Beautiful Zheng Zheng

We continue to look for a family for Zheng Zheng (age 5).  Pat and Kathy met Zheng Zheng while they were in Shanghai, this is what Pat would like to share with prospective families for Zheng Zheng:

"When we met Zheng Zheng, she was wearing a little red jacket.  She was brought to the district foster care center by her foster mother.  They have a really nice relationship.  Zheng Zheng and her foster mom had watched all the activties we were doing with the children before her, and she was so eager to show us all that she could do!  When she entered the area we were seeing the children in - she spontaneously started demonstrating all the gross motor skill activities we had asked the other children to perform - standing one on leg, hopping up and down, bouncing a ball!  Zheng Zheng demonstrated her fine motor and cognitive skills as well.  She drew us a picture of a pink bunny, with a red sun and blue clouds.  She also drew a house and wrote her name on it in chinese characters while she waited for us. Zheng Zheng is a sweet child who really wanted to please.  At first she was quiet but the more time we spent with her the more she relaxed and opened up.  We had brought some toys as prizes and she chose the dinosaur finger puppets as her prize.  When Zheng Zheng  is adopted she will need some speech therapy/oral motor therapy.   My hope for Zheng Zheng is that she will find a great home..... just like she drew in her picture."

A second webinar featuring children from the Shanghai Children's Home whom Kathy and Pat met on their recent trip will be held later this month. When the date is set for this webinar we will post it to our Waiting Child Blog and also send out an email to everyone receiving this letter.  http://asiawaitingchild.wordpress.com/

Russia So Far..Gladney VP and Whitney go to Russia

Russia so far

Whew! Since Marshall and I have been in Russia it has been a whirlwind tour! We arrived in Moscow very early Monday morning. We took a quick nap and then met up with Tatyana (our in country coordinator) and went to see Red Square. It was amazing! Then we ran a few errands and then we went to the train station. We took an overnight train to Pskov. We arrived at 6:30 am on Tuesday, took another quick nap and then went to the Pechory Baby House. We met with Dr. Natalia and then toured the baby house. After visiting the baby house we went to see the very famous monastery in Pechory.

The next day, we met with Armaine, the director of social services in Pskov to sign the humanatarian aide agreement between Gladney and the orphanage in Pskov. This project will give girls who age out of the orphanage and are pregnant a place to stay as well as provide education for older children in the orphanages on how to take care of themselves once they age out. After signing the agreement, Marshall and I toured the orphanage where the project will take place.

Then we went to the train station and took a train overnight back to Moscow. We checked into the hotel and then had a late lunch at the Hard Rock here in Moscow. Tomorrow we will be driving 3 1/2 hours to the Ryazan region to meet with officials. 

Whitney

A Day in the Life of an Orphanage

A Day in the life

So… many of you probably wonder- ”If I were to hang out for a day at an orphanage… what would I see” And thus I present for you the following pictorial journey:   A Day in the Life.

You might get to meet the hen that enters the adolescent girl’s dorm.

Chicken in the dorm while the girls are doing their homework

 … for the sole purpose of laying an egg on one of the girl’s bed. Yes, the same girl. Yes, almost everyday.

Freshly laid egg on bed

 You might see a whole bunch of adorable little toddlers playing in the baby pool.

Our first swim!!!

 Or the huge group of 5-year-olds who jealously stand by watching and wishing they did not have to go back to school.

Man that looks fun!

 You will definitely see laundry… lots and lots of laundry!

More clothes than lines!

 And possibly a bunch of school aged boys who found a VERY fun toy (aka.. a wheel barrel, shovel and rocks).

Hard at work

 You might even get a dance lesson or two.

Kristi's first dance lesson in Colombia

 But only a select few… the most lucky of the lucky. Those who dare to dream. Will end their day at the orphanage by picking lice out of their hair.

The lucky ones.... de-licing

So folks. I hope that begins to give you an idea… mostly that one can NEVER know what to expect when stepping foot in an orphanage.  But you can be sure you will be amazed.
KO

Beautuiful, Available Waiting Children

Last week Gladney hosted a webinar that featured two therapists, Pat Marcus and Kathy deMaCarty, who recently visited the Shanghai Children’s Home to work with staff and children who are available for adoption. During the webinar, Pat and Kathy spoke about some of the children they met, all of whom are designated to Gladney for adoption. To view the webinar click here. The children featured can also be found on our Photo List page.

Featured in this webinar is a healthy 5 year old boy, Jia Jia who is still waiting for his forever family. He is sweet and has big personality! Listen to the webinar to learn more about him.

A second webinar featuring additional children will be held in the coming weeks. Be sure to check back here for more details and to register! http://asiawaitingchild.wordpress.com/

Kristi Connects with Teen Orphans and Experiences a Small Earthquake

Guest Post from Kristi (and a few asides from me)

First of all, may I just say that I loved spending time with a good friend…even if that meant time combing lice out of our hair, attempting to salsa dance with rhythmic Colombians about two feet shorter than us, experiencing our first Earthquake, or cuddling some adorable orphan children.

