More from Anhui

This is part four of the travel blog from our volunteers in China now.

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Maire, Julie and I woke up early and travelled to Dingyuan. As always I felt truly glad to be back in my daughter's home town. Dingyuan is a beautiful place. The fields were bright yellow and full of rape seed in bloom and the landscape dotted with little villages, fields and buffaloes. It was a glorious day as we pulled into the orphanage.

After a chat with the Directors and sharing of photos of previously adopted children, we had a tour of the orphanage. The kids were all looking great. Rosy cheeks everywhere and happy smiles. We sat and played with the children for a while and then headed off to see the foster children.

We walked around and eventually I looked down an alleyway and saw one of the foster children coming towards us holding her dad's hand. What a sight. This child is just so happy in her home. She excitedly ran towards us and then led us to her house. There, with her foster sisters and brother she kept us amused for quite a while. These foster parents are so remarkable. Their dedication to their children is unbelieveable. As we left we presented the foster mum with a bouquet of flowers......such a small gesture for such a wonderful woman!

We continued on our way, handing out stickers and beanie babies to each child. Again these were donated by British families for the children. The children absolutely loved them and I would like to thank all the people who so generously gave these items. Your kindness was appreciated.

It was such a blessing to have the Mobile Medical Team from Anhui Children's Hospital with us. They gently checked each child as we went round and noted their needs and suggested exercises to improve their mobility where necessary. To say they are a pleasure to work with would be an understatement!

On this trip, I had to say goodbye to two children in our foster care program as they will soon be adopted. All of us at LWB wish them all the best for their futures with their new families.

The day finished up with a trip out to the local reservoir, as LWB have raised funds to help lay pipes for the water to be pumped from the reservoir to the orphange. Previously the orphanage had used well water but the well was not deep. It was certainly a tranquil place and one that was rather poignant for me. It was time to take a quiet moment and think of my daughter's home town.

Wednesday it was up and out the door early for yet another orphanage visit in Anhui. We were given a warm greeting by the orphanage staff and then went to see the beautiful children. It is near to the Qing Ming Festival (where Chinese people honour their ancestors) and firecrackers were going off everywhere. We could hardly hear ourselves speak. Initially the children were a little shy of us but as soon as they realised we had stickers they were very excited. Within minutes we were surrounded by children eager to receive their very own pack of stickers. Maire did a great job in covering the children head to toe! We were all particularly pleased to see one little girl who had received heart surgery sponsored by LWB. She was a little shy to start with but that didn't stop her from following us from room to room. This little girl had been so seriously ill but was now looking great, and the orphange staff referred to her as their "little miracle."

Arlene Howard

Hefei to Lu'An

This is part three of the travel journal of Julie, Arlene, and Maire.

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We arrived in Hefei on Sunday afternoon and headed straight for Anhui Children's Hospital. It was such a great feeling as we walked into the hospital as it brought back many fond memories for Julie and I as we headed for the lifts to the 10th floor.

We visited a few LWB sponsored babies with cleft . In fact we were overjoyed to
see one of the babies who was on the Hefei Cleft Trip last October. Little Ying was not well enough to receive surgery then but has recently had her surgery and is looking great. I'm sure many people will remember her as 'Julie's baby with the spiky hair'. She has grown so much and we barely recognised her.

Next morning we were up bright and early to visit our Luan foster care program. At our first stop we were greeted by 2 smiling little girls. The look on their faces was priceless as we gave each of them a pretty fairy dress to wear. It was then the turn of the ACH Mobile Medical Team to work with the children. They went straight to work, assessing the medical conditions, making suggestions etc.

During the day we visited 42 children, handing out beanie babies and dressing up outfits kindly donated by CACH members in the UK. We also were able to purchase some items for the older girls and boys thanks to a kind donation of unused rmb, also by a CACH UK member. The children all loved their presents. We were particularly touched by our visit to some older girls with Cerebral Palsy. Their faces postively shone as we placed diamante head bands and hair clips on their heads, pretty bracelets on their wrists. We handed out stickers to all the children too - they were a BIG hit!!

I have to admit the highlight of my day was walking around a corner to be greeted by a little voice calling 'Ayi!!!' I would recognise that voice anywhere - it was one of our foster children, again from the cleft mission. This little girl captured everyone's hearts back in October when she had her palate operation. She came up the alleyway waving and smiling and I was greeted with a warm hug from foster mum. She followed us from house to house, dancing around and checking out our stack of toys - so nothing new there then!! And then her foster brother (also a child with cleft palate from October) arrived. His face lit up when he saw us and big kisses were given and received by him. These children were both so well and their palates are all healed up.
The wonderful ACH team worked tirelessly all day, only arriving back in Hefei at about 11pm, at which point we casually mentioned that we needed to leave the next morning for another visit at 8 a.m.!

Arlene Howard

Anhui Director of Operations

Westerners and their Wacky (but fun) Ideas

We have INCREDIBLE facilitators in China, who pour their heart and soul into assisting orphaned children in China. None of our programs would work without the amazing dedication of our China LWB team. They are so professional and oh so understanding of us when we come up with new ideas on ways to help the kids. Today, however, I think we have hit a new high (or is that low?) in ways to raise essential funds for our mobile medical unit.

Today as Julie, Arlene, and Maire were making a mobile medical run in Anhui, they were sharing with one of our dedicated team members that they will soon be having an LWB "men's leg hair waxing" in Ireland to raise funds for the children. (note the word "wacky" in the subject line). Well, in true 3 women against one man style (ha ha), they coerced our poor facilitator into agreeing to be the first Chinese man to be a part of this. They convinced him that we could find 50 donors who would each donate $20 in order to see this happen for the kids, which would mean having his legs waxed would bring in $1000 for the children!

Julie sends the following message: "If you could pledge your sponsorship soon we might have the pleasure of waxing him on the last day :-) Wicked aren't we!! We have been making him tell all at every official banquet we have attended and now many orphanages are rooting him on! Remember $1000 is a lot of money for the kids! He will be so proud (and probably sore), but no pain, no gain! And it is for a GREAT cause."

If you could meet this wonderful and kind man, you would know that this is way out of his comfort zone. I think women should donate because this is just so funny that this poor, unsuspecting guy has agreed to this and I think men should donate out of sympathy! All for the kids!

A new team in China

Julie, Arlene, and Maire are now in China checking up on programs in Hunan and Anhui. This is part one of their blog.

