All except one of the Haitian children whisked away from their parents by American Baptist missionaries, have now been reunited with their families. Although the Idaho based group initially told officials that all of the children they had gathered were orphans, it soon came to light that 33 of the children had parents who voluntarily gave up their children to the Americans. The Americans had promised a healthy, safe life for the children in an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. That orphanage did not exist.

Joyful parents on Wednesday recovered the children that they gave to American missionaries about six weeks ago.

The 33 children had been living at the SOS Orphanage on Port-au-Prince's outskirts since police stopped a group of 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries from taking them across the Dominican border Jan. 29 following Haiti's devastating earthquake.
Orphanage officials said all but one of the children were given back to 22 families. A remaining child, whose age and gender were not given, is awaiting further verification of her parents' identities. Source: Haiti parents take back kids given to missionaries, AP



Haitian social services has instituted a thorough verification process which delayed family reunification.

The children had been underfed and some were incontinent from stress, the orphanage said. On Wednesday they were dressed in their Sunday best to return home with parents who had given them away to foreigners a month and a half before.

Many will go back to living under bed sheets or in tin shacks because their parents homes were destroyed by the quake. Some children and orphanage workers cried as they left. The parents, who have had some contact with the children in recent weeks, wore broad smiles.

Each family was given about $260 along with food and blankets. The orphanage has also been providing counseling to the children, who they fear will feel rejected, and to parents about the dangers of child trafficking, Nielsen said. Source: Haiti parents take back kids given to missionaries, AP

In the days following the 8.8 earthquake, these Haitian parents were told by an influential local minister, who worked with the American Baptists to find children to take away, that fatal disease was imminent. He encouraged them to hand their children over to the Americans.

Laura Silsby, the Idaho group leader, now faces additional charges added by a judge last week.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said all(of the American missionaries) could still be called to trial, and last week levied a new charge against Silsby based on allegations she had tried to take a different group of children to the border days earlier.

He heard new testimony Wednesday from the police commissioner who arrested the group at the border crossing. Source

Parents expressed joy at being reunited with their children.

Florence Avrilier, 32, recovered an 8-year-old boy she had given away. She said she kept her 12-year-old daughter because the missionaries told her they only wanted children younger than 10.

"I'm very happy. I had no hope I would ever get my son back again. This has been a very heartbreaking time for me," she said, putting her arm around the boy. Source

I wonder if those missionaries, so desperate to help Haitian children, will still work with the established charities to do just that?