(Keely aside): as yes, the earthquake. I had forgotten to tell you all about that little surprise. It happened sometime during the night. To me the experience continues to be a blur as I did not ever totally wake up– I instead had a dream that explained the movement as a very strong wind. And for some reason… this seems to be the prevalent explanation in my mind to date. I actually have to remind myself that the wind can not in fact shake a building, that we lived through a very small earthquake– our first ever by the way. Kristi however fully came to and tried to get me to pay reverence or at least acknowledge the event… no dice.)

The first day on our way to the orphanage Keely said to me “I love being this engaged in my life.” I left with that same attitude simply by seeing the amazing human spirit through the kids I met. I am such a sucker for teenagers and I left feeling for the difficulties teenagers encounter living in an orphanage. Therefore, I am going to share this with you as Keely does an amazing job of sharing about all those babies:).

As, teenagers we have so many crazy emotions/hormones you name it and it is hard enough when you have a positive role model to go to. No one is available to help with homework (They can’t call a friend for help as they have no phone), no one is there for boy/girl troubles, no dating, and maybe most importantly there is no one to teach “life skills.” I can’t imagine never having dealt with money, jobs, transportation, grocery shopping,…..LIFE, before being on my own at 18 like these kids will be. On my plane ride home I could not get a few of the teenage girls I met out of my head and just wish there was some way to give them a hand through the trying life outside the orphanage.

Kristi helping with English homework-- man our language is hard to learn

(Keely aside) The thing that amazes me most about these kids is that despite all this, the majority of them area GREAT kids. That is why it is so easy for visitors like Kristi (Janet, Lisa, Sabrina… me) to come and fall in love with them. They are engaging… and they are seeking someone to connect to. I know I have said it a million times, but the perseverance of these kids, of their human spirit, it never ceases to amaze me.

Columbia is a beautiful country where nearly everyone I met was extremely kind. However, upon my arrival home I was thankful for one thing… a hot shower. I know this is not the last time I do something like this….hopefully Keely finds a way to keep with this journey so I can come once in a while. It was truly eye-opening and wonderful at the same time.

Thanks for reading,

Kristi

Marshall and Whitney visit Bulgaria

Bulgaria Day 1 and 2

Greetings from Bulgaria! Marshall and I traveled all day on Wednesday to get to Sofia, Bulgaria. Then we connected with Rosi, a member of our incountry team, and hopped on a flight to Bourgas, Bulgaria. On Thursday, we visited the orphanage for infants in Bourgas. This orphanage housed about 160 children ages 0-3 We were very pleased with the condition of the orphanage and how well the children were taken care of there. We met with the orphanage director and she told us she was very interested in providing for the sensory and emotional needs of the children in the orphanage as well as creating a family type enviornment for the children with special needs.

After visiting the orphanage, Marshall, Rosi, and I were driven to Varna, Bulgaria and we were able to walk the "board walk" in Varna which is a city on the coast of the Black Sea. On Friday morning, we visited the orphanage in Varna. Again it housed around 170 children ages 0-3. The Varnas orphanage had a fire in December and is still making repairs. We were able to see the progress that has been made. I was pleased to see that the orphanage director is passionate about raising money to make the needed repairs quickly and that she hopes to make the orphanage even better than before.

After visiting the orphanage we hopped on a plane and flew back to Sofia. We were picked up at the airport by Petko (another member of the Vesta team) and we drove straight to the office to talk with Milena (our in country lawyer). Milena informed us of the progress of the program and also gave us a few updates.

Can We Fix It?

Bob the Builder… Can we fix it?

Keely's words of wisdom

Bob the builder, yes we can!

I don’t know if Obama and Bob the builder had a feud over this little phrase or not. But either way, I think that they are both onto something. It’s the question that I ask myself everyday and hope, oh how I hope, that the answer is in fact- yes we can. There may be some of you that have heard my “shpeel” but I am pretty sure that most of you have not. The shpeel I refer to is my way of explaining my intentions, my interactions, the big picture that I dream of for these institutions that I am working with: to help the many many children in this world living without parents. So here it goes:

The Problem:

We are currently living in a world with almost 145 million orphans. A number that may be deceiving because often the term “orphan” refers to children who have lost their parents to death, abandonment etc. But the figure more than likely does not include the millions of kids (even in the US) that are living parent-less (or family-less is perhaps a better way of putting it) because they are under protection of the state. It’s a daunting figure. I have always said that kids are a unique population because they are one of the few that can not advocate for themselves. They rely on us, on adults. This is a problem that we, as adults, should not/can not ignore.

