LWB Community

Christopher: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Christopher is the youngest resident at our Henan Healing Home. He was born in late November with a cleft lip and palate. Christopher developed pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital from his orphanage in Luohe. After a one week stay in the hospital, he came to our healing home in Kaifeng to receive some intensive one-on-one love and care from our loving nannies. Christopher weighed just over six pounds when he arrived just before the Lunar New Year, so we know that he has to gain significant weight and strength in order to be ready for his surgery.

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Brody: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Tiny Brody is the newest addition to our Heartbridge family. He was born in late November with a serious abdominal blockage. By the time Brody came into orphanage care a week later, he was in critical condition. Fortunately LWB’s medical team was able to arrange for emergency surgery the very next day. While our volunteers awaited news on Brody’s condition, we all hoped and prayed that this sweet baby boy would survive. Read more.

Counting Down Our Top Ten Photos of 2011: Scotty Smiling

We first met Scotty in his rural orphanage in Guizhou Province, one of the poorest regions in China. He was so tiny and weak that his cry was almost inaudible, and his nannies explained that he wasn’t able to eat easily due to his cleft lip. We knew that he needed to be moved to one of our healing homes as quickly as possible, and so we phoned our home manager in Fujian, who asked how soon he could get there.

This photo, coming in at #5 in the voting for our Top Ten Photos of 2011, was taken just a few weeks after Scotty had arrived to our healing home. It is pretty obvious from this photo how he felt about having his own dedicated nanny, good formula, and essential cleft bottles at his disposal. We are so happy to report that Scotty went on to not only find healing, but also his very own adoptive family in late 2011! 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.

Counting Down Our Top Ten Photos of 2011: Emily Learns to Crawl

Coming in at #9 in our Top Ten Photos of 2011 is the unstoppable Emily. Baby Emily came into LWB’s hands from an orphanage in Fujian Province. She was born with a medical condition requiring a very specialized surgery. We were so grateful when Dr. Ngan with MedArt agreed to take her case, and Emily traveled to Hong Kong to undergo a very complex operation.

This photo was taken in May, about one month after returning to our Heartbridge Healing Home, a unit for babies who need more specialized care. At 14 months, finally able to spend some time on her tummy, Emily wasted no time learning how to “army crawl” around the room. Read more.

Santa for the Orphaned

The other day my seven-year-old son and I were talking about a baby LWB had recently taken in for surgery. I told him that she would need to stay in one of our healing homes until she fully recovered, as her orphanage was very rural and extremely poor. I was trying to explain to him at a first-grade level what I had seen at her orphanage when I visited there this year. I described the coal “stoves” in the center of the room that were the only source of heat and explained that there weren’t any toys to play with. My son was silent for a minute and then once again reminded me of the wonderful innocence of childhood when he said with completely certainty, “But at least it is Christmas, and Santa will be bringing them all toys.” Isn’t that a beautiful thought? Of Santa arriving to every orphanage around the world with the supplies that are needed?
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Giving Thanks for Our Supporters

When we first saw baby Delyth’s photos after her orphanage called us for help, we honestly weren’t sure if she would survive.  She was just so tiny and weak from her complex heart condition, and in every photo her mouth was open wide as she struggled for oxygen.

Delyth was able to have open heart surgery as soon as she was stabilized, and then she was moved to one of our healing homes.  Today we give special thanks for all of the people who support our medical program – as we think everyone would agree that this world is a better place with Delyth in it.
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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.

Beautiful Souls

Sometimes we get very honest letters from people who say they find it too difficult to look at photos of babies with unrepaired cleft lip. We work with so many babies with cleft that we don’t even really see it anymore. Instead, we just see their gorgeous eyes and smiles…like Zeke, a current resident of our Anhui Cleft Healing Home (ACHH), grinning below. We’ve always felt that sharing photos helps people see the kids for the beautiful souls they are.

We recently posted Zeke’s photo on our Facebook page and asked our readers for their thoughts on seeing photos like this. We were so thrilled with and moved by the comments that we received that we wanted to share some excerpts here!

The search for a “perfect” look should never be larger than that of deepest happiness. Keep posting “non-perfect” photos of real happy babies!!

The first time I saw my son’s beautiful little face, I didn’t notice his bilateral cleft….all I saw was the face on an angel.
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