In five years, Michel Joseph, 32, has brought together about twenty Haitian families divided by adoption, a phenomenon that, in Haiti, owes its existence in most cases to the poverty that is at its height in the country. In this interview, he talks to us about the dismay of children and families, their cries of despair and the heavy emotions that run through him and the families, following his life-saving interventions.
There are legions of adopted or abandoned children who become adults, without ever knowing their real parents. They languish waiting for the day to meet them and often knock on every door to find help from people who can help them trace their origins, meet their biological parents. But often, without success. Some die without their eyes meeting.
Cries of despair, sadness, pain, regret: these are among other characteristics of the malaise of parents and children who are found in the context of adoption. Often approached by children who are light years away from their biological parents, the journalist and information director of Radio Télévision Caraïbes, Michel Joseph, answers our questions.
Loop Haiti: You have several distinctions to your credit, including the "Philippe Chaffanjon" prize, which you won in the 3rd edition with your report entitled "Adoption- Cry of Despair". Why did you choose this subject and not another?
Michel Joseph: It all started when one day a friend said to me: "Michel, there is a young man who lives in France and who would like to reconnect with his biological parents in Haiti. Do you think you could do something?" I said yes. I worked with the girl, in 24 hours she was able to reconnect with her origins in Haiti. I remember her name well: it was Katia Marie.
And there was the 3rd edition of the Philippe Chaffanjon multimedia reporting prize. I thought it was a good topic. Nobody was talking about it, but the problem was real.
Cry of despair why? Because there are so many children abroad who are looking for their biological parents in Haiti, so many parents also who are looking for traces of their children after 10 to 30 years of adoption. I proposed the subject to the competition, it caught the attention of the jury and I won the prize.
But what struck me most at the awards ceremony was the presence of an adopted girl living in France who had already found her biological parents in Haiti thanks to my reporting. I helped the girl, and when I won the award she was living proof of my work. That was in 2016. I had helped this girl and two other brothers find their biological parents.
