Ukraine

There's adoption-related international news from all over, so here's some of it ... Last week saw "Adoption Consciousness Week" observed in Philippines, and Holt International worked with the Department of Social Welfare's InterCountry Adoption Board in getting information out and about. Hopefully, the Philippines will realize the need to immediately provide nurturing families for starving children rather than allowing their delayed development and consequential retardation in horrifying orphanages, hazardous streets and contaminating prisons. As of the moment, the long, tedious and litigious judicial process for adoption remains the largest impediment to these children’s integration with suitable and loving families. Yes. That would be a good thing. Ukraine and the Czech Republic are about to simplify legal relations on adoption. According to Justice Minister Oleksandr… [more]

Continued from here ... Nepal, on the other hand, started out the year very badly. Before he was ousted in a democratic revolution, King Gyanendra had put the very existence of the independent press under threat. Several hundred journalists were arrested, beaten up, censored or threatened by rampant security forces. The press, first in line in the fight against the monarchy, progressively regained its rights from April onwards. For the most part, India does well by the press, but in some states the situation can be dire. Privately-owned television stations, which specialise in spectacular scoops, made some very serious ethical blunders in 2006. In August, journalists on local stations in Bihar state purchased petrol and matches for… [more]

I have no way of knowing how people come to my blog -- by bookmark, direct link or from the "what's new" portal of adoptionblogs.com. This site has expanded a lot recently with the addition of bloggers and new categories. There's so much info there now that I'm having a tough time keeping up, and just keeping track of where my own posts ... both here and on the Older Parent Blog ... sit in relation to other new posts is a more comprehensive process than it was just a few weeks ago. If you've not taken the time to look around a bit, especially recently, you're missing a lot of country-specific information from bloggers who've been-there-done-that in… [more]

For the rest of this month ... the rest of this year ... on days that don't have me needing to rant, rave, pass on info or otherwise blog from the heart, I'll be posting holiday traditions from around the world and season's greetings in many languages. Taking a look at the way people not only celebrate their festive season, but also the roots of the traditions, can give a peek into the entire culture of a country. Although the methods of celebration can be as different as the comfort food that comes with, there is usually something very familiar, as well, that has us thinking of the big family of humanity in personal terms ... a unifying exercise that's especially fulfilling this time… [more]