Although Brandon is no longer waiting for his glasses, he is still waiting for his forever family.  We sure hope he won’t be waiting much longer!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

In 2007, Brandon had his cleft lip surgery through LWB.   LWB also recently provided surgery on his drooping eyelids, which were interfering with his vision.  Brandon quickly became a favorite of the doctors and nurses because he was so cooperative and sweet.  They will be fitting Brandon for glasses before he leaves the hospital.  Here you can catch a glimpse of his eye exam.  It’s easy to see why the medical staff loved him so!

Brandon is currently on the shared list for adoption.  We just love little Brandon and hope that he will find his forever family very soon…he has been waiting too long!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

I wonder what we would learn about Sara if we could but read the language of her soul. She loves to dance. If music is playing, Sara is dancing. For much of her eight years, she struggled with spoken language; perhaps dance became her language of expression at an early age. Now that she speaks fluently with her friends, aunties, and teachers, she still loves to express herself through dance.

Sara and her little friend Lily gain inspiration from Superman!

Dance is about never-ending aspiration. – Judith Jamison

If you asked her, Sara would probably say she aspires to be a great dancer someday. She has been blessed to have a teacher at our “Believe in Me School in Shantou” who loves to dance and to teach the children the art and beauty of dance. Undoubtedly she would also say that she aspires to have a family of her own — parents who will take video and photos of her dancing and show them to everyone they know, bragging about their beautiful daughter. Sara aspires to feel the security of knowing she is loved unconditionally and will never be abandoned again. She aspires to be loved by someone who will do everything possible to give her a hope and a future – not because of what she achieves or accomplishes, but just because she is precious Sara.

We are so lucky to have a short video of Sara dancing with some of her friends. On this website her English name is “Natalie,” and the password to view her video is “natalie2010.”  What does her dance say to you?

Sara, age nine, first became a student at our “Believe in Me” School in Shantou in 2007 and was previously mentioned in this blog (Sarah: Once Shy, Now Sunny. Still Waiting) in May 2010. This “pretty-eyed, pirate-smile” tiny dancer has danced her way into our hearts and hopefully will dance herself right into a family’s arms.

Karen McGinty is the BIM Shantou Coordinator for Love Without Boundaries. She lives in Edmond, OK, with her husband, Keith, and four children: Mason, age 12; Molly, age 10, adopted from Hubei Province; Mia, age 6, adopted from Chongqing; and Matthew, age 5.

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

We’d like you to meet Troy of Shantou! Troy is an enthusiastic three-year-old student in our Believe In Me kindergarten program in Shantou who loves school. He also loves his foster family in our Shantou Foster Care Program. When his foster mom leaves, he makes sure that she remember her keys and then greets her at the door with a big smile when she returns. What a joy he must be to come home to!

Troy with his foster mother

Troy loves to be outdoors and particularly enjoys his new remote control car. However, his playmate and foster brother was adopted this past month, and now everyone is hoping that Troy finds a family too.

Troy has a special need of a left facial angioma, which means he will be matched with a family through the Waiting Child Program. We hope that someone will see his sweet face and imagine him running to the door to greet them as they come home!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

When I read the LWB foster care reports each month, it always bring me such joy when I see a photo of a child with a big, spontaneous smile.  In every report we have received about two-year-old Rusty and his personality, abilities and needs, there is one thing that never changes:  HE IS ALWAYS SMILING!

When he is walking, when he is playing, when he is kicking around a soccer ball, Rusty continually wears a smile on his sweet face.

Born with a cleft lip and palate and some digit deformities, Rusty has had surgery now to repair his cleft lip and palate. As a result, we’re now hoping to see his language start to progress. He is in our Shantou Foster Care program, and his foster mother says that even now, Rusty can communicate quite well non-verbally even when he cannot say the words. Just like other little boys his age, he likes to push around little cars and play with his younger brother. Rusty can draw with a pencil and use chopsticks despite his digit deformities.

You cannot hold this young man back!

Meg Montgomery is an Adoption Assistance Advocate for Love Without Boundaries. She is a social worker, living and working in Boston, MA.

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

When Sara first became a student at our Shantou Believe in Me School in 2007, the teachers described her as shy and quiet. She never smiled for pictures, and the teachers were very excited when they finally “caught” her participating in dance class. A few months later she smiled for a photograph displaying her artwork.

