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.

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.

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.
– Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Land of Counterpane”

This classic poem came to mind when we saw this photo of brave John in the hospital, surrounded by toys.  John is a five-year-old little guy who has been dealt a tough hand.  After having spinal surgery, he was left with a significant post-op complication, and his family abandoned him most likely because they could not care for him or afford additional surgeries to correct this serious issue.  John came to live in an orphanage in Fuyang.

Because he continued to have painful infections that would not clear up, John’s orphanage asked LWB if we could help.  We agreed, and he was sent to a hospital where a doctor has been performing successful surgeries on children with just this type of issue.  Recently, John had this surgery and is recovering in the hospital. Reportedly, this stoic boy never even cried following the surgery.

For one week following the surgery, John had to lie still and flat on his back. After the first week, he was able to sit up, and a few days later he could walk with support.  While he still needs assistance, he is making great progress.  As you can imagine, keeping a five-year old boy quiet and inactive once he is feeling better is quite a challenge!

He is enjoying special snacks, new toys, and from the looks of it might even be playing some tricks on his nanny! We love seeing his silly side emerge after all the trauma he has been through.

We’ve just learned that John has been discharged and is on his way to foster care where he can continue to receive the personalized care he will need to fully recover from this major surgery. He has been through some very difficult times, both physically and emotionally. Although we are proud that he is so strong, we hope that he will soon be comfortable letting everyone see more of the mischievous personality that seems to be hiding under that brave exterior. Wouldn’t it be tremendous to be a part of that transformation? If you would like to learn how you can help John fully recover and continue to receive the care he needs, please visit his medical sponsor page.  Or to help him as a foster care sponsor, you can visit his foster care sponsor page.  We’re excited to see what lies beyond the land of counterpane for John!

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.

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. - Dale Evans Rogers

Sadie from Fuyang Foster Care in Anhui is warm and cozy in her new coat, courtesy of the Coats for Kids program — tangible evidence of love in action.

Beth and Lucy both entered the Fuyang foster care program in February 2007, and they were placed together with the same foster family.

Beth and Lucy adjusted to their new family life very well and have been such a comfort to each other. Beth is twelve years old and is a wonderful big sister to four year old Lucy. She helps her foster mother with the household chores and helps look after Lucy. As you can see in these photos, Lucy looks up to her big sister, and Beth loves having little Lucy by her side. The two girls spend a lot of time together — especially jumping rope and playing badminton!

Isn’t it great to have a sister?

Vicki Hossack is the Fuyang Foster Care Coordinator. She lives in Illinois with her husband of 18 years and the youngest two of their five children. Her youngest daughter, Meili, was adopted in 2006, a waiting child from Shanxi Province.

Every little girl dreams of being a princess. In an orphanage, I can only imagine that every little girl dreams of having a family of her very own first, and that being a princess would come somewhere after that.

Jayda entered the Fuyang foster care program in August of 2008 a shy, scared little girl. She adjusted well to her new foster family, started attending kindergarten, and recently had a new foster brother added to her family. Month after month, I receive Jayda’s updates and open them anxiously awaiting the day when I will see a smile on her sweet face. What a wonderful surprise when I opened her July foster care update and saw how hard she was working on that smile.

Could it be that Jayda has had two dreams come true? We have learned that she has been chosen by a family, and she definitely looks like a princess in her pretty green dress. We hope all of your dreams come true, Princess Jayda!

Vicki Hossack is the Fuyang Foster Care Coordinator. She lives in Illinois with her husband of 18 years and the youngest two of their five children. Her youngest daughter, Meili, was adopted in 2006, a waiting child from Shanxi Province.

Dr. Lu provides care for nearly 300 children at Fuyang, treating common illnesses and instructing caregivers on basic hygiene in order to reduce the spread of contagious diseases.  This essential care costs around $2,600 per year.  That’s less than one dollar per child each month! 

Dr. Lu says:

“As a medical worker, I will continue my job, to love and care for these children, to help them heal so that they can improve their living ability and life quality. Thanks LWB for supporting my job here in the orphanage and giving me the chance to take care of these special needs children.”

Please contact us at info@lwbmail.com if you can help sponsor Dr. Lu’s care.  Donations in any amount are needed and appreciated so we can continue this life-saving project.

Laura Baldwin
Special Assistance Director