Former Heat superstar Alonzo Mourning teamed with Philadelphia 76ers center and Haitian native Samuel Dalembert to make a special delivery at Miami International Airport last night.
Their precious cargo: a 7-year-old orphan named Evan.
Evan was in the process of being adopted by a family in Phoenix when last week's earthquake hit.
In Haiti as part of the Project MediShare relief group, the athletes were instrumental in speeding that process up.
"It's been four years in the making," said Evan's new father, Justin, who greeted the group at the airport. "I still can't believe he is here. If he wasn't standing in front of me, I still wouldn't believe it myself."
Also on board the flight was 3-year-old orphan Emma, accompanied to the United States by an orphanage worker in Haiti. She is being flown to Washington, where she too, will meet with a family who has been trying to adopt her for years.
Currently, the United States is only allowing children with valid adoption papers or who are in the process of being adopted by U.S. families to enter the United States. Several such orphans have already been flown into South Florida to unite with their adoptive families, and several more are expected.
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Dalembert, the only Haitian born player in the NBA, said he thinks all Haitian orphans should be brought to the U.S., regardless of their official adoption status.
"They need to overwrite everything and put those kids on a plane and bring them here as soon as possible," Dalembert said.
Mourning said Evan is lucky to have a U.S. family adopting him, but that there are several of kids that are in need of a home.
"There's thousands and thousands of kids out there, many of which I saw today at the orphanage, that are in dire need of a home," said Mourning. "Deplorable conditions that they do live in, and it's truly unfortunate."
