

"Am crezut ca gasesc deschidere la CL Onesti si ne-am adresat cu solicitarea de a ne pune la dispozitie un teren, declara Sorin Brasoveanu, directorul general al DGASPC Bacau. Aveam nevoie de 700-1000 de metri. Din pacate, ne-am trezit intr-un joc politic ciudat, care nu ne intereseaza, asa ca ne-am retras." Solutia a venit de la Consiliul Judetean Bacau, care a dat, marti, doua hotarari favorabile DGASPC, in actiunea de restructurare a centrului. "Trebuia urgentata rezolvarea problemei deoarece finantatorii vor sa inceapa imediat lucrarile, arata seful DGASPC. 
 Vom folosi terenul din curtea Centrului «Alexandra», care apartine domeniului public al judetului, insa as fi dorit ca in acest parteneriat sa intre si CL Onesti, mai ales ca beneficiarii apartin comunitatii. Daca si alte proiecte vor fi tratate cu aceeasi seriozitate ma indoiesc de reusita lor." Consilierii judetului au aprobat fara obiectii inchiderea Centrului "Alexandra" si asocierea CJ cu Fundatia HHC Romania, Fundatia "Sera" Romania si DGASPC. Acest parteneriat va permite autoritatilor judetene sa puna la dispozitia HHC si "Sera" 1500 mp si o fosta cresa. Fundatiile vor moderniza cresa si o vor transforma in centru de recuperare a copilului cu dizabilitati, iar pe teren vor construi doua case de tip familial. (S. Patrascanu)

French Supreme Court Recognizes Foreign Gay Adoption

French Supreme Court Recognizes Foreign Gay Adoption

by GILLES CUNIBERTI on JULY 9, 2010

Yesterday, the French supreme court for private and criminal matters (Cour de cassation) held that an American judgment permitting the adoption of a child by the female partner of the mother was not contrary to French public policy and could be recognized in France.

The women were two doctors living in the United State. They had entered into a domestic partnership. The mother was a American national, while her partner was French. After the child was born, the Superior Court of the county of Dekalb, Georgia, permitted the adoption of the child by the French female partner of the mother in 1999. As a consequence, the birth certificate mentioned that the American woman was the mother, and that the French woman was a parent.

The Paris court of appeal had denied recognition to the judgment. The appeal against their decision is allowed by the Cour de cassation which rules that the American judgement is recognised. The French text of the judgment of theCour de cassation can be found here.

This decision is presented as historic by French newspaper Le Monde.

State announces new four laws

State announces new four laws
In Uncategorized on July 15, 2010 at 8:53 am



State announces new four laws


Q?ND – Friday, July 09, 2010, 20:53 (GMT+7)

The State President Office announced the promulgation of four laws on food safety, child adoption, trade arbitrator and enforcement of criminal verdicts at a press briefing in Hanoi on July 8.

The laws were adopted by the 12th National Assembly at its seventh meeting.

The five-chapter, 52-article Law on Child Adoption provides for regulations to ensure adopted children enjoy the best benefits when they are raised, cared and educated in their adoptive family.

It details child adoption inside the country, child adoption involved foreign elements, and responsibilities of State agencies in the field.

In article 8, the law regulates that children below 16 years old are offered for adoption. Under current law, children up to 15 years old can be adopted.

The law will come into force on January 1st, 2011.

The Law on Food Safety reserves the entire chapter III to prescribe conditions on food safety. This is a completely new chapter compared with the Ordinance on Food Safety and Hygiene.

Differing from the ordinance, the law has provisions for small-size food production establishments and businesses and a special item prescribing safety conditions for street food.

The Law on Enforcement of Criminal Verdicts consists of 15 chapters with 182 articles, providing for the operation, tasks, and authority of competent agencies in charge of executing criminal sentences, jail sentences, death penalty, suspension sentences, warnings, re-education without custody, and other contents.

Articles 44, 46, 47 and 48 regulate that the State is responsible for providing clothing and personal effects for prisoners and ensure prisoners take part in physical, sport and cultural activities, meet their relatives, receive gifts, and have communications and healthcare services, reflecting the humanity of law and lenient policy of the State.

Article 45 lays down special regulations on mechanisms to be applied for women prisoners who are pregnant or raising child under 36 months to assist them in protecting and raising their children.