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The alarm clock rang at 6.30am and the three weary travellers struggled out of bed amid moans and groans, tired but eager to start their first day in Hunan. After a good breakfast, we hit the road for our first stop. The director and staff greeted us warmly, and we spent an enjoyable time meeting some of the children and sorting out any necessary paperwork. Randy and Shirley, the moderators of the foster care program also came to meet us. Director Li and her staff were delighted to see photos of children who had been adopted from the SWI and were thrilled when presented with the gift of a calendar made up of similar photographs.
They also welcomed gifts sent by prospective parents for their soon-to-be children.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the children in foster care and their foster parents. It was a fantastic experience to meet all the children and to see how healthy and happy they are. If anyone needed convincing that the foster care program is successful, spending time with the children was all the proof they needed. The love and bonding between foster parents and children was very apparent without exception and the relief and joy expressed by the children when returned to the arms of their foster parents was self-evident. One of the highlights of the day was meeting Nana, who is a marvellous lady, full of love and care for the children. She will be leaving the program as a foster mom next month as she has a new grandbaby to care for, and she will be hard to replace. All the families were thrilled with their gifts and the babies seemed to like their Beanie babies for the most part, and of course we delivered more princess clothes.

Oh were there a lot of stairs to climb up and down though! We all got a great work out. And then there was the issue of Julie joining the local women’s gambling den. Well the muscles of our legs are still telling the story and we’re getting Julie counselling for her little addiction, so all is well here!

All in all, it was a wonderful day and a marvellous first time experience for me of LWB in action. That’s all for now.

Maire ((on behalf of Julie, Arlene and herself – two Irish women and one wannabe!)

P.S. Arlene wants the world to know that she did in fact brush her hair,
despite appearances.

Born in my Heart Fund

Jie is a 6 month old baby with a very serious heart defect. He needed to have his surgery immediately, but his surgery will cost at least $5000. Jie was placed on our website and received partial sponsorship, but because of our Born in My Heart Fund, he was fully funded quickly. He has now been moved to the hospital has just had heart cath. The heart surgeon just confirmed how serious his heart disease is and he will now have the first part of a two part heart surgery. We are so grateful that he didn’t have too wait to long and was funded so quickly.

The Born in My Heart Fund was created to help fund the most critical heart kids. Many people wanted to donate money to a heart child’s surgery, but didn’t know what child was the most urgent or serious. We created the fund so that these children could be funded as quickly as possible. Donations made to this fund are transferred to the neediest child and then the donor is notified and receives updates on this child.

So far, nine serious children have benefited from this fund and we hope that many more will be helped in the future. Please check out our medical sponsorship webpage at http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/SponsorMedical.php for more information about the children currently needing medical help and for a link to our Born in My Heart Fund.

Beautiful Faces!

We just received some wonderful photos from our nutrition program in Huainan, Anhui Province. Last summer we began sending formula for their babies who are small due to their medical conditions. Some of these children were too small and weak for surgery when we started, but look at those chubby cheeks now! And some are brand-new arrivals. How wonderful that a brand new baby can start on a great formula and cereal the very day they arrive! This way surgery can happen sooner, recovery will go quicker, and ultimately many will find their forever families. Thank you to our nutrition donors for making this possible!

For the Love of Music

Music. It soothes the soul. And, now is serving as a soul soothing link between children enrolled in Love Without Boundaries Believe In Me Schools and the families that adopt them.

Thanks to the Fields of Grace adoption ministry of the Hill Country Baptist Church in Austin, Texas and the big hearts of Sunday School children there, money has been raised to buy music CD’s that are f requently played for children in Love Without Boundaries Believe In Me Schools. When a child is adopted, their new family receives a CD of music that their new son or daughter is already familiar with to play in their new home. Each CD is presented to an adoptive family with a label that reads: Fields of Grace/Believe In Me: Musical Memories. A Gift of Familiar Music From My First Home In China.

Through a “red envelope” campaign, the Sunday School children raised enough money to buy CD’s for children adopted for the next two years. And, additional funds were raised by the kids to purchase school supplies for Love Without Boundaries future school being planned right now – Believe In Me III. One young Sunday School student was so moved by desire to help orphans that he donated all the money he had been earning for a new Nintendo to the school children of LWB’s Believe In Me students.

We are touch and inspired by the love children have for other children. Way to go kids!

eBay Spring Auction

The Love Without Boundaries eBay store will have a special auction from March 17 -24, featuring donated clothing, shoes, books, games, DVDs and VHS movies, plus more. The emphasis is Spring/Easter clothing. We’ve been busy taking pictures and writing up descriptions of the many donations (primarily clothing that has been gently worn although we do have some new items too). The money raised from this auction will be used for some extra special medical needs that have recently been brought to LWB's attention. Also in the eBay store is a new listing Brown Eyed Girl written by Sarah H. Ledford, an adoptive mom, who writes about their adoption journey. It is a 3 book set and sells for $20.00 plus shipping. The author has generously donated all profits from this series of books to go to Love Without Boundaries.

The eBay store has grown over the past year and is receiving donations from all over the U.S. to sell "eBay quality" items. The funds raised from the store help in the areas of medical, nutrition, foster care and education needs. Visit our store at http://stores.ebay.com/Love-Without-Boundaries-Store.

This Spring/Easter eBay auction is not to be confused with the upcoming Art Auction which will be held in May to raise funds for life saving heart surgeries. Art Auction donations are currently being accepted and are so necessary to help heal heart children. If you would like more information, please visit our website at http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/ArtAuction.php for more information.

Anhui Mobile Medical

And we're rolling!

Our Anhui mobile medical van has now hit the road, and everyone agreed the program is off to a great start. A team of 7, including doctors, nurses, and physical therapists has already visited five orphanages in Anhui: Luan, Fuyang, Dingyuan, Huaibei and XiaoXian. They will continue to visit 4 of these orphanages each month throughout the coming year. Already on the van’s first trip, the medical team from Anhui Children’s Hospital diagnosed 5 children with heart disease who need help.

Everywhere the van went, the team was met by welcoming orphanage staff and foster families. Families came by foot and by bicycle, and many of the kids having their exams thought it was quite a bit of fun and were actually laughing out loud.

Now that initial assessments have been done, on subsequent visits the PTs will work with the foster children and help train caregivers how to do the exercises. Our goal is to make sure that every child possible becomes eligible for adoption.

