Both Ends Burning (BEB), a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of orphaned children, presented the award-winning documentary Stuck in Krieger Hall on Sept. 24 as part of its national campus tour.
After the screening, BEB Strategic Advisor Peter Leppanen and Campus Ambassador Izidor Ruckel led a discussion about the film and answered questions about their organization’s work.
“Both Ends Burning exists because there are kids around the world who are stuck in orphanages, or, worse than that, many are stuck on the streets,” Leppanen said. “These kids are not being raised in families; they are not getting the love and attention they deserve. And we know that each of these children is being damaged every single day.”
Stuck, directed by Thaddeus Scheael, followed different families around the globe as they attempted to adopt children. In some cases, more than 18 months passed between the matching of the child with prospective adoptive parents to their actual adoption.
The documentary also followed a scientist who studies how institutionalized children differ behaviorally from children who are brought into foster care early in their development.
The film featured interviews with adopted children, highlighting the positive changes in their lives brought on by their adoptions into caring families. The film also discussed the history of adoption and emphasized that adoption rates have fallen in recent years.
“Before [watching] Stuck, I didn’t know that much about international adoption,” Mary Kate Wallace, a member of the Student Advocacy Board at the Center for Social Concern (CSC), said. “I knew a few people it affected personally who have been adopted from different countries. The thought of more children being stuck in these countries is really devastating, and it was really moving to watch this movie.”
Leppanen talked about adopting his own children from Eastern Europe and how the experience motivated him to do even more for orphaned and abandoned children around the world.
“I adopted a girl who is three and a half years old who had never been out of [an] institution in her life,” Leppanen said. “She has a lot of delays and a lot of issues that we are working through with her. Some of those are permanent, others are things that with love and attention she could catch up on. But you know, the other kids who were left behind at that orphanage are not going to get that chance.”
Both Ends Burning assists prospective adoptees with navigating the laws and regulations that make it difficult to adopt children in different countries.
“What we stand for here at Both Ends Burning is that there are families willing to adopt the kids; there are kids in need of families,” Leppanen said. “We just want to get rid of the obstacles and difficulties between those two parties and help as many of these kids as we can, to help find families. Unfortunately there’s a lot of red tape, a lot of politics both from countries overseas and the U.S. government that get in the way, and we’re dedicated to removing those obstacles to help these children find permanent families.”
Craig Juntunen founded BEB in 2010 to revitalize the interest in international adoption.
“The biggest challenge so far is getting people to care,” Leppanen said. “It’s very easy for everyone to hear about something in the abstract. You hear about the 20 million children who don’t have families, but it’s different from saying, ‘Here is this child who needs a family needs a home.’ And as soon as you meet that child, you want to give him that home. But how do you get people to make that jump from this is a concept to this is a child that needs help?”
Leppanen also explained how students can stay involved with BEB and help further its advocacy work through its Global Child Protect program.
“It’s just $5 a month, and you’ll be a part of the Both Ends Burning family,” Leppanen said. “We’ll email you, we’ll keep in contact with you and we may ask you to sign a petition or make a phone call to Congress. We had a march on Washington last year, [and] we might do something like that again in the future.”
Leppanen also talked about opportunities for students who want to work with BEB abroad.
“We had kids that are going to orphanages in Haiti earlier this year, and we’ll probably repeat that as we go forwards,” Leppanen said. “These are opportunities for people who truly want to understand the problem in depth and join us in our campaign.”
