On January 29th, ten Americans were arrested for attempting to traffic 33 children out of Haiti and into the Dominican Republic.

Haiti, whose January 12th earthquake killed more than 200,000 people, is filled with children who have either been orphaned or whose parents are unable to provide for them.

Ten members of the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho decided to go down to Haiti to help out in the aftermath of the devastating quake.

Laura Silsby, one of the jailed Americans, told the Los Angeles Times that “God wanted us to come here to help children; we are convinced of that.”

The Americans were hoping to create a children’s orphanage in the Dominican Republic, and, without filing any form of paperwork or getting approval from any officials, tried to traffic 33 children across the border.

Haitian officials have expressed concern that the large amount of orphaned or misplaced children will lead to a severe child trafficking crisis.

On the other hand, an AOL news article reports that the “arrest of the 10 Americans came as little surprise to an American missionary couple who say they have spent years dealing with corrupt Haitian officials seeking additional bribes during every phase of the adoption process.”

Jennifer Ebnhack and her husband, who recently adopted three Haitian orphans, defended the Americans when she said that “it sounds to me that they might have put their hearts before their heads.”

The actions of these Americans may have been from the heart, but when Haitian officials intervened, it was discovered that many of the children were not in fact orphans and some were suffering from malnourishment and dehydration.

The poor state in which these children were found could be due to the post-quake conditions in which they were living, not necessarily neglect on the part of their American caretakers.

It just goes to show: there’s always more than one side to every story.

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