We are very excited about this first pilot program, even though we have not yet raised the total running costs for this year. We welcome monthly sponsors at $25 a month or general donations to this program as well. We know this partnership with Anhui Children's Hospital is going to lead to wonderful things for the kids of Anhui. To learn more about the program, please email our Anhui Director of Operations, Arlene Howard at arlene@lovewithoutboundaries.com

Biking for Babies

I learned this week that two really funny men in the UK have decided to "cycle the length of Great Britain" (about 1000 miles) in order to help children in China. When I first clicked on their blog and started to read, I came to this hilarious line:

"It's not that we are pathetic middle-aged losers desperately trying to cling to the vestiges of our long-vanished youth and vitality. Oh No! We are pathetic middle-aged losers with a mission! We are doing this to raise money for 'Love Without Boundaries'!"

I cannot wait to follow along! Please bookmark their blog at

http://nickandlesterbigbikeride.blogspot.com/ I can pretty much promise you a smile on your face each day.

The "big bike ride" begins April 28th! Stay tuned! And to get you in the spirit, here are some of my favorite bike pictures from my visits to orphanages. There's just something wonderful about hopping on a bike!

Making Friends in Fujian

This is the final post for the the most recent travelers to China on behalf of LWB:

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Our trip from Lian Cheng to Zhangzhou took about 4-1/2 hours, and was really a beautiful drive along a river with views of the mountains. When we arrived in Zhangzhou we took a quick lunch break at McDonald’s. Our driver really likes McDonalds! The staff from Zhangzhou met us there and led us to the SWI. Zhangzhou is an orphanage with about 38 children living onsite, and another 19 in Foster Care. They took us up the stairs to the baby/toddler room where we were greeted by about a dozen chubby-faced babies. The babies were for the most part seated in little wicker chairs, one strolled about in a walker, and another toddler roamed about playing with a few toys. The director was quick to engage the children and play with them, and the children all responded. But the babies were a little more frightened of the strangers that had entered the room! It took a little while, but they finally warmed up to us!

We received a brief tour of the sleeping rooms – nice wooden floors with about 8 cribs per room, and a bed for the auntie to sleep on. We were told the older children were at school, but when they return at the end of the day they like to come and play with the younger kids.

They have one really large room where they do most of the caring for the children, and all of us who visited could envision a nice little toddler play area where the children could get out of the chairs and crawl and play. Wouldn't an indoor play area be perfect here?The director also expressed a desire for an incubator, where they could keep new babies warm. They currently use hot water bottles to keep the small new arrivals comfortable in the chilly temperatures.

From this city, we had to move on quickly as Tracie was catching a flight out of Xiamen that evening. Xiamen was about another hour away, and is an absolutely beautiful island of a city right on the coastline. Again, as we drove into the city we could see fireworks going off in different parts of the city. The traffic across the bridge to get to Xiamen was definitely a big groan from our driver, however!

The next morning we headed off to Jinjiang where we had almost 20 medical kids to check on and take photos of for their sponsors. It was another hour and a half from Xiamen – did anyone mention that we did a lot of driving on this trip?

This orphanage is in the middle of a busy city street, and you don’t really even see it when you drive up. The van dropped us off at this little doorway, kind of like an alley, and we went through the walkway and up several flights of stairs. The next thing we knew we were in a nice conference room where we briefly met with Fujian Civil Affairs, the local Civil Affairs official, and the orphanage director. Tingting explained we needed to get medical updates, so off we went to the baby rooms. We unfortunately arrived in the middle of naptime, so we quietly tiptoed in and out of baby rooms where we were able to photograph the children, some sleeping, some lying very quietly still. All of the children had chubby cheeks and were warmly bundled against the chilly air that seemed to follow us all over Fujian. When we found babies that were awake, we quietly talked to them and told them how special they are!

Our visit to Fujian Province was so wonderful. Our experienced driver took such great care of us and kept us laughing most of the way. We were warmly welcomed by everyone we met, and we will never forget the beautiful babies and children we met while we were there!

Nancy Delpha
Assoc. Director of Operations

Hangzhou to Beijing

Hangzhou is truly one of the most beautiful cities in China. West Lake and the parks surrounding it create such picturesque scenery. We arrived in Hangzhou to visit Zhejiang University Children’s Hospital where the famous Dr. Li performs heart surgeries. Flowers were in full bloom - magnolias, plums, and cherry trees lined the beautiful West Lake. The city of Hangzhou seemed so welcoming.

Dr. Li and Dr. Qiu, a fellow who will soon be promoted to staff surgeon, greeted us at the airport. After a quick lunch on the lake, we arrived at Zhejiang University Children’s Hospital. Here we were met with a national television crew and many of Dr. Li’s colleagues. They took us to a conference room where we were interviewed and introduced to the director of the hospital. We discussed the relationship between Love Without Boundaries and their hospital and how we would like to continue this relationship into the future. The hospital director pledged to give us a 20% discount and give every child we send to them the absolute best care.

After our meeting, we were taken on a hospital tour. First, we were taken to the ward and were able to see two our of heart babies. One of these babies, a little girl, had just had a pacemaker put in and the other, a little boy, was scheduled to have heart surgery the next day. Both of these children were adorable. The little girl tried hard to be happy, even though she had just had surgery hours before. She was just so sweet! Tracie had one stuffed animal left in her bag, and we agreed it was a very fitting one to give her as it had a big red heart on it. The little boy was absolutely adorable. He just cooed and gave us the biggest smiles, and we loved knowing that in the morning he would be having his life changing surgery.

Next, we were taken into the ICU where most of our heart children go after surgery. Dr. Tang, the doctor in charge of this unit, was so very kind and asked us about many of the children they had helped. One of these little babies was baby Li, who had been in ICU on a ventilator for two months. This miracle child had touched all of them. Lori had her computer in her backpack and pulled it out so they could all see updated pictures of Li. We had all of the ICU staff huddled around the computer to see updated photos. You could see how they all genuinely cared about the children as they oohed and aahed over every picture.

Then we were taken on a tour of the operating rooms. We donned scrubs, hats, masks, and booties. We were able to see a couple of surgeries in progress and then were able to see their cardiac ORs. They were spotless and had state of the art equipment. It was fun to think that so many of our children were healed here. Last year, this hospital helped 60 of our heart children.

