Updated 01/15/2010 06:01 AM
Cicero family fears for adoptive Haitian children
To add to their family of four, Julie and Paul Rumo, of Cicero, are in the process of adopting three boys from a Haitian orphanage. The Rumos have learned the two four-year-olds and one three-year-old are alive and safe. But as our Kat De Maria tells us, the family's journey continues.
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CICERO, N.Y. -- As soon as Julie and Paul Rumo saw a picture of MacKenzie, MacKenson and MacKenley, the couple knew they had found their new children. Tuesday, nearly a year-and-a-half later, the Rumos thought they'd lost them.
The information came in an e-mail from the church.
"It said 'Please pray for the Rumo family who are trying to adopt three boys from Haiti and Haiti just experienced a 7.0 earthquake,'" Paul Rumo said.
Julie and Paul rushed to their TV.
"I don't think I've ever experienced that kind of sheer angst, that pain, ever before," Julie Rumo said.
Several hours and an eternity later, a second e-mail came. MacKenzie, MacKenson and MacKenley were safe.
"It was a sense of relief. We both felt relieved," Paul Rumo said.
"I could breathe again. I could think again. I could focus again," Julie Rumo said.
What Julie and Paul ended up focusing on, though, didn't bring them comfort but, instead, more concern.
"They get their food from Port-Au-Prince. Well, the food isn't coming. They don't eat well now. How are they going to eat two, three, four days down the road?" Paul Rumo said.
"They get very little medical care, very poor nutrition. One illness could take any of the kids," Julie Rumo said.
With the boys' and thousands of other kids' adoption paperwork possibly buried in rubble, Julie and Paul say they hope the Haitian and American governments will do what they can to unite children and their parents.
"Sign the stuff off and get those kids out because there are probably going to be thousands and thousands more orphans now," Paul Rumo said.
Meanwhile, the Rumos say they're doing what they can to help the Haitians. And they're urging others to do the same.
"They're a beautiful people. And there's a great need. And we have so much. So much," Julie Rumo said.
The only things Julie and Paul Rumo don't have right now are their children: MacKenzie, MacKenson and MacKenley.
The Rumos have a web site that details their adoption journey and also lists ways people can contribute to the relief effort in Haiti: www.rumofamily.com.