overwhelmed at the moment…

I just read the below stats and I am overwhelmed with the immensity of changing the tides.  I mean it is staggering/depressing/heart breaking if you begin to let your mind think about what these stats mean…and go beyond the numbers.

I think if i was not sitting in Panera right now I would be crying.

The Plight of the Orphan

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Global Orphans

• Over 140 million orphans and waiting children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents.ⁱ
• Over 13 million double orphans under the age of 18 have lost both parents.ⁱⁱ
• Sub-Saharan Africa, with 48.3 million orphans, has the highest proportion of children who are orphans at 12%
  • Asia has the largest total number of orphans with 73.7 million orphans, which represents 6% of all children
  • Latin America and the Caribbean has 10.7 million orphans, also representing 6% of all children.ⁱⁱⁱ
• Over 15 million children have lost a parent due to AIDS, and that number is expected to rise to over 20 million by 2010.^iv
• Without AIDS, the total number of double orphans in sub-Saharan Africa would have declined between 1990 and 2010. AIDS, however, will push the number of double orphans in the region from 9 million to more than 10 million by 2010.^v
• Orphaned children are much more likely than non-orphans to be working in commercial agriculture, as street vendors, in domestic service and in the sex trade.^vi
• Orphans are more vulnerable and at risk of becoming victims of violence, exploitation, trafficking, discrimination, or other abuses.^vii

Domestic Orphans

• More than 500,000 children are in United States foster care.^viii
• Over 120,000 children in foster care are waiting to be adopted.^ix
• Only around 50,000 children, or 18% of those waiting in foster care, are adopted every year.^x
• On average, children in foster care wait over 2 years to be adopted.^xi

Adoption

• Over one-third of Americans have ever considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent of Americans have actually adopted.^xii
• 48% of the people who have seriously considered adoption indicated that they would first look to a house of worship (church) for information or advice about adopting.^xiii

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