Soon it was time to say our goodbyes to all of the wonderful people we met. This hospital truly has a heart for the kids. We learned that not only does the director support the work that we do, but is also very compassionate to the poor. I just love that fact that our children are given the best medical treatment and the tender loving care of their staff.

Dr. Li took us on a brief tour of their scenic spots, on our way to the airport. We walked along the lake, looking out at the boats, the pagodas, and the mountains. The views we had reminded us of postcards, as we saw so many beautiful sights. Dr. Li also took us on a short walk though a bamboo forest. He taught us how you can tell the age of bamboo and about the many different kinds of bamboo. The bamboo forest was so peaceful and I can understand why he comes here often.

When it was time to leave Hangzhou, Dr. Li accompanied us to the airport and helped us check in. We had schlepped our large suitcases all over China and had given a few of them names (like big Bertha). Dr. Li thought this was so funny and helped us to name the rest of them. As he was helping us with our suitcases, we told him to be very careful, because we wanted to protect his precious hands. He needed to be ready for our baby’s surgery in the morning. We all had such a hard time saying goodbye to this sweet, kind man.

Soon we were in Beijing and were met by Robin Hill of New Hope Foundation. I couldn’t wait to return to their home and see our babies in our Heartbridge Unit. Our unit had been has been in operation since October has made such a difference to so many critically ill babies. This unit has nine beds and has been set up to help children pre and post surgery.

After a comfortable nights' rest and a delicious breakfast, we began our tour. The babies in the Heartbridge Unit were absolutely precious. Baby Li, the baby that the Zhejiang University Children’s Hospital staff had huddled around the computer to see, was the first baby that we all laid our eyes on. This baby was just SO precious and is thriving. You would have never known that this child was so very sick just months ago and fought to live. He had a very serious heart and lung problem and truly is a miracle. We just all loved cuddling him. Another baby who has been in our hearts was baby Yang. This baby has many serious heart defects, but she is such a fighter. She has just had the first of many heart surgeries, but is also thriving. What an absolutely adorable baby!

We were also able to see the rest of New Hope Foundation and some of the other children we have sent to them. Joyce and Robin have such high standards and love for the children. The beautiful babies were all adorable and we all had so much fun cuddling and playing with them all. A visit to their relaxing and peaceful home was such a wonderful way to end our trip.

I am always so sad leaving China, as it feels like my home away from home. There are so many kind and compassionate people working together to help children, that it is just so hard to say goodbye. Plus, there are just so many beautiful babies to hold! During our trip, we have received many new children to help. Please check our medical sponsorship page to see their beautiful faces. We are just so happy that we are able to work together with the wonderful people in China to make a difference for every one of these children. Thanks again to everyone who helps to change the lives of these children. We couldn't do it without you!

Karen Maunu
Medical Director

Almost Home

Karen, Nancy, Tracie and Lori are somewhere over the ocean right now flying home from China. They are going to write up their final posts when they get back to the US as they did not have internet access over the last two days.

This time I got to be the one to stay home and wish I was there. I have talked to the teams each day by phone, and scribbled pages of notes on all of the beautiful children they met who will need surgeries, on the new orphanages who have requested projects or supplies, and of course I have been oohing and aahing over every photo sent to me of the wonderful children they got to spend time with. That part is always so wonderful. I don't think most people realize how very hard these trips can be as well though....only sleeping 2-3 hours a night and flying and driving long hours every single day to cover as much ground as possible. Each time I am in China, my friends there say "you must rest, go back and sleep", but of course we all say the same thing over and over, "I can sleep in America!...there is still too much do!"

I also know all too well what it feels like emotionally to hold a baby with severe heart disease and wonder where the funds are going to come from, or to have orphanage directors make the most unselfish of requests such as "please can we have high quality formula to make our babies as strong as possible". Oh where is that legendary money tree? As the volunteers called me each day telling me the names of the babies who need to be moved for surgery, I started wondering how I could meet the most recent Powerball winner. I know there have to be so many people in the world who would love to help save the life of a child with severe heart disease, especially when it can be done for "only" $5000. When I talked to our medical director last night, I told her when she got back from China to "please take Saturday off", and she immediately said, "no way....we have kids to heal."

I am so grateful to everyone who helps with LWB's work...from the orphanages to the donors to our amazing volunteers. The four women flying home from China all left their own children and families in order to help change the lives of children. They funded their trips 100% out of their own pockets. In a culture that makes heroes out of celebrities who often make less than ideal choices, I just want to say that we all need to remember that there are heroes all around us. Each and every day there are people working quietly and without any recognition to make sure the lives of children around the world are bettered. It's not the stuff of Headline News, but it is definitely the stuff of what life is truly about.

Amy Eldridge

A wonderful day in Shantou

Today our trip took us to Shantou. Despite the cold and damp weather, we were very warmly greeted by the orphanage staff. We began our visit with a wonderful lunch, sponsored by the director, and then we were taken to the orphanage to spend time with the adorable children.

One of the first rooms visited was where our Believe In Me School was in session. The school curriculum used is Montessori based and the kids just have so much fun. The director said that they love this school program because the children learn and have so much fun. When we visited the room today, it was music time. The ayi was playing music and dancing with the kids. Every child was so engaged and one little boy in particular was just dancing away, swinging his hips to the beat of the music.

When we were in one of the baby rooms, an ayi rolled in a crib with four babies sitting up in it. What an absolutely adorable sight!! One of the babies had cheeks so big that showed that she must enjoy her formula. She also loved Tracie’s scarf and decided that she wasn’t going to let it go. It took two people to pry it out of her hands.

Another baby that we were able to see today was baby #3 from our Top Ten Photos on our website. This little girl had a bilateral cleft lip repaired in October during our 2006 Cleft Trip. Her lip looks fabulous and this child has quite the personality. She was all smiles and when put down, ran back to get a hug.

Baby En, who had his first stage surgery for a very complicated heart condition was absolutely adorable with the most kissable cheeks. This sweet baby will need a second surgery very soon and will soon be on our website. He has changed so much since his the first picture we received of him and could be a more loveable baby.

Lori and Tracie also delivered a giraffe to three of our cleft babies sponsored by a gentleman who also had a granddaughter with a cleft palate who passed away when she was two. He has sponsored these babies in her honor and sent the giraffes because they were his granddaughter’s favorite toy. Soon these babies will have their cleft surgeries performed and his kindness will make such a difference to each of them. One of the babies, baby Can, has the sweetest smile and she will have her cleft palate repaired.

