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Suncana Sesic-Alvarado was born
in Zagreb, Croatia. She is an artist and a designer, a mother and an
advocate for children in the foster care system.
In 1984 she brought home an 8-month
old orphan boy. He lived with her for seven year and during that
time the Department of Child Services was never in contact with her.
They never once came to check on the welfare of this young child.
Then one day his biological mother wanted him back and Child
Services ruled in the mother’s favor. Within five days, with no
warning and with no preparation, he was taken from her and returned
to his biological mother – a mother who had left her children in two
different orphanages.
Sixteen years later her heart still
breaks when she thinks about this child and how helpless she was to
protect him. She had no legal rights to the child because she was
not biologically related to him. She believed this was something
that only happened in Croatia. She had no idea anything like this
could happen in the United States or how widespread the problem is.
In 1991 she came to the US to start
rebuilding her life. In an effort to help a co-worker who was being
falsely accused of abusing her own child, Suncana began researching
our system and could not believe what she uncovered. Corruption –
lies – all of it under the guise of the law. She learned of social
workers abusing their power, of children dying at their hands, and
of their ability to escape legal consequences.
She has uncovered that over 3
million American families were falsely accused of abusing or
neglecting their children in our country just last year. She
believes very few children in America are genuine orphans. Most have
relatives, family friends, neighbors, or godparents who could, and
are willing to keep them if they need to be temporarily or
permanently removed from their parental home.
For Suncana, this is a matter of
conscience. She cannot and will not close her eyes in the face of
this tragedy because she knows what is happening to children and
families everywhere. She wants to give these forgotten children in
foster care something they so desperately need – a voice.
She has been, and will continue to
be their voice!
http://suncanaa.com/home
Watch:
"A
Boy Who Loved Flowers"
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