Two years after joining their new Canadian family, two young survivors of the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake are adapting to life in Moncton, N.B.
Gerry and Melissa Naugler were in the process of adopting Dakencia and her little brother Dieulando from a Haitian orphanage when tragedy struck on Jan.12, 2010.
At first, the Nauglers had no idea if the children had survived the 7.0-magnitude quake that destroyed much of the impoverished island nation.
They did -- and they were unharmed. The siblings' orphanage was reduced to rubble, but they managed to escape, camping out in a soccer field with other survivors.
Two weeks later, the kids were airlifted out of Haiti and taken to their new Canadian home. They joined the Nauglers' two other children, Noah and Jerrica.
"It's going great. Sometimes we have a rough spot but we get over it," Dakencia, now 12, said in an interview with 麻豆影视 this week, ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the disaster.
Raising two children from Haiti in an already established family has been a "learning experience," Gerry Naugler said.
Dakencia "came as an older child, so we had to learn her personality, learn how to parent her, help her cope at school," Naugler said.
Dakencia enjoys video games while Dieulando, 6, likes shooting hoops with his big brother Noah. Both are doing well in school.
The Nauglers maintain contact with the kids' biological mother in Haiti. They've sent the woman letters and Mother's Day cards and Dakencia has been able to speak to her mom on the phone.
In the weeks following the earthquake, dozens of Haitian children were flown to Canada to join adoptive families. More than 300,000 people were killed in the quake and many more remain displaced as the Caribbean country struggles to rebuild with help from foreign aid.
For Dakencia, the last two years have been full of new experiences. Playing in snow has been especially fun, she said.
"I think it's amazing," she said. "I've never seen snow before. I like it."
With a report from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
