Only three more night’s sleep at home

Who could believe our trip would be here so fast?  Three more nights and we will leave for China.  Wow!  I can close my eyes and picture myself there.  This weekend, we all focused on final preparations including packing our suitcases.  Mine contains 80 profile sheets that will be filled with information about waiting children.

These children will be beautiful, unique and all waiting for their forever families.  Some will be girls, but many will be boys.  A large percentage of the shared list is boys.  This year, Superkids is going to highlight many beautiful children.  We are also going to highlight the problem that being a boy is a special need, in China it makes you less likely to be adopted.  The sad fact is, the girls on the list are picked first and the boys remain on the list for a long time.  So, I would like to share this goal with you all: we want every child to find a Mom, Dad and family to love them forever!  Boys, girls, older, younger, large special needs or small ones.  They all need families.

You can participate in this trip by advocating for these beautiful children.  Share information about these kiddos; put the link to our Superkids blog on your blog, or Facebook page.  Talk about waiting children.  Join us in our journey and our goal of forever families for all the children!

Itineraries Received!

Everyone on the Superkids team received the trip itinerary last night.  Final preparations are taking place.  Erin has collected a special slide show of before and after pictures from parents who have adopted from Shanghai Children's Home.  Developmental toys are arriving daily to my house.  There is just excitement in the air.

All for the children.  We may screen as many as 80 children.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if all 80 found their forever families?  We plan to reach out and help many more.  We are reminded that the greatest gift for a child is a loving home.  A Mom, Dad and loving family.  Our greatest hope is that all the children we meet find their forever families.  For those who don't, we love them, hold them and play with them.  They are in our hearts. 

So get ready kiddos, here we come!  Everyone, please step forward, make a difference, spread the word.  There are beautiful amazing children just waiting for their forever family to find them.

14 more days ‘til I leave for China

Wow!  Gongzhan said, pack 80 profile sheets.  Each sheet is 4 pages.  Wonder how much that will weigh?  I will also be transporting the Waiting Child quilt to the CCCWA.  The quilt is roughly 60x90.  Then, we need developmental toys, the wishes for orphans tied to lollipops, crayons and a few blocks.  I think with taking all these things, I can pack one change of clothes and that's it!

 I have been reading old blogs getting ready to see what I had documented about the number of trips I have made to Asia.  I was going to stop counting, but that seems almost wrong.  This is my ninth trip to China, and the tenth trip for Superkids.  I missed one trip.  As I look back at what we have accomplished, I can't count how many kiddos I have held and how many older kids I have spent time with, how many caregivers I have worked with or how many wonderful people we have met on these trips.

In 2007, on the first Superkids trip to Shanghai Children's Home, the babies did not crawl.  Now, by using very simple developmental activities, we see children able to crawl and reach milestones in development more easily.  Often times, we do simple things that make such a difference!  Ultimately, it means the kids are doing better with motor activities.  Sometimes, it is the littlest thing you do that makes the greatest impact.  It may be just a moment of connection that makes a difference for a child.

Lastly, a quote that describes what has changed since Superkids began, "Things do not happen, things are made to happen." -  John F. Kennedy

- Pat Marcus

Importance of Connection

The Superkids team has been discussing the projects for our upcoming China trip.  We have also been talking about what more we can do for waiting children, what more can we bring, what will make a difference.  In addition to developmental screenings, we have the opportunity to spend some quality time with the children.  We bring touch and comfort, and try to hold as many children as we can.  This holding and hugging is so important.

Children connect through touch.  At the New York premiere of the documentary "Stuck", Craig Juntunen, the producer, spoke about this.  He said “the universal language of orphanages is children running up to you with arms raised, wanting to be picked up and held”.  Each little child we hold is a wonder, a little person wanting a connection.

These are the quiet moments, when the rooms are busy, but we don't hear anything else that is going on.  Our little bit of time with that one child, a moment to hold them and play with them.  Sometimes we blow bubbles, sometimes it is a game of peek a boo or just a cuddle.  We all can't wait to be in China, holding the kiddos.

18 days and counting!

What Makes a Difference

Our Superkids team has been connecting over the past few days.  We are discussing our upcoming trip and preparations, what we hope to accomplish and how can we make the greatest difference.  One thing I hope to convey is that every child is such a gift, a small, special, wonderful spirit waiting for us to see their uniqueness.

I attended the CAFO Conference recently and Stephen Ucembe, who had grown up in an orphanage spoke about what it was like when visitors came.  They were immediately drawn to those he called, "the cute kids".  He said, “those of us who were not as "cute" were seldom held or paid attention to”.  Breaks our hearts!  When we meet children with medical needs, skin disease or other physical issues, we go to those kids first.  If we hold one child in a room, we try to hold them all.  Everyone gets a chance with the bubbles, or the light up ball.  They will not be excluded or forgotten.  The kids with the most issues get their turn first.  We know these children are less likely to find forever families.  We hold them closely in our hearts, hoping with them, for their future forever family.

I am seeing a change in parents’ hearts.  Speaking with waiting Moms and Dads recently, they want to know more about a child's personality than their medical need.  Are they sweet, happy, active, spunky?

What is our attitude?  It's very simple.  We love them all.  They are special and full of promise and beauty here in the orphanage and when they find their forever families.

Pat

TED Talk - Learning to Read Chinese

As I prepare for our upcoming China trip, I am once again working on simple Chinese phrases and characters.  I have been doing this for a while and have not been too successful.  My husband sent me a lecture from TED talks.  I love the online talks from TED, brief lectures on something that you may know nothing about.  There is such a wide variety that you can always find something you are interested in.  So, this one is about the road to literacy, fluency, reading simple characters and how it begins.  I really enjoyed it and wanted to share it with you.

Check out this amazing TED Talk: ShaoLan: Learn to read Chinese ... with ease!

Hope you all enjoy.

Pat

Superkids is proud to welcome Erin Martin to our Summer 2013 team

Erin has been a great advocate for waiting children and we are so happy she will be joining us this summer.

“My name is Erin Martin.  I am married to Keith and together we parent and homeschool our five children.  I have had a heart for adoption for as long as I can remember and can recall stating when I was a young girl that I was going to have a huge family with children from all over the world!  The experience of adopting our two youngest children has had a profound impact on our family.  We have seen firsthand how love and care can change a child’s life!

I believe that every child deserves a family and that is why I am so excited about the opportunity to join the Superkids summer trip to China.  When we adopted our youngest daughter in 2012, we benefited from the evaluations done by Superkids volunteers.  We were able to speak with Pat Marcus while we were reviewing our daughter’s file.  We later received videos and pictures of our daughter and were able to send pictures of our family to her so that she was better prepared to meet us.

As an advocate for waiting children, I view this trip as an opportunity to be a voice for the children who have no voice, and hands and eyes for the parents who are waiting to welcome a child.  I believe that through the efforts of our team, many children can be united with their forever families and many families can be blessed with a wonderful child to call their own!”

We will be posting daily while in China on the Superkids blog, Erin's blog (www.martinsinchina1.blogspot.com) and Darla's blog (wrages.blogspot.com).  We are linking our blogs so you can follow our trip preparation. You can donate to the Superkids team on this blog or on Erin's blog using the donate button.