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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Our Friday Photo of the Week features tiny Jimmy from our Zhaotong foster care program. Our manager delivered some new toys to each child in the program recently and captured Jimmy checking out his new blocks. Doesn’t it look like they’re nearly as big as he is? He’s only a few months old and has just arrived in foster care, so we’ll look forward to seeing Jimmy grow into his new blocks in the months to come!
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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.
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Did you realize that LWB has a Human Resources Department? Managing the 170 volunteers from around the world who make LWB run is one of those behind the scenes operations that most people don’t really consider. However, without our HR department to recruit, hire and train volunteers…LWB would grind to a halt! Our HR department consists of three amazing women who were kind enough to give us a glimpse into their lives with LWB.
Kristine Fornek, Human Resources Director for LWB: As a new first-time Mom to an incredible six year old son who is taking the world by storm (seen hamming it up in the top photo), I am kept rather busy…my own world has been ROCKED and I’m loving life! I work full time during the day as a recruiter and spend time after work with my son doing homework, reading, games, etc. After dinner and bedtime stories, it’s time for LWB. I get correspondence from volunteers all over the world. I work with an incredible team of women, and together we do things like process and track new applicants, assist Program Managers with their hiring needs, document job descriptions, etc. No two days are alike, and that is one aspect that makes this role so enjoyable.
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Zane
A mom in Spain moves heaven and heart to make sure her child is well, even if this child is thousands of kilometers away and she has not yet been able to kiss her in person. In the process, this mom also dramatically changed the life of another child waiting in China.
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As everyone who reads this blog knows, all of us at LWB have a tender heart for babies born with cleft lip. We have seen so many tiny babies with cleft struggle to feed in an orphanage setting. Their strong wills and determination to survive make us work even harder to make sure every baby with cleft that comes into our hands is given a second chance. We absolutely LOVE sharing their photos, but sometimes we hear from people who say they simply cannot look at the “before” photos as it makes them feel too uncomfortable. When we get those letters, we always wonder if we should stop showing so many pictures of kids with unrepaired lips. However, we always come back to the thought that perhaps if people see enough of them, they will begin to see the beauty of each child no matter how severe their cleft is.
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