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.

During our recent trip to the China, we visited the Fuyang orphanage in Anhui. Fuyang is a very rural area, and the main orphanage has approximately 200 children in its care.  We have liked working with Fuyang over the years as the staff really wants to help the children in every way possible, despite their very limited resources.  Many of you might remember that Fuyang didn’t used to have doors or windows covering the openings to the outside, or any sort of heating system despite the fact that Anhui is a very cold province in the winter.  LWB helped with this need several years ago, and the orphanage staff is still very grateful to the donors who helped put in the heavy tarps over the door frames and the coal/radiator heating system.

Some of you might also remember that this is the orphanage that had made almost all of their physical therapy equipment by hand.  They had sewn bolsters and handmade splints for the kids.  Even with limited equipment, they still do PT with their children every day.  They are really hoping we can help them with even more training.  LWB had also helped them several years ago by hiring a doctor for the orphanage, and she is making a big difference here. (Actually, they said a HUGE difference).  She can give antibiotics to kids, diagnose when children have infections, and sees about 30 kids a day on average for medical check ups.  THANK YOU to the people who help make her salary possible!

The baby rooms we visited were full to capacity, and just like the last orphanage….every baby had a medical need.  There was a baby with cleft that I know we are sending to the cleft home soon, and another baby with microtia who was so interactive and smiley.  One little baby had been born without the bottom of his legs, and another little boy who appeared to be the size of a newborn was actually over one year old, but had a heart defect.  It’s heartbreaking to see so many children who need medical help.

My helper during our play time with the older kids was a little boy who has suffered with incontinence following a surgery as a baby.  Because of this, he has been shunned at school, and none of the local parents want him to play with their kids or sit by their children in school.  The orphanage told us he weighs on them heavily, as he is extremely outgoing, polite, and smart.  They believe his only chance at any sort of happiness in life is to become continent.  There is a surgeon in Zhengzhou who is very famous worldwide who is doing a nerve surgery to help restore continence in children, who believes that 87% of his patients improve post surgery.  The surgery has some risks, however.  This little boy really weighed on our hearts as well, because he SO doesn’t deserve the hand he has been dealt in life.  I can’t stand thinking he will be shunned his entire life if he isn’t helped.  In a different world, I can picture him with a loving family…..at a wonderful school, being the leader of his class and getting top grades.

We got to meet with many of the children in our foster care program while we were in Fuyang.  Rex is a little boy with albinism who has been on the shared list for quite some time.  He is very smart and curious, and we all loved spending time with him.  

We all kept commenting that it is such a shame that potential adoptive parents can’t somehow meet these kids in person, as there wasn’t a single child we met that we weren’t thinking, “oh, what a blessing it would be to have them as a son or daughter!”  I think sometimes a special need can seem a bit overwhelming on paper, but then when you meet the CHILD in person…..you realize that the need is not what defines them in any way. They are just beautiful children who need someone to love them.

We had a really fun visit with the foster families, and driving away was a memorable scene.  We had made balloon animals for the kids and then handed out cookie tins, and after our meeting we were heading out in the van past all the rural crop fields, and we passed family after family trying to carry their foster child, the cookie tin, and then you would see this brightly colored balloon animal as well.  Other families in the village had come out to stare, and I am sure they were wondering WHAT in the world was going on.  Li Yuan’s foster grandma had her in a wagon, and there was something just a little surreal about seeing her pulling a cart with LiYuan on a muddy dirt road, with the cart filled with rainbow balloons.  I’m probably not making much sense – I think you had to be there to appreciate the disparity of it all.

I love being in rural China.  The families we meet are so kind and warm hearted, and the orphanage staff we meet are all trying their very best with very limited resources.

Amy Eldridge is the Executive Director of Love Without Boundaries.

Foster care is one of LWB’s most expansive programs.  With sixteen foster care programs in seven different provinces, LWB needs each and every one of our nearly 50 volunteers to keep these programs running smoothly!   Two enthusiastic foster care volunteers have agreed to let us peek into their daily lives as an LWB volunteer and see what inspires them to dedicate their time to helping orphaned children in China.