Article 59 of the law, which will take effect from July 1, 2011, provides that death penalty will be carried out with lethal injection.

The Trade Arbitration Law provides for the definition of legal relations between trade arbitrators and court, the procuracy and the law enforcement force.

With clearly-defined regulations, the law will help judiciary agencies and the arbitrators’ council as well as concerned parties in dispute settle specific cases smoothly.

The Ministry of Justice is authorized to license the establishment of a trade arbitrators’ association.

The 13-chapter, 82-article law will come into force on January 1, 2011.

Families in the dark as adoption chief quits

Editor's note
Updated Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:16am AEST
On 8 July 2010 the ABC published a story titled "Families in the Dark as Adoption Chief Quits" and on 16 March 2010 the ABC published a story titled "Australians Caught in Ethiopian Adoption Nightmare", which reported on matters concerning the Australian Ethiopian adoption program. The ABC has received a complaint from Ato Lakew Gebeyehu claiming these publications were defamatory of him. The ABC would like to make clear that it did not intend to infer that Mr Gebeyehu created false documents or that he otherwise engaged in corrupt or improper conduct or activities detrimental to children in his care or the performance of his functions, and retracts any such inference. The ABC apologises to Mr Gebeyehu and his family for any distress caused by any readers believing he was personally involved in those matters. The ABC also acknowledges that problems in the Australian-Ethiopian adoption program were reported by the parents of three Australian families but that other parents involved in the program have reported positive experiences with the program.
Tags:
First posted Thu Jul 8, 2010 11:00am AEST
========================================
Families in the dark as adoption chief quits
By Cassie White for News Online's Investigative Unit
Updated Thu Jul 8, 2010 1:14pm AEST
African children
Adoptive familes condemned what they say is the Government's "secrecy" surrounding the real reason he stood aside. (Flickr: Mk B)
The man who ran Australia's adoption program with Ethiopia for 20 years has stood down amidst ongoing serious allegations of corruption.
Earlier in the year ABC News Online revealed allegations by adoptive parents about the program, which until the end of last month was run by Ato Lakew Gebeyehu and his wife Misrak from their transition home for children, Koala House.
Families told heartbreaking stories of their time in Ethiopia - from witnessing their new baby choking on vomit, to a young boy being kept in a bucket to stop him from moving about. One family had to pay a bribe and others found their paperwork falsified with their child's age dramatically altered.
Other families discovered their new children had parents and sibilings who were still alive, when they had been told they were adopting orphans.
Adoptive familes have welcomed the news Mr Gebeyehu will no longer be in charge, but have condemned what they say is the Federal Government's "secrecy" surrounding the real reason he stood aside.
In April Attorney-General Robert McClelland lifted a temporary suspension of the program after concerns there may have been breaches of the Hague Convention, which ensures the welfare of children is the priority and that international adoptions are used only as a last resort. Australia is a signatory to the convention, but Ethiopia is not.
Mr Gebeyehu declined ABC News Online's interview request when he was in Australia last month to renegotiate a service agreement with the Attorney-General's Department.
The department said it did raise "credible and specific concerns" with Mr Gebeyehu about the problems within the program, but was "satisfied with the outcome of those enquiries".
But rather than renew his contract, it was unexpectedly announced that he would no longer continue to run the program and there would be a six-month transition period during which the Government would find someone else.
A statement from the Attorney-General's Department says the decision to end Mr Gebeyehu's employment "was mutual".
"During discussions about a new service agreement a mutual decision was made that Mr Lakew would transition from his role as the Australian representative," said the statement.
"Mr Lakew has been undertaking this role for nearly 20 years and is in his 70s."
But the decision came as surprise even to the Australian African Children's Aid and Support Association (AACASA), which is the peak support group for adoptive parents of Ethiopian children.
Its president Gaylene Cooper says she fully supports Mr Gebeyehu and his wife, and the unexpected outcome has left the organisation in the dark.
"Nobody's really saying why; there are a lot of rumours flying around that he's retiring ... but it was not his intention to go back home from Australia without signing the new service agreement," she said.
"We can only assume that something went wrong, but we don't really know. What both parties are saying is that it was a mutual agreement, so that's really the only information we've been given. It doesn't really leave things in a very good situation.
"Obviously they've both agreed to keep it behind closed doors. Our biggest concern is, what are they going to do moving forward?
"Lakew's been doing this for 20 years, as has Misrak. From what I can gather, neither party intended this, so something's obviously not gone satisfactorily and this is what they've agreed on."
The ABC has also discovered that Mr Gebeyehu was sacked from World Vision in Ethiopia before his employment with the Australian Government.
"Ato Lakew Gebeyehu was a former agricultural employee with World Vision Ethiopia. He was dismissed more than a decade ago by World Vision for failing to attend to his duties," World Vision said in a statement to ABC News Online.
Adoptive parents of Ethiopian children told ABC News Online they are glad Mr Gebeyehu will no longer be the Australian representative and hope the change will give "future adoptive parents greater confidence in the process".
"We welcome the Attorney-General's recent decision not to renew the service agreement with Lakew and Misrak. For too long there have been too many questions about the way things have been done in Ethiopia, and it is time for a clean slate," they said.
"Adopted children have the right to know about the circumstances of their early life and this is an opportunity for adoptions between Australia and Ethiopia to move forward in transparency and confidence.
"Hopefully this will give future adoptive parents greater confidence in the process and, more importantly, children adopted from Ethiopia to Australia will have greater access to information about their personal histories with full disclosure and knowledge of all the records pertinent to their past.
"We would also like to know the reasoning behind the "mutual agreement" to end the arrangement between Lakew and the Attorney-General, so soon after the Attorney-General had expressed their support for Lakew in this role.
"The secrecy surrounding this decision only reinforces the lack of transparency that has characterised the regime in the past and serves to perpetuate the innuendo and suspicion surrounding the power of attorney and makes people wonder whether there is no smoke without fire."
In response to questions on claims of corruption within the program by parents, the Attorney-General's Department said: "Any allegations of corruption or misuse of funds should be referred to the Department for investigation."
But the ABC obtained documents showing the Howard government knew of serious concerns in 2005 and that the Rudd government was warned again in 2008 by Brussels-based human rights organisation Against Child Trafficking, after Mr Gebeyehu was arrested and held on suspicion of child trafficking.
He was later cleared after it was considered to be a case of mistaken identity, but Against Child Trafficking urged the Federal Government to look further into the case. The organisation says it received little response.