There are many groups of people/organizations/governments who are fighting for these kids. The efforts to address this problem is and must be multifaceted. There are organizations working to bring peace to war-torn regions, others improving health care, education on pregnancy prevention, micro-financing and economic stimulus, and much more… all huge factors contributing to the problem of family-less children in this world. You have adoption agencies (both domestic and international) working to bring some of these children to loving families. BUT, you still have millions of children living in institutions, a number growing every year. While all other groups fight from the outside in, it seems to me what is especially important about the work that I am doing here, is working within the system…. fighting from the inside out. We are working inside these homes, to make them supportive environments where children can grow and flourish.

Don’t misinterpret me… I absolutely believe that a loving family is better than and institution. But for many children in many countries, institutionalization is the only option. So we have to make this option the best it can be. And hopefully one day, it will not have to be an option anymore. Until then… the war has been waged.

So whats the point?

The point is that if we can love these kids, teach them to love, to trust, to learn… if we can help them become productive citizens that contribute to society. Help them become responsible, healthy, employed people then maybe the next generation will have less parent-less children. The alternative?– they get kicked out of an orphanage at 18 have no life skills, limited empathy, no idea how to handle money or live on their own… spend everything they have and end of having to make money in horrible unimaginable ways such as war, drugs or prostitution– having 6 babies, the next generation of orphans is even larger than the last… I think you see where this is going.

The breakdown (or build-up)– how do we help these institutions? We are building a house, a home, a life, for these kids (This is where the Bob the Builder analogy comes into play).

We start with the foundation: The foundation is the basics of keeping the kids alive- health care, nutrition, safe lodging, diapers, weather appropriate clothes, clean drinking water, etc. It’s the bare minimum. And you can’t build a house on a rocky foundation. You can’t invest in quality of life projects like education and career training, if there is not enough formula for the babies that last few days of every month. Money must first be invested here to make future projects sustainable.

Next is the walls: this is the developmentally supportive care. In Spanish they use the word stimulation to describe this pro-active care. Basically it is giving kids the attention, affection and opportunities that they need to learn. Huge amounts of research and millions of governmental dollars are invested in improving the early years of life in the US. We understand this sensitive period of development is hugely important to setting the stage for learning and succeeding later in life. This is a HUGE part of what Super Kids invests in. And it is basically as simple as this: you have to experience to learn. You have to be spoken to in order to learn to talk, you have to be out of your crib in order to learn to walk, you have to be loved to learn to love…. we help orphanages develop programs and infrastructure to allow, and hopefully even encourage, these kids to learn.

A huge part of building the walls, includes teaching caregivers and staff how to work with the children with disabilities. Often there are large numbers of children in institutions who have physical disabilities (not just talking about “orphanage delay” here, but chronic disabilities) for a variety of reasons. And often these children experience very little personal interaction. Not because the caregivers are cold… but because these kids require SO much assistance– there is just not enough time. These women are taking care of 30 kids, it’s just a pure matter of resources. They do not have the time or equipment to keep these kids engaged often leading to very stiff little bodies that barely move, sickness, and definitely unrealized potential. We work hard to educate, dispunge stereotypes about abilities of children with special needs, equipment provision and training to allow these kids to participate with their peers.

The windows: the windows are education. Yes, we are building a house. But it is CRUCIAL that these kids begin to understand that there is a world, a society, with very different rules outside the walls of their institution. An education is very important to the overall goal (remember what that was after all my rambling?… to make productive citizens). Many many institutions work hard to help children across the world recieve an education and this population of kids should not be forgotten in these struggles.

The roof: The roof is life skills training. At 18 (in some countries it is a little older) The doors open and you are forced to leave your home. The institution you have been raised in. And you are expected to know how to survive. The problem is– orphanages themselves are a culture. They have very different rules, norms, than society at large. Some examples: There is no money in orphanages… these kids have no idea how to budget, understand saving and spending. Limited independence… they are cared for on all levels and so often do not know how to cook, clean, etc. because someone has been doing it for them (this is can be the polar opposite in some places with children helping with daily chores… but this is generalized for example purposes). And they definitely do not have a trade skill. They often don’t leave with any tools to help them get a job or keep a job.

So the roof is thus finding ways to teach these adolescents these skills. And the REAL success is when the roof can help protect the rest of the house- when it can lead to self-sustainability. For example: teaching adolescents to garden and using the food to feed the orphanage, teaching them crafts and selling them to support the projects, training adolescents to be caregivers etc. AND giving them opportunities to experience the outside world by going on trips, learning to navigate the bus system, learning to go shopping. Just think for a minutes about all the things that you do in a day– how did you learn how to do them? who taught you? if you lived in an institution with 100 kids and never got to leave beyond the gates… would you have these skills?

So that is the house. And when you have all these aspects fully incorporated, with sounds structure. Then you can really protect and nourish the kids inside of them. Can we fix it? I sure hope so.

Thanks for reading

KO