A New Life in Cicero For Haitian Brothers

Three brothers, Mackenson, MacKenzie and MacKenley Nerilus have been adopted by a Cicero family. Three years ago the brother's home was destroyed by a hurricane in Haiti and their mother turned to an orphanage in Port-au-Prince to care for her sons. Paul and Julie Rumo of Cicero saw the brothers for the first time last year. Paul Rumo said that the orphanage was planning on separating the three brothers but they decided to keep the brothers together.

What's next for these children? Julie Rumo says, "a little bit at a time we just let them go out into the community to see what's out there." The Rumo's also have two biological children who are welcoming their new brothers into their family. Emily Rumo, their sixteen year old sister said how they all love to play together. "Sledding and running around this loop right here is our daily thing. They just love to chase. They play hide and seek and they just run and run and run."

According to the Haiti Adoption, new adoption applications are not being processed. They also report, "in 2008, U.S. citizens adopted approximately 301 children from Haiti."

For more information on the adoption process you can visit Haiti Adoption.

Picture by Gary Walts / The Post-Standard