One of our foster care children, a two year old little boy named Feng, came to the orphanage with his parents to visit. We had SO much fun playing with him and spent over a half hour with him. He loved to play with bubbles. As we would blow them, he tried to pop them. Soon, he decided that he would do it himself and tried to take the whole bottle. When his foster mother took the bottle away, he had a temper tantrum and made the most adorable faces. He was soon cheered up when we gave him a matchbox car and necklaces. We had to laugh when he preferred the necklaces. What an adorable little boy.

After we had our fill of all of the beautiful children, we took the older children to their favorite restaurant where they serve hot pot. We watched in awe as they enjoyed their meal so much. I sat with one of the girls who has the most beautiful smile. Every time I looked over at her, she just gave me her huge grin. I told her how beautiful I thought she was and she just beamed bigger. She is such a sweet, soft spoken girl. I just loved being able to share this time with all of these kids and wished that we had more time.

It is goodnight for now, as we are off to Hangzhou tomorrow. In Hangzhou, we will be meeting Dr. Li, one of the most kind and skilled heart surgeons. We currently have four babies at his hospital and we are all looking forward to seeing them. After seeing so many heart babies over the last few days who have been healed by this man, I can’t wait to shake his hand in appreciation for all he has done.

Shangrao

This is part three of our LWB volunteers' travel journal from this week.

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What a whirlwind two days. We started in Shanghai, flew to Jiangxi where we travelled the countryside and now we are in Guangdong. We have met such wonderful people and such adorable babies – what until you see the pictures!

After a night of fireworks, we met with 3 people from the LWB China Chapter in Shanghai. This group of people is so fired up about helping LWB by doing nanny training, PT camps, summer camps and fundraising. We also enjoyed learning about their experiences living in Shanghai.

Soon we were on to Jiangxi, landing in Nanchang, the provincial capital. Our hosts, the staff of the Shangrao Ling CWI, were there to meet us. We travelled 2 ½ hours by van across some of the most awesome scenery I have seen in China. Fields of yellow-flowered rep seed (a plant used to make cooking oil), water buffalo, rivers, and mountains created an absolutely picturesque scene.

Once we arrived in Shangrao, we were met by the orphanage director, vice director and department directors. How very kind each of these people were! We were treated to a delicious meal and then a walk in the park across the street. The entertainment of the night came from the karaoke machine blasting love songs. The orphanage staff and our team fell into fits of laughter when a young man who definitely wouldn’t win American Idol started to croon at the top of his voice. We all tried to convince the vice director and our facilitator to take a try, but as much as they wanted, they thought they would wait for another time.

Our day today started with a shopping trip with the Shangrao Ling director to buy items for the nannies, foster care families, and school supplies for the other Shangrao Xinzhou SWI (another orphanage nearby). We also told the director that we wanted to buy a present for her orphanage, whatever she needed. She brought tears to my eyes when she said she wanted cans of formula. We were certainly the entertainment for the rest of the shoppers as we pushed three heaping carts full of goods through the store.

On the way back from the store, we stopped at a few of our foster care homes. Two of these homes were children whose heart surgeries we had done. Both of these little boys were absolutely adorable! Mao, a two year old little boy, is just so loved by his family. We learned that his foster family has applied to adopt him domestically. In addition to meeting his baba, we also met both of his grandmothers. What love for this child there is in this home!

The second heart child we visited was a very spirited five year old boy named Feng. He was all boy!! He is currently in preschool and will start primary school in June. The orphanage is planning to put his adoption paperwork together soon. This little boy was such a tease, and we had so much fun playing with him.

From the foster homes, we went to the orphanage where there was a room full of toddlers playing. The children were playing on the new play equipment we had purchased for the orphanage at the end of last year.

There were swings, slides, a trampoline, a playhouse and rocking horses. We heard that the kids love this new play area so much that even the foster families bring their kids to play on this new equipment. I loved watching one of the nannies figuring out a way for one of the little girls, who is missing part of one arm, to be able to eat her bag of Kix cereal. She tucked the bag into the loop of her jacket so she would be able to eat like the other children. Both Lori & I were also able to cuddle and give a baby a bottle. Another of the little girls who followed us around was Meng, another one of our heart children. This child had been so blue when we first received her picture. She is now so beautifully pink and so healthy. She watched our every move and was our balloon helper, picking up the balloons laying on the floor.
After playing with the toddlers, we were treated to a delicious lunch made by the orphanage. The vegetables used in our meal were all grown by the orphanage in a garden outside. Our hosts were so gracious, and we discussed many things about the orphanage. This orphanage does many adoptions a year and already many of our medical children have been adopted. I just could see what a difference we were helping to make partnering with this orphanage. We also discussed many new children who need our help. I know that our medical sponsorship page will soon be filled with many of these children we met.

Finally, it was time for the baby rooms. The rooms were filled with adorable, chubby, smiley babies! We were able to see teeny tiny babies in the incubators we have provided for the orphanage and babies in walkers we bought. Babies were all over, cruising around and exploring. Each of the babies were so healthy and loved. We even saw a set of twins, the first children to use our incubators. I just couldn’t cuddle enough of these precious faces. We also noticed how the rooms were set up with 6 cribs in a room and a bed for the nanny. Each room went in had nannies holding babies. No wonder they were so loved. I also loved the way the director interacted with these babies, she was loving on them just like we were and you could tell they recognized her. We also learned that the director is an adoptive mom to two children herself. I could tell she had a great heart for these children.

After our visit to the Shangrao Ling CWI, we went to the Shangrao Xinzhou SWI that was just 7 minutes away. Both of these directors are good friends and the Ling director accompanied us. We discussed the medical children that we have helped, the new children that need our help, and other helpful information about their orphanage. After our meeting, we were able to visit one of their rooms were we saw some more beautiful, chubby babies.

At the end of the day, as we were saying our goodbyes, I told the directors how I felt as if I was leaving old friends. They just showed us so much hospitality and love. I am already looking forward to the day that I can visit again.

Karen Maunu

Medical Director

Making a Connection

I was blessed to be able to go on a cleft trip in 2005 with LWB. What a life changing experience. To have been able to meet a lot of people that had a hand in starting LWB was truly an honor. I remember before leaving for the trip, my husband reminded me NOT to fall in love with any of the babies (thinking I would want to add to our family:).) Okay, so I did fall in love with a lot of babies, but how could you not?

