Helping bring smiles to faces of Haitian kids
March 4th, 2010A rural Gaylord pilot helped bring smiles to the faces of six Haiti youngsters last week.
Alex White flew six Haitian orphans, ages 1-5, and three American women out of the earthquake-devastated country. They landed at Miami International Airport on Wednesday.
The six orphans made national news after Haitian authorities seized them out of fear that they were being kidnapped.
On Saturday, February 20th, a group of 20 men confronted the women accompanying the orphans at the airport. According to reports, the U.S. Embassy official carrying the documents needed to take the orphans through immigration had been running late.
The women were briefly detained as Police suspected that a permission document signed by Haiti’s prime minister was a fake. Police did not arrest the women but temporarily placed the children under government custody at a local orphanage.
Minnesota woman Sarah Thacker, who is adopting one of the six children, said the paperwork was not fake. It was reported that the women had been given permission to take the children to the United States.
Thacker and the efforts of the other women were supported by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. According to Klobuchar, all the paperwork had been filled out and its a legitimate orphanage that has brought the children to America.
The U.S. ambassador and Haiti’s prime minister cleared up the misunderstanding Tuesday and the children were handed over to the Embassy.
Concerns of Haitian children being removed from the country illegally came to the foreground after an earthquake devastated the country on January 12th. Authorities fear that children leaving on their own – because their parents died or were separated from them – would be targeted by child traffickers.
White is a chief pilot for Downs Foods, a poultry processing plant in Mankato. The company has offered up its private jet for trips to Haiti.
Along with his co-pilot, White flew Downs Foods’ corporate jet from Miami to Haiti in late January. Passengers on that trip included two doctors, two nurses and an Army medic, according to White.
White has made a total of three trips to Haiti. He reported that there may be additional trips to Haiti this week.
On his initial trip to Haiti, White said he was amazed at the chaos. He said the situation reminded him of the aftermath following Hurricane Katrina which devastated the Gulf Coast five years ago. According to White, there appeared to be a lack of cooperation between the United Nations and the Haiti organizations.
White is a 1991 graduate of Minnesota State University’s aviation program. He has been a pilot for Downs Foods for eleven years and is responsible for flying company executives between various company offices.
Similar Articles:
