At this Stage

At this stage of trip planning, I get very nervous. What will I forget? I have a recurrent dream, where I get to China, open my suitcase and it's empty. Then I remember, it's China, not the moon. What kids will I see? Will I have enough time to see everyone and do everything I want to? Of course not! Will there be time to have those quiet moments where time slows down, you don't see the room, only the child.

Sometimes when you connect with a child, the room gets quiet. The other people present fade away, it's just you and that child. Even without translation you can really find out who that child is. Will they begin to play, do you have to lead them there, once they start playing can they keep going?

When I enter an orphanage room, I look around and notice things. How many kids? How many caregivers? Is it clean? Are the children clean? Are there toys? How are the babies handled? Do they reach for the caregivers? When the caregivers hold them, do they faces them towards themselves or away from themselves? Then when you want to connect with a child you need to let all this fade away. I could be sitting in my living room when I connect with that child. I need to be that comfortable so surrounding does not matter.

I sometimes go back to my hotel at night and am hot, tired, dirty and sad. I take a hot shower, regroup and do the same thing the next day. Its all about the kids.

I have another recurrent dream. I walk into an orphanage and the rooms are empty. All the children have forever families. I lke this dream much better.



Peace,

Pat PT

Optimism/Volunteerism

I am often struck by how people believe something can't be done. They just assume, it will be hard so why try. By hard I mean next to impossible. I try not to think like that. I think, well how can we do this impossible thing. I try to approach things with an out of the box train of thought. This often requires a back to front type of logic. See the end goal and work backward step by step.

What is my end goal from this trip? Homes and forever families for every child I profile and meet. How will we do this? Get the word out, raise awareness, talk to anyone and everyone. I used to believe children with severe disabilities would be unlikely to find families. Not anymore. I see so many families adopting children with significant disabilities. Their heats are so big. They see all children as people not as their disability. I talk to anyone who will listen about the children I meet. I read constantly, looking for commonalities. Anything that can help in my quest.

I have always been an optimist. I am the one who believes big companies want to know if their product does not live up to expectations. I fill out every product survey. Answer every opinion poll. Etc. why? Because I believe we can change anything if we try hard enough. Can one of us make a difference in anything? Yes, of course we can. It is why I volunteer. I will succeed if one child finds a forever family, because that child may be the next Albert Einstein, the next YoYo Ma, the next madam currie. I will succeed if I hold one child's hand and make them feel loved even if its only for the afternoon. 

But let's aim for helping more.............

Does that change the world? You bet it does.

Peace, Pat, PT

What does it take to go to China?

what does it take to go to China?  Well here is my packing list.  I am actually learning how to travel lighter.


6 scorts
3 pairs of pants
Sweater for flights
10 shirts
Light jacket
Rain coat
Umbrella
12 pair undies etc.
10 pairs of socks
Sandals

Cosmetics
Shampoo
Conditioner
Face wash
Toner
Chapstick
Sunblock
Face cream
Tooth brush
Toothpaste
Imodium
Acid reducer
Benadryl
Epi pen
Antibiotics
Antihistamine
Asthma meds

Computer
iPad
Phone
Kindle
Camera
Wireless hub
40 profile sheets(4 pages each, which means a lot of paper)
Dry erase board and markers
Lists/profile translations all the kids
Things from families for children
Sensory swing(quite large)
Gifts to the orphanage staff,shanghai
One group gift for jiangxi

Toys
Crayons
50 cutout Edna's
( you will see more about this, we hope to have kids color the Edna's and post.  Edna Gladney cut outs were used to celebrate Gladney's 125 anniversary)

Oh my gosh. I just got a new suitcase with spinner wheels. One of those hard cases.  I hope it all fits.  Maybe I will need to take less clothes.  That would give me room for more toys.

