Concerns raised over bringing Haitian children to Utah

Concerns raised over bringing Haitian children to Utah


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(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)SALT LAKE CITY -- Charitable groups in Utah are working to bring over 100 orphaned Haitian children to the state. But some Haitian groups are concerned that the children will have the cultural support they may need.

Members of the group Utah2Haiti are happy that Haitian orphans will come to Utah, but they say the transition from one culture to the next could be more difficult that it sounds.

"We are just concerned, as far as is the state reaching out to contact any of the Haitian people here and see how and where we can help," says Michael Petrus, co-founder of Utah2Haiti.

Petrus says even if the orphans love it in Utah, they'll be longing for something that reminds them of home.

"We can do things [like] providing them a meal, a Haitian meal, for example," Petrus says. "That would help them"

He says the weather difference can also be a huge shock.

E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com

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Paul Nelson

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