Pittsburgh opens arms to orphans from Haiti
Before boarding a Pittsburgh-bound Air Force C-17 aircraft, a group of Haitian orphans danced, sang and prayed in a van outside the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince.
A new home awaited, far away from the terror that grips their country.
"Nobody was afraid," said Leslie Merrill McCombs, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center official who helped arrange the children's departure from their earthquake-stricken nation and traveled with them early Tuesday to the United States. "They got on the plane, and it was like a carnival."
The arrival of the BRESMA orphanage children on American soil, with an initial stop in Orlando, marked a dramatic moment in the aftermath of last week's quake. The orphanage, run by two Ben Avon sisters, was nearly destroyed. The mission to rescue the children — orchestrated by Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and UPMC — nearly collapsed several times, marred by chaos that cripples Haiti.
"I am happy and exhausted. It's really overwhelming," said Ali McMutrie, 22, one of the sisters who run the orphanage who arrived with 53 children at Pittsburgh International Airport about 9 a.m.
"These kids were unbelievable after all they'd been through," Rendell said. "Their spirit was unbelievable."
Also arriving at the airport yesterday were a few of the families who are adopting the children. Ross Haskel and Jean Griffith, both 38, took the first available flight from Wichita, Kan., to see Alexander, a 17-month-old boy abandoned at a Haitian hospital hours after his birth.
"He's safe now, he's safe," said Haskel, who with his wife went to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where authorities took the children.
Like other families in the hospital's third-floor cafeteria, the couple vowed not to leave without the boy. "Now we'll just wait," Haskel said.
Finding comfort
Three Port Authority buses brought the children to the hospital, where onlookers applauded their 11 a.m. arrival. Volunteers and medical staffers had wrapped blankets around them after some landed wearing T-shirts and shorts. The children drank juice and ate bananas and chips on the bus ride.
"One of the boys kept piling bags of chips, and he opened them and just kept eating," said Tom Kneier of Upper St. Clair, deputy director of Catholic Charities.
In the Lawrenceville hospital, the children clutched toys and stared at television cameras in amazement. Some of the younger ones slept in caregivers' arms. Doctors examined them all in about 50 minutes.
A few of the children suffered from slight dehydration, upper respiratory infections and fever, said Dr. Richard Saladino, chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Children's.
"They're doing well and are in quite good shape," he said.
Some of the children were expected to spend the night in a conference room officials dubbed the "comfort room." Staffers filled it with cots, teddy bears, toys, blankets and clothing.
Finding a way out
McMutrie's sister, Jamie, 30, temporarily stayed in Haiti when a head count of the children determined a 2-year-old named Emma was missing. She repeatedly told her husband, parents and lawmakers she would not leave behind any children. She found the girl and both arrived in Miami last night on a flight US Airways donated.
They are scheduled to travel to Pittsburgh this morning, a UPMC spokesman said.
"I still don't think I should have left her," Ali McMutrie said. "She had to do that. And she found Emma."
Though relatives, friends and prospective parents in the United States feared the children and their caregivers in Haiti went without food and water, Ali McMutrie said they never ran out of supplies. She and her sister feared someone might harm them to gain access to supplies.
Late Monday, after waiting for a military escort that did not arrive, the sisters took the children to the U.S. Embassy. They waited more than four hours before McCombs, Pennsylvania first lady Marjorie Rendell and others arrived.
The Haitian government granted the 54 children a two-year humanitarian waiver to remain in the United States while their adoptions are completed, Gov. Rendell said. Ninety-four children remaining at the orphanage will be cared for by people from countries where their prospective parents live, such as France and Holland, officials said.
The youngest child in Pittsburgh is 11 months old; the oldest, 12 years. Seven are available for adoption, said McCombs, a government relations consultant for UPMC. American families, including one from Pennsylvania, are adopting 40 children. Three will go to families in Canada and four to families in Spain.
Kristen Heaton, 49, of Roca, Neb., said she and her family landed in Pittsburgh at 3 a.m. The Heatons are adopting two girls: Bettania, 7, and Dieunette, 2. She said they were allowed to visit briefly after they arrived at the hospital, but then spent hours waiting in the cafeteria.
"Bettania is not happy," Heaton said. "She doesn't understand why she can't be with her family."
Heaton visited Haiti 11 times in the past 2 1/2 years to see the girls during the adoption process, she said. Last year, the family — including husband, Scott, adopted son Nathaniel, 20, and biological daughter Victoria, 17 — cared for Dieunette for 6 months while she recovered from brain surgery at Children's Hospital in Omaha.
Giving her back to the orphanage for the duration of the adoption process was "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Heaton said.
She paused and reconsidered. "Then again, this waiting is pretty tough, too," she said. "No, this is harder. This has been more than a whirlwind. A roller coaster. Every minute since the earthquake."
Legal matters
Hospital officials set up a makeshift courtroom for a judge to address any legal and adoption issues, said Chris Gessner, Children's president.
Most families had nearly finalized adoptions, said Marc Cherna, director of Allegheny County's Department of Human Services. "If they have their paperwork and everything in order, hopefully they can take them home," he said.
County officials and volunteers from The American Red Cross and Catholic Charities arranged temporary caregivers to keep the children.
"It's crazy what happened, but it happened," Ali McMutrie said. "I can't believe I'm here, but I'm so proud to be in Pittsburgh."