Jessica White, Huainan Foster Care Co-Coordinator: I first learned of Love Without Boundaries during the process of adopting my daughter Emma. I remember reading and rereading Love’s Journey, and thinking that “someday” I would love to get involved with such an amazing organization.  That “someday” came three years later when one of the mothers from my travel group mentioned that LWB was looking for volunteers in their foster care program.  We had recently adopted our son Will from South Korea, and he had spent the first year of his life with a foster family. The difference that foster care had made in his life was remarkable. I immediately sent in my volunteer application and joined the foster care team in 2009. A few months later, I transferred to the Huainan Foster Care program that serves my daughter’s orphanage, and I cherish the opportunity to remain connected to her first home.

I am a stay-at-home mom to a four year old daughter and two year old son, so most of my LWB work is done at naptime. After I get the kids tucked in and the lunch dishes in the sink, I settle down with my laptop to catch up on the day’s emails. I share the responsibility of coordinating the Huainan Foster Care program with a good friend and fellow Huainan mom, and we communicate frequently through texts and emails. We receive reports from China on each of the children in the program, and a large part of my job is to review and format these reports before sending them on to each child’s sponsors.

The best part of my job is watching the way the children grow and thrive in loving foster families.  I become so attached to each of the little ones in our program and feel so blessed to be able to become a part of their lives. I cheer when they take their first steps, worry when they have runny noses, and shed tears of joy when I hear that they have found their forever families.  I consider it a privilege to be able to contribute to an organization that is making such a difference in the lives of these precious children.

Meg Gallson, Fuyang Foster Care Assistant Coordinator and Associate Director of Adoption Advocacy: I’m a licensed social worker, and in January 2007 I had my first experience matching a family with a special needs child who was also in a LWB program. It was WONDERFUL! I was able to learn a lot about LWB through discussions about what LWB did for her while she was in their care. I could tell immediately that LWB cared about this child (and could assume that they truly cared about ALL of the children they were able to help).

I spend time every day e-mailing and reading e-mails that have to do with LWB. Usually my breakfast includes reading the daily Yahoo de-briefing — a great start to my day! Getting to read the updates on various programs, new children who have joined the programs or received surgery, as well as learning about new ways we are getting the word about LWB out to the world — all are important on a daily basis.   Because I work with Fuyang Foster Care, I get to help Vicki Hossack read the children’s monthly reports and then edit them a bit before sending them out to the children’s sponsors. It is always rewarding to get to say thank you at least once a month to these magnificent sponsors who are ultimately equally as responsible as LWB itself for getting these kids into a foster home.  Without them we could not afford for these children to reap the benefits that a foster family can provide!

I also have been able to help keep track of grants that LWB provides for specific children’s adoption. It is SO rewarding to be able to help make a child’s adoption possible by providing some monetary assistance. Every day I am keeping my eyes and ears open for news about children who are part of the Love Without Boundaries program – and sharing the word of what LWB does for children to family, friends, and random people I meet.

It is most rewarding to be a part of something that serves someone else, and not just anyone, but children – the most vulnerable of all.   Amy Eldridge, our Executive Director, said something the other day about how many children in orphanages really need someone to believe in them. Almost all of them have faced a great loss or abandonment in their lives, and so she explained: “ it is for this reason that we feel such a responsibility to make sure that when a child comes into OUR hands – that we do everything possible to not let them down. While we cannot change the entire orphan situation, we have learned that when you give your all to one child in need, AMAZING things happen.”   This is what I enjoy about LWB.   Every day we touch people in ways we do not even realize most of the time.  Touching someone positively, doing something filled with “hope” and possibility – this is what I believe all people are here on earth to do, and LWB is one beautiful way we can do it.

Annie from Anhui is a three-year old girl with a heart defect so complex it could not be treated in China.  So LWB-Spain worked on a plan to allow her to come to Spain to receive the surgery.  After much work, much bureaucracy, and much waiting, she finally arrived at the beginning of April and is being taken care of by a top team of surgeons. In fact, we are thrilled to report that she underwent surgery this week, and the risky procedure was declared a success!

