LWB Community

Care Packages to China

Over the holidays, we had a call from an orphanage who had been sent a care package from a kind and well-meaning adoptive parent. Unfortunately the package had been stuck in customs, and since there were multiple items inside the parcel, the customs agent was insisting on charging the orphanage a $60 fee to pick it up. The orphanage staff had to go into the city several times to fill out paperwork before the package could be released, which took quite a bit of their time as well. Once we had worked out the details of this last package, the orphanage director suggested that while they appreciate the good intentions, perhaps we could let adoptive parents know that packages often cost them precious money and time to pick up, depending on each city’s customs rules.

We know everyone sends packages with such good and kind intentions, but we felt it was important to point out some of the issues that can arise when a package is mailed to an orphanage in China. One orphanage was once hit with a $125 customs fee for a large box that a parent had sent. Read more.

Counting Down Our Top Ten Photos of 2011: He Did It!

When we first saw this photo, we laughed out loud as little Guang looks like he is firmly placing the blame on someone else. As part of our orphanage assistance program, families can send baby formula to their child’s orphanage as a gift, and this photo was taken shortly after a shipment had arrived in Xinyang. We are so happy that Guang was adopted this year, and we have heard the great news that his family is completely in love! Read more.

Winnie Wishes You Peace!

In the interest of adoption, LWB Community will be profiling some waiting children whose orphanages have asked for help in finding families for them. However, we do want to be clear that these children are not in LWB programs.

Winnie is full of good cheer! Always smiling, eight-year-old Winnie lives in the Foshan Shunde Orphanage, where LWB has done orphanage assistance projects. We featured her in a blog piece (“Winnie’s New Coat for a New Year”) right before Chinese New Year last year and were hopeful that she would be with a family of her own before the next new year. Although it doesn’t look likely for this year, we are going to take a hint from Winnie and remain happy and optimistic that her family will find her soon!
Read more.

Maoming Kids: LWB’s Featured Children of the Week

Our “featured child” this week is not just one child but scores of them! The Maoming SWI has approximately 300 children, and one of the needs of the orphanage is for cloth diapers. In this photo, taken earlier this year at Maoming, we see some very cute babies with their caregivers. As you can imagine, the orphanage goes through lots of diapers with so many children in their care.

Your donation in any amount for our diaper drive will help keep these little bottoms covered and will be greatly appreciated!
Read more.

Three Boys, Three Personalities

In the interest of adoption, LWB Community will be profiling some waiting children whose orphanages have asked for help in finding families for them. However, we do want to be clear that these children are not in LWB programs.

Nancy Williams, an LWB volunteer, recently shared photos with us of three boys with three very different personalities whom she met this past summer. Some assistance projects were done at their orphanage, and we would like to spread the word that these three boys are waiting for families. Here is what Nancy wrote about meeting the boys, whom we have to come to call “The Gaozhou Boys”:

This summer on a homeland tour, we were able to visit Gaozhou SWI.  While there, we met three boys who are on the shared list and got a chance to interact with them a little.  Bryson, at 4 1/2, was the quietest of the three.  He didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with the loud room of visitors, yet seemed to be a favorite of the SWI Director. He was featured on our blog last March in “Bryson’s Debut“.

Read more.

Zane Takes a Break

The last time we met up with Zane, we imagined that he was hard at work writing a memo to his future family. It seems that they are not responding as quickly as he had hoped, and he is still waiting for them! So while he waits, he’s decided to take a break from work and play for awhile…like the ten-year-old boy that he is.

Zane was once a a boy with unhealthy blue lips and fingers who caught the eyes of one of our medical team in photos taken at his orphanage in Zhejiang. Sponsors from around the world stepped in to fund his heart surgery (see “Zane’s Miracle”), and now he is no longer blue…and has energy to spare!
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Shawn Michael: LWB’s Featured Child of the Week

Shawn Michael has been at the Lu’An, Anhui, orphanage for nearly half a year. He has cerebral palsy, doesn’t eat very well, and gets sick easily, but he is a good boy. A few weeks ago it was found that Shawn Michael cried seriously when his right leg was touched. LWB’s Orphanage Assistance program sponsors a nurse in this orphanage to provide medical care to the children there. The nurse thought that Shawn Michael might have a leg fracture or cyst within his leg. He was taken to the hospital for an X-ray of his leg, and it was determined that he has inherited Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, and he did have a fracture. With tender care he is doing better now, but Shawn faces an uncertain future since his bones are easily broken.
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Dreaming of Higher Education

Every year in China, the national college entrance exam (Gao Kao) is administered, and sitting for this national exam remains the best (and often only) way for a rural child to escape a life of poverty. The nine-hour test is offered just once a year and is the sole determinant for admission to Chinese university. Almost ten million students sit for the exam each year, trying to receive a coveted spot at one of the 1900 colleges in China. The competition is fierce, and families push their children to study for hours each and every day throughout their high school years.

Anxious parents keep vigil outside of an exam site

For an orphaned child to sit for this exam is an accomplishment in itself. For an orphaned child to pass the exam with high enough marks to enter university is extraordinary.
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Grants for Annabelle and Rochelle

Rochelle hugs a friend

Thanksgiving is just one day out of the year when we think about the many things we have to be thankful for. Throughout the holiday season, there are many families who give thanks for their children.  Parents often find it entertaining, and often heartwarming, to hear what their children are thankful for as well!

Maybe one day Annabelle’s and Rochelle’s families will be giving thanks for the financial assistance to make their adoptions possible.
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Kaden: No Photos, Please!

Kaden is a very shy boy who lives in the Deyang orphanage in Sichuan Province who has just celebrated his third birthday. He really doesn’t like having his picture taken…can you tell? He entertains himself very well and is somewhat reticent around strangers….even strangers who come bearing food! From this gallery of photos that our China nutrition program director has taken of Kaden over the past year, you can really see how camera-shy he is. We did manage to capture one photo of him smiling as he plays in the water!
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