May she get scurvy
Feb. 27th | Posted by Nicky
22 comments
Or at least, may Sue Hayhow, former Executive Director of Imagine Adoption, be brought to justice.
Babies were malnourished, children (including ours) got one meal a day for some time, Ethiopian staff families did without income and went hungry for months – all because of her incredibly selfish, ruthless, and maniacal decisions. What kind of twisted person? I ask you.
And the irony is, we think she is in Ethiopia living off those thousands of dollars stolen from the mouths of babes (literally) as the investigation continues.
AT LEAST scurvy.
Payments to a transition home in Ethiopia — where the Christian agency kept orphaned children in the last stages of the lengthy adoption process — had climbed to $70,000 a month by May 2009.
A year earlier, according to meeting minutes of Imagine’s board of directors, the annual cost at the same transition home was $25,000 — or just over $2,000 a month. [my note: they weren't getting this at the transition home, I can assure you.]
The accountant was concerned about $30,000 to $40,000 a month in agency credit card expenses. He asked for statements, but never received them.
Questionable items charged to the cards included trips to Disney World, New York City and Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka. Others were for jewelry and a horse… The couple earned a combined income of $320,000 a year — $180,000 for Susan and $140,000 for Rick.
Staff worried the waiting list for adoptions was too long and urged Susan Hayhow to stop taking on new clients.
…credit card statements suggested they were routinely used for personal expenses, including shopping at high-end clothing stores, restaurants, and spas, and extensive cosmetic dental work.
“I’m sure Paris Hilton’s credit card statement looks like that,” he said. “The expenses we saw, there’s no way you could justify them.”
Susan Hayhow told her in an email this month that she is travelling, doesn’t have a home address and can’t be easily reached. All future contact was directed to her lawyer.
Olaf Heinzel, a spokesperson for regional police, said investigators have heard she might be in Ethiopia, but haven’t been able to confirm it.
PS: If you are wondering, what the heck is this all about? Short summary: Sue Hayhow “allegedly” racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars and ripped off Imagine Adoption. After months of the Ethiopian side of the agency (which was trying to take care of the kids) not receiving any money, the agency went bankrupt in Canada. That same day – July 13, 2009 - we flew to Ethiopia to pick up our kids. I have never talked about this before on our blog, and one day, when I am not so angry, I will tell you what REALLY happened in Ethiopian during those crazy weeks. It was worse than we expected. I’ll just leave it at that.
PS2: If you want to vomit in your mouth (Jrock’s words, Gramma, not mine – ) watch this episode of 100 Huntley Street interviewing Sue.
At LEAST scurvy.
I am so glad that the girls are home with you… and yes.. perhaps a tad of scurvy..
Hi [Nicky],
I am looking forward to hearing you speak about what happen in the early days after the adoption. Ayden (5) now home almost 6 months sure says some bizarre things, would like to know if it actually happened? Email me privately if you want.
Thanks,
Carrie
I started watching the interview, but truly could not keeping watching. Part of me still can’t believe how another person could so “evil” or truly bad. I just don’t understand! I also don’t understand why she is still roaming free.
Sugar and Spice are so precious and I am so glad they are safe in your home
Mary
Hi Carrie – why don’t you email me your questions? And I’ll do my best…
Email me too, Nicky! I am anxious to know what awaits us when we pick up our daughter, as some of the same staff are still working there. I want to feel assured that she is going to be properly cared for, even with Sue gone.
And as for Sue, I hope I bump into her when I am there, so I can tear her a new one. I think I’ll have to hold my husband back if we see them, because her boyfriend will be wearing his ass as a hat when Dimitri is done with him.
Ugh, it’s hard to even think about what “worse than we expected” means. Thank goodness many of those children are now with loving parents. But I know things were bad for employees too; I hope they’re all doing okay.
Karen
Hi Claire – I think you can be rest assured, that with money coming in to take care of the children, the Ethiopian staff are doing a good job. don’t worry about that – the only reason the care was less than adequate was the less than adequate funds at the time.
Nicky
yup…throw up in your mouth is right! I can’t even…really, it is so disgustingly awful.
karma…that’s all I have to say. she’ll get hers’, not doubt about that.
As you know we were also caught up in all of that crap, and brought our son home in the week after the bankruptcy. Scurvy is not nearly enough punishment for what that horrid piece of flesh has done. I struggle to talk about it as well.
I want them to rot in hell. Period. Oh yes with scurvy, at the very very least.
And really I am not an angry person, but this sends me flying!!!
Thanks for sharing this. I am just stunned. That’s just sickening.
Jrock thinks she may have had a sense of entitlement – “I’ve done so many good things, I deserve a break…” and it just got way out of hand. I dunno. I guess we never will.
Disgusting… All I can say is Thank God that the children are home now with loving parents who look after them well everyday.
It’s just too hard to imagine why someone would do something like this and feel “entitled.” Awful… Yes… Scurvy at the very least…
Nicky,
Although I don’t know all the details of what happened before we arrived in Ethiopia, after watching the first 2 min. of the interview (all I could stomach), I have to agree with J. My heart bleeds for the staff in Ethiopia as much as the children and their new families. The love and care the Ethiopian people showed towards our children is evident is the amazing degree of trust (uneasy as it often is) that the girls demonstrate to their Mama and Ababa. God bless them for their attempts to do their best for the children when their own families were also facing want and fear.
Mum
I’m looking forward to seeing you soon!! xoxoxoxo (1 for each of you!)
I was thinking maybe flesh eating disease? Mmmm… That would be nice.
Something went horribly wrong here. I made two trips – one in late July to find out if my daughter had made it through court when there was no-one in Canada who could advise me of the outcome, and then another in September to bring her home. She’s been home nearly 5 months, and is turning 5 next month. Carrie – contact me privately if you like.
We too were caught up in the bankruptcy, and we’re so glad the agency is back on track. There’s a special place in hell for people like That Blonde Woman. Along with scurvy, I’d like to see her get a healthy dose of parasites – nasty ones.
Scurvy? You’re being a little nice. Caning would be more like it. Plus, she should live like the staff families in Ethiopia had to. On nothing. I doubt the justice system will ever be able to mete “justice” out to this woman. Masquerading as a Christian is just the cherry on top, giving all real Christians a black-eye.
Yup, I’d go with the caning. One smackola for every family she ripped off.
I do not wish her any physical harm, although I was not an Imagine client and did not experience or see first hand the suffering and pain that she has caused for so many. I would like to see her make another appearance on that show and explain her behavior and actions that followed that program and how she was serving God by stealing money from innocent families and children!!!
Nicky,
Scurvy is far too nice. I can’t watch the interview, and I wasn’t directly affected by this. I do remember reading your blog when you jumped on an airplane to get your girls and thinking ‘Another crazy person like me, I have, and would, do something like that in a heartbeat.”
I didn’t realize that Sue was at large in Ethiopia living off her stolen money. F***KING BI**H!! I’m so sorry. This past week has been so crappy that I am disheartened by what the human race does and I want to not leave my house.
I can’t believe people can be so cruel and heartless.I hope she get’s whats coming to her one way or another.
I’m so glad your girls made it home to you.
I still haven’t been able to process what is in the article. I have tried to think about it but all day today when I looked into the faces of my children who have told me how afraid they were when they were only getting one meal a day and when things started to get chaotic there, I feel literally sick. I don’t know what to say.