6 Haitian orphans resume journey to US homes, board airplane bound for Miami

6 Haitian orphans resume trip to US homes

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Six Haitian orphans boarded an airplane to the United States on Wednesday, four days after Haitian police seized them out of fear they were being kidnapped.

“They were unbelievably excited to be going home,” said Maria O’Donovan, field director of the orphanage in northern Haiti. She said the children were singing songs — including “Wheels on the Bus” and “B-I-N-G-O” — on the way to the airport.

“I was just so relieved to see the plane take off,” she said. “I’m so excited for their parents.”

The new parents can take the children home on Thursday, according to Jan Bonnema, the Minnesota-based founder of the Children of The Promise orphanage.

Sara Vanzee and her husband, Tim, waited for their 13-month-old son Albert to arrive. They understand the suspicions in Haiti given recent cases, but said their ordeal has been stressful.

“Our hope is that they’re OK with it, that they can see that we absolutely love these children and that we want to provide for them,” said Vanzee, who is from the U.S. Midwest.

On Saturday, a group of 20 men blocked four women accompanying the orphans to the airport, shouting: “You can’t take our children!” Police briefly detained the women and the orphans — ages 1-5 — spent three night sleeping on the ground in a tent city. The U.S. Embassy official carrying the documents needed to take them through immigration had been running late.

Such fears of child trafficking have made it harder than ever for impoverished Haitian children to leave the Western Hemisphere’s poorest land.

The concerns were fueled by the arrest last month of 10 U.S. missionaries trying to take a busload of 33 children to the Dominican Republic without proper documentation. It turned out none of the children were orphans, and the Americans were arrested; two — Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter — remain in jail in Port-au-Prince.

Bernard Saint-Vil, the judge hearing their case, said Wednesday that he expects to decide their fate this week. He is waiting to hear from a judge in northern Haiti about a visit to orphanages the women made last year, and has asked judicial police to investigate whether Pastor Jean Sainvil — who helped them recruit some of the children — indeed has orphanages in Haiti, as he has claimed.

“I won’t have a decision today or tomorrow,” he said. “Probably Friday.”

Thousands of desperate Haitian parents, unable to care for their own children, have eagerly given the youngsters away in hopes of giving them a better life. At the same time, they are terrified they will be tricked by predators who will enslave or sexually abuse the children.

Haiti’s government immediately halted new adoptions in the chaos that followed the Jan. 12 quake, allowing only those already approved to move forward.

That chill hardened into a freeze after Saturday’s incident. A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity, said the latest drama held up the departure of 50 orphans approved for U.S. adoption.

It took the U.S. ambassador and Haiti’s prime minister to iron out on Tuesday what turned out to be an ugly misunderstanding, and the children were handed over to the Embassy.

“They just kept singing and playing,” O’Donovan said. “They were so happy.”

Associated Press writers Niko Price in Haiti and Amy Forliti in Minneapolis contributed to this report.