Only two of Canadian Bonnie Cappuccino’s 21 children are her biological offspring. The remaining 19 have all been adopted by her from six different countries.
Married to Fred Cappuccino in Canada for 49 years, one of Bonnie’s 19 adopted children is a war baby from Bangladesh whose biological mother was raped during the 1971 Liberation War.
But the 80-year-old woman strongly reacted yesterday when someone referred to them as adopted. Yesterday, she attended as an invited guest at a programme of the Liberation War Museum in the capital’s Shegun Bagicha.
The extraordinary couple first learned about the war in Bangladesh in 1971. In June next year, they applied to the government of independent Bangladesh offering to facilitate the adoption of war babies.
The couple who represent a philanthropic organisation named “Families for Children” themselves adopted a baby girl named Shikha who was only four-months old at that time.
“She [Shikha] is now living happily with her husband and two daughters in Canada,” the mother said.
The government approved the adoption of 15 war babies. On July 20, 1972, the babies were sent to Canada. Of them, 12 were born at Mother Teresa’s home in Dhaka and the other three were brought from another home run by the government.
That was the first time Air India carried so many little passengers on a single flight without parents. The airlines company made special arrangements for taking care of the kids on the aircraft.
Asked how those 15 war babies are right now, she said: “They all are now living happily with their families and kids. I know that much...I do not have close connections with them now. We did not want to interfere with their lives.
“The situation was very miserable at that time. Many women and war babies had lived unfed and without medical care.”
Asked if she saw any difference after 42 years, she said: “The socio-economic condition of Bangladesh has gone through drastic changes. Bangladesh is heading towards a developed future.”
Despite frail health, the Canadian couple has been unrelenting in their mission to take care of poor children in four countries – India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Tibet.
The pair, who founded the Child Haven International in Toronto, Canada in 1985, has established nine homes – six in India and one in each of the other three countries – and one training centre for women in Ghaziabad near New Delhi. The one in Bangladesh is in Chittagong.
They are currently taking care of around 1,300 children and 300 women, for whom they provide care and vocational training. Children in their homes are educated up to the 1oth grade. If anyone of them are interested in pursuing college or university education, the Cappuccinos find them sponsors.
Mofidul Haque, trustee of the museum, yesterday handed over the adoption papers of the war babies to Bonnie.
He also urged the government to allot land for Bonnie’s children’s home in Chittagong.