Annie is just a gorgeous girl with the chubbiest cheeks! While she was getting ready for her surgery, she was flourishing…smiling and laughing all the time, eating everything, making friends, dancing to music and playing. It has been just delightful to visit her and to be able to personally thank her foster family members who are doing such wonderful work, and who are loving her much!

With Annie being so close to the LWB-Spain team, it was impossible for us not to want to visit her and kiss her as much as we could or as much she would allow us to.  As we were planning the best moment to pay her a visit, we all realized seeing Annie was also a great opportunity to have our very first LWB-Spain off-line meeting.  So from different points of Spain, we gathered in the north of our country, a land of green mountains and valleys, and the best place to try all kinds of delicatessen. The only thing made our day not perfect was that Marta, one of the volunteers, could not come… we missed her a lot!

Sara Torrente, Carmen Caballero, Susana Paz, Esther Iñiguez, Jone Gereka

We took real pleasure in meeting each other in person and doing what we love most… talk, talk, talk about everything related with our work with LWB, our projects and dreams about LWB-Spain, about the children, adoption, special needs, our daughters and sons…we all felt that it was too short!  But we have gorgeous little Annie to thank for bringing us together.

Susana Paz is the Heart Surgery Assistant Coordinator of LWB-Spain (Fundación Love Without Boundaries España).

Often in our busy lives we forget how amazing and exciting a shopping trip can be. Consider all the merchandise offered from clothing to food. The decisions and choices made between wants and needs, nutritional versus fun food, and keeping within a budget require critical thinking skills and experience. Four fortunate students from Believe In Me –Huainan traveled with their teacher, Kathy, by taxi to a local super store in Huainan, Anhui.

The students entered single file into the supermarket, ready for their shopping adventure. They nervously stepped onto an inclined moving walkway journeying up to the second floor.   Everyone excitedly talked at once as they took in all the store had to offer. “Look how pretty the coat is!” “Look, look at how interesting the toys are.” The new shoppers proceeded to the stationary department and were given a budget of 35 rmb (about $5 US) each.  All students seriously considered the shopping task, picking and choosing items to stay within the assigned budget, thinking through the math, adding and subtracting, counting on their fingers and then finally selecting their items.

The group proceeded to the fruit and vegetables section and were introduced to produce they had never seen before. With the shopping complete, they each checked-out, received a bag and a receipt, and said “Thank you.” The shopping trip was a wonderful practical learning experience for our students. We hope that each BIM–Huainan student will get the same exciting shopping trip opportunity in the future.

Last month, several other children joined Kathy at a restaurant where they learned to order and practice table manners. The food in Huainan is absolutely wonderful, and we’re sure the smells and flavors were so yummy to the kids. There is so much to be learned in life for these great children!

Karin Cooper is the Believe In Me — Huainan School Assistant Coordinator.

Sweet Sadie is doing us the honor of gracing LWB Community for our very first Friday “Photo of the Week” feature. Every week we will highlight a recent photo that stood out from the many that we receive from each of our programs throughout the week. Sadie’s gentle nature shines through in this darling photo! She is currently sixteen months old and lives with a foster family in our Fuyang Foster Care program in Anhui. We look forward to seeing more of her as she grows.

Foster care has given Sadie the opportunity of living with a loving family. We dream of extending this opportunity to many other children living in orphanages and hope that funds raised through our current Foster Care Challenge will make this a reality. All donations that we receive towards our general foster care fund by March 15 will be doubled, thanks to a big-hearted donor!  Currently, we have received over $5000 in donations and are hopeful that we can double that amount before March 15 to get to $10,000. Thanks to our donor, $10,000 in donations would actually mean $20,000 to help find foster families and enrich the lives of children like our sweet Sadie.

We would like to introduce you to a beautiful, brand new American citizen — seven-year old Bella.  Bella has only been living in the United States for two months.  Before that time, she was living in a Social Welfare Institute in Anhui province and attending kindergarten prep at our “Believe In Me” Huainan program.   It warms our heart to hear how far Bella has come since she first began as a reluctant student at BIM, and we’d happy to feature her story as LWB’s February Story of the Month.

