Hundreds of Americans live in Haiti amid the violence. An Indiana couple is desperately trying to get the two teenagers they adopted out

(CNN) — It’s been more than a week since Missy and John Tennant spoke with the two teenage boys in Haiti they recently adopted.

The boys, ages 13 and 15, are stranded in the Caribbean country, hiding with other children inside an orphanage plagued by gang violence, Missy Tennant told CNN. They are scared, and when they hear gunshots, they take cover under their beds, she said.

“They don’t understand why they can’t go home,” he said. “They are very afraid.” But they kept their faith and “believe in God, who will protect them,” the woman added.

The Tennants are among many Americans working to evacuate loved ones in Haiti amid rampant gang violence, political instability and a growing humanitarian crisis.

Many other American citizens in the country hope to leave, with the help of the US government or independent rescue efforts, usually led by volunteers, as the situation worsens. More than 30 U.S. citizens were on a State Department charter flight that landed in Miami on Sunday, and about 1,000 Americans in Haiti have contacted the U.S. government, a State Department deputy spokeswoman told CNN Tuesday morning. Vedant Patel of the State Department.

This Tuesday, Haitian airline Sunrise Airways announced which will operate special flights between Cap-Haitien, a city on the northern coast of Haiti, and Miami on March 25. The airline told CNN on March 1 that it had suspended “all flights” for safety reasons.

Evacuation efforts offer only a small glimpse of the fear and chaos that many people are desperate to escape, or to save family members. And most Haitians have no choice but to leave.

The crisis in Haiti intensified earlier this month when criminal gangs and militias began wreaking coordinated havoc, security sources said, emptying once-bustling streets and leaving necessities like food, medicine and gas in short supply.

The airport, more than 160 kilometers from the capital, Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien, is closed and surrounded by gangs battling police in the area. According to UN estimates, gangs control 80% of Port-au-Prince.

Back in Indiana, the tenants are eager to bring their two children home.

They met the boys a few years ago, Missy Tennant said, shortly after starting the adoption process in 2018. Since then, they have developed a strong relationship. Teenagers call them “mom and dad,” she said. He added that the tenants were transporting the children’s dogs from Haiti to the U.S. in anticipation of the teenagers’ arrival. had brought

The adoption process was finalized last year, but the remaining legal documents and travel documents took time to process, especially because of the ongoing violence in Haiti, Missy Tennant said. And just when the couple thought the teenagers were close to finally making the trip to the US, the deteriorating situation in the country stopped everything.

Missy Tennant said the two children still have the documents they need to get to the US, but amid the violence and chaos, it seems “virtually impossible” to get them.

“We need to have our documents so we can take action and get the kids out. That’s what a lot of parents are struggling with right now,” she said.

‘It feels like we’re sinking in quicksand,’ says a stranded American

As the crisis continues, about 1,000 Americans have completed an “emergency intake form,” which helps the State Department track Americans and ensure information about immigration and consular services reaches them, said Patel, a deputy spokeswoman for the department.

That number includes people who want to leave Haiti, but others who “may be interested in getting in touch with the embassy” and seeking more information, including exit opportunities, Patel said.

U.S. “Continuously looking at what options are available” in light of limited trade options, Patel said, but did not discuss any concrete plans for another airlift.

Patel said in earlier statements on Monday that the situation in Haiti is now “one of the most dire humanitarian situations in the world.”

Among those still trapped are missionary Jill Dolan and her family, who are stranded in Port-au-Prince. They are holed up in a guest house near the shuttered airport, CNN affiliate WPTV reported.

The family continues to provide online updates through their nonprofit, Love a Neighbor, which oversees orphanages and family preservation projects in rural Haiti.

“Looks like we’re sinking in quicksand,” Dolan’s organization wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. “Still, we’re grateful to be alive.”

Project Dynamo, a veteran-led nonprofit search, rescue and relief group in Tampa, Florida, is also planning to evacuate Americans from Haiti. It says it has received more than 100 ransom requests.

“It’s very difficult,” co-founder and CEO Brian Stern told CNN in a video interview Monday. The group focuses on Americans stranded in remote areas where no other rescue resources exist. It often means that multiple modes of transportation are required to complete the migration. “We’re working day and night,” Stern said.

Some have been kicked out. Many cannot leave

Stern was in the neighboring Dominican Republic during her interview with CNN on Monday, along with Florida residents Miriam Cinotti and Lynette Joseph, who were in Haiti for mission work and were flown out by the nonprofit on Sunday.

“We took a plane, a boat and a bus,” Stern said, describing the rescue operation. “And we got to walk a little on the beach.”

“It’s hard, it’s complicated, and it’s even more complicated without any help,” he said, adding that the group relies solely on donations to fund its mission.

Both Cinotti and Joseph said they were relieved to be pulled out, but worried about others, including Dolan, caught in the middle of the violence.

“We’re here, and we’re safe,” Cinotti said. “But in this place, it’s like, you know, they have to be the first to come. Those are the things that go through your head.”

Boyce Young, a 75-year-old former Marine from Georgia who arrived in Haiti in mid-February to do relief work, was trapped with another American until Monday afternoon when he managed to escape, his daughter told CNN. Kim Patterson said.

The couple found a boat that took them along the coast to the border with the Dominican Republic. They landed on the Haitian side, got their passports stamped, crossed the border and traveled six hours to the capital, Santo Domingo, where they stayed Tuesday morning, Patterson said.

While some Americans have managed to escape, many locals must navigate daily life with dangers that often lurk around almost every corner. CNN spoke with a local aid organization who shared what the violent crisis has done to their work.

Friends of the Children of Haiti was founded in 1992 by an American couple and has often had to work under challenging conditions. But in recent months, the situation has worsened and at least one critical drug in the institution has completely run out, the group said.

Andre Boyer begins and ends his day at the Friends of the Children of Haiti clinic in Jacmel, about four hours outside Port-au-Prince, where he sleeps at night and works during the day caring for patients in dire need. Medical assistance.. She oversees the organization’s Vital Health Clinics and weekly Urgent Care, which provide free medicine to Haitians from children to the elderly.

That mission has become a balancing act as supplies have dwindled dramatically, leaving the most vulnerable Haitians without the life-saving drugs they desperately need.

One drug in particular, Medica Mamba, known as “Peanut Butter Medicine,” is used to treat malnutrition in children from infancy to age 3, but the organization is completely out of it and without much use, Nathan said. Ruby, its CEO, to CNN.

“That’s the closest thing to a miracle I’ve ever seen in Ruby,” Ruby said. “This can lead to a 2-year-old child going through starvation and literally grabbing these babies and returning them to a healthy physical body.”

“We’re out and we can’t get more,” he said, adding that for those who need it, “it becomes a life or death situation because these children are so severely malnourished.”

— CNN’s Kylie Atwood, Colin McCollough, Jennifer Hauser, Michael Conte and David Williams contributed to this report.