At least some children from a group of Haitian orphans in the care of two sisters from Ben Avon may find a haven in the United States or other nations within days, a congressman said last night.
Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, said prospects for help for the imperiled orphans at the BRESMA orphanage in Port-au-Prince had improved yesterday. The shattered orphanage is run by sisters Jamie McMutrie Heckman and Ali McMutrie, who have refused to leave Haiti without the children and who reportedly have fallen ill along with some of their young charges, according to a relative's Facebook posting.
"A lot of these kids, I think, shortly, are going to be able to leave and come to the United States or another safe haven or other countries," Mr. Altmire said.
He was not specific, however, on how the children would be transported or how many would be granted documents and permission to leave Haiti. Nor was it clear when any of the children would leave the island, although Mr. Altimre said he believed it would be days rather than weeks.
Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, along with White House, State Department, military and National Security Council officials, have been working with the Haitian government and the governments of other countries to help most of the children leave Haiti, he said.
"This is ongoing," he said. "This is a much better situation than we were in before. I'm optimistic with the involvement of so many different moving parts here."
Of the 150 BRESMA orphans, about 30 were in the midst of pending adoptions by U.S. citizens.
"We are, I think, going to be able to get these kids out of the country and into good hands," he said.
Children who are involved in pending adoptions likely will not be brought to Pittsburgh, Mr. Altmire said, unless their adoptive parents live in the city. Other children were being adopted by families in other nations, although he was not sure how many.
"Now it looks like kids who were going to be adopted into other countries may very well be taken by those countries," he said.
Caring for the remaining children who are not involved in pending adoptions is a "top priority," he said. At minimum, he said, officials are working to ensure they are cared for in Haiti.
The U.S. government is exploring ways to facilitate adoption proceedings or gain permission to take those children as well, Mr. Altmire said, although he cautioned that health and security issues are still obstacles to obtaining documents and permission for them to leave.
"The health situation and the chaos that is taking place with Haiti, with the supplies being delivered and people who are still taking matters into their own hands to acquire those supplies, is still a threat," he said. "But it looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
Former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan also has been working to obtain permission for at least some of the children to enter the United States on a "humanitarian parole." She said yesterday that it remains unclear what that would mean for the 30 children whose U.S. adoptions were pending or the others.
"At this point we're still trying to ascertain when we will be able to get approval for the children to leave Haiti," she said.
Asked whether she was trying to get permission for all 150 children or only the 30 with adoptions pending, she said, "I'll have to get back to you on that."
UPMC spokesman Paul Wood yesterday said the hospital system has been in contact with Ms. Heckman and Ms. McMutrie and other relief organizations and has offered assistance for the orphans, although he said he could not be more specific. Allegheny County officials also have instructed their human services agencies to prepare to possibly care for some of the children.
Mr. Altmire said he spoke yesterday by phone with Ms. Heckman, who told him of problems with contaminated water supplies.
"She is amazing, and she is doing an incredible job of taking care of these kids and taking care of herself and her sister," he said. "She's obviously under unimaginable pressure, with what she's dealing with."
The sisters could not be reached yesterday. But in a Facebook posting, a relative of the two women urged their growing numbers of supporters not to give up hope for their safe return and the eventual rescue of all of the orphans.
"[T]hings are happening. Help is going to them. Please do not panic," wrote Ali Pace, who is a sister-in-law of the sisters.
Ms. Pace has been posting Twitter updates @alipaceinurface and has a Facebook group, Let's Help Them Get Out of Haiti. Sam McMutrie, the father of the sisters, said their ability to communicate has been so limited that he hadn't heard from them directly. He wasn't sure which online information was reliable, including the report of unspecified illness.
"But the girls were interviewed on CNN last night. At least we got to see them," he said yesterday.
The CNN interview aired Friday night, hours after it took place, according to yesterday's post from Ms. Pace. Since then, Ms. Pace wrote, "the babies have started to get very sick" and the two sisters are also suffering symptoms of illness, although she did not describe the nature of their ailments.
"CNN couldn't bring them water and supplies. They don't have any to give," Ms. Pace wrote. She also quoted from an earlier e-mail that she received from the sisters in which they thanked people for their concern and support, but added "But we are still so scared."
The sisters had already reported being out of food, water and supplies, with looters running amok in the shattered, increasingly unstable city, where government, social and medical agencies have been crippled.
"[T]he proper people at the highest levels are working on it," Ms. Pace wrote in her post. "We have the most qualified people in the world offering to go down and save them, but they can't get in the country right now."
She also urged donations to the orphanage through www.centeroflife.net/haiti.
First Published: January 17, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
