Comments to article:

27 January 2010

Comment: Jill Lies | Ethical Adoptions cost Money

Author:
Mom of Adopted Kids | Former Voluntee
Date:
2011-01-28 11:11:49
Comment to:
EOCO probes sale of kids at orphanage


I'd like to clarify a few things:

1. I was at the orphanage when Jill Smith used Papa to pacify her adopted daughter. She gave Papa toys, new clothes, fed him and took him around so that her daughter would not be scared. Papa believed he too was being adopted by the way Jill was treating him, however this was not the case. And when she bonded with her daughter, Jill cast Papa aside and left town.

2. Jill Smith and her husband had a change of heart and decided they wanted to adopt Papa later on. The orphanage director did not want to give the child to the Smiths (for a variety of reasons)so Jill and Zeke decided to kidnap Papa from Hohoe Orphanage and hid him in an attempt to illegally adopt him in another part of the country. They bribed people along the way to make this happen. The false accusations made in this article were written out of spite.

3. The director of the Hohoe Orphanage has been facilitating ethical and legal adoptions to find loving homes for children.

4. There is a HUGE difference between "selling children" and legal adoptions. I really wish people would understand this point, and stop using the words "selling children" or "trafficking" when talking about adoption. People seem to be surprised that adoptions should cost anything at all, but in the world of adoptions, $7000 is a very reasonable fee to adopt a child. The money does not go to the orphanage director alone. There are many costs associated with a legal adoption such as lawyer fees, medical exam/tests, court fees, care of the child while at the orphanage, transportation, etc. An adoption agency or independent facilitator must collect a fee from the family in order to facilitate an ethical and legal adoption according to Ghanaian laws. This is NOT "selling children." A proper relinquishment of rights is obtained, a social welfare report, and many other documents. The case is heard before a judge and the judge decides whether or not a adoption order is granted.

5. Taking a child, not receiving a relinquishment of rights, and moving the child to another part of the country to get an adoption order is illegal. This is what the Smiths did.

6. There is a lot of child trafficking going on in Ghana....by Ghanaians and other African nationals. I really wish that the Ghanaian government and the newspapers would focus on this. Very few children are actually trafficked to America and Europe. The adoption process is a long, grueling, and expensive process and most people would not put that kind of energy and money into trafficking children through the adoption and visa process. Most of the children are trafficked by Ghanaians or surrounding African countries where children are forced to work on farms, on the lake, or as servants and sex slaves. Those are the people that the Ghanaian government should be focusing on.

7. Embassy officials are trained to look at documents, interview adoptive parents, and interview the birth family to ensure that any child leaving the country has not been trafficked. It's the officials inside the country that need to be investigated more carefully, like Helena Obeng-Asamoah, who aided the Smiths.

8. When people like Jill Smith spread false rumors, it has a domino effect. As you can see by all the previous posts, many people blindly believe everything they read in newspapers or hear on the radio. What most people don't understand is that a lie like this can have an adverse effect on many, many families who are currently in the process of legally adopting their children and trying to bring them home. Jill is selfish, plain and simple. She is angry and wants revenge. She thinks her revenge will be on the orphanage director, but her previous attempts to discredit his adoptions only made the visa process at the embassy more costly, complicated, and longer for every other family adopting in Ghana. I really don't think Jill would care if her actions shut down adoptions in Ghana altogether. She only thinks of herself.

9. Helena Obeng-Asamoah has her own agenda –– that is to shut down private orphanages and completely control all adoptions through her office. Why? Because she will make money. So, of course she wants to discredit others who are facilitating adoptions in Ghana. She too does not care how this false article may affect many good families waiting for their children. 

And who is actually thinking about the children?

Greed and selfishness are the reasons why this article came about.
==============================================================================================================

omment: Jill Smith is lying

Author:
Former Volunteer at HCOH
Date:
2011-01-27 14:09:17
Comment to:
EOCO probes sale of kids at orphanage


I volunteered at HCOH in 2008, I was there when Jill and her husband were there and I can assure you this woman is lying.
The story is that when they arrived in Ghana, they used to take Papa with them whenever they went, they even too him with them to different parks, restaurants and their hotel room. I don't know what that woman and her husband told Papa, but he was very excited about moving to America with them. We who were there knew that it was not the case, because Jill NEVER mentioned this to anyone, they had not started the process, they did not speak with the social services and they did not file for adoption.

I still remember the day Simth family came to take their little girl. Papa was all ready, he had packed all her belongings (a few shirts, couple of pants and underwear and the only toy he had). But Jill and her coward husband did not come to the orphanage to pick up their daughter and instead asked Nicolas to bring the girl to their hotel. Papa stood by the door for hours and when h finally realized that they were gone he was devastated.

In my entire life, I have never seen a woman as false, as dishonest and as indifference to the pain she caused that little boy.

I am VERY disappointed that your site brings that woman as your reference.
This woman thinks she can buy everything with money, and when it doesn't work, she blames everyone who know about her wrong doings and screams loud and acts like a victim.

I am willing to go to court and witness about this case, not because I support Nicolas or her Australian 'girl friend' but because I am disgusted by the behavior of the Smith family who supposed to be Christians but are nothing but a bunch of rich hypocrites who only wanted to have black children because 'it would look good for them at their church' with other people looking at them as 'good people' just because they had African children.
================================================================================

omment: Jill Smith is under investigation by CID

Author:
Former Volunteer at HCOH
Date:
2011-01-27 14:56:41
Comment to:
EOCO probes sale of kids at orphanage


To the person who wrote this article:

PLEASE contact CID to find out about her and her criminal acts.

PLEASE do not refer to a criminal who is also under investigation by the US Embassy and American authorities for involvement of kidnapping Papa and keeping him against his will in an illegal orphanage by people PAID by Mrs. Smith and her husband.

PLEASE people, for all of you who love your country, do not let these people take advantage your news papers and your web site to spread their lies.
==============================================================================================

omment: All orphanges engage in selling the kids

Author:
Kojo
Date:
2011-01-27 08:48:31
Comment to:
Oh Ghana!!!!!!!


From Bolga to Accra, all the orphanges engage in selling children to be taken abroad. The Social Welfare Dept is completely inept. The practice is aided by the eagerness of the relatives of these unfortunate children when they hear that the child will be taken abroad. They even urge on the officials of the orphanges to speed up the process.

The Dept of Social WElfare is the most incompetent govt institution in the country. We all saw how the Director was fumbling in Anas Arimiyaw Anas's revelations on the Osu Children's Home!