We were met at the train station by the new director of one of the local orphanages, Director Wang. She is new to the job and told us we were the first foreign team she had met. The orphanage we visited that day has only done seven adoptions since opening five years ago. We really enjoyed meeting their very kind staff, and we told them we hoped we could help increase the number of children who could find families by working together.

After a delicious lunch with Civil Affairs, we went to see the kids. This orphanage has many, many babies with medical needs. Almost every crib had a child who needed help. They had many children with CP as well and really want to learn how to do PT. We told them we could hopefully send some caregivers to Anhui Children’s Hospital for PT training, and they were SO grateful. As soon as we made the offer, they said, “When can we send someone?” I think they just feel overwhelmed at having children they obviously care for but are unable to help.

Some of the children we met included:

An absolutely beautiful eleven-year-old girl in a wheelchair. She is so smart and sweet. They have had her tested locally but cannot find out why she can’t walk. She does have pain when she puts weight on her legs, but everything else is normal. She really needs a tutor as she wants to go to school so badly, but there is no way for her to attend in a wheelchair.

A gorgeous toddler with cleft who loved our balloon animals and was SO active and laughing in her crib. This orphanage has no cleft bottles, and so feeding babies with cleft has been a true struggle. But they WANT to feed the babies, so one of the head aunties felt so terrible when this little girl couldn’t eat that she created her own NG tube. She cut a piece of rubber tubing that she would put down the baby’s throat at each feeding, and she would literally POUR the formula into the tube slowly for her to get calories. She saved this little girl’s life, albeit in a very drastic way.

A little boy who had an unrepaired spinal tumor, but it was low on his back and not broken open. He could walk in his crib holding on to the rails, so we are hopeful he can be chosen for adoption and receive surgery overseas.

This orphanage had several tiny preemies, and so we called one of our team members in Beijing and asked her to immediately send two cases of PreNan formula and a case of cleft bottles. We were all wishing the formula company had overnight delivery!

They had two babies with bilateral clubfeet – and we explained about Ponseti casting. They were very excited to know they could help the kids without making them go through surgery.

One little boy with more severe CP broke our hearts as we were handing our cheerios and crackers to the kids, and he wanted food so badly. However, due to his CP, he can’t swallow correctly and so the aunty said he could not have solid food. He was heartbroken that he couldn’t have the treat, and he just cried and sobbed the whole time we were there. Another little girl that was doing a low moaning cry was a newly abandoned little girl that they estimated was four years old and most likely deaf.  She was so overwhelmed by it all.

I fell in love with a sweet five-month-old who has a huge facial tumor between his eyes. The ayis told me how worried they are about him as it is growing rapidly. Oh this baby was interactive! If you even looked at him he broke into a huge grin, and several times I would go touch his tummy and he would belly laugh. Please pray with me that the tumor can be removed. He is on our website now for urgent sponsorship here.

We were all touched by a teeny tiny little three-year-old that most likely has a genetic syndrome but we weren’t sure what. She had little skinny fingers but the tops of her hands were swollen and puffy. Her feet were flat and puffy as well, and her hands were very creased. There was just something about her that made you want to pick her up and hold her gently.

We then were shown a premature infant boy who also had cleft lip and club foot. He was born last month and left in the cold mountain air – and when the orphanage admitted him he was severely malnourished. If you pinched the skin on his legs, it stayed pinched in a peak as he was so dehydrated. But his eyes tracked Julie wherever she went, and he appeared to be making eye contact with us. He had a very weak cry but it wasn’t inaudible. THANK GOODNESS Julie and Arlene had a cleft bottle with them, and Julie immediately trained the ayi on how to use it and how to squeeze and count. I called our medical director in Guangzhou immediately, and then our Healing Home manager to see if he could go to our home in Fujian. We are all praying that he can survive the journey and get on the path to healing.

After the orphanage visit, they took us to a beautiful local park which surrounded a lake. One of the things that you notice in this region is how very young all the parents are. Many teens are married by 15-16, and so we saw many teenage boys carrying babies on their back in papooses. We created quite a spectacle in the park, as this town rarely has foreigners. Some brave little school boys started following us, daring each other to call out “hello lady!” One little boy followed us all the way to the parking lot, giggling at his bravery, and when I took his photo he totally struck a pose for me. Future politician for sure!!!

All too soon it was time for us to make our journey to the next city, and we said goodbye with many promises that we would begin to help them medically. I would really appreciate your thoughts and prayers for many of the more vulnerable children we met here.

Amy Eldridge, Executive Director

At first glance, this photo of Jacob and Levi enjoying “floor time” doesn’t seem to be that unusual. Don’t all babies love playing on the floor? However, floor time is not always practical or safe in an orphanage environment, so it is a complete joy to see these boys and others from Heartbridge scooting around the floor amidst a jumble of toys.