Peace,

Pat

One week to go

A week from Saturday Gongzhan and I will be leaving for China.  I am nervous, excited and feel not ready at all.  My life is filled with lists and items checked off daily.  Unfortunately, items are also added daily.  Am I ready for complete reversal of day and night?( 12 hour difference to Shanghai)   Am I ready for the intense heat and humidity?  Am I ready for carrying tissues and Squatty Pottys.  No.

Here is what I am ready for.  I am ready for seeing all the kids.  I am ready for helping children find forever families.  I am ready for working with the kids in the orphanage.  I am ready to see the rehab staff.  I am ready to see some of the already matched children.  I am ready to tell children that they have parents who are waiting for them.  I am ready to hold and hug children who may not find families.  I am ready to let them know they are special.

I guess I am ready for what is important.

Peace,

Pat

The Great Wall

I am getting ready for this trip to China. Doing outreach to families, conferencing daily with Gongzhan, April and Janet, making personal preparations( clothes, phone, etc.) thinking about what I really do in China.  Gongzhan and I were speaking the other day and we were reviewing all my trips to China.  This will be my 6 th trip.  I have been in five provinces and seven cities.  I have hundreds of pictures and am often asked to show my pictures of China.  I do this and sometimes people are surprised.  Almost all my pictures are of the inside of orphanages.

My cousin asked me to come by his office to see my pictures. I showed him and he said, very nice but all your pictures are of orphanages, children.  Are there any adults in China?  Did you see anything else?  Not so much.  What about the Great wall???  I've seen a Great wall.  A Great wall of children. Tall, short, smiling, crying, laughing, It breaks my heart.  Some will find families, some won't.  So many children.  How can we make a difference.  Have you heard the starfish story?  A grandma and grandson are walking a beach littered with starfish. Grandma leans down and picks one up throws it back into the water and the grandson says, grandma, look at all these starfish.  what difference will it make throwing one starfish back?  How does it matter?    Grandma says, it matters to the starfish.

We can all make a difference to a child.  Raise awareness, advocate, talk about waiting children let people know they are out there.  As long as we do this, they are not alone and forgotten.  Every child that finds a family is one less starfish stranded on the beach. I like my beach free of starfish baking in the sun.  I like all the starfish swimming happily in the ocean and all children with forever families.

Pat

I am still fundraising for this trip so if you can help, visit my trip page on the link below.  My goal is $3000 more for this trip.  See more why we need the funds in upcoming blogs but briefly, travel to china is expensive, we try to make the most of each trip and move between at least three cities.  We also bring supplies, toys, sensory cushions, and books to orphanage rehab staff who are forever grateful.  Here is the link. http://ontheirown.org/join-the-challenge   Follow the link and contribute under my name.

Peace,

Adoption Found Me in a New Way

 

Pat with teens from SCH

I am Pat Marcus and have worked for more than 25 years as a pediatric physical therapist.  Up to 50 percent of my practice has encompassed adopted babies and children.  I have worked with children from Eastern Europe,  Africa, Asia, and South America . The greatest majority of children have come from Asia and Russia.  I have always been amazed at the courage of the families and the children who find each other and become a forever family.

One day when working with a family who had adopted a daughter with special needs from China, the mom asked me if I would like to help more children from her daughters orphanage.  Of course I would.  Ha!!  I thought fundraiser for a playground or formula.  No no..  What she had in mind was hands on help.  Go to china, hold the babies, train the caregivers, do some hands on therapy,  Wow.  All that is great but I Hate to travel.  Can I get there by boat?  Hate to fly, even hated it pre 9/11.  I am not sure why planes stay in the air and there are all those people who have to maintain and service them.  Are we really sure about all that.  Not like a car if the check engine light goes on can you pull into the nearest gas station.

OK, get past the travel and the plane, there are children who could use love and help and I am there.  We partner with the Gladney Center for Adoption and Gongzhan Wu arranges our entry to the Shanghai Children's Home.  Our first trip included, myself, another PT, and Janet Fink, Superkids' founder.

