Haitian orphans arrive at Children's Hospital

[Dave (imported)]

>>Some days you can be proud of our politicians

Haitian orphans arrive at Children's Hospital

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

By David Templeton, Ann Rodgers, Rachael Conway, Mackenzie Carpenter and Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10019/10 ... z0d5FtD5jR

The 53 orphans from earthquake-ravaged Haiti have arrived at Children's Hospital.

The children traveled by Port Authority bus from the airport to the Lawrenceville facility. There the blanket-wrapped children -- many of them infants and toddlers -- were carried or accompanied into the hospital by caregivers. They range in age from a few months to 12 years old, with about half between 7 and 12, according to Clare Kushma, a spokesman for Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh.

The rescue mission came in response to messages last week from sisters Jamie and Ali McMutrie of Ben Avon, who said this month's devastating earthquake endangered the health of 130 children in their care at the BRESMA orphanage in Port-Au-Prince. Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Bradford Woods, accompanied a medical team from several Western Pennsylvania medical facilities on the plane to pick up the children.

The rescuers' heads still were spinning as Gov. Rendell, Mr. Altmire and Ali McMutrie addressed the media throng at the airport.

"It's awesome. I think I'm dreaming," Ali McMutrie said.

Gov. Rendell said that after hurdling numerous legal obstacles to get a rescue plane to Haiti, the mission nearly collapsed when Haitian and U.S. authorities were reluctant to allow all 53 of the children to leave the island.

"We had an hour slot on the runway. While we were working [travel arrangements] the plane had to leave," Mr. Altmire said.

At that moment, all but seven of the children had permission to board the plane because their adoptions were nearly complete. Forty-seven have waiting families in the U.S., three will be adopted in Canada and four others were headed to Spain.

However, the McMutrie sisters were adamant. They would not leave Haiti unless all of their orphans, including the seven without adoptive homes, were with them.

"I called the White House and told them I had two constituents who wouldn't leave those kids," the congressman said.

"Over a period of hours it was cleared by the National Security Council. Everyone at the State Department who was involved with this issue dropped what they were doing," Mr. Altmire said.

As the congressman and the governor negotiated by phone, medical personnel on the rescue team went to the U.S. Embassy about three miles away to confer with the McMutries, who were with the children.

"To leave without even one of them was not an option," Ali McMutrie said. "They're all my children. My sister and I are their moms. We have a family that all love each other."

The hopelessness of the situation struck the McMutries when the quake hit last week and the two women were not at home. They were relieved to find all of the children had gotten out of the dwelling and were safe, Ali McMutrie said.

For a week, she said, she and her sister with their orphans lived in a driveway with hundreds of other people, mostly children.

There was little or no contact from home. The biggest surprise for the Ben Avon women came at the embassy where their parents found them.

The children were joyous from the ride from the embassy to the airport.

"They were singing, giving high-fives, they were praying with us," said UPMC spokeswoman Leslie McCombs. "It's been an emotional mission since day-one. It's unfathomable what they're going through."

Jamie McMutrie's husband, Doug Heckman, said he is trying to track down Jamie, who missed the flight home. She was at the U.S. embassy last night, he said, but he isn't sure where she is right now or when she might arrive in Pittsburgh. (See note at the end)

Mr. Heckman said the rescue trip to Haiti was well-organized and American military personnel on the ground at the airport were extremely helpful. At no point did he or the other members who made the trip feel threatened or in danger.

The family intends to sit down together soon to regroup, Mr. Heckman said. They will probably release a statement at some point today, he added.

The children seemed happy and were well-behaved on the bus trip, which took them into the city over the West End Bridge, said Tom Kneier, deputy executive director of Catholic Charities. When they became excited at their view of the city, Mr. Kneier asked a translator what they were saying.

"They were just amazed by the size of the buildings," he said.

The children will be examined by doctors at the hospital. Officials at Children's said that based on what they've learned from the medical personnel on the plane, they do not expect to admit any of the children to the hospital.

Catholic Charities has provided clothing and supplies for the children as well as Creole translators to assist the doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital in assessing and treating the children, said Ms. Kushma.

"We've been told that, as of this morning, there are one or two that are dehydrated, but most appear to be in very good shape and good spirits," Ms. Kushma said.

Many area churches, as well as Giant Eagle and Wal-Mart, donated clothing, food, infant formula, diapers, ointment, toys and other supplies.

"We've provided each of the kids with a teddy bear," Ms. Kushma said shortly after the children were carried from the plane to the waiting buses.

Catholic Charites also set up a waiting area at Children's Hospital where children can sleep, play and be comfortable while awaiting placement with their adoptive or foster families, she said. The Red Cross stocked it with bedding and "we purchased additional toys to make it as homey as possible," Ms. Kushma said.

The children then will be taken to that "comfort room" on the third floor of the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center adjacent to the hospital. They will remain there from four to 24 hours.

Allegheny County Children Youth and Families will begin to work to process the children, many of whom have clearance for adoption. A family court judge will set up across the hall from the comfort room to handle placement of the children.

Marc Cherna, head of CYF, said he expects many of the children to be adopted today. Most have the paperwork completed and the adoptive parents have traveled to Pittsburgh. Mr. Cherna said as many as three quarters of the children may be adopted today. The others will be placed in temporary shelter here until their paperwork is completed.

Those who went on the mission have not disclosed who funded it.

Republic Airways, based in Indianapolis, provided the aircraft used in yesterday's rescue mission to Haiti.

"We did donate the use of the aircraft, fuel and crew to support the rescue operation," spokesman Carlo Bertolini said.

David Templeton can be reached at dtempleton@post-gazette.com. Ann Rodgers can be reached at arodgers@post-gazette.com. Mackenzie Carpenter can be reached at mcarpenter@post-gazette.com. Jim McKinnon can be reached at jmckinnon@post-gazette.com. Rachael Conway can be reached at rconway@post-gazette.com.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10019/10 ... z0d5FZ99mk

Note: The missing sister found the 54th orphan asleep on a bus and will bring her back to Pittsburgh on a later flight.

[Paolo]

Happy ending for the 54 of them. I just wonder how easy it will be in the future to adopt kids out of Haiti, such as those that are going to be declared orphans very soon? Probably back to the same old song dance - "Roll Out the Red Tape."

[Batman (imported)]

The local TV stations covered the children's arrival at the hospital live. It was actually rather moving. If anyone wants to see video they can check out http://kdka.com

Batman