I want to tell you about Henry, a sweet 11 year old boy who is at the LiShui orphanage in Zhejiang where LWB does Orphanage Assistance projects and where two of my adopted daughters lived. He is currently on the shared list and needs a family of his own! His special need is a mild problem in his lower left limb. He is active, friendly and has a ready smile. He has normal intellectual development, has a good ability to care for himself and knows how to get along with other children and caretakers.

You can see that Henry is just like so many kids his age in China (and around the world) in that he likes to make the peace sign as he’s getting his picture taken!

The nannies report that Henry is very kind-hearted and helpful to both them and the other children. Younger kids like to listen to him. He pushes the wheelchairs of the special needs kids when they want to wash hands, and he peels the cover of sweets and helps feed it to children whose fingers are not flexible. Although reading and studying aren’t his favorite activities, he does enjoy hard work and often helps the nannies and teachers do some cleaning.

Please feel free to pass along this information! I really hope Henry will have a family soon!

Suzanne Damstedt is the Orphanage Assistance Director for Love Without Boundaries. She lives in Washington State with her husband, Darrell. They have 8 children: 6 bio kids and two daughters adopted from Shantou, Guangdong Province and Lishui, Zhejiang Province.

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Male, 23 months, heart disease. This may be the only information about Judah that prospective adoptive parents get to see. I wish it weren’t this way– I wish they could come and meet him. If they did, they would see immediately that Judah is a special little boy. When I first arrived at the foster home, he was the first child I got to hold. I still remember walking into the room– Judah let out a squeal of joy and scooted over to me as quickly as he could. Even on that first day we met, he had already secured a special place in my heart. There is something about him that draws people in.

Besides being absolutely adorable, Judah has a quiet strength and a deep, deep joy. When you hold him, you can sometimes feel that odd flutter from his chest, and you remember that he’s a sick little boy. But then you see in his eyes an intense determination as he pulls himself up to stand…and you see the grin spread across his face when he succeeds, and that’s when you know for sure that Judah is a fighter– a strong little boy who brings hope and joy to everyone he meets.

He is loved dearly by every person here in our foster home, but what Judah really needs is a family of his own. He needs a mother and a father who will be his biggest supporters as he walks down this road to healing; parents who will hold him when he’s out of breath and cheer him on when he gets back up. Judah is a 23-month old boy with heart disease, and he’s my hero– could you be his?

Our guest blogger today is Jess, an intern at New Day Foster Home in China.

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Diana is a darling girl who has certainly been through a lot in her little life. She was brought to the attention of Love Without Boundaries in March this year when she was brought to our Anhui Cleft Healing Home. Diana was so tiny, weighing a mere 2kg! In addition to having a cleft lip and palate, she was thought to have been born prematurely.

After spending a short time in the Healing Home, Diana took a turn for the worse and had to be transferred to Anhui Children’s Hospital. She was very sick indeed and spent around a month in hospital before she was finally discharged in April.

Soon upon her return to our Anhui Cleft Healing Home, she was grabbing the nannies’ attention. Diana LOVES attention, and while she is happy to be placed down in a bouncy chair, she soon shows her disapproval if the nanny does not focus her attention on her. By June, Diana was easily recognising her main caregiver. If she saw her caregiver in the room, she would start to make noise to attract her attention and her eyes would follow the nanny everywhere.

As we moved into July, Diana was making great progress and ready for surgery on her cleft lip and palate. Now that she’s had her surgery, she will ready to move to foster care in the coming month. To enable Diana to move to a loving foster family as early as possible, we need to ensure she has at least two sponsors. Each sponsor will receive monthly reports and photos so they can watch her settle and grow in her new family. Sponsorships cost $35 a month, but we are also grateful to accept donations of any size for Diana for the start up costs associated with moving her to foster care. We will need to ensure she has a crib, new clothes, bedding etc., so donations of any size would be most appreciated and can be made directly on Diana’s sponsor page. Any support for darling Diana is appreciated!

Delightful
Adorable
Very sweet
Independent
Docile

David is a sweet boy with a sweet tooth!  His foster mother reports that he just loves candy.  But he’s also sweet-hearted enough to share candy with his friends (much to the delight of his proud foster mother).

David is a playful seven-year-old who likes to play hide and go seek with friends and pick flowers outside.   His mild demeanor shows in his face, but don’t let him fool you…he is full of little boy busy-ness!  In fact, in the photo above, you can see the stitches he got on his head after he took a tumble while playing with a friend…how typical of a seven-year old boy!

