Unexpected Events

Well, maybe we should call them bloopers.  I thought since today is not a serious day we could talk bout some of the funny unexpected things that have happened in China.  Just so you could share in the Journey.

There are several events from past trips that I thought were funny.  I fell on the area that is pavers in the courtyard in Shanghai children's home.  Not so bad as I wasn't hurt, but my computer went flying in the air and landed 15 feet in front of me.  It was the best advertisement for a padded computer sleeve in history because my computer was fine. Later that same trip, Karen another physical therapist fell and landed flat on her face too.  She tripped over a door jamb.  Note to all of you,  jet lag makes you uncoordinated and punchy.  There was also the time I ate something I was allergic to and my eye swelled shut.  Not fun.

This trip had its share of Bloopers.  the best Shanghai blooper was when we lost Chelsea on the train.  She got in the subway and the doors closed in front of Gongzhan and I.  there were loads of Hand signals about where to get off and we caught the next train.

JiangXi province is always a challenge.  First and foremost the travel is always hard.  There also seems to be the new idea that the bathroom walls should be glass.  Now not so bad when you are in a room by yourself but not fun in a room with a friend.  After one hot long day in JiangXi we finally arrived at the hotel to get to our room to discover that all the bathroom walls were glass.   (BTW, there was a glass shower in Shanghai as well so its not just JiangXi,)   Darla kind of sunk onto the bed to find it was a board covered with padding.  We all laughed over this.  I have a wifi hub that converts the cable internet to wifi in the room.  Erin and Darla spent time that night sitting on the floor outside the room to talk to their families.  I don't know why they did not come in.  There would have been screaming if I came out and tripped over one of them.  We also ate very unusual things in JiangXi. province.  We were served all variety of food in JiangXi.  Changsha too.  Duck tongues, jelly fish and fried frogs.  We also had the Chinese equivalent of Turducken. Some exotic food are good, some are not to our liking but it is always a challenge to not be disrespectful to food your host offers you.  

Getting from JiangXi to Hunan proved to be a challenge this year.  We had reservations on the bullet train which was late by over three hours.  We ended up pushing our way onto a local train and sitting in the dining car as we did not have tickets.  That was after trecking up three flights of steps to get on the platform.  No joke. That was my epic meltdown. Now I can climb three flights of steps but I can't do it carrying my international suitcase and eighty four page profile sheets my computer and a carry on.  No escalator or elevator.  I cried.

Once we made it to ChangSha we were greeted by a buffet with Snake as an entree.  Now ChangSha is HOT.  JiangXi was hot and humid but ChangSha was hot and dry.  In ChangSha we were close to the orphanage.  We could walk form our hotel every day.  It was a little hazardous getting there.  there was a big intersection where three roads converged.  We always seemed to be in the middle of it when the light changed.  Leaving us scurrying off the road.     Once walking back from the orphanage we learned that motor bikes ride on the sidewalk.  I came nose to nose with one.  I was looking into the drivers eyes  and he was no more than eight inches from me. What did he do?  Beeped his horn.   Chelsea and Erin were practically rolling on the floor.

Last but not least,  the most unexpected occurrences are with the wonderful people we meet, the connections we make.  Friends we get to see year after year.  Staff, facilitators, orphanage directors, provincial officials. We are welcomed with open arms.   We can survive glass bathrooms, funny food and difficult travel.  We go with a great purpose and it is all worth it when we see one of our Superkids find their forever family and come home.

I am leaving you with some travel and food pics

the courtyard in Shanghai

traveling in mountainous JiangXi

Lunch in the cafeteria in Shanghai

. a delicious surprise in the bun

Thankfulness

The past year has been a whirlwind for us at Superkids.  We were impacted on the east coast by Hurricane Sandy and at this time last year we were all thinking about recovery.  We got past that difficult time and moved forward to the largest Superkids trip ever.  We saw many, many children, provided therapeutic suggestions, played with and brought some fun into the lives of waiting children.  We visited seven orphanages in three provinces and were able to do in-depth assessments on 130 children.  That is a lot in less than two weeks.  Today is a day of thankfulness. 

-Today we think about every waiting child not only in China, but worldwide.  We are thankful for their persence in the world.  We are hoping each child will find that forever family to love them.

 

-We are thankful for the time we were able to spend with each child.  If we spent an hour or played with them in a group it was a chance to connect and reach out and let them know they are special.  And they are. Each and every one is unique and amazing.

-  We are thankful for adoptive parents.   They take an amazing leap of faith adopting a child with a histor different from their own.  Adopting domestically or internationally, you all rock!

