LWB Community

Keeping Up with the Huainan Kids

While in Huainan last month, we split our time between visiting the children in the orphanage and then those who are in our foster care program out in the community. We had brought lots of little treats to the kids in our orphanage school program: hair bows and flowers for the girls and planes for the boys.

Well, we quickly threw that plan out the window as ALL the kids wanted to look glamorous with hair decorations. They would come back again and again to get another flower or bow until they felt they looked just right. Don’t they look beautiful? Read more.

Visiting the Older Children of Huainan

The city of Huainan was the next stop on our journey.  LWB has been helping in Huainan for the last eight years through every program area we offer. The first evening we arrived, we took seven of the older kids from this orphanage out to dinner. I know that one of the things that weighs on a lot of adoptive parents’ hearts is what happens to the kids who “age out” of their orphanages. It is something we are continually thinking of as well, and through our Secondary and Higher Education program, we want a clear plan for every older child in our care.

There are many issues facing kids who have grown up in institutions. Without having parents to encourage them, many kids in orphanages fall far behind their peers in both grades and study habits.  Read more.

Waiting For The Helen Keller Moment

Rui Mei came home one month ago, a spirited little five year old, babbling away in Mandarin but not speaking a word of English. Since day one, I’ve been waiting for the “Helen Keller” moment, the turning point when her chatter would suddenly transform and we would be speaking English together. I compare it to Helen Keller’s breakthrough at the water pump when her teacher ran cool water over her hands, spelling the word w-a-t-e-r into her palm, and all of a sudden it made sense – every object had a name. Helen ran all around the house asking for names of things and by the end of the day had learned 40 words. Although I know learning English will be a gradual process for Rui Mei, I’m irrationally hoping that one morning she will wake up and the words will just start tumbling from her mouth.

Read more.

Qi: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Meet Qi! He is a sweet, tiny boy who just joined LWB’s Believe in Me Huainan School last fall upon turning age two. Qi is in a preschool classroom with other students his age. He is adjusting well to his new school and is making many friends. Qi’s teachers have worked hard to help Qi build his cognitive, emotional, and physical skills.

Qi stays busy exploring all of the things a typical two-year-old might enjoy, including dressing up in fancy costumes! Read more.

100 Good Wishes Quilt

Attention, families with children from Huainan! We are creating a 100 Good Wishes Quilt, or a Bai Jia Bei,  for the children in the Believe in Me School at the Huainan orphanage in Anhui.

For those of you not familiar with the Bai Jia Bei or 100 Good Wishes quilt, this is a lovely custom in which friends and family are invited to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish for a baby. Read more.

Chinese New Year 2013 Red Envelope Campaign

In China on New Year’s Day (February 10th this year), children in families receive money in red paper envelopes, and celebrate with large feasts, festivals and lots of time with relatives. However, there are many children in China without families to celebrate with them. There are many children who will not feast, and in fact, many who are hungry every day. This year, to honor those children and make a difference in their lives, Love Without Boundaries (LWB) is doing a Red Envelope campaign to provide a New Year’s gift to an orphan. Read more.

Daisy: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Excited about school, Daisy is the first to arrive each morning and one of the last to leave each afternoon. This precious girl speaks with a strong voice when she answers questions and is very serious about her work. She loves to study and tries new activities all the time. While this may not sound like the description of many four-year-olds, Daisy, a student in LWB’s Believe in Me Huainan School, is a girl who loves school and loves to learn! Read more.

Dreams Coming True at Believe in Me in Anhui

Imagine living in a home with 100 other people:  all of your best friends, but, of course, your less favorite people too.There is no one to tell you to do your homework, no one to encourage you to work for good grades, and no one to help when you don’t know the answer to a math problem. Your home, with all these other people in it, has no dining facility and no indoor plumbing. That’s right – there is no running water inside your home. You want to succeed in life.  You have the drive and ambition to go to school.  But the odds are stacked against you.

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Ben, a Budding Artist

When Ben first started in LWB’s Huainan Tuition Assistance Program, he would anxiously remind his foster mother, “Don’t forget to pick me up,” when dropped off at the local public school. However Ben quickly found his place in school, a place where he explores a new passion:  art.

After following the teacher’s instructions on constructing a butterfly, the outcome was so beautiful that the butterflies were tied onto the hair of his girl classmates. Read more.

A Visit To Our Foster Care Programs in China

Last month three LWB program directors visited some of our foster care programs in Anhui, Hunan, and Fujian Provinces. All the children were given individual gifts, and each child was also presented with a warm winter coat. A tremendous outpouring of support for our recent Coats for Kids project provided winter coats for children in all of our foster care programs, which were very much appreciated by the children and their families.

Will and LWB Healing Homes Director, Julie Flynn Coleman

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