LWB Community

Day Five of the 2012 Cleft Exchange – Final Surgery Day

Friday was a wonderful and exhausting day in Kaifeng as the LWB 2012 cleft trip entered its final day.

Baby Theo waiting for his turn

Ten surgeries were completed today, which brought the total number of children healed to 49. One baby had to be disqualified from surgery this morning due to infection, but we all agree that 49 lives changed is a wonderful accomplishment in just five days of surgery. Both the US medical team and the China medical team feel that the trip was a complete success, and they are already talking about when they can get together again in the future to help more children in need. Read more.

In Memory and In Hope

This has been one of the hardest winters I can remember in all of the years I have worked with orphaned children. As the temperatures drop, we know that pneumonia and other illnesses will spread quickly through orphanages, and we always pray for an early spring. I don’t think many people even stop to think about how fast a sickness can spread in an institution when 20-30 babies live in just one room. And for babies struggling with medical issues already, such as heart defects or breathing difficulties, they are very vulnerable indeed.
Read more.

Miao

Earlier this month, a very special little girl was adopted who had been helped by LWB. Many of you had prayed for Miao’s health over the years, and so we wanted to share her initial story with you – which now has the happy ending (new beginning) of adoption! ****

I first met Miao in April, 2006 when my Dad and I were given permission to visit my daughter’s orphanage in China. The orphanage had been closed to any Westerners visiting and past offers of assistance had been politely refused. When we visited, we were in the baby room holding and playing with babies in cribs when our guide was pulled over to look at this little toddler. Her color was very blue, and she was quiet, very quiet. Read more.

Closing the “ER”

This past week we had to make the difficult decision to temporarily close our medical program to any new children with critical medical needs. The reason? Because we currently have so many urgent children on our website who haven’t been funded for their surgeries yet that we sadly cannot take on any more. I think most people who follow LWB’s work know that our medical program is run entirely by volunteers – amazing, giving, compassionate people who do this work because they want to help save lives – and so it is very hard to continue to have orphanages call us asking for help for their sickest babies, knowing that saying “no” means that child will most likely not survive. Saying NO to a child who is clinging to life…. well, I know you realize how terrible and gut wrenching that is. Read more.

Journey to Guizhou – Reflections

All of the wonderful people who volunteer for LWB know that I have a few rules about going on an official trip. One of them is that you can’t cry when you are in an orphanage, even though I know all too well that it is absolutely overwhelming at times to walk in and see crib after crib, filled with babies living without a mom or dad. The reason for this rule is that I never want any orphanage caregiver to misunderstand our tears. I would never want them to feel that we are crying out of judgment.
Read more.

Journey to Guizhou – Day Four (Liupanshui)

We took a three hour train from Guiyang, through the rural countryside of Guizhou to get to our next destination of Liupanshui. The passing scenery was beautiful, with crop terraces all up the mountains. Whereas the eastern side of Guizhou has many homes made of wood, the western side has white stone and concrete houses, but still with the traditional Chinese style curved tile roofs.
Read more.

More Love

Eleven years ago today I stepped off a train into mainland China for the first time. I look back on that moment now and smile as I remember thinking it might be the only time I would ever be there. It was my first adoption trip, and I had a thousand thoughts running through my mind, from excitement to fear to exhaustion to anticipation.
Read more.

Reunited

We want to update you on baby Corey and his mom. For those who haven’t followed the story, baby Corey came into our hands after his birthmom panicked when she saw that he was born needing emergency medical treatment. The orphanage where he was left called us immediately to see if we could provide surgery, and thanks to our great supporters, Corey received the first stage surgery right away. Sadly, his mother ended up in the hospital in another province after she became extremely ill following the delivery.
Read more.

An Update on Baby Corey

We want to thank everyone who donated with such kindness to help baby Corey, the newborn who was left following his birth with a serious medical condition.

His first stage surgery went beautifully, and the doctors said he will not need another operation until two months later.

Our director in Anhui spoke several times by phone with the mom’s cousin and convinced him to come to the hospital today.  We learned what we expected.  The child’s mom is very poor (she worked as a cook at a temporary construction site), and, after delivering her son, she knew she could not afford the medical care for such a sick child.  That is why she panicked and abandoned the baby boy. Read more.

A Baby Alone

Right now in a hospital in Anhui, there is a newborn baby boy who is in need of urgent medical care. This baby was abandoned with anal atresia, a life threatening condition that requires emergency surgery for the baby to survive. The orphanage called us immediately after the police brought the baby to them, and we moved him to the hospital right away. And then things got “complicated.” Read more.