I would give away my son again, says father of abducted child

posted on: Feb 8 2010 8:59 by Royston. Viewed 71 times.


"I would give my son away again, Ansitho deserves a better life than us," Anchello Cantave, a farmer from Callebasse, East of Port au Prince, said as he spoke about his 5 year old son allegedly abducted along with 32 others, by the 10 Americans from the Baptist mission based in Idaho.

Buried in debris and misfortune, Callebasse residents were visited by the missionaries two days after the earthquake on Jan. 12. About 50 homes had collapsed in this mountain village and Cantave says that most parents agreed with the suggestion that the Americans should take some of their children for a better life in another country.

Cantave, 36, is convinced of the goodwill of the 10 Americans imprisoned in Haiti for a week and charged with "kidnapping of minors and criminal association" after having been arrested on 29 January with 33 children on the border with Dominican Republic without necessary permits.

"The Americans took the kids with the agreement of us parents," repeated Fritzian Valmont, father of three girls 11, 8 and 2 years old. He agreed to the proposal after discussing it with his wife.

We sent our little Alentina together with my sister's two sons: Carl Ramirez and Dawin Stanley, all eight years old," Valmont said.

"If the Americans had brought a big bus that might have carried more children, many more would have gone," declared Valmont, with no sign of missing Alentina, but with the pride of any parent who believes he did something for the sake of a daughter.

Many parents told a similar story. “I sent away my daughter because I had nothing to give her,” said Beline Chewi about his 2 year old daughter, Benjamina.

Ansitho’s mother says she talked to her son and the older children and they said they would like to go to the school in the Dominican Republic, She confessed she is missing her son, adding that, like everyone else, they received nothing in return. "If Ansitho wants to come back, I will welcome him, but perhaps it is not the best for him," said Muran, his mother.

"If, after the trial, the Americans can start again with the kids, I will agree," said Cantave, who is thinking of visiting his son this week in SOS Children’s Villages (Aldeas Infantiles), the charity which is caring for the 33 children aged between two months and 12 years.

The organization was not available to confirm the identities of the children when contacted.

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