They were all so beautiful! But one thing I didn't expect was to connect with a then 14 year old girl who came to us on our last day of surgeries. We connected right away....it's hard to explain. Anyway, while talking with some of the LWB volunteers, they came up with a wonderful idea! I could continue to be "connected" with the girl by helping her financially and by supporting her in school by buying supplies. I would get pictures and reports on her. A few days ago I was very excited to get an email letter with pictures from her. How wonderful to be able to do this because of LWB. This is just one of the many things that they do for the children in China!

Please don't think that just babies need help; there is a whole age range of children. Just go to LWB site and look at some pictures of children that are in need of surgery, education, foster care, nutrition, etc. I bet you will fall in love with a sweet child's face.

You could even become their sponsor, and help to change a child's life!

Thanks to all the people who volunteer their time to make Love Without Boundaries such a wonderful organization! Please know you are truly making a difference. :)

Fun in Fujian

This is post 2 from our LWB team in China right now. Nancy and Tracie left Henan and flew to the Fujian province, where they met up with our facilitator Tingting. They immediately set out for JianOu, a town of 500,000 people a six hours' drive from the Fuzhou airport.

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We got here last night around 1am so all of us slept late. We were planning to meet the orphanage at 8.30 a.m. for breakfast, and so we set our wakeup call at 7am. Unfortunately, with jet lag we all slept through it! Tracie called from her room and said that a group of people rang her doorbell from the orphanage. We had to tell them we were still in our pajamas! They had gone to the hotel really early and had been waiting patiently for us to come down, and then when we didn't they thought they should come check on us. We were so embarrased! But we got dressed in record time and went down to meet with them. They were all so kind!

During breakfast, Nancy showed them the pictures from the adopted Jian'ou babies' families. They recognized the kids and called out their names with joy as they saw how happy the children are. Obviously we drew the hotel staff over to our table because of our "loud talk" and because of the foreign ladies in such a small town. One guy there, about 40ish or 50ish, looked through the pictures and heard the Jianou people introducing our foundation. He was in tears and kept showing us thumbs up. He went all the way down to the hotel gate to shake hands with us and said goodbye with us when we checked out too, and he kept thanking us for helping the children. What kind, kind people!

We went to Jian'ou SWI after breakfast. This is a little town with 500,000 people, and the downtown area is quite crowded. The orphanage is a 5-story building with an outdoor area where they allow kids from outside to come in and play. We did see a couple of kids playing there with their grandmothers. The orphanage's children are living in a 3-bedroom apartment on the 4th floor. The rest of the building is for senior people. When we got to the 4th floor, on the hallway, there were these grandmas and grandpas each holding a baby. They welcomed us with warm smiles. The older children were there as well, and they just kept smiling at us and playing with the babies. They were all so gorgeous!

The kids just seemed like a big family. For instance, when one baby fell from her walker, all the older girls ran up there, the older people all ran up there too. Tracie gave them a little cute skirt.. she even helped put it on on one older girl. She loved it, and she was teasing the vice director to put it on too. From that, I can tell the girls and the vice director got along very well.

The orphanage is most interested in foster care and education. They have several older children who are very smart but who really need to be getting a quality education. We discussed whether boarding school would be an option for these girls, or whether foster care in a city would be an option. The whole orphanage staff was very kind. They are warm hearted people who know each and every child so well.

After our visit, it was time for our long ride into Qingliu....a town six hours away. Our driver was so funny and it made our trip easier. We stopped at a McDonalds to grab some food to take back to the van. We started eating before the driver and he said, "wow...that smells so good!" I told him to eat too but he said he would have to park to be safe. So we found a place to pull over, and he polished off two burgers, one banana pie and a medium coke within 5 mins. He was so hungry from driving us all over! The one thing about this region is that it is just so beautiful on the drive, with mountains and rivers everywhere. The Fujian countryside is just gorgeous.

By the time we arrived in Qingliu, there was a van of people waiting for us, including the director, Civil Affair officials, and even a TV station reporter. They had brought some babies for us to see, and we were laughing saying that they must be the FATTEST babies in the whole town.. gosh.. one little boy.. his cheeks are falling out!! He is so cute and healthy. Baby "Le", who we helped with a tumor removal, is so beautiful and was smiling and happy the whole time. There was another 3-month-old huge baby as well. When we said the baby boy must be the fattest one in town, they pointed to this 3-month-old and said "no, it should be this one!"

They are planning to send out all these babies' files soon as they are all qualified for adoption. We were so happy to hear that.

When we went to the orphanage, we got to see the baby room, and they had all of the formula and cereal we provide them each month set out on the shelves. This orphanage is hoping to renovate another building to take in even more children from the surrounding countryside. They would like 40 more babies to be cared for here. It is a big project however. They have raised 150,000 rmb so far for the project, and are 70,000 rmb short.

After our visit in Qingliu (and a wonderful dinner), we decided to hit the road once more to get closer to the next orphanage we are visiting tomorrow. So we drove another 50 miles or so late tonight and have arrived in the town of Lian Cheng. We have to be on the road tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. to get to Zhangzhou orphanage by noon. We are exhausted but loving every moment of being with the kids.

Wonderful Henan

LWB currently has four volunteers in China, visiting many provinces to check on our programs and investigate new possibilities. This is part one of their travel blog:

Celebration is in the air! Today is the Lantern Festival, the last day of Chinese New Year. As I sit here, fireworks are exploding across the city. Everyone is dressed up and we have seen families doing all sorts of things together to celebrate this day. They have been flying kites, wandering past the street vendors, and going out to eat. The streets have been filled with balloons, foods, and festivities. How fun it is to be in China today! The firework shows have been spectacular, with a show right below our hotel window.

There are many things to celebrate as we all reflect over the last two days that we have spent in Henan. What a wonderful experience that Lori, Nancy, Tracie and I have been able to share with the people in this province. We have been so warmly welcomed by orphanage and government officials. It has truly warmed my heart to see so many people who care about the beautiful children in their care.

Our visit started out yesterday with a meeting with the Zhengzhou SWI staff. When we arrived, we were brought into a room with the most beautiful toddlers.