We had eight days round trip.  Boy did we rock that trip.  I flew without dying of fright, we saw so many children in the orphanage, it was overwhelming.  Half a day spent with rehabilitation professionals in china, half a day in the orphanage activity rooms, children neither walkers coming in class after class, at least 15 children at a time.  We worked on tummy time, facilitated crawling and movement to prevent developmental delays.  We tried to keep a count and thought we worked with 200 children in the afternoons that week.  very night we all came home, hot tired and cried in the shower.  How many children were there.  Would they ever find families.  We left after a week, exhausted, sad, happy but anxious to go back.

Each trip has been different.  I have cried and laughed, held many waiting children, gotten many high fives and hopefully helped.  So far in China I have visited, Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, Hunan,  Harbin and Jiamusi.  In Taiwan, I have visited, Taipei and Taichung.  This upcoming trip I will go to Jiangxi provence.  Heavens, China in the summer.  Please say prayers for me, for strength, for wisdom and for families to love these children.  We know I already do. 

So if it's in your heart please help me help these kids.  It is my heart and love to help children experience the joy, sense of belonging of a forever family. Hopefully it is in yours too.  

Peace, Pat

How Superkids Began

JEANNIE'S STORY

BY JANET & STEPHEN FINK

In February 2005, we traveled with our son to Shanghai to adopt our daughter, Jeannie. Jeannie was a special needs orphan living at the Shanghai Children's Home (SCH), one of China's nicest and largest special needs orphanages.

Jeannie was placed in SCH at age three months because her eyes flickered rapidly and crossed (her eyes are now straight). Jeannie's special needs status made her difficult to place for adoption and we received her referral when she was almost two years old.

On Februrary 16^th, we went to SCH to take Jeannie home. As we entered her nursery, a large gang of toddlers hobbled over, arms reaching forward calling, “Mama!” to each of us. We were overwhelmed with joy at seeing Jeannie dressed up for her special day in the midst of the chaos and happy cacophony of the SCH Snoopy room. The Snoopy room serves as home, dining hall, playground, and classroom for about twenty toddlers with various medical conditions – all happy, energetic, and wonderful.

Jeannie bonded with us immediately, especially when we helped feed everyone congee for lunch. Jeannie loved playing peek-a-boo with her new big brother, stacking paper, and taking walks outside in the rain. She was happy, inquisitive, and we were a terrific family of four.

Children with mild medical issues can show significant motor and speech delays. Although Jeannie was intellectually and physically healthy, her visual issues and monocular vision affected her development. She was afraid to walk and had trouble targeting objects, so her muscles atrophied. She walked pigeon-toed, falling down frequently. She could not feed herself, roll a ball, or turn pages in a book.

Jeannie started physical, occupational, and speech therapy as soon as we returned to New York. Within a month, Jeannie's feet straightened 70%, she fed herself (constantly) with a fork and only fell occasionally. Blessed with outstanding therapists, she started to catch up.

Jeannie made such astounding progress with therapy that we naturally wished she could have received these needed services in the orphanage. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all orphans could receive these vital services, even those without special needs! Early therapies would make a tremendous difference for hard-to-place children, who need and deserve all the advantages we can give them.

From these wishes, with the help of the Gladney Center and some incredible therapists, Superkids was born and took it's first trip to the Shanghai Children's Home in 2007. Since then, Superkids has expanded it's services to children living in Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Taiwan. Please follow our blog to catch up on our latest trips. http://superkidscharity.blogspot.com/

 Janet and Jeannie

Jeannie is now nine and half. She is an outstanding reader and singer. She loves to swim, fence, and laugh everyday with her big brother.

Superkids is making it's 7th trip to China next week.  Superkids' physical therapist, Pat Marcus, will travel with Gongzhan Wu (Gladney VP and Director of Asia Programs) to Shanghai and the Jiangxi province.  (Read her post below to learn more about her u ).  Pat is passionate about advocating for orphans!  She gives them a voice and a chance to find a forever family.