870 Days

870 days until 2010. According to statistics, in 2010 there will be 53.1 million orphans in Africa and 68.9 million in Asia.

Today in Africa, every 14 seconds a child loses a parent. 19,000 children die daily from diseases that are curable. Today in Asia, there are 7.7 million orphans - 6% of the population.

I don't know what the statistics are for Latin America or Eastern Europe but I surely hope they are more promising - but then again, I doubt it.

870 days. That's 2 years and 5 months. Or, 124 weeks.

Today 1.4 billion people live in absolute poverty. Half the world's population, 3 billion people, live on less than US$2 a day.

In my county alone (Cleveland area), there are currently 2,000 kids waiting for a home.

That's today. God knows what it will be in 2010. That's only 870 days away.

If you ever want to have a good cry, go to YouTube and type in the keywords 'orphans' 'poverty'.

The next time someone asks me why I don't try to conceive, I'm sending them a link to this video. It's only a minute and a half long. No need to even listen to the music or read anything. All you need to do is listen to the voices of the girl and her young brother and I think it sums up perfectly why adoption is the most loving and parental gift you can give (a) child/ren.