"God wanted us to come here to help children, we are convinced of that."

- LAURA SILSBY, one of 10 Americans who are in a Haitian jail, accused of

trafficking children.

Voodoo Witch Doctor JuJu...SCORE!

Voodoo - 1

Christians - 0

I saw this church group on Today Show and I believe they were really trying to help. They apparently did not have one piece of documentation they needed and therefore were arrested. This sends a signal out that

even well intentioned, you have to know what you are doing in a foreign country. I would not want to be in their jail!

^ Reckon the jails are still standing?

"Hold on, you're under arrest for trying to help Haitian children so I'm going strap you to this palm tree until you can be seen by a judge. If we can find one."

Doesn't seem likely, but actually, yes, they showed them in a jail cell with bars in front of their faces.

The biggest question in my mind with this is the report that one of the kids was crying that she was NOT an orphan - she had parents, and that she had been told that she was going to a boarding school or camp or something....

Child trafficking in Hati is RAMPANT, and in the current chaos I don't blame the government for being a little paranoid. They may have been well-intentioned, but you can't just swoop down into a country in turmoil, scoop up a bunch of random kids and truck them out of the country. At best, their mission was NOT very well thought-out. I don't blame the local government for insisting that the matter be prosecuted, but I think that if they really believed that there was any malicious intent, they'd prosecute it THEMSELVES and make an example of them. As it is, they're sending a message to would-be child traffickers who MIGHT pose as rescue workers without railroading these guys completely. The rules have to apply to everyone unilaterally, including these folks.

I did make it sound like I was condemning them for arresting people trying to "help". I know there is illegal activity going on and understand it completely.

It bothers me that people of an empoverished nation keep spurting out children they can't take care of. Maybe the government should periodically fly planes over and drop birth control from the sky.

Should be "i"mpoverished.

Kinda too bad....dogooders getting busted.

They mean well, and this could be sticky before it is settled.

Charlie

let no good deed go unpunished.

My perspective on this is that these Idaho folk are clueless

weird though....legit missionaries KNOW they need documentation

#1 It DOES seem a tad presumptuous. How do they know that He didn't see the place as such a mess that he decided to clear it like a big 3D etch-a-sketch?

I'm with 6. I really believe they were trying to help, but their execution was incredibly poor. Pretty stupid move on their part. Hopefully the authorities will find a way to make an example of them without hurting them too much.