One Million Orphans in Haiti

The first orphans evacuated from Haiti in the wake of its devastating earthquake are arriving in the U.S. Aid groups say as many as 1,000,000 have been left without one or both parents after the disaster, and 53 orphans arrived in Pittsburgh today. Those children’s parents had already died; their orphanage collapsed in the quake. Some fear kids will be shipped overseas without proper checks that their extended family members are still alive due to the chaos on the island. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the paperwork of 900 children whose adoptions were almost complete would be expedited. And Haitian orphans will be allowed into the U.S. temporarily to receive care. There were already about 360,000 orphans on the island before the disaster. The total death toll is estimated to be 200,000, with 1.5 million people left homeless.