“Floor time” is an essential part of the healing that goes on at Heartbridge. It is a simple, basic pleasure for the children that assists with their strength, dexterity and social development. Spending time playing on the floor helps babies learn how to roll over, sit up and crawl and allows them to develop confidence.

Floor time has really paid off for Jacob, the older of these two boys. Jacob was born with anal atresia and required immediate life-saving surgery. Spending time playing on the floor with his caregivers and friends has certainly accelerated his healing and development. Isn’t it amazing that he took his first steps in August, just in time for his first birthday? He certainly seems to think so!

Jan Champoux is Heartbridge Coordinator for Love Without Boundaries Foundation. She lives in Nebraska, USA with husband Rob and four children. Jan and Rob have a son and daughter in college, and also a son adopted from Korea, and a daughter adopted from China, both of whom are in the fifth grade.

Many of you might remember baby Barbara, the tiny premature baby that was brought to the orphanage weighing just a little over 1 kg. We were so thankful when a donor stepped forward which allowed us to move her immediately to the hospital for the intensive care she needed. We are thrilled to report that little Barbara has gained enough strength to be moved to our Heartbridge unit outside of Beijing. She will get lots of TLC there, and we look forward to sharing her progress with you as she continues on her path to good health.

Ethan’s Emergency Medical Fund was recently established in honor of a newborn baby with urgent medical needs who was abandoned — baby Ethan.

Baby Ethan sadly passed away while we were working on raising the needed funds for his care. Love Without Boundaries is asked several times each month to help children with critical medical issues who simply cannot wait to be moved to the hospital. Most often we are contacted about children who are born prematurely, have serious heart defects or anal atresia.

Baby Ethan

Thanks to the generosity of the MariaMarina Foundation, LWB has established “Ethan’s Emergency Medical Fund”, an account which will allow us to say “YES” to children and provide the urgent medical care they need.

We have already relied on this fund to move Oliver for heart surgery. Children like Oliver will now be able to receive the treatment they need right away, and then we will work to raise the donations they need to replenish the fund. We never again want to be faced with turning away a precious child with an urgent, life-threatening medical need.

We cannot thank the MariaMarina Foundation enough for their generous support of our most vulnerable children.

Kate Finco is the Medical Director for Love Without Boundaries Foundation. She lives in Wisconsin, USA, with her husband Tom. They have 4 children: 3 bio kids and the youngest who was adopted from Guangdong Province, China in 2006.

Gina here shows off her fighting spirit in a photo sent to us recently by our staff at Heartbridge. Gina is a darling little girl who was born prematurely in late January, and was hospitalized because she was too tiny and weak to even suck from a bottle. She weighed only one kilogram, which is slightly over two pounds. In an orphanage environment, children like Gina have a very slim chance for survival.

Above you can see Gina resting in a hospital incubator; her home for over a month. Gina was stabilized and began gaining, and had nearly doubled her weight when she could safely be moved to Heartbridge in March. With special care, frequent small feedings and plenty of rest, Gina has really blossomed! Below you can see Gina a few days after her arrival. Within two weeks our little champ gained a pound and a half!

At our manager’s last visit, Gina was peacefully sleeping and not about to wake up and make polite conversation. But she looked so amazing, and REST is just what the doctor ordered. Gina gained another 2.2 pounds last month and continues to make wonderful progress. We estimate that she may be ready to move into LWB foster care in another four to six months.

Thanks to our Heartbridge sponsors, little Gina and many others have the chance to grow and thrive, and eventually find families of their own. We are in need of additional sponsors for Gina and several others at Heartbridge. To learn more about sponsorship, please visit our Healing Homes Sponsorship Page at: http://lovewithoutboundaries.com/healing_home_SponsorCleftHomeChild.cfm

Thank you for giving these children a fighting chance!

Jan Champoux is Heartbridge Coordinator for Love Without Boundaries Foundation. She lives in Nebraska, USA with husband Rob and four children. Jan and Rob have two “homegrown” teenagers, a son adopted from Korea, and a daughter adopted from China.

Now open your eyes and look at this picture! Can you believe this was once a tiny little premature baby? Look at her now!! This chubby little girl was sent to the orphanage as a tiny premature infant, and you can see that now she is doing great! She is a good eater and can finish her bottle within three minutes. She weighs over 12.5 pounds now! She is always happy. Our China Manager said, “She is just like a laughing Buddha.”

This is just how we like them: chubby and happy! Sometimes reality is better than imagination.

Suzanne Damstedt
Nutrition Director