Although it takes him awhile to warm up, it’s worth it when you finally get a smile (which we struggle to catch on camera!) or when you convince him to sing you a song that he learned at school.

In 2007, Love Without Boundaries was able to provide David with heart surgery. Following his surgery, we were fortunate to place him in our Fuyang Foster Care program, where he currently lives. Now that he is available for adoption, we hope that he will bring his sweetness to a family soon.

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

It was on a recent trip to China in June that I first learned about a beautiful and very memorable little seven-year-old girl named Lily. Lily attends LWB’s Believe in Me School in Shantou. And, let me just say that she left quite an impression on all of us in the most delightful way! We were given a very warm welcome by the students upon arrival and were then invited to be seated for a special performance by the children. Cute little Lily walked right on stage and proceeded to welcome us to her school with an eloquent speech she had memorized in ENGLISH!

If that was not enough to “WOW” us, she then sang a song for us in English. It is one of my all time favorites, “You Are My Sunshine”! The day we visited she wore a pink princess dress. As we visited with staff, she sat in her chair like a dainty princess with her hands crossed in her lap. She is so smart and polite!

Lily’s special need is cornea issues. We took the older children to lunch and watched as Lily ate by herself and grabbed her coconut milk glass by herself despite her vision issues. We noticed she has two close friends at the orphanage and together, the three of them are affectionately referred to as “The 3 Musketeers”!

This lovely child has a beautiful spirit about her and touched all of our hearts. Lily needs a forever family to call her own and we would love to help make that happen. If you or someone you know would like to learn more about Lily, please contact Meg Gallson at adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com for more information and your local adoption agency.

Paige Mills-Haag is LWB’s Director of Operations.

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Aiden from Kaifeng, Henan Province, just turned eight. While he is a little shy, you wouldn’t guess it from his grin!   He’s currently a student in LWB’s Kaifeng Education program where he receives tutoring. Every day before class, he helps the teacher move the table and carry the chairs.  He also likes to help his fellow students. He helps pick up books off the ground, helps other children move their chairs and loves to help his fellow student, Grace, learn her numbers.

He can recite about five pieces of poetry such as “Early Spring” and “The Goose”.  Aiden’s recent big accomplishment is to start reading the time on the clock.  He likes to draw and can count from 1 to 100, as well as doing single digit addition and subtraction.

Aiden knows the four directions correctly.   He is respectful to his teacher and always eager to learn new things.   We look forward to getting his reports each month since we always get a big, sweet smile in his photos.

Doesn’t he look proud of his accomplishments? All he needs now is a family to share in his pride! Aiden is currently living in our Kaifeng foster care program and is on the shared list in China’s Waiting Child program with a special need of Dwarfism. Please contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com for more information!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Cody arrived at our Anhui Cleft Healing Home (ACHH) at just six weeks of age.  He was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate and came to ACHH to receive individual care so that he would be ready for cleft lip surgery in a few months.  However, when he arrived he was pale, not very responsive, and appeared very weak with fever and diarrhea.  Quite concerned for little Cody, our staff brought him to have a medical evaluation the very next day.  At that examination, the doctor felt that Cody may actually have been born prematurely and showed signs of serious malnutrition.  Cody was admitted directly to the newborn baby floor for medication to treat the diarrhea and fevers and for nutrition support.  However, that was just the beginning.

The following day we received a medical update on Cody.  Indeed, he had severe malnutrition and needed immediate medication to prevent enteric necrosis.  His fevers seemed to be due to a lung infection, possibly pneumonia.  A few days later, we learned that Cody also had blood poisoning and anemia.  All this ravaging a little six-week-old baby’s body!  But we could see in each new photo that his color was noticeably better and tha he looked much more comfortable due to the excellent treatment he was receiving.

On July 9, 15 days after his admission to the hospital, Cody was discharged back to ACHH into the arms of our dedicated nannies.

We are so grateful to have been given the chance to help baby Cody by providing his life-saving intervention.  Cody’s total medical costs are approximately $2000.  Cody’s hospital sponsors will be provided with monthly updates while he is residing at ACHH and then periodically for one year after his surgery and graduation from our Healing Home.  Donations of all sizes can collectively cover all Cody’s hospital and medication costs and can be made on Cody’s sponsor page on the main LWB website.  Will you be a sponsor for Cody’s life-saving care today?

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Arlene Howard, our Foster Care Program Director, has worked closely with the Lu’An foster care program in Anhui Province, for the past three years. Through all the reports and children, there are a few who have especially touched her heart. Chloe is one of these children. When the foster care manager visits, Chloe is always smiling, and she has become a cherished member of her local neighborhood. Over the years, Chloe has seen many of her friends leave the SWI for adoption. It makes you wonder how much she might hope to be one of those children who leaves with a family of her own.

