LWB Community

An Adoption Story: Taking the Plunge

LWB has many programs in Anhui province.  Through the years, we have come to know a number of lovely older children from Anhui who have been waiting so long for their chance to find a family. We have featured several of them in the past few months, such as Brianna, Michelle and Wendy – all students in our Believe in Me Huainan school in Anhui.

Maryn was once a student at the same Believe in Me school in Anhui and was good friends with all of these girls.  She had the good fortune to be adopted and has been home with her family for two and a half years.  When her family learned that Maryn’s friends had the same chance as she did to have families of their own, they decided to share a bit of their story to encourage folks to consider these lovely Anhui girls and older children in general.   They have likened their exhilarating experience to “taking the plunge.” Read more.

Counting Down Our Top Ten Photos of 2011: Foster Family Love

Ben is a beautiful little boy who is in LWB’s foster care program in Anhui Province. He loves playing with his foster brother, Jon, but obviously what Ben loves the most is being in the arms of his foster mom.

She likes to take him outside to walk in their vegetable garden, and she loves telling our local manager what a thoughtful and sweet little boy he is. We are such huge supporters of foster care for orphaned children as we believe every child deserves to grow up in a family setting versus growing up in an institution. Read more.

Wendy’s Strength

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ~ Unknown

The Chinese symbol for “strength” can mean many different things:  inner emotional strength, mental strength and will, or physical strength. We’d like to introduce you to a girl who embodies strength in all areas of her life.

Wendy is a young girl in our Believe in Me Huainan school who is determined to grow stronger physically as well as academically.   Wendy was excited for the challenge of starting public school this fall and is making progress there. Read more.

Counting Down Our Top Ten Photos of 2011: Happy in the Healing Home

Baby Ricki first came into our hands as a tiny preemie from Anhui Province. She had been struggling to feed in her home orphanage and was very weak. We moved her to one of our healing homes so she could get the TLC she needed to catch up.

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Counting Down Our Top Ten Photos of 2011: I Am Loved

This tender photo was taken on the day that sweet Maggie graduated from our Anhui Healing Home as her nanny was saying goodbye. Maggie had earned the nickname “Fussiest Baby” because she would only be content in the arms of her nanny. But Maggie didn’t want to just be held; she wanted to be sang to as well while her nanny walked around with her. Obviously from this photo it is clear that her nanny didn’t mind that at all – and so there were lots of lullabies sung to Maggie to keep her happy! We are so thankful for our loving and patient caregivers in our healing homes who are watching over some of the most vulnerable orphaned babies of all. Read more.

Kyra: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Kyra received surgery in May 2011 to repair her cleft lip. She spent her initial recovery time at our Anhui Healing Home and was moved to a wonderful foster care family in July. She celebrated her first birthday in September!

Kyra has adjusted very well to her new family life and loves to play with her older foster brother. Read more.

Shawn Michael: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Shawn Michael has been at the Lu’An, Anhui, orphanage for nearly half a year. He has cerebral palsy, doesn’t eat very well, and gets sick easily, but he is a good boy. A few weeks ago it was found that Shawn Michael cried seriously when his right leg was touched. LWB’s Orphanage Assistance program sponsors a nurse in this orphanage to provide medical care to the children there. The nurse thought that Shawn Michael might have a leg fracture or cyst within his leg. He was taken to the hospital for an X-ray of his leg, and it was determined that he has inherited Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, and he did have a fracture. With tender care he is doing better now, but Shawn faces an uncertain future since his bones are easily broken.
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Lovely Lucy: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Lucy lives with her foster parents and older foster sister, Beth, in Fuyang, Anhui Province. She has been with her foster family for four years and has received surgery to repair a heart defect. Recently, when asked to describe Lucy’s personality, our China program manager described her as simply “lovely.” She says that whenever she visits, Lucy runs to greet her and will lean up against her and ask if she has brought any treats. She also loves to pose for photos.
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Where There’s a “Will,” There’s a Way

This handsome young man is Will, formerly a resident of LWB’s Anhui Cleft Healing Home (ACHH) where his precious life was saved! After recovering enough to be discharged from ACHH, Will now lives in the area of Anhui that we’ve named “Zhang Village.”   Zhang Village is a tightly-knit community of foster families who take wonderful care of children who need a bit of extra tender love and care. Currently we are waiting on news that Will’s file has shown up on the shared list. We feel that this will happen very soon and hope a loving family will come forward for him. In the meantime, we need to help Will’s foster family pay for him to attend kindergarten so he can continue to grow and develop as he prepares for life with his forever family.
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Shayna: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Shayna is a beautiful baby girl who is in LWB’s Healing Homes program at our Anhui Cleft Healing Home (ACHH). Shayna was born in Fuyang in February this year with a cleft lip and palate and has a very sweet personality. At three weeks of age, she was hospitalized for myocarditis at a local hospital and overcame this serious illness over the next two weeks. She was brought to ACHH directly from the hospital and slept quite a bit that first week, but she quickly began to show us her curious nature by looking all about the room whenever she was awake.
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