Joint Council Meets Ambassador Jacobs

8 07 2010
Joint Council’s Tom DiFilipo and Rebecca Harris had the pleasure of meeting Ambassador Susan Jacobs, the newly appointed Special Advisor to the Office of Children’s Issues (OCI) at the Department of State.  The meeting also included Mike Regan, Bill Bistransky and Jill Larson, all with the OCI. (click here for our posting on Secretary Clinton’s appointment of Ambassador Jacobs).
While being ‘on the job’ for only a few weeks, Ambassador Jacobs demonstrated a breadth of knowledge on key issues including the Hague Convention, the Families For Orphans Act and the challenges of ensuring that intercountry adoption serves children not only in concept, but in reality.   She also stated that her position as Consular Chief  in Romania in the mid ’90s, during which she was responsible for intercountry adoption and visited many orphanages, brings a valuable familiarity to the needs of children to her new position.   Ambassador Jacobs also expressed that her desire to work in children’s issues stems from her work with children as a teacher and (day-care provider), camp counselor, baby-sitter, mother and grandmother..
Recognizing that Ambassador Jacobs faces a (relatively steep) learning curve on both intercountry adoption and international child abduction, Joint Council has offered to meet with her to provide Joint Council’s perspective on the many issues, opportunities and barriers facing every child’s right to a permanent and safe family.  In addition, we also offered to conduct quarterly meetings during which specific country issues can be addressed.   Ambassador Jacobs stated her willingness to utilize Joint Council and other NGOs as part of her ongoing efforts at the OCI and to engage on issues of concern to the intercountry adoption community.
Joint Council again extends our congratulation to Ambassador Jacobs on her recent appointment as Special Advisor and looks forward to working with her as we collectively advance the rights of our world’s children.
Tom DiFilipo

Top comms agencies compete for Clifford Chance account

Top comms agencies compete for Clifford Chance account

July 08, 2010 by Gemma O'Reilly , Be the first to comment

Top PR agencies are battling it out to land a big-money comms brief for the world's biggest law firm Clifford Chance.