-  Superkids is thankful for our amazing team this summer.  For the selfless work and dedication of Erin Martin.  She is a great amazing addition to our team and a wonderful advocate for the children.  Not to mention all the fabulous pictures she took.  For Chelsea Guffy, who supported the team and carried so much stuff throughout China.   She has turned into an amazing advocate.  She also took so many pics!  For the amazing work, flexibility and dedication of  Dr. Darla Wrage.  She added so much to our team and assesments.  She so increased the depth and amount we were able to do.  Lastly we are thankful for Gongzhan Wu, for getting us place to place, providing access to orphanages and supporting the team in country.He is the glue that makes everything possible.

-  We are grateful for every child that has found a forever family through our efforts.  This is an amazing gift to assist in their journey.  

 

-  We are grateful for the spirit of giving back that many adoptive parents are fostering in their children.  They have helped in Superkids projects this year and remind us how important it is to pass this on to our children, the next generation.  We are all helping build a better world for the future. 

-  We are thankful for others who are committed to adoption, like Martha Osborne, Rainbow Kids, Jenny Bowen, Half the Sky, Amy Eldridge, Love without Boundaries.   You all rock and the world is better for all you do.   

Lastly, thank you all for supporting Superkids, by reading the blog, sharing our posts, helping your children give back, donating and just your words of support.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

If you want any more informations about the waiting children we met  or Superkids, reach out to me at patiriciamarcuspt@gmail.com

Giving Back

Today a group of children adopted from the standard China program spent the day giving back.  These were all girls who were adopted from China before it was mostly a waiting child program.  They meet monthly to keep in contact with their culture, friends and with their common bond, adoption.

These girls are not strangers to giving back.  My newest dedicated volunteer Amy ,who collected toys for her birthday for the waiting children in China, is part of this group.  Now this group is lead by two moms who believe in giving back.  They are great! They asked me to speak to the girls last year about what we do in the orphanages, meeting waiting children, caregiver training, and advocacy. The kids had a great time and so did I!  They wrote wishes for waiting children and attached them to lollipops, they made a scroll and contributed to the waiting child quilt that we presented to the CCCWA  It was fun to show them pictures and tell them how all the projects were received.  Here is a picture of the waiting child quilt in case you missed it the first time around.  So much fun to say to them, "  here is what you did!".

This time the girls participated by buying goodies for the waiting children.  They visited stores with cool hair ornaments, like bows, pony tail holders and head bands.  For boys we got pocket mirrors.  This was a very successful project on our last trip.  Just being able to give each child a head band or a mirror made a huge impact.  They knew we thought they were special and they felt it.  Their faces changed.  The kids club girls decorated some thin bags for the waiting kids to put their goodies in.  We did not put the items they purchased into the bags.    Waiting kids don't get to pick much, this is one area where they have a choice. We want to give them the feeling of options.

So thanks to the girls.  You are a wonderful group.  I love the spirit that your parents are nurturing.  You are giving back and even at your young age you have learned that everyone can do something.  I have no doubt you all will change the world for the better.

Here are the girls busily at work.  

  

Family Friday

A child can teach us so much and  today we are sharing in the story of a family who adopted a very special girl.   This wonderful girl's gift to me was to teach me that the children in China are waiting and longing for families just as parents wait for them. She showed me what that really means.   She loved her parents before she even met them.  She told me to tell them that she loved them and I could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes.  She is really and remarkable girl who was adopted by and incredible family.  They are very supportive of Superkids and are generous and giving enough to share their story here.  Thank you Ellen and Dennis!  

  

Adopting the Older Child

For as long as I can remember, I had dreamed of adopting a little girl from China.  My dream was pretty typical – a baby or young toddler.  But, time passed and I was not married so I placed that dream on a shelf where it gathered dust.But God had other plans.  I met the man of my dreams, Dennis, and we began our life together.  Being “older” we choose not to have a family and for the next 9 years enjoyed our life together as a couple.  But again, God had other plans.

From time to time we would say, “Hey, maybe we should consider adopting.” Rarely did the conversation go beyond that comment.  Then, we kept hearing about adopting, the needs of orphans, our responsibility to care for them…it came at us in so many ways and places that it was hard to avoid.  So we pulled that dusty dream off the shelf and started gathering information and advice on adopting.  My dream looked very similar to what it had been so many years ago – a baby girl from China – but Dennis’ dream was a bit different.  He pointed out to me that as we were quickly approaching our 50’s, maybe an older child would be a good choice and that frankly, older kids had a harder time finding families.  My dream soon reflected Dennis’ dream and we began the journey to our daughter.  To make a long story short, we adopted our beautiful daughter, Brooklyn, when she was almost seven years old.  (If you want the long version of the story our blog is (www.Dennis-Ellen.blogspot.com)

For many people considering adopting, adopting an older child is filled with questions and we had plenty. 