We first met Bella when we visited her SWI in October 2007 after she had been a student at “Believe In Me” for a month.  LWB Education Director Missy Ridley was instructing the teachers on how to conduct morning circle time.  Through the teacher, she asked each child to state their favorite color.  None of the children were able to communicate their favorite color….none except Bella.  She was the youngest in the class, but that didn’t deter her.  She immediately and loudly proclaimed her favorite color was blue.  She had only been a student there for a few weeks and within that time had become an active and enthusiastic participant!

From the “Believe In Me” reports, we got the impression that Bella was quite a character.  She enjoyed performing in front of the class and reciting poems.  Also, she loved having her hair done in different clips and barrettes.  Bella enjoyed school and many teachers made note of her “rich imagination”.

This year, Bella moved up to tutoring services and began attending public school in Huainan.  However, in November 2009, Bella experienced a life-changing event when she met her forever family.  From what her new parents tell us, she has displayed great resilience and has met her new life and new family with great gusto!  They write:

On adoption day, Bella adjusted well and even tried to comfort the crying babies at the Civil Affairs Office!  The rest of the trip in China was filled with a mix of moods and emotions as we tried to bond and become a new family.  There were sad moments as Bella mourned the loss of the only life she knew, but there were many delightful and happy moments as well.  By departure time, Bella  genuinely looked forward to seeing her new home and insisted that she was ready to leave her old life behind.

We arrived home on December 10, just in time for Bella to become the best Christmas gift her Mama and Baba could ever have asked for.  Only a few days after returning home, she insisted on going to school and immediately loved her new teacher.  It didn’t take long for this brave and independent 7-year old to ask that Mama not stay with her during class and plead with her parents to let her take the bus to and from school like all the other neighborhood kids.

School is hard work and there is much to catch up on, but we try to keep it fun and interesting.  Bella attends both regular first grade classes at public school and Saturday Chinese school.  All of her teachers report that she is a bright and outgoing student who appears to be adjusting well given the recent life-changing events of an international adoption.

By far, Bella’s favorite pasttime is going to the pool.  She has become quite a happy little fish, and her favorite water activities include jumping into the water, observing other swimmers from underneath the water with her goggles on, and retrieving objects from the bottom of 3-inch deep water.  She fully submerges herself for several seconds and pops back up with a big smile.

Bella is also learning all about responsibilities, chores, politeness and making good choices.   While many of these are simply expected of her as a member of the family, others are rewarded with a small allowance.  In addition to her own little bank, Bella puts aside a few of her quarters every week into the orphanage fund.  She plans on sending a big box of chocolates and treats to her friends in China next Christmas.

What a big heart Bella has!  We at LWB are thrilled that “Believe In Me” Huainan was able to give her such a great beginning, and we look forward to watching her continue to thrive and exceed expectations in the loving embrace of her new family.

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 8 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!

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 specialneeds@lwbmail.com. We can’t wait to see what lucky family will bring a great big smile to this sweet boy’s face!

This beautiful photo of Jenny definitely deserves “top ten” status. Jenny is two years old and in our foster care program in Anhui. She is a gentle and shy little girl who recently asked her foster parents for a puppy. Her foster brother was adopted overseas this year, and we know she misses him very much. We all hope that 2010 will be the year she finds a permanent family of her own as well.

Wouldn’t you like to be infected with just a little bit of Claire’s positive attitude? Claire’s sweet and sunny disposition shines through despite her frequent hospitalizations for a fistula and a maldeveloped left kidney. Her most recent surgery was just a few days ago, and we’re hopeful it will bring her great relief from chronic urinary infections.

Claire has had lots of time to rest in the hospital and, if all goes as expected, should go home to her foster family in Huainan within a week.

Next month Claire is going to celebrate her third birthday. Despite being shy, she is very polite and communicates well with people. When she’s feeling better, she loves to run and ride her tricycle. Claire’s file has been submitted for adoption, and we are positive that Claire will bring a big dose of sunshine to some very lucky family!