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Malaysia's first 'baby hatch' boy finds new home

Malaysia's first 'baby hatch' boy finds new home

KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian baby boy, the first infant dropped off at a "baby hatch" centre to rescue unwanted newborns, has found a new home, reports said Wednesday.

The centre -- modelled on similar services in Germany, Japan and Pakistan -- was launched in May and is the first of its kind in Malaysia, which is grappling with the problem of rising numbers of abandoned infants.

The facility in suburban Kuala Lumpur allows mothers to leave their babies anonymously.

A small door opens to an incubator bed on which the child can be placed, and once the door is closed and the mother has left, an alarm alerts a staff member to the arrival.

The first baby received by the centre, on June 27, has been adopted by a couple selected from 80 eligible parents, OrphanCARE which runs the centre was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times newspaper.

"In keeping with the rights of both the biological and adoptive parents to confidentiality, no other information pertaining to the adoption and the baby will be released," the centre said.

The hatch has sparked debate in the Muslim-majority nation, with critics saying it will encourage premarital sex. Supporters of the centre say it gives desperate mothers an alternative to abandoning or killing their babies.

Official statistics show 407 babies were abandoned between 2005 and 2009 in Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation with a population of 28 million people. This year a total of 24 cases were recorded as of April.

Media reports have highlighted cases of newborn babies abandoned in the streets or at rubbish dumps. In March, the body of baby boy who was left on the roadside was found by passers-by with his left hand bitten off by wild dogs.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has attributed the rise in abandoned babies to unmarried couples not knowing where to seek help after having a child out of wedlock.

Legislation to allow adoption of married parents' children

Legislation to allow adoption of married parents' children

CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor

LEGISLATION IS being drafted that will provide for the adoption of the children of married parents.

The Bill, to be published prior to the children’s rights amendment, probably after the summer recess, will also allow for the tracing of the parents of adopted people, Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews has said.

Speaking to The Irish Times , Mr Andrews said the Bill was being prepared now that the Adoption Bill 2009 – providing mainly for the Hague convention on inter-country adoption to be part of Irish law – had been passed. It will come into operation on November 1st.

The proposed children’s rights amendment to the Constitution will, among other provisions, allow for the adoption of the children of married parents in circumstances less extreme than exist at the moment. In order for such children to be adopted, including being placed voluntarily, the parents must fail in their moral and physical duty to the child, and be likely to continue to do so until the child is an adult, for the child to be free for adoption.

This rules out their adoption in circumstances where, for example, one parent is dead and the other severely incapacitated. The Oireachtas committee on the children’s rights amendment proposed that the Constitution be amended to change this.

The new Bill would deal with such issues as what “failure” in their parental duty meant, and the length of time for which this needed to persist, Mr Andrews said. It would also deal with the length of time a child would be in the care of foster parents or potential adoptive parents before he or she could be adopted.

He said the proposed legislation and the amendment would clear the way for more domestic adoptions. The staff who worked on the 2009 Bill are working on this and on the tracing legislation.

The area is a complex one because of a Supreme Court judgment underlining the right to privacy of parents who gave their children up for adoption on the understanding they would not be contacted. “We need to find a balance between the right to know who your parents are and the right to privacy,” he said.

The information that would be provided for would include medical records and the nature of the relationship between the parents. “We want to spell out the greatest possible amount of anonymised information that is possible to be given,” Mr Andrews said.

Asked whether this would include the identity of parents, he said it would be hard to provide this and trust the recipients not to approach parents. “The Supreme Court was very clear [that] you can’t defeat the privacy of the person who gave up the child. But that was in relation to the adoption legislation in force at the time. We could modify it in the light of later adoption legislation.”

Referring to the situation in the UK, where adopted children have the right to their parents’ identity, he said there was no constitutional right to privacy there, and open adoptions existed in the UK since 1975, which was not the case here.

Asked whether both matters would be dealt with in the same Bill, he said it was likely they would be dealt with separately, but that may change if the drafters found it more appropriate to bring the two pieces of legislation together.