·         What had her life been like up to this point?

·         How would we communicate?

·         Why was she not adopted before?

·         Would she accept us as her parents?

·         What about school when she does not know English?

Brooklyn when she first met Gladney staff

Let me tell you about our time as a family and hopefully answer some of these questions along the way.

Because Superkids Charity had met Brooklyn we had some basic information about her development.  This helped us to be able to talk with Pat who had met her when she was in China.  In addition, Pat met her again while we were in the process of adopting and took along a care package for us.  We have great first hand reports, videos and pictures from these trips that helped us as we waited.  We learned that the reason she had not been adopted was that her paperwork had never been completed and submitted to the Chinese government to make her available for adoption.  If our agency staff had not met her while in China and requested this be done, she may never have been made available for adoption.

Brooke receiving her care package

When adopting older children, many families worry about communication.  We were assured that this is not that great of an issue and that in fact, it resolves itself very quickly.  Let me assure you, this is very much the case.  Brooklyn understood some basic words in English even while we were still in China.  We all got very good at acting out what we needed to communicate.  Being older also had the advantage that she could read and write in Chinese.  A tablet and Google Translate got us through those early days as we could communicate back and forth with it.   In a matter of months she was using simple sentences.  At school, her teacher also used Google Translate.

Brooklyn let us know, after a very short time home, that she wanted to go to school.   We choose to enroll her in school even though the school year only had about 7 weeks left.  This was a great decision. Being with other kids helped her language develop very quickly.  As her language grew, she shared many memories of her life in China.  These memories have helped us to meet her needs and understand her better.  It is definitely an advantage in knowing what her life was like, what she misses and how she is feeling about it.  One of the really neat things is that Brooklyn told us about another little girl that was in her foster home.  We have been able to find that family and the girls have kept in contact even though they were adopted to families in different countries.  We would never have known about this strong attachment she had to her foster sister if she had not been older and able to tell us about her.

We readily admit that Brooklyn has been a relatively easy older child adoption.  She has attached to us from the beginning.  We are her family.  That does not mean that it has been without bumps in the road.  But, like any child, regardless of age at adoption, when a family comes together and works through hard times, it makes everyone stronger.  We have learned together what it means to be a family.

Adoption is not for everyone and older child adoption is not either but it can be amazing!  

Brooklyn with her Dad

growing up!

Sledding with Dad

Family Picture

This Boy needs a Forever Family

Xiong Xiong is a happy smiling boy who loves to play.  His special need is Epilepsy.  His favorite color is yellow and he loves the game boy and computer games.  He can run, jump an is well coordinated. He goes to the orphanage school and initially they thought he was delayed but now he is catching up and making average grades.  His smile lit up the room and there must be a forever family for him.  Could he be your son?

Remember, Boys Rock!

This Boy is a Cutie Pie

We met Wei Wei this summer on our Superkids trip.  He is cuter than cute.  His smile lit up the room.  We all fell instantly in love with him.  He is such a tiny boy and there he was holding two balls then a third.  Then one would drop and off he would go trying to catch it.  Giggling all the way.  Every time he dropped a ball someone would try to retrieve it for him.  He made all of us giggle too.

This little bug is doing well for two years old. He is saying simple words and stacking the cups up by size.  He can squat, stand and walk by himself.  All this is very good for a two year old living in an orphanage.  Wei Wei's special need is anal agnesis and spina bifida occulta.  He had surgery for the anal agnesis and did not require treatment for the Spina bifida.  This type of spina bifida can be without related issues and sometimes no symptoms. According to the orphanage there is some level of control of bowel that would be age appropriate.

So, Wei Wei's biggest need is a forever family.  Whoever brings him home will be so lucky to have this smiley boy in their life.  Could he be your son?

Remember, Boys rock!

Here are some cute pics of other Boys who Rock.  We love them all!

Boys Rock!

This month to highlight waiting boys, we are bringing awareness to adopting Boys.  We want all children to be adopted.  Adoption, Girls and Boys Rock!  So I thought I would share some pics of beautiful boys we met on our Superkids trip this Summer.  Keeping the words to a minimum.  I am going to add a few each day over the weekend so stop back and see our inspiring boys.

 

Remember,  Boys Rock!