These toddlers were seated in a bright room with balloons hanging from the ceiling and there was a feeling of such warmth. As we entered, they welcomed us with clapping and cheering. I was clapping and cheering inside as well, as I knew what a special opportunity we were offered with this invitation to visit this orphanage. We brought with us cakes and yogurt to celebrate the New Year. Each of us enjoyed our time with every one of these children. They loved the bubbles we brought. Not only did they like watching the bubbles, but they also loved blowing them. One little girl even tried to take the bottle away from Nancy to do it all by herself. One of the children that I played with was a beautiful little boy with albinism. I learned that this child has a family waiting for him in Holland. How lucky his family will be! This child is absolutely precious.

After our visit with the toddlers, we headed off to two baby rooms. Each of us loved cuddling and cooing with the babies. I held the most adorable baby and had such a hard time putting her back down. She had the most chubby cheeks and beautiful smile. Another sweet baby that was held by Tracie had an unrepaired cleft lip. This child will be our first medical child we will partner with Zhengzhou SWI to repair. I am so excited to be able to help this child.

Once we were done with visiting the children, we were taken into a conference room to discuss how we can work together. We were able to meet each of the directors and learn how hard they are working to help the children. They are doing their very best to help each of the children in their care. They have 169 children (80 babies), most with special needs. Many of the surrounding orphanages send their children to Zhengzhou SWI because they know that they will get good medical care. We talked about many of the children we saw and how LWB might be able to help. A book that described the accomplishments of the SWI was presented to each of us. I am so excited about the relationship that we have begun.

As soon as we finished a delicious lunch, with much toasting, hosted by the Zhengzhou SWI, we were off to Kaifeng. The trip took a little longer than usual because of the pouring rain. I couldn’t wait to visit with the people that I was able to meet last January. I felt like I was returning to see old friends. The vice director and orphanage doctor were waiting for us to start the foster care visits. Because it had been raining for two days, the director was so thoughtful and bought us all rubber boots. We all had fun walking in the puddles with our new bright boots.

Our first foster care visit was with one of our favorite little girls "J." J is a child who had heart disease, but her heart was repaired by the government sponsored surgery program, the Tomorrow Plan. This little five year old girl just shines with personality. Her cute little voice chatted away as she told us all about her home. Her foster mother got her all dressed up for us, doing her hair, putting on a bright red silk vest, and a beaded hat. J was so excited to open the gift we brought her, including a tutu, wand, and stickers. She immediately added to her outfit and stuck stickers on her hands and forehead. What an absolutely adorable child. What love this child receives from her foster parents! You can just see how proud they are of her and how much they adore her.

We visited a total of 14 foster families. Every child seemed to be so loved and cared for. Each of these families was so welcoming, letting us traipse our muddy boots into their house. None of these families cared at all about their floors, but only about showing us their children.

As we were visiting the last group of foster families, the van we were traveling in tried to turn around at the end of a driveway and became stuck in the mud. At this point it was pouring down rain, and it was getting dark and chilly. It seemed the whole neighborhood came out to help get our van unstuck. They needed to dig, push and pull to finally get it out. Because we had 10 suitcases in the back, they needed to unload them in order to remove the weight from the rear wheels. They carefully piled our suitcases on top of rain coats. We huddled together, under umbrellas, trying to keep our pile from toppling over. The vice director and I laughed about our two unbelievable experiences together – the last time I was in Kaifeng, we spun out of control on a highway in a blizzard, and now this time the van got stuck in mud and a torrential rain.

After we were on way again, the driver brought us to the hotel so that we could clean-up quickly. We also rushed to put gifts together for all of the school children. These beautiful children touched our hearts last year when we visited. We wanted each of these children to have a special Chinese New Year gift and asked them if they could have anything, what would they want? In our bags were four MP3 players, a badminton set, roller blades and safety gear, a baby doll, a pen set and biographies, and backpacks. The kids were so excited to get these special gifts and I will never forget the look on their faces as they looked into their bags. I asked how the children would get music on their MP3 players and learned that the tutor we hired to help them had already downloaded the software on his computer so that we could help them load music. We shared dinner together and we all enjoyed watching each of the children eat. These children were so caring towards one and other, as they dished food on each others plates. I also had to laugh as two of the children left to use the bathroom and returned with the boy trying to shut the door on the girl, running away and giggling. They truly are a family.

At dinner, we heard that we had a very special breakfast with the leader of the civil affairs. He had heard the story of us visiting the families in the rain and getting stuck in the mud. He said that he wanted to meet us all to show his appreciation. This gentleman was so warm and generous, offering his help to us in whatever way we might need him. You could tell how friendly and genuine this man was. During the meal, I decided to tell him how happy I was to meet him. Every one laughed when they told me that I had told him instead that I wished him a promotion! He told me that he was in the highest position that there was, and then laughed. This meal was quite memorable to us all, because not only did we enjoy a wonderful Chinese breakfast, but also such graciousness.

After we said our goodbyes, we were off to the Kaifeng SWI. The orphanage was excited to show us all of the changes they have made. With the help of the wonderful Shanghai LWB club, there was a beautiful new playground and bright murals on the walls of the baby rooms. The baby room was our first visit and once again we were all cooing over the babies. One baby had so much fun “talking” to us, making all sorts of noises. After the baby room, we went to their playroom and passed out Kix cereal and made balloon hats for everyone. Two of the school girls were in the playroom too and soon became quite proficient at pumping up the balloons. In no time, they needed us only to tie the balloons and they were making balloon creations too. I loved their giggles and their pile of their balloon animals they had when we were done. They just laughed and laughed when we popped a balloon, because all of the kids would go say something that sounded like bang. One of the girls tried to twist and hold her ears at the same time. What fun we had!

For lunch, we went to a local restaurant and tried some delicious dishes. We had a window seat and were able to watch all of the holiday festivities. As soon as we were done with lunch, but before we left Kaifeng, we went to a local embroidery store. Kaifeng is famous for their beautiful embroidery. We bought a gorgeous piece for our heart art auction that will be held in May. The vice director and our facilitator did the bargaining, telling the woman about our organization. She too was happy to help us by giving us a good price.

As our plane left Henan, I reflected on all of the beautiful children, our friends old and new, and the partnerships that have been created and are beginning. I just love how we are all working together as a team of people to help these beautiful children.