The recently passed Adoption Bill provides for the replacement of An Bord Uchtála (the Adoption Board) with a new adoption authority, which will have members from a number of specified relevant disciplines. Arrangements will be made to ensure continuity between the Adoption Board and the new authority, the Minister said. It will exercise a quasi-judicial function and regulate mediation agencies and other bodies involved in the process.

Under the new Hague regime the children adopted are likely to be slightly older, Mr Andrews said, to ensure the option of a domestic adoption has been exhausted. This could mean that the children could have more attachment issues, and they and their parents would need more support, he said.

Orphanage sells Malawian children to Dutch Agency

Orphanage sells Malawian children to Dutch Agency 
Tuesday, 6 July 2010 
Tags: malawi new, malawi radio, schools in malawi, who malawi 
By Nyasa Times 
Published: July 6, 2010 
Kondanani Orphanage at Bvumbwe in Thyolo district is in partnership with Kind end Toekomst-a Dutch licensed adoption agency which systematically violates Malawian law and the Dutch Ministry of Justice and “buys” orphans from Malawi.

Kind en Toekomst (Foundation Child and Future) officially started an adoption programme from Malawi in 2006 through the partnership with Kondanani Orphanage which is under a Dutch lady Annie Chikhwaza.

Eye of the Child, a local Non Governmental Organization, says Malawi Laws rule that adopters must reside 18 months in Malawi before the adoption.

But that is not the case with the Dutch agency which buys children from Kondanani Orphanage. 
“In March 2007 Kind en Toekomst started cooperating with the Malawian children home Kondanani which is led by the Dutch Annie Chikwaza (married to a Malawian). According to Kind en Toekomst, Dutch adopters will only need to stay five weeks in Malawi,” reads update report accessed from one of the websites used by Chikhwaza and her Dutch partners.

Chikhwaza confirms the partnership in her Dutch communication on 29-08-2007 at 21.45 pm on http://wwwprikpagina.nl/read.php?=564&i=21334&t=21328 which was translated into English.

It reads, “…shared with you in my last newsletter that we had entered into an agreement with a Dutch Adoption Organisation. The first parents are here at present and staying with us on the property in one of the houses. They are adopting a set of twins.”

According to http://www.eo.nl/programma/eengoedbegin/2008 09/page/jan_en_Esther_Ekkel_Vorstenbosch/episode.esp?episode, a Dutch couple Jan en Esther Ekkel-Vorstenbosch adopted a two year old Malawian boy within 36 hours of their arrival in Malawi on 15 November 2008.

“36 hours after arriving in Malawi they already have a court appointment and the adoption is finalized. They have to stay some weeks in Malawi, guest house Kondanani, to wait for the visa to be provided by the Dutch Embassy in Zambia.

“They meet the grandmother of the child. Her daughter died and she hadno money to pay for milk powder. Only one of the adoptive parents is allowed to meet the grandmother and the child is not allowed to come. The programme does not make clear if the grandmother knows the childis leaving the country,” reads the site.

Chikhwaza further boasts, “ Several Dutch couples have changed their adoption country to Malawi now. Some are keeping blogs. Look at 24/7/07 htt://www.freewebs.com/joekelje/dagboek.htm .”

On this blog, it is announced that the first Dutch couple got a child proposed in April/May of “this year”. 
Another blog, http://www.freewebs.com/nigeriaantje/logboek.htm, Kind en Toekomost says after a very quick procedure, for African principles, the first Dutch couple comes back on 26 August. Everything went well.

Kondanani Orphanage is where pop diva Madonna also adopted a child-Mercy James. 
According to Dutch newspaper De Trouw dated 27 June 2007, Kind en Toekomst pays between 12 000 and 25 000 euros for an adoption.

The paper adds that Agency Wereldkinderen (Children of the World) that intermediated in 2005 for 475 children from 15 different countries and one of the largest agencies, calculates between 12 000 to 30 000 euros depending, inter alia, of the country, with or without travel and adoption of one child or three.

The paper adds that for the adoption of a child from Brazil nearly 11 000 euros and the legal fees are 1 810 euros, the country fee is 3 695 euros, the agency costs is 4 410 euros while other expenses are budgeted at about 1 000.

The Children Adoption Act s ole0ection 3 (5) reads, “an adoptio