My visit to the Henan Cleft Healing Home this past June was a day that I loved completely. All of the babies were so healthy and happy, and the home has such a family feel. How wonderful to hear the sound of babies laughing and to watch the aunties singing and playing with the kids. We all said that we wish every orphaned child could live in such a caring environment.
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In 2004, when I first had the opportunity to work in a Chinese orphanage, there was one little girl who captured my heart. I was amazed by the fact that I could be caring for 200 babies and yet have one that stood out as so special and dear to my heart. Leaving her after eight days of serving in her orphanage was one of the most difficult things I’ve done. And so when the time for my next trip to serve in another orphanage came, I told myself I would not fall in love with one child in particular. Much as I tried, another little girl stole my heart. Now when I work in the orphanages, I know that it’s inevitable – there will always be one or two children that I will form a special bond with – one or two children whose faces are forever etched on my mind and heart and whom daily remain in my prayers. On my most recent trip to China in May 2010, Scott was one of two of the over 500 children I encountered that captured my heart.
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Cody arrived at our Anhui Cleft Healing Home (ACHH) at just six weeks of age. He was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate and came to ACHH to receive individual care so that he would be ready for cleft lip surgery in a few months. However, when he arrived he was pale, not very responsive, and appeared very weak with fever and diarrhea. Quite concerned for little Cody, our staff brought him to have a medical evaluation the very next day. At that examination, the doctor felt that Cody may actually have been born prematurely and showed signs of serious malnutrition. Cody was admitted directly to the newborn baby floor for medication to treat the diarrhea and fevers and for nutrition support. However, that was just the beginning.
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Available Soon: A beautiful, airy 8-9 bedroom, 6 bath villa in lovely Fujian Province with a spacious garden. Perfect for a host of babies and their loving nannies!
One of the main purposes of our recent trip to China was to finalize the details for our fourth healing home – this one located in the Fujian Province. This new home will be a combination of our cleft healing home and our Heartbridge healing unit models – with one floor dedicated entirely to vulnerable babies with cleft and one floor dedicated to children with other medical needs, such as preemies, those born with heart disease, etc. The need for these homes continues to increase, as almost every orphanage we spoke with on this trip told us that 98% of the children now being abandoned have medical needs. As we stood in the orphanage infant/baby rooms on this trip, we clearly saw this reality. Every crib is filled with babies with medical issues, ranging from heart defects to spina bifada to cleft lip and palate. In the past it was already a daunting task for an aunty to care for 10 to 15 “healthy” newborns at once. Now their jobs are even more difficult as they attempt to care for the same number of babies, but ones with often serious medical needs.
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This morning as I was slowly jogging around our neighborhood, I couldn’t get the words to the song “Run Baby Run” out of my mind. Not that I know all of the words, nor am I really a runner. But I am in a family of runners and we are all gearing up to “run baby run baby run” – for orphaned children in China.
Love Without Boundaries has a team running in the 35th annual Marine Corps Marathon held in Washington DC on October 31st. My husband, Ben, will be trying to keep up with our oldest son and daughter in this year’s Marine Corps Marathon. Our youngest five children are running in the kids’ Fun Run held the day before, and they’ve already started training – they ALL want to be first. What they don’t realize is that the “real” winners will be the babies the funds will help through LWB.
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LWB’s Education Program is proud to feature Gracie from our Huainan Believe in Me School as our featured child this week. Gracie is a beautiful six year old girl who has a repaired cleft lip. Gracie entered the program in preschool in September 2007 and she has really made incredible progress. When she first started, she was only three and could do very little, unable to even express her basic needs to let her caregivers know she was hungry or if she needed to go to the bathroom. Gracie was unable to answer simple questions, participate in group activities or play well with the other children.
Well, what an amazing difference LWB’s Education Program has made in the life of this precious little girl! Gracie has TRULY blossomed in an incredible way.
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The bags are full to brimming with medical supplies and baby vitamins; we’ve got bubbles and matchbox cars and necklaces and stickers; and just like on my adoption trips…..I have a million different thoughts and emotions running through my mind as I prepare to board the plane to China for our week-long visit with many of the people involved with LWB.
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Little Sam and Eoin look rather confused! In the top photo, these buddies from our Henan Cleft Healing Home are all bundled up and ready to go to the hospital to receive cleft repair surgeries. They don’t look too thrilled with the hats and jackets and they probably weren’t too happy with life right after the surgery…but we know they will be very excited with the final results. Take a look at them now, just days after their repairs!
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As everyone who reads this blog knows, all of us at LWB have a tender heart for babies born with cleft lip. We have seen so many tiny babies with cleft struggle to feed in an orphanage setting. Their strong wills and determination to survive make us work even harder to make sure every baby with cleft that comes into our hands is given a second chance. We absolutely LOVE sharing their photos, but sometimes we hear from people who say they simply cannot look at the “before” photos as it makes them feel too uncomfortable. When we get those letters, we always wonder if we should stop showing so many pictures of kids with unrepaired lips. However, we always come back to the thought that perhaps if people see enough of them, they will begin to see the beauty of each child no matter how severe their cleft is.
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This past week, I had the good fortune to celebrate Chinese New Year with my daughter’s third grade class. I read the stories Ruby’s Wish and Sam and the Lucky Money to the children. We also made paper lanterns festooned with riddles in the tradition of the Lantern Festival that is celebrated on the 15th day of every new year. There was a lot of giggling as my daughter’s classmates simulated a lantern parade and tried to guess the answer to such riddles as: What animal has its own built in shower? (Answer: An elephant)!
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