 Djuny is buckled into his seat and given a stuffed toy in the back of his adoptive parents' car for the trip home to Quebec City.
(DOUG HEMPSTEAD/Ottawa Sun)
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Two dozen new Canadians met their parents for the first time early Sunday morning at the Ottawa airport.
The 154 Haitian orphans already in the Canadian adoption process had their cases expedited in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake. According to immigration officials, as many as 90 of those children are now ready to come to Canada. Another flight was expected to arrive in Ottawa Sunday night.
Around 7 a.m., an Air Canada Airbus arrived with the first 24, along with a large contingent of Canadian citizens who had been either working, visiting or living in Haiti.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney greeted everyone and said he hopes to have “the vast majority” of eligible adoptees in Canada within a few days.
He said the process normally takes a couple of years.
“I was just chatting some of the very happy new parents and their beautiful kids,” said Kenney. “We’re delighted this initial group has come here safely.”
He said it was touching to watch the parents being united with their kids for the first time, adding some of the children seemed unnerved by the unfamiliar cold weather.
Immigration officials processed the children, who also received medical treatment because many of them had fevers.
Air Canada provided the plane and fuel free of charge, as well as almost 100 volunteer chaperones. One of them told the Sun the child he sat with had a fever and had to have their diaper changed four times during the flight.
But many of the other children were reportedly enthralled during the trip because they’d never been on a plane or watched television before — like the ones on the back of each seat.
Their anxious, waiting parents brought them warm clothes, food and toys. The Canadians on the plane, however, arrived empty-handed and few had anyone waiting for them. The Salvation Army and Red Cross gave them blankets, winter jackets and toques. Most of them then got on shuttle buses for the Montreal area.
Gerry Naugler of Moncton, N.B., tried to keep his emotions in check. He and his wife adopted two children — a 9-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son.
“When I saw that plane arrive I was overwhelmed,” said Naugler. “When I saw the children come off I felt so relieved for all the Canadian families who were uniting in there this morning.”
For the Nauglers, Sunday was the culmination of a three-year adoption process. They had stayed in touch with their Haitian children using the Internet video communication system Skype.
Naugler began to break down when talking about looking forward to introducing the new members of his family to his two biological kids waiting at home.
“I’m looking forward to my family being complete,” he said.
doug.hempstead@sunmedia.ca
