Dawn of a new life in Canada for Haiti orphans
January 25, 2010
Richard J. Brennan
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–It took 3 1/2 years and an earthquake for a Moncton, N.B., couple to realize their dream of adopting two Haitian orphans.
"Every step of the way has been a long and hard process for me and my family and we are glad it is over," said Gerry Naugler, who along with his wife Melissa adopted a 9-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy.
Relief and happiness filled the air when 24 Haitian orphans stepped off an Air Canada flight Sunday from Port-au-Prince into the frigid cold to begin a new life in Canada, leaving behind death and destruction in their earthquake-ravaged country.
A Canadian flag, whipping in a stiff breeze, welcomed them.
The children, ages 9 months to early teens, were wrapped in blankets and whisked into the Canada Reception Centre.
They were the first wave of some 180 orphans who could be approved for adoption by Canadian families.
As the children, some walking and others carried, disembarked from the plane, their expectant parents peered out the window to get a glimpse of their newest family members.
Some orphans, still dressed in flip-flops, peeked out from under blankets.
"When I saw that plane land, I was overwhelmed," Naugler told reporters.
"We started our adoption 3 1/2 years ago and today it ended on a good note. We are so pleased they are here and in Canada ... I am looking forward to my family just to be complete," said Naugler, who added that his two biological children were waiting with anticipation in Moncton, where a reception was planned.
The orphans were given stuffed toys and Red Cross blankets.
"This is just to make them feel a little bit better when they get off the plane," said Alison Frehlich, a Canadian Red Cross spokesperson. "Many of them left Haiti with nothing."
There were 86 people on board the special flight, the balance being Haitian-Canadians evacuated from their shattered island nation, which was devastated by an earthquake that struck on Jan. 12.
The new and repatriated Canadians were given the chance to pick out a winter jacket provided by the Salvation Army.
Jean Robert Vaval of Montreal added to his already large family by adopting a 14-year-old boy.
"With my wife and the kids, we are going to be nine," he said.
The Vavals, too, waited for years for this day and with their hearts in their mouths for the last few days.
"It was terrible. We had been waiting for three years. So when the earthquake happened, we were very worried. We spent three or four days without being able to talk to him," Vaval said.
"Today is the best day for me, for him and for all the family. My wife and I didn't sleep. We were eager to get to the airport," said a beaming Vaval, who runs a Creole restaurant in Montreal.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney met the children and parents at the Ottawa airport and said it was "touching" to see the families being united for the first time.
"They are beautiful kids ... they all appear to be healthy and, I think, a little bit unnerved by the cold Canadian winter," he said.
Kenney said of the 24 children, 15 were going to Quebec while the rest were headed out across the country, as far away as British Columbia.
"There is one father in there who is from Victoria, B.C., who had three (adoptive) kids, two daughters and a son. It's really an amazing thing to see," said Kenney, adding that a normally two-year adoption process has been compressed to two weeks in order to get orphans who had been spoken for out of the country.
Kenney met with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive in Ottawa Sunday and said he planned to present him with a supplementary list of adoptions for approval.
Evacuee Cairine Hilaire, who works with a reforestation organization in Haiti, said she would be going home to Montreal to regroup and then head back to Haiti to help out with the recovery.
"People down there are in a really bad situation, so in about a week or two I must go and do what I can to help," she said, adding her best friend was found dead in the rubble. "You have to live it to understand it."
As Haitian Canadians return, each has a story.
James Goachim, 19, slept outside the Canadian Embassy for four days, waiting to get in to start the paperwork to return to Montreal.
"I just prayed ... it was a miracle and I finally got in," said Goachim, who was evacuated along with his mother and siblings.
Elsie Bellevue of Montreal was inside a grocery store when the earthquake struck and was trapped for five hours.
"I'm very glad to be home."
Toronto Star