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Friday, January 29, 2010

Pray for Ronel

I have been following Debra's posts as her husband Ernest desperately tries to get their precious son Ronel out of Haiti. They are literally sleeping at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince as they wait for final clearance to leave the country.

He should have been home already - http://healing-haiti.blogspot.com/2010/01/broken-houses-broken-homes-and-broken.html.


Tonight I cried as I read the doctor's narration above of Ronel's heartbreak when, dressed up and ready to fly out with his friends to his waiting parents in the States, he instead was turned away.

He has already suffered so much in his short life - http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/are-you-willing-to-do-some-water-walking/.

I first heard Ronel's name through the Rescue Center blog on the entry above. Months later, I had the privilege of sitting beside our adoption coordinator very late into the night as she labored over his paperwork and specifically the determination of his age and birth date, which were unknown. She felt the weight of responsibility because she knew her decision would accompany him for the rest of his life. I would not have wished to be in her place.

He has a family that loves him, and he loves them - http://debraparker.typepad.com/just_one_girl/2010/01/can-we-go.html.

Meanwhile, rules are changing and "everybody contradicts everyone else" (quoting Ernest Parker's Twitter.) They have not been allowed to see the ambassador and "there are sick kids and pregnant women sleeping on cold tile floor ..." As a result of false accusations and pressure on the Haitian government from agencies such as UNICEF the door which was wide open for children to be reunited with their families is closing, resulting in heartbreaking stories like Ronel's.

Please pray for the Parker family and for Ronel.

2 comments:

Rebekah said...

Definitely praying. What a heartbreaking situation! Is there anything else I can do--write letters, make calls, etc.??

Anne said...

This is just sad Stephanie... thanks for getting me the reference to this story. Prayers are going out for their safe travels to the U.S. How humiliating to be treated in such a way.