Karen Maunu

Medical Director

Bells are Ringing For the Children of China

In May, 2006, I directed my last concert at Franklin Academy, a private school in Kennewick, Washington. It was the final concert of the school year which had included an amazing tour where we had performed seven concerts in Boise, ID, Salt Lake City, UT and Logan, UT. Leaving the school and the Franklin Academy Bell Choir was difficult for me--Mrs. Damstedt, the bell teacher--because I had grown to love handbells through directing performances, learning with and teaching young people the joy of music through handbells. I had directed performances at many different events, in cities such as Portland, Oregon, Spokane and Seattle, Washington, Caldwell, Idaho, at Disneyland, and most especially in the Tri-Cities area and I loved directing and hearing these kids play, not to mention the effect on the audiences! I had made the decision to leave, and though I believed it to be the right decision, it was still hard to give up something I had spent so much time and effort on for nearly five years. I didn’t know when I would again have the opportunity to be involved with handbells.

One night, just a few days later, I was thinking about how I could actually teach handbells out of my own home. I was excited about this and couldn’t sleep, so I got up and went on the computer and checked out E-Bay. Unbelievably, there was a five-octave set of handbells for sale. Months earlier, my husband and I had talked about the possibility of buying some handbells of my own, but I hadn’t seriously looked into buying them. But, here was a set on E-Bay! I bid on them and a few weeks later, we were the owners of a set of handbells!

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In January of 2006, my husband and I decided we wanted to adopt two more children, from China, to add to our family of 6 biological children ages 9-21. We contacted an agency and soon saw a “Waiting Child” list with our daughter on it. While we were in the process of deciding if she indeed was to be our daughter, I was put in touch with Amy Eldridge, Director of Operations of Love Without Boundaries, “a worldwide group of volunteers dedicated to the belief that ’every child counts’.” This organization provides “humanitarian aid primarily to orphaned children in China through four key areas: medical, education, nutrition, and foster care.” Amy told me about this little 8 year old girl, who she had personally met, who lived at an orphanage that had received much help from Love Without Boundaries’ efforts. This child’s life had most definitely been made better by the goodness of these people. I believe that it is because of the efforts of Amy and this organization that many children have been placed in adoptive homes. We made the decision to adopt her and proceeded with the paperwork. Within a few months, I directed that last concert at the school. I knew I needed to be home and available to help teach and care for this little girl.

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During the summer, while waiting for the adoption, I held three “Bell Camps”, each for a different age group. I offered these “camps” for free, hoping it would create interest in future lessons and help me see what to expect and how to set up my classes, especially with giving me insight on what ages to include. I had the parents fill out surveys, which helped me to see if this would be something there would be an interest in, and if people would pay to have their children involved. I planned to start in January, 2007, after my new daughter had come home and learned some English and was somewhat settled in. In October, I did start a free ladies group, which later split into two ladies groups that performed at a church Christmas party in December. These ladies have enjoyed learning this skill and doing something new and fun, with laughter. I have enjoyed teaching them and even getting a chance now and then to ring myself, which I also enjoy.

While waiting to adopt, I was able to sponsor a little girl In the Love Without Boundaries’ Education program at my daughter’s orphanage, just as my daughter was sponsored before I adopted her. As I thought about things during those months after returning home with my daughter, ideas started to take shape. I wanted to do something that would benefit Love Without Boundaries since it works so hard to help children, with volunteer labor and people paying their own way to China when things need to be done. As ideas and possibilities were being considered, I thought of using the name “Bells Without Boundaries”, and I got permission from Love Without Boundaries to use since it is so similar. I decided to try offering children’s bell classes and to call my program “Bells Without Boundaries”. I also decided to charge for these lessons, which would bring in funds I could donate to Love Without Boundaries as well as pay the expenses of running my “studio”. I set up these fees for the classes, or in some cases, worked out trades, some of which are solely to benefit Love Without Boundaries through donations of quilts to their organization for an Art auction or to be sold in their online store.
I used my surveys from the bell camps, talked to ladies who were in my ladies groups, and started spreading the word. When the week to begin came, I had a few openings, but during that first week, I had more people who wanted their children to participate. After the first week of lessons, I moved some of the older kids I had in one class and, after recruiting a few more, started a teen class also. This brought me to teaching the two free ladies classes and three kids’ classes each week. Plus, it provided bell groups in which three of my children, including my new daughter, could play. The names of my groups are: 1. Beginning: “WhispeRing Bells Without Boundaries,
2. Beginning: “FloweRing” Bells Without Boundaries, 3. Teen: “ThundeRing” Bells Without Boundaries, 4. Ladies: “ExploRing” Love Without Boundaries and, 5. Ladies: “DiscoveRing” Bells Without Boundaries. We are preparing to perform at our city’s third annual Bell Festival in May.

After the education sponsorship I was funding ended by the designated child being adopted, I began to help sponsor another child’s foster care. I also became a volunteer for Love Without Boundaries, helping with some of their financial record-keeping. However, I am so excited that I can do something I love--teach and play handbells--while bringing in funds that will benefit the lives of little children who need heart surgery or better nutrition or need to be placed in foster care. Because the children and ladies also enjoy handbells, everybody wins in this situation. I have shared with members of Love Without Boundaries what I am trying to do. Amy Eldridge’s statement in response says it all: “Suzanne, every time I read about your project it just makes me smile. I just love thinking about the beautiful sound of handbells helping orphaned children in China.”

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Post-Script:
Incidentally, we are currently in the process of the paperwork for that second Chinese daughter. We hope to travel to China sometime this year to finish out our family! One more possible little ringer down the road! For more information on Love Without Boundaries, see www.lovewithoutboundaries.com.

Source: Love Without Boundaries Volunteer Handbook, p.3, copyright 2006.

Growing Up To Do Great Things!

On my recent trip to China, I had the privilege of meeting the parents in my foster program. One of the foster mom's stands out in my mind. Her sunny smile greeted us and she glowed with excitement as she introduced us to her little girls. Her small home was spotless and her girls were decked out in their cutest clothes. It was obvious that she adored them. The older child was two and we handed her some stickers. She began to plaster them all over her stuffed animal and her mom came over to gently tell her to share a few stickers with her baby sister. This met with some resistance, but the foster mom prevailed and big sister reluctantly gave a few stickers to her baby sister. I loved watching this family interact. Baby sister was very sick at birth but now is healthy and growing in the loving care of her new mom. Her big sister is learning some very wonderful character traits and I know that both of these children are going to grow up and do great things!


Karin Prunty

Shunyi Foster Care Coordinator