7 Texas Kids Found in Nigeria Orphanage

[Rose Siding]

HOUSTON -- Seven Texas children were discovered abandoned at a Nigerian orphanage, ravaged by disease and malnutrition, and have been brought back to the state.

Child Protective Services, which received emergency custody of the children Monday, is investigating accusations that the children's adoptive mother in Houston abandoned them in Nigeria in October while going to work in Iraq as a private contractor. The children returned to Texas on Friday.

Three of the children were hospitalized with malaria and later released, said CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin. The youths were thin and covered with mosquito bites, infections and scars.

The three boys and four girls, ranging from 8 to 16, were discovered in late July by a visiting Texas missionary who notified American lawmakers.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-abandoned-children,0,5222692.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Caution]

1. this is wrong on SO many levels!

[LeighAnn]

12. Wonder what kind of subsidy she was getting

and why they were taken from their original mothers in the first place. I don't know what kind of conditions the kids were living with when the state took them initially, but could it have been worse than the Nigerian orphanage?

Right now in Missouri, the adoption subsidy for those kids would be between $275 and $304 a head, with the "behavioral" kids bringing in a whopping $651 a month, along with child care and Medicaid.

You can be absolutely certain that the state of Missouri would never have offered the kids' original families that kind of support.

Out of the 265,000 were removed from their homes in 2003, 60% were taken because of "neglect" (which doesn't include abandonment, an area covered in the 18% who were taken for reasons called "other"). How many of the families of the neglected kids could have used an extra $500 or so a month per kid to help out?

There are some pretty frigtening numbers in the government's Child Maltreatment 2002 report

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm02/chaptersix.htm

[shrike]

18. My folks were foster parents

And these kids' biological parents were no prizes, believe me. There seems to be this attitude that the evil state takes kids away from good parents because they are poor -- afraid it's not that simple. You would not believe the things people do their own kids. I have a friend who worked as a social worker. He says CPS' top priority, at least in our state, is family reunification. He visited many an abused child, and he says he's seen things he will never ever forget.

That said, I'm not terribly surprised that this sort of thing happened. I mean, Nigeria is a damned extreme example -- there are plenty of other homegrown horror stories to tell. There are simply not enough foster parents to go around -- and VERY few decent ones. A lot of scammers, unfortunately, are drawn to this kind of work. So the kid goes from one hellhole to another.

So what is the solution? I have no idea. And the big losers, of course, are the kids -- they literally have nowhere to go and nowhere to turn.

[expatriot]

2. Disturbing.

If it wasn't so disturbing I would put in some kind of "No Child Left Behind" joke or something.

[rkc3]

3. There are so many attacks on Bush in this article. Where do we begin?

7 children left behind?
We need to support our troops (although a contractor not a soldier) at home and abroad?
We've created thousands of jobs (just not in America)?

This is just too sad to happen.

[ret5hd]

4. What about the other Nigerian children?

Do they not count? sUrely their condition was as bad or worse than the texas children.

Maybe one of those fundie texas churches will sponsor and adopt them </sarcasm>

[tom_paine]

5. Good decent honest Freeper values

:puke: :puke:

She sure Freeped those annoying pestiferous kids, didn;t she?

</sarcasm off>

[histohoney]

7. I just

wonder.
Now I do not attend a "fundamentalist" church (Raised Episcopal now go to a Methodist church.)
I have seen Fundies as you call them, out in the world providing medical care, food, clothing education ect..
While I do not always agree with them on some issues, I always knew when out on medical Missions in Latin America that they were always the first to ask us if we need supplies, food, or any help they could give us.
What have YOU done personal, physically to help any one in an impoverished nation?
What makes you think this women is a Freeper? I didn't read that part.

[noonwitch]

9. As I read it, it sounds as if it is a missionary who discovered the kids

and rescued them. There's no indication of the mother's religion or values, other than that she must have some pretty poor values to do that to children.

[histohoney]

10. Agreed

I was typing about posts 4&5.
I didn't see any remarks about the "mother's" religion, although I am at a loss to think of ANY religion that teaches that it's OK to treat your children this way.
I guess I get defensive about people making blanket statements about ANY religious groups. You will find the best and worst in a group if you take the time to look.
I also am just steamed at this women,(NOT very Christian on MY part, I'll work on it. Hate the sin, love the sinner.) I was blessed with a darling child through adoption (God Bless that women that trusted in God and my family.)and I can not IMAGINE after all the work, interviews, near misses and a few heart aches, just tossing your children aside.
It's beyond me and I hope it always will be.
Thanks Friend , I feel calmer.

[histohoney]

6. Did

any one else notice, she took those kids over to her FIANCEE'S family in Nigeria in OCTOBER and then left and went back to Houston. The "mother" (I hate using that word with her) didn't go to Iraq until April.
Sounds like to me the new guy wanted to get rid of the kids and she went along with it.
They had been in a school and then she quit paying for room and board. Isn't she a sweety. I bet she'll expect food and health while she's in jail.

[wicket]

17. These are some really sick people

n/t

[Blue_Tires]

8. you have GOT to be shittin me!!!!!

i sure as hell hope this is a hoax...if not, i don't even know where to begin...this has ruined my entire week...

EDIT: This woman's name needs to be released, so we can all learn it like andrea yates...the whole nation needs to know her name by the 6:00 evening news...(and i thought what yates did was bad)

[pop goes the weasel]

11. Yates was mentally ill

acting under the influence of a temporary, though strong, hallucination. What this other woman did was just plain evil and selfish. Unless she has some tumor in her brain that has gobbled up whatever bit is supposed to govern humane behavior, she has no excuse for her selfish beyond selfish negligence.

[kimchi]

13. We should make a list of all the whackjobs who kill or hurt their kids in

Texas. Everytime I give my husband some bad news; he says "Let me guess...they lived in Texas."

Of course, it happens everywhere, but it seems there are more incidents in Texas. Is it just me, or does this seem about right? I won't speculate as to the causes.

[kysrsoze]

15. No Place Else........

[Blue_Tires]

14. ttt n/t

[Tight_rope]

16. Nigerians are selfish/greedy people who only care about it money!

Trust me...I know too many to know that this is a "FACT".

[RebelOne]

19. Not to mention that it is the 2nd most corrupt country

in the world. Plus, it is the home of all those 419 scamsters.

[chookie]

20. Is anything known about the adoptive mother?

What the heck was she doing in Nigeria? Was her fiance a Nigerian citizen or someone else temporarily living in that country, for example, a missionary?

What the heck was she doing in Iraq? "Working"? What was she doing? Was she driving trucks for Halliburton, converting Muslims to The Lord, spying for Michael Moore?