The teachers now describe nine-year old Sara as a good helper and always willing to share and eager to learn. She now LOVES to pose for pictures (as you can see!)

Despite her difficulties with verbal language issues, Sarah completes all of her school work, can recognize and also write basic Chinese characters, and interacts well with the teachers and other students. In fact, she has improved so much in her person-to-person communication that she was even able to help this wiggly little toddler get his shoes on when everyone else thought that to be a nearly impossible task.

I think we can all agree she has an absolutely beautiful smile and very expressive eyes. I have always felt I could “read” her eyes, and in this photograph I think she may be saying “Please tell my family to come and bring me home.”

Please help us help Sarah get word to her family that she is waiting for them! She is on the shared list with a need of verbal language issues. If you’d like more information about her or the shared list, please contact us at info@lwbmail.com.

Karen McGinty is the BIM Shantou Coordinator for Love Without Boundaries. She lives in Edmond, OK, with her husband, Keith, and four children: Mason, age 12; Molly, age 10, adopted from Hubei Province; Mia, age 6, adopted from Chongqing; and Matthew, age 5.

In our continuing series, “A Day In the Life,” we are featuring three volunteers who were inspired to work with our Orphanage Assistance (OA) program. We hope you enjoy learning more about these dedicated volunteers and what they do for LWB!

MaryHelen Donnelly, Orphanage Assistance Coordinator: I am a single mother who works full time, so after I put my daughter to bed I usually log onto the computer to check my email and then 2-3 times a week do some of my LWB volunteer work. I wear two hats in the Orphanage Assistance program. In my role as the OA Child Coordinator, I archive all the pictures, stories and sponsor updates that are produced by the OA team. Parents who have adopted from China can request any information that LWB has on their child from their days living in the orphanage. When I receive one of these requests, I look through the archives and send the parents what information I have on their child and/or the SWI in which their child resided.

My second volunteer hat is as an OA Coordinator. Three orphanages where LWB is currently running a Nutrition program are assigned to me. Quarterly, the China Nutrition program managers send pictures and updates on the children in LWB’s Nutrition programs. Using this information, I create an update that is sent to the sponsors of that SWI’s Nutrition program to let them see how the children are benefiting from their donations.

Yet I still wanted to do more. When I adopted my daughter from China, I visited her orphanage and looked at all the babies still there and, I wanted to take them all home! Since I couldn’t do that, I decided that I should help those children in some way. Since I work full time and am a single Mom, I don’t have the luxury of being able to attend meetings and do my charitable work on-site. LWB allows me to give back to my daughter’s country and to her fellow orphans but allows me to do it in the comfort of my own home so it takes no time away from my precious daughter. It makes me so happy to hear that a little one is getting the nutrition they so deserve, the surgery they so desperately need as well as all the other great work LWB does. It’s also so thrilling to share pictures and information about their chidren’s early life with adopted parents. That information is so precious to the parents and will be to their children as well. I’m very proud to be a part of this organization!

Andrew Gurthet, the Associate Director of the Orphanage Assistance program: My wife and I adopted our daughter, Anna, from Qianjiang orphanage in Chongqing Municipality in 2006. The very second she was put in my arms, I knew that I was the luckiest dad in the world! Anna is now 4 1/2 and the absolute love of my life. I first learned about Love Without Boundaries in 2007 while attending the annual Families With Children from China – Northern California Chinese New Year event. There was a booth there staffed by a young man representing LWB. I was extremely impressed with the work that the staff of LWB were doing to help children in Chinese orphanages. In an attempt to give back a little of the luck I have received as a dad, I volunteered for LWB in 2009. My luck continued… I was “hired” by Suzanne, the wonderful and amazing director of the Orphanage Assistance Program. I absolutely love working for this organization. It’s what gets me out of bed and going each morning! (Well, actually, it’s my daughter jumping on the bed at 6am saying “Is the sun up yet, Dad?”) But, once we get past that point and a cup of coffee, I’m then on my way excited to see what the day holds for LWB.

