Jess DiPierro Obert

Photographer

Buzzfeed News: Most Children In Haitian Orphanages Aren’t Orphans — But US Missionaries Take Them Away From Their Families

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Clients: BuzzFeed News, Al Jazeera English, Rest of World, Bloomberg News, The New York Times

School: Arizona State University

The halls of Hope Home orphanage.

Children at Mission of Grace or...ng jesus wtih Haitian children.

Children at Mission of Grace orphanage play in front a mural showing jesus wtih Haitian children.

The children clean their room. ...ng to sleep in unwashed sheets.

The children clean their room. Interior shots of Maison L’Arc-en-Ciel, the orphanage Augustin was raised in since he was a baby. The orphanage serves HIV-infected and affected children. Augustin was told he was HIV-positive and given medication when he was not, in fact, infected. Augustin experienced various abuses including being forced to stand in the sun as punishment or having to sleep in unwashed sheets.

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Buzzfeed News: Most Children In Haitian Orphanages Aren’t Orphans — But US Missionaries Take Them Away From Their Families

jess dipierro obert

Feb 7, 2022

Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Photos. On assignment for Buzzfeed News. Our most recent investigation took us to 7 different orphanages and explores an $100 million per year industry. For over a decade US missionaries have flocked to Haiti where orphanages have proliferated, funded by millions of dollars by Western organizations. The state has flagged them for allegations of mismanagement or abuse but closing them is nearly impossible.

Western Missionaries Oversee Haitian Orphanages Where Children Are Abused and Exploited
Funded by millions of dollars in donations for their work in Haiti, Western church organizations operate scores of facilities in a shadowy but sprawling industry that often leaves children traumatized, abused — and sometimes dead.
Buzzfeednews.com

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