Three siblings from Ethiopia have been reunited in Canada thanks to the efforts of their adoptive parents and an outpouring of support from a Saskatchewan town. Four years ago Ryan Killoh and Treena Constantinoff of Warman, Sask., adopted a brother and sister, Tseganesh and Misgana, from the impoverished African nation only to learn that a second brother had been left behind.
Tseganesh, who was five years old upon her arrival and spoke little English, "was trying tell us about someone named Tesute," said Constantinoff. "It took about six months for us to figure out that she was talking about an older brother that was still in Ethiopia." "I said to Ryan, ‘I'm going to fly to Ethiopia to see if I can find him,'" she told CTV News Saskatoon.
Constantinoff contacted the orphanage in Ethiopia, which led to the village where Tesute lived with his grandmother. "A little brown face peeked out of the hut and somebody said, ‘That's him' -- and he came over and he came right into my arms and it was a big celebration," she recalled. "At that point I thought, he's beautiful, he's so beautiful, and now what am I going to do? And Ryan said, ‘Bring him home.'"
Residents of Warman, a large town north of Saskatoon, rallied around the cause, mounting two fundraising campaigns so that the young boy could also be adopted. Posters asking for support covered shop windows and donations poured in -- another couple whom Killoh and Constantinoff had never even met paid for the airfare -- leading to a tearful reunion at the Saskatoon airport on Feb. 24.
"I didn't want to let him go and I never thought I'd see him again," said Tseganesh.
With a report by CTV Saskatoon's Tara Yolan
Tseganesh, who was five years old upon her arrival and spoke little English, "was trying tell us about someone named Tesute," said Constantinoff. "It took about six months for us to figure out that she was talking about an older brother that was still in Ethiopia." "I said to Ryan, ‘I'm going to fly to Ethiopia to see if I can find him,'" she told CTV News Saskatoon.
Constantinoff contacted the orphanage in Ethiopia, which led to the village where Tesute lived with his grandmother. "A little brown face peeked out of the hut and somebody said, ‘That's him' -- and he came over and he came right into my arms and it was a big celebration," she recalled. "At that point I thought, he's beautiful, he's so beautiful, and now what am I going to do? And Ryan said, ‘Bring him home.'"
Residents of Warman, a large town north of Saskatoon, rallied around the cause, mounting two fundraising campaigns so that the young boy could also be adopted. Posters asking for support covered shop windows and donations poured in -- another couple whom Killoh and Constantinoff had never even met paid for the airfare -- leading to a tearful reunion at the Saskatoon airport on Feb. 24.
"I didn't want to let him go and I never thought I'd see him again," said Tseganesh.
With a report by CTV Saskatoon's Tara Yolan
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