In general, it was difficult getting the Springs adoptive parents of Haitian orphans to speak about their experiences one year after the Haiti earthquake.

Fifteen Springs families adopted Haitian orphans following the earthquake last Jan. 12. My Sunday story in the Colorado Springs Gazette describes the lives of some of the families one year later. The story will be up at www.gazette.com this afternoon.

The Karr family at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel Wednesday, one year after the Haiti earthquake.

Most of the parents’ stories are positive, though some children have shown trauma as well as attachment and education issues.

Some of the families  didn’t want to talk to me  because of the push back they got from a few fringe critics in the community last year . Critics said the families were seeking publicity. Three families backed out of  Gazette photo shoots because they didn’t want the criticism they felt would come with it. 

Mark and Jodie Eyberg adopted Esther, 10, and Zoe, 6, from Haiti. The Eybergs have been challenged emotionally and financially. Mark Eyberg remains without steady work after being laid off from Focus on the Family last summer. If not for the generosity of family and friends, the Eyberg children, who include one biological child age 6, would have received few Christmas gifts.

But the Eybergs told me they would do nothing differently regarding the adoptions. “Each day God uses the girls to refine my character, and sometimes that is extremely painful,” Jodie Eyberg said in an email. “But it is a good thing. God has used this time (through the adoption process and Mark’s unemployment) to draw us closer to Himself and to teach so many lessons: reliance upon Him, deeper compassion and love, and ability to ask for and accept help.”

The Karr family adopted Christela, 3, and Aliya, 4. Last Wednesday, the children were dedicated to God at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel in Colorado Springs. The Karrs also have two biological children, as well.

Like the Eybergs, the Karrs are enjoying raising the girls. “In the beginning they were very clinging to me,” said Tana Karr, “but they’ve been getting more independent.”

Both girls have their own rooms, a far cry from their lives at the bare-bones Haitian orphanage where they’ve spent most of their lives.

I thank Compassion International photographer Craig Coupland for the above photo of the Karr family.