Eight-year-old Chloe has a wonderful reputation as a sweet, considerate and compassionate little girl who tries to look out for her family members. In particular, she is a wonderful and tolerant big sister to her mischievous little brother, Anthony.

Chloe will often remind her mother to be extra careful on the bus, and she enjoys doing things to make her whole family happy. When Chloe first came to us she had some vision impairment. Sometimes this makes it difficult for her to read the blackboard at school, but it has not stopped her from working hard to learn and to please her parents and teachers. She is also known to be extremely generous, sharing her snacks with others and allowing Anthony to choose his favorite television shows even when she would rather watch something else. A sensitive and gentle girl, Chloe is a loyal friend; she and her friend Rachel are often found together, smiling and giggling — just look at them having fun in the photo below!

When Arlene met these two girls, she found them to be so cute and giggly as they sat at their school desks, excited to meet her and clearly wondering what little gifts the visitors might have brought!

We join Arlene in her hope that someday we will not read about Chloe’s distress when another friends leaves to be adopted. Instead, what a joyful day it will be when we learn that she has been matched through the CCAA shared list, that she has received a package from her family, and that finally she has joined her family for good!

Please feel free to share Chloe’s story and help her to join her friends from Lu’an around the world who have families of their own.  If you need help or have questions that Love Without Boundaries can answer, please email us at adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com…we will be more than happy to help!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

John has been waiting for a family of his own for many years.  In 2005, he entered LWB’s Lu’An foster care program in Anhui province. Although John is particularly close to his foster father, he longs to be adopted and become part of a family forever. He has seen at least two foster siblings chosen for adoption, and you can imagine how he must feel that it has not yet happened for him.

John, who is currently 9 years old, likes to make others happy and will do funny things to make people laugh. He likes music but is too shy to sing along. Hopefully with a little confidence, he’ll be making his own music before long!

John is described as smart by his teachers and those that know him.  He has a good memory.

In particular, John loves Chinese holidays. He knows that his foster family eats special foods for the festivals and he loves the chance to play a lot with other children. Fireworks are his favorite, and he looks forward to these every year.

Like many boys his age, John is crazy for Legos and toy cars. When our Lu’An Foster Care coordinator comes from England to pay him a visit, he always comes running to greet her and is excited to see what kind of treat she might have for him!

John is so in need of the love and attention of a family of his own, and we know he has so much love to give. If you would like to learn more about John, please contact us at adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com. We can’t wait to see what lucky family will bring a great big smile to this sweet boy’s face!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Last month I had the pleasure of traveling to China with two fellow Directors, Amy Eldridge and Sheri Russon. We spent nine days literally running through China visiting orphanages, meeting with government officials and our China staff and visiting many of LWB’s programs. The best part of all was meeting the beautiful children in our care. For me, this experience was profound and life changing. What I experienced will stay with me for the rest of my life. A piece of my heart remains in China with so many very special children. Actually, one child in particular captured my heart but I will save that story for another time!

Throughout our trip and since returning home, one need has stayed with me above all others. There are simply too many children waiting for their forever families. There are an overwhelming 1,900 children on the “shared list” currently waiting to be selected for adoption in China…1,900 children waiting to be loved.

LWB’s focus has always been on providing the love, care and nurture that orphaned children need and so deserve. We take every opportunity to advocate for the children in our care and our greatest hope is that each and every child know the love of a forever family.

One of the results of our trip to China is that the focus of LWBcommunity.org is shifting. Now more than ever, we are more committed to shine a light on individual children who are waiting for their chance at a family to call their own. Beginning this week and continuing thereafter, each day LWB will feature a child in our care who is waiting to be chosen. Our hope is to bring their story to life. We will share what we can with you, our faithful readers, so that you will see for yourself what makes each child so special.

On our recent trip to China, we met hundreds of amazing children, each unique in their own way. What struck me the most is the “light” that came from within so many of these children. I could literally see the light radiating from the inside out. That light stays with me today and is the last thing I think of at night and the first thing I think of when I wake in the morning. Despite the many obstacles these children have in their lives, their resilience is remarkable. It gives me HOPE! Hope that someday soon, EVERY child will know love. And, that is what it’s all about!

I invite you to follow us on this new journey, as we advocate for adoption ONE child at a time. Please share with others about our growing community, who also love children and may even be considering a new family member of their own!

In Hope,

Paige Mills-Haag, LWB Director of Operations