Bea Garnier-Merz offers members of the Bundeswehr and their families advice and support in social matters. But when the lights go out in your office, your social commitment doesn't fall by the wayside. Because then the employee of the social service of the Bundeswehr in Koblenz gets involved in the association “Help a child eV” registered association ”. This association offers help with adoptions abroad.
Still a little tired from the exhausting journey, Bea Garnier-Merz and her colleague Angela Gönemann review the past few days. The two employees of the social services of the Bundeswehr covered around 17,000 kilometers by air in a short time. The reason: They brought ten children between the ages of three and seven from Haiti to Germany to hand over to new adoptive parents. Both women are involved in the adoption agency “Help a child eV”registered association"
Despite the corona pandemic, the flight to Haiti could be carried out. Without further ado, the association chartered an aircraft with pilots and flight attendants. The machine was on the road for almost three days. Started in Brussels, spent the night in Guadeloupe, then on to Port-au- Prince. A three-hour stay and then back again. Cost: around 100,000 euros. The new parents paid a large part. The remaining amount has been donated for this purpose. “It is an enormous effort, but when we look into the happy faces of the children when we hand them over to the new mums and dads, then that makes up for everything,” says Garnier-Merz.
There was a lot going on on the return flight: excitement and anticipation for what lies ahead.
Many of the children have never seen a plane in their lives, let alone sat in one ",
