Homeland Children's Foundation Holiday Appeal!

Our campaign objective (“Raise Funds for Homeland Children’s Foundation’ Holiday Appeal!”) has been met! Thanks for your pledge – your credit card will be charged in the next few days.

We very much appreciate your support for the work we do to help children….

Pam Thomas
President
Homeland Children’s Foundation

I spent some time today, looking through the photos from our recent trip to China. It is so difficult to express the feeling of being with children who have no parents to care for them. So many of them seem, not depressed, but beyond depressed, in a state of resignation.

Adoption is a beautiful process that helps children to find permanent, loving homes, filled with everything children should have….love, family, education, health care and the promise of a bright future.This is a great way to help some of the children, but relatively few Chinese orphans are adopted each year. Stricter international adoption laws, rising adoption costs, and the limit of families seeking to adopt means that orphanages which depended upon the generous donations left by adoptive families are now hurting financially.

In truth, most of the children in China’s orphanages will not be adopted. Those are the children who are older, have serious medical or developmental needs, or who live in orphanages that have no adoption programs. Falling in love with children like these is a slippery slope….one on which your heart can be broken again and again, since they will remain parentless. These are the children we can never forget, because they need us so much.

Over the years, when we have run programs in the orphanages for the children left behind, they would occasionally write us letters of thanks, filled with wonder that “Aunties and Uncles, from so many oceans away” would care enough about them to try to help them in some way. They have been very grateful for any care they have received.

Please help us to continue to honor our promise to these boys and girls. Give what you can and pass the campaign to others who would like the opportunity to help. These children need you to stand up for them, because if not you, then who else will?

Pam Thomas

Dear Friends,

I am having a very difficult time since I saw all those children in Su Qian….It’s hard to imagine from the comfort of my home that so many children are cold, and have nothing but a wooden surface to sleep on this winter.

It’s very hard to be in the presence of so many children who have no mothers and fathers to take care of them. While we cannot make complete miracles for these kids, we can make things a little better for them. We can make sure they each have at least a bed, some warm clothes, and clean water to dirink. A $50 donation will buy a brand new , safe crib for a baby. $75 will make the difference between a child sleeping in a bed, or sleeping on a wooden board, or, on the cold floor.

Please help us to provide the basic comforts for this group of children…They have no one else to help them.

Pam Thomas
President
Homeland Children’s Foundation

If you have been to China, you know the rule…. Don’t drink the water! The Chinese boil their own drinking water, because it is so polluted and bacteria laden that they cannot tolerate it raw either.

Earlier this year, we were approached by a group of adoptive families who wanted to help change that situation in the Gaoyou orphanage. They had been in contact with a wonderful organization, Child’s Right, which installs sustainable clean drinking water systems in orphanages. The families asked us to make a grant to finish the project, which we were happy to do. The project was completed and now the kids and staff can drink the water…a small but powerful miracle!

I contacted Eric last week, the director of Child’s Right, and he answered me from the airport, on his way to some exotic location to fact find for a good cause. He is very willing to help the kids at Su Qian, and to become part of a comprehensive service team to help this orphanage.

Since SuQian is not on his list of orphanages to be served, we will need to raise the funds for the project, which can be completed in 2009. $2500 will mean that the SuQian residents will have clean , fresh drinking water in a sustainable system, installed by volunteer engineers!

For many of us, who buy bottled water by choice, drinking from a tap may not seem like a big deal anymore. But for kids who have never been able to do that, it will be quite a privilege!

If you can donate to help with htis, or if you know someone else who might, please pass the word…..

We have so much power to help.

Best,

Pam Thomas
Homeland Children’s Foundation

Hi Everyone,

The jet lag coming home is intense. We are suffering! I know you all
want to hear more, though, and we want to share. We were able to visit
Wuxi, and to see many, but not every child matched with our families.
Some of the children, especially the older ones, are being fostered,
and were with their foster families when we visited.

But, where were we? Oh yes, Su Qian. Ordinarily, the ride back from
visiting a poor orphanage is a quiet one, because we are so
overwhelmed by the needs of the children. But not this time. Along
with the incredible professionals who were with us, we began to make
plans to systematically help the Su Qian children, and to improve
their living conditions. As an agency, it has always been our policy
not to simply place out children for adoption, but to actively seek
ways to improve conditions for the children who will remain behind.
In fact, we view adoption as only one way (a wonderful way) to help
children. But as we know, it is not possible for all the children to
be adopted. Some are too old. Some have serious or complex medical
and developmental needs. There is a limit to the number of qualified
families who wish to pursue international adoption. So we need to
consider that those children who must remain behind are our children
too, and find ways to help them. We are very glad to be able to make a
plan to improve conditions in Su Qian. The orphanage director is an
absolute gem, who has clear and realistic expectations and the desire
to cooperate with us. So, of course, we’ll begin by raising the funds
to install individual, safe cribs for the babies, and individual
beds, with bedding, for the older children to replace the wooden desks
they now sleep on (with no padding!). We are very hopeful that WWO
(this is Dr. Jane Aronson’s foundation) will continue to partner with
us to provide services for the children there, and to train local
community resources to provide ongoing, sustainable care. This is
exciting work!!!