By far, the most enjoyable part of the job for me is receiving photos both from donors as well as from the orphanages. Often donors will send me photos of their children. We use these photos to create certificates that we send on to the orphanages so that the orphanages know who made the donation and how the child is doing now. And the orphanages send back photos of the donor’s final donation materials. Often the orphanages will include photos of the children presently in the orphanages. I love seeing these photos as it really puts faces behind all the hard work! It makes what I do “human.” I can see that what I am doing is impacting people in a positive way!

Suzanne Damstedt, Orphanage Assistance Director (shown with some of her family in the top photo): When we were preparing to adopt our first Chinese daughter and my husband and I were considering a special needs eight-year old at Shantou Orphanage, I was put in touch with Amy Eldridge because she had met my daughter.  It turned out that my daughter also had a sponsor in the Shantou Education program, and that’s how I became involved with LWB!

I love knowing I am making a difference in other people’s lives.  I know I can’t help every child who needs it, but I can help some of them.  I love that the work OA does provides comfort items like formula and clothing to many children in the orphanages, many of whom may not have a chance to be adopted, but who still benefit from the projects that are done in their orphanages.

I first saw this adorable face in November of 2007 when I visited the Believe In Me school in Shantou. I had walked into a room full of young children who were sitting in little chairs up against the wall awaiting my arrival.

After a few minutes, the children began to sing and dance to a song about cats. They were each wearing a kitty cat “hat.” It was such fun! I could not have stopped smiling even if I had tried.

Most of the children were scared of the pale, blonde lady with curly hair who was at this point totally mesmerized by them. They would see me and then turn to walk the other direction. However, to my delight one little sweetheart not only walked right up to me, but when I knelt down, she gave me a huge hug. My heart melted! Her smile literally lit up the room. She was having so much fun clapping and singing and playing, and she liked me!

I have continued to receive school reports and many more adorable photographs of sweet Shanna these past two years. Now nine years old, she is a very resilient little girl and loved by all who know her.

I was absolutely ecstatic to recently discover she is now on the shared list waiting her forever family to find her and bring her home. If her smile does not capture your heart, I assure you her hugs most definitely will!!! Shanna’s special need involves hypothyroidism; however, she is now on medication and her levels are normal. She is hoping that THIS year is the year she is chosen by a family of her very own.

For more photos and information about Shanna, please contact us at info@lwbmail.com.

Karen McGinty is the BIM Shantou, Guangdong, Coordinator for Love Without Boundaries. She lives in Edmond, OK, with her husband, Keith, and four children: Mason, age 12; Molly, age 10, adopted from Hubei Province; Mia, age 6, adopted from Chongqing; and Matthew, age 5.

When Liang and JiaNan were babies, they lived together in the Shantou Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong province.  At one and two years of age, they were adopted by two Dutch families and now live in the Netherlands.  These talented boys have discovered a passion for music and are using their musical talents to help babies at their former home in Shantou.

Rehearsals for the Concert Family van Heerebeck

On Sunday March 14, Liang and JiaNan will perform in a concert to benefit the Shantou Nutrition program.  Several family members and good friends, all talented and qualified musicians, will perform with them at the Concert Family van Heerebeek.  The program will include Le Cygne (The Swan), a lovely piece by Saint Saëns, Monti’s Csardas, and an Asian piece for classical accordion, Like a Waterbuffalo.  In addition, JiaNan (featured in the top photo) will play a Rieding piece on the violin with his uncle.

Liang playing the cello with his sister Sun-Dong.

The audience will certainly be in for a treat as they listen to these boys and their families perform and witness their dedication to help others. What an exciting opportunity for these boys and their families to showcase their talents to give back to the orphanage that cared for them as babies!

When: Sunday 14th of March 2010, 13.30h-15.30h.
Where: The Gasthuiskapel in Zaltbommel.
Details: Tickets are 15 euros (children up to 12 years of age can attend for free); coffee and tea will be served.

Meet Max — Mr. Personality! Max, who lives in the Shantou orphanage, is a typical boy who loves to play with all kinds of balls and rings. He also has a flair for the dramatic and uses his big personality to try to get what he wants.

If his nanny doesn’t let him play with balls when he wants to, he shakes his crib and makes lots of noise to protest. But as soon as she comes to see what he wants, he greets her with his sweetest smile. When visitors come, Max claps his hands and flashes his winning smile (and two new teeth) to attract their attention.

It’s hard to imagine who could possibly resist him!