Friday, January 15, 2010

Ben Avon Sisters in Haiti Hope to Bring Orphans to U.S.

Jamie and Ali McMutrie run the BRESMA orphanage in Port-Au-Prince and they could come back to the U.S. now. Instead, they are staying with 26 infants they help care for and hope for an exemption that would allow all of them to leave Haiti. Tuesday's earthquake damaged two to the organizations three buildings and the sisters have chosen to camp out in the yard for now. Doug Heckman, Jamie's husband has been trying to coordinate efforts in Pittsburgh to get them much needed supplies like food, water and gasoline. He says he's appealed to local and state lawmakers to allow the women and the orphans to travel to the U.S. According to Heckman almost all the infants are in the process of being adopted by American families, but with Haiti's devastated infrastructure, it's unknown when those adoptions could be completed. "Some of these infants were virtually one paper away from getting U.S. passports...and a lot of parents are saying 'I had a kid and now I don't know if I do anymore.'" BRESMA (Brebis de Saint-Michel de L'Attalaye) has been in operation since 2003.

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