Then, it was back to Nanjing to meet a group of pre schoolers with
medical needs. Having my daughter Lianna (AKA Yang Fei Fei), and
Nancy’s lovely Anni along with us is so helpful when we are working
with the children. It’s very comforting to the children to see our
girls with us and helps them to relax and interact with us better.
It’s very special for us to be in Nanjing…Lianna lived there as an
infant, and Nancy’s Mei is also from Nanjing. Anni and Li wasted no
time in pulling out stickers and paper and getting down on the floor
with the little ones to work on a simple craft project. This made me
well up….Lianna’s original caregiver, Madame Lin, now back from
retirement, ran to get her camera to take pictures of her former baby,
Lianna, now almost 14, sitting and helping the little ones. It has been
a great gift that our daughters have been able to sustain long term
relationships with their caregivers and staff at the orphanages where
they lived when they were little ones. Our girls may not have all the
answers they seek, but these wonderful women are part of their current
consciousness in the nicest, warmest way. I can’t encourage adoptive parents enough
to keep sending your photos and notes to the orphanages, at least once
a year. We’re always happy to help with this. The potential rewards
are great!

Many official meetings and banquets later, we headed out to Wuxi on
Sunday. We were greeted by the assistant director and head of the
education department, who treated us to a wonderful lunch in a nearby
restaurant. The staff are very grateful to all of you who have either
adopted their children, or are about to. We spent some time going
over the Hague issues, and the new immigration procedures, to give
them a better idea of why it’s taking so long for families to be paper
ready.

We’ve told you before what a first class facility the Wuxi orphanage
is. Imagine this…Three of their older children were offered the
opportunity to participate in an exchange student trip
to….Australia! This is something that would be a rare opportunity
among China’s general population!

Our therapists were mightily impressed with the facility and with the
curriculum for the school age children. The language therapist could
not believe how sophisticated and multi layered the language lessons
were…based on underwater exploration! The stories were of diving
adventures with information about various species of fish and sea
life. The art projects followed the theme, and each was displayed on
a bulletin board next to a photo of the child who created the art!!!

Then the children began arriving to meet us…what an adorable group.
For those of you already matched, we gathered as much information and
photos as possible, and we’ll be sharing those with you. The kiddos
are scrumptious! Unfortunately, not every child was there, but the
children were all very well dressed and well fed. There is a lot of
laughter in Wuxi, and the children know what toys and play time are!
There are pianos, dance classes, martial arts and lots of musical
activities. There are many baskets of manipulative and building toys
organized in a clean, bright, lovely play room. While your children
played, we began interviewing some older children who still need to be
placed if possible. One was a tall, handsome, 12 year old boy. He
walked in with his head down, so ashamed to be asking for a family in
front of all the little ones. We all felt so upset for him. I got him
to tell me that he loves basketball and enjoys illustrating cartoons.
If any of you know anyone who might be open to a boy (with no needs)
of this age, please have them contact us!...Read More

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much to those who kicked off this campaign with pledges…. We need your help so much. Those children are depending on us.

The first thing we need to do is to buy 30 safe cribs and 30 safe beds…no lead paint.. for the children in Su Qian. Imagine sitting around in your clothing and a winter coat inside all day, then looking forward to sleeping on a wooden desk covered with a tablecloth. Not acceptable. This problem we can solve!!!

Kid’s beds cost about $50 each. Good quality stainless cribs cost about $75 each. So we need about $1500 for the beds, and about $2250 for the cribs. Add another 10% to cover the credit card fees on this site, and the trucking and installation to Su Qian. That makes $4,120 to make a lasting change in the quality of life for 60 kids.

Please do pass the campaign on to anyone you know who might be thinking of making holiday contributions. Who wouldn’t want the chance to help real kids in need?

Warmly,

Pam Thomas
President
Homeland Children’s Foundation

Hi Everyone,

We returned late last night from Shanghai after one of our most
intense and productive trips to China.

