Michael Lucien can go home to Haiti.
The news came Wednesday that the 2-year-old boy’s parents and siblings are alive and well on the island nation, said Nancy Ike of Dunwoody. Her family has been keeping Michael since last April.
Childspring International, a Christian charity that brings ailing children to the United States for medical treatment, flew Michael to Atlanta for major intestinal surgery. Because of complications, the surgery didn’t occur until August.
The tot would have returned this spring to his family in Haiti, but the earthquake put those plans on hold.
In the chaos, Childspring lost communication with Michael’s parents, Linz Lucien, a builder, and Eve Delone, a student. They have two other children, Bertini, 9, and Lory, 5.
Nobody knew if they were dead or injured, said Ike, a pediatric nurse.
The Ike family – Nancy, husband Steve, and teenage daughters Amelia and Greyson – didn’t know what would happen next. They left search efforts to Childspring, since the charity’s protocol calls for a host family to have no direct communications with a child’s family. The Ikes didn't know the language either.
Claire Holley, whose family is co-hosting Michael, contacted one of her local acquaintances of Haitian descent, who in turn called an uncle on the island, Ike said. The uncle searched Michael’s family’s address near Port-au-Prince and found nothing, Ike said.
Then Holley provided the uncle with a cell phone number for the family from the Childspring application. Michael’s father answered the call.
“They’re either staying with extended family or friends until they get their house repaired,” Ike said. “They’ve got some cracks in the wall. They were ecstatic Michael is well. They asked if we could keep him a little longer while they get back on their feet.”
That could be several months. Michael’s visa runs out April 1 and will have to be extended. When the boy does return, his family will be waiting.
“This was our wish and our prayer,” Ike said.
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