Jimmy Amisial was walking through Gonaives, Haiti on his way to a New Year’s party he was going to play in 2018, when he saw a large crowd and approached.
“When I got to the place where people were making noise, I saw a baby,” recalled Amisial, then 22. He was visiting his hometown during his school vacation in Texas. “It was in a pile of garbage crying, and there wasn’t a single soul that wanted to do something about it.”
While villagers were afraid to touch the baby because they feared the child was cursed or evil, Amisial said he picked him up nervously.
“He was undressed. There were fire ants crawling all over his body because he had been there for a few hours. When I picked him up, he immediately stopped crying.”
There, a bond was forged and now, more than four years later, Amisial is trying to make the bond official by formally adopting the boy he hasn’t let go of since that night.
“When I woke up that day, I didn’t know that my life would change forever,” Amisial told CNN .
temporary custody
The night she found the boy, Amisial took him to the house of his mother, Elicie Jean, who was shocked that her son had left for a party and returned with a 3-month-old baby.
“While cleaning him, we noticed he had some ant bites and an allergic reaction, so we used some lotion to help stop the pain,” Amisial said.
He called the police to report what he had found and kept the baby overnight while he investigated the case, as suggested by the authorities themselves, he added.
The next day, a judge showed up at his mother’s house to ask if he wanted temporary custody of the child, as no one had come forward to claim it.
“After he asked me that question, I had many sleepless nights. I tossed and turned, but my mom reminded me that things happen for a reason,” Amisial told CNN. “I always wanted to be a part of something big and for me, this was the moment.”
Tens of thousands raised for adoption
After the holidays, Amisial returned to Texas as required by her student visa program and left the child in her mother’s care while continuing to support them financially.
A year later, in 2019, Amisial decided to start the process to to adopt formally the child he had named Emilio Angel Jeremiah, but quickly encountered obstacles as the process turned out to be expensive.
“It wasn’t so easy,” Amisial said. “In Haiti, it’s hard to do government stuff. When I started the process everything seemed fine, but then they asked me for a lot of money, but I didn’t have the funds.”
Esther Chery, his lawyer in Haiti, told CNN who has been working with Amisial in the adoption process since 2019.
“What I do know for sure is that adoption is very expensive,” Chery pointed out.
All God’s Children International, an adoption agency, estimates that it costs more than $40,000 to adopt a child from Haiti without including airfare, lodging and other fees associated with the trip, according to its website.
So, in 2020, Amisial decided to take a break from college, where she was studying communication, to focus on work and save money to adopt Emilio and support her family in Haiti. He works as a part-time landscaper and is a delivery assistant.
On July 27, he created an online fundraiser to help raise the money to pay for Emilio’s adoption fees.
Amisial set a goal of $60,000 (approximately R$310,200) and as of Friday morning, he had raised over $79,000 (R$403,260).
“Love and light on your journey as a parent,” wished a $20 donor, adding a heart emoji.
Even though Amisial surpassed his goal, he told CNN who plans to use the extra money to fund Emilio’s education and support local orphanages in Haiti. He also dreams of starting his own non-profit organization to help orphans and families in need in his home country.
“He is such a joyful child”
Amisial said he uses FaceTime to communicate with Emilio several times a week and tries to visit him as often as possible, but unsafe conditions in Haiti last year made that difficult.
Describing Emilio, Amisial said the boy, now 4, is fun and has a great personality.
“He loves watching ‘Tom and Jerry’ and he loves playing guitar and singing. He is such a cheerful child and loves sports. He plays football and basketball.”
“My mom and I had an automatic connection with him. He calls me father. Even though I am his temporary guardian, I still consider myself his father.”
Amisial has a history of helping orphans in her country. he told the CNN who grew up volunteering at local orphanages in Haiti.
During that time, he learned English and volunteered on missions. He narrated to CNN who made several connections through his volunteer work and this helped him get accepted to Texas State University.
As a teenager, Amisial created bracelets out of recycled bags of Doritos and sold them to raise money for her education and to help orphanage children celebrate their birthdays.
Amisial is now 27 years old and is determined to finalize Emilio’s adoption process. He then plans to go back to college and finish his studies. “I want him to be happy. I want to teach him to love and I want him to know that even though he has been left alone, he is not alone.”
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