Nancy and I and our daughters are quite jet lagged, and we’ll need a
few days to recover and organize the information we gathered to share
with you. We did see many of the children in Nanjing and Wuxi, but
not every one. Overall,it was a joy to see them all doing so well.

We began the journey in Shanghai, where we met with the wonderful
team of therapists who accompanied us on much of the trip, courtesy
of Worldwide Orphans Foundation, an organization begun by Dr. Jane Aronson of New York. Overnighting at the historic Astor House Hotel was an adventure in itself…marble floors, vaulted
ceilings and teak trim, like sleeping in a museum. Albert Einstein,
Theodore Roosevelt and countless other luminaries have stayed there.
It’s the oldest hotel in China, and was the venue for the first
electric light bulb ever lit in the country. Imagine that!

We ventured to Nanjing on Sunday via the express train to
Nanjing…non stop. super fast and efficient. Our Shanghai guide,
Jackie, whom we’ve worked with in the past, called America “a dream
country, a miracle country, where anything can happen!” in speaking
of our recent election. Our new president to be is widely admired in
China, and was the subject of the most open, enthusiastic discussions
we have ever been part of, in a number of functions with officials.
Even school children, when asked by their teachers to perform a
challenging task, answer in unison: “Yes we can!” The Chinese know
more about our recent election than many Americans do…They followed
everything and seem extremely hopeful about the results. As one
rickshaw driver told me, “Americans have chosen to reclaim their true
spirit.” Apologies to any of you who may have voted for the other
guy, but the Chinese perception is that we have accomplished a quiet
revolution, and for that, they admire us very much.

The opening ceremonies for the official week long training session in
Nanjing were held in a military hotel…many speeches, very formal.
Caregivers came from orphanages all over the province to participate
in the event, and they were enthusiastic beyond description. We
have many photos to post at our yahoogroup: homeland_xingfu@yahoogroups.com

Orphanage directors from a tiny orphanage in the Jiangsu countryside
traveled for four hours and waited for us in the hotel lobby with two
little boys they are hoping we can place with families. We spent some
time with them, took a good bit of information about the children,
and sent them back loaded with goods for the other children in their
facility, and a promise to try to find families for their children.

Next, we visited the Nanjing orphanage. While our specialists
evaluated children with cerebral palsy, we met with children already
matched with Homeland families, and with older boys the orphanage is
trying to find homes for. So many times, It’s boys who need families now.
They are being left behind or overlooked because Americans are so
familiar with the plight of girls……or because they just prefer
girls.

The children were wonderful, and there were some not easily
forgotten, like the 7 year old boy who broke down and cried from
wanting a family so badly. Or the ten year old boy who was abandoned
on the Nanjing streets by a jealous cousin, after a complex and sad
family situation had occurred.

A long trip out to the rural Nanjing suburbs provided us with the
opportunity to meet many children being fostered through an Amity
program. We interviewed scores of children, brought in by their
wonderful foster moms. Nancy and I were quite surprised and sad to
find two “Yang” girls there…..girls with the same last name as our
daughters, meaning that they came in during the same year our own
children did. These might be the last of the Yangs, .and this is the
last year they can be considered for adoption. If any of you know
families who might want 13 year old daughters, please have them
contact us as soon as possible. These are two, sweet, affectionate
girls. They stood with my Lianna, AKA Yang Fei Fei, for a photo, and
it was dramatic to see the difference between a girl adopted early
on and raised in a family, and two who have remained behind. How much
we are hoping that someone will come forward for each of them, at
long last.

Next, Traveling to Su Qian…..We were asked to go to a remote corner
of rural Jiangsu with our team to show them what life is like in a
countryside orphanage. After a four hour van ride through farm
country, we arrived in Su Qian, an orphanage that has seen very few
international adoptions.Su Qian looks almost medieval compared with
the big, bustling cities in China. Conditions there were not the
worst we have ever seen, but broke our hearts no less. The
children, in multi layered clothing covered with winter coats, were
living in a very poor structure. The orphanage staff had made beds
for them of wooden desks pushed together and covered with
tablecloths. The orphanage has no means to transport the children to
the hospital when they are ill…They must carry them in their arms
for several miles. The director of Su Qian has been nationally
recognized for her devotion to the children in her care. Twenty of
her children attend a local public school…not a small achievement
considering their circumstances. None of the children we met were
good candidates for international adoption, ,because of their complex
medical needs or developmental disabilities. These are children who
are already home, and need services right where they are. We will be
creating a service plan for these children and fundraising to help
them. They were overwhelmed that we took the time to visit them.
Many of them, especially the older children, hung onto us physically,
and...Read More