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OGDEN -- A desperate effort to get orphans out of the chaos in Haiti was bogged down first by a logistical nightmare, and now by apparent second-thoughts in the Haitian government.
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The collapse of much of Haiti's capital has a large part of the nation struggling just to find a place to sleep.The rules for letting children leave Haiti seem to be in flux, and there were reports Monday the Haitian government has temporarily called a halt to it. A Utah adoption agency says it's been told every case will now have to be individually reviewed, and workers there worry the delays are putting children in jeopardy.
The catastrophe destroyed or damaged many orphanages where kids were in process of being adopted by Americans. The United States relaxed the entry rules, granting so-called "humanitarian parole."
Deseret News:
Med student discovers a daughter to adopt
A med student, in Haiti to help, finds a little girl, orphaned by the deadly earthquake, he and his wife plan to adopt.At the Wasatch International Adoption agency in Ogden, they had just found an anonymous donor who's providing an aircraft to bring more than 60 children to Utah when they were told the Haitian government put on the brakes.
"Most of the people we're trying to get humanitarian parole for have already been proven to be orphan children for adoption, and so this is very disappointing because I think it's important that we get these kids out as quickly as possible, and this is just one more road block," says Kathleen Kaiser, with Wasatch International Adoptions.
The Haitians apparently want more control in a tragedy which has created many new orphans.
Bill Betz, a medical student from Texas profiled by the Deseret News, went to Haiti to help victims. Then he and his wife decided to adopt a little girl who they believe was orphaned by the quake.
"[A] second and a half later, I saw her. I just knew this was the little girl for our family. So, pretty amazing little story about how the Lord shows his mercy, helps us find our families," Betz says.
Stephen Studdert, who is prominent in political and business circles, has chartered a 737 to fly Utah medical and construction experts to Haiti. He says many orphans being handled by adoption agencies are desperate. "We've said to them, ‘We're coming back with 150 or so seats on that aircraft. If you can use them for orphans, we'll fund it,' Studdert says. "If we can provide a seat that will save the life of one child, that's what we're going to do."That presumes the Haitian government will let them leave -- not a sure bet right now.
The Utah Department of Homeland Security told KSL News the governments are talking to each other, trying to develop a better protocol for deciding which kids stay in Haiti and which ones come to the United States.
E-mail: jhollenhorst@ksl.com
