Meet Lyn Thomas - Team LWB

Over the next few weeks, we would like to share with you the stories of some of our wonderful supporters who are participating on Team LWB in the Marine Corps Marathon to raise funds for LWB's Foster Care Program. Meet Lyn Thomas.

My name is Lyn Thomas. I am a mother of four and a runner. I have been running for four years and love it! I am very excited about running for Love Without Boundaries as it holds a special place in my heart. I have been blessed with two children from China.

My daughter is from Hubei Province and my son is from Guangdong Province. My little girl was in foster care and for that I am thankful. She was loved and cared for by her foster mother. I feel it helped her transition to our family with ease because she understood how a family works. Hugs and kisses were not a stranger to her.

My son spent fours years in an orphanage. He has had a hard time learning how to be a kid. I wish he would have had the chance to be in foster care to learn what family is all about. I am running for Jake and for all the little angels in China that need a mother's love. Go Team LWB!

Alaina's Art

"Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot,

others transform a yellow spot into the sun."

-Pablo Picasso

Please allow me to introduce you to Alaina. She is fourteen years old and deaf. For some time, Alaina spent her days at the Jingzhou Social Welfare Institute in Hubei Province because the local public school did not have an education program that fit her needs. When Love Without Boundaries opened a Believe In Me School in Alaina’s orphanage, her potential as a student was like a giant blinking neon sign: THIS YOUNG WOMAN IS INTELLIGENT AND TALENTED!

Through the generosity of two monthly sponsors, Alaina is able to attend a school for the deaf in Jingzhou. She has simply blossomed as a student and an artist. Every time our school manager reports on Alaina’s progress, he tells us how wonderful she is doing in school. It seems Alaina’s greatest challenge is that she is shy about raising her hand and letting her teachers know what she knows. However, her intelligence is clear on her test papers and academic reports.

What is amazing to see from Alaina is her prolific artwork. This is a young woman who finds happiness in creating! Her delightful, sensitive personality comes through in the subjects that she captures with pencils, crayons, and markers. We receive so many beautiful pieces of art from her that it would be a shame to keep these to ourselves.
Enjoy the efforts of this amazing young woman. She is lovely and receiving such an incredible opportunity to learn and grow toward a bright future through the love and generosity of LWB sponsors. Thank you! For more information about this program or students in need of sponsored learning opportunities please visit: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/education_jingzhou.cfm

Linda Mitchell
Believe In Me Jingzhou Coordinator

Skip Counting

When I ask my kids to “skip count” their favorite first answer is: “One, Two, Skip a few, Ninety-Nine…..ONE HUNDRED!”

Students in our Believe In Me School in Jingzhou, Hubei Province have been learning to skip count…which, as you know, means so much more than simply counting. Skip counting involves grouping numbers, patterning and sequencing – important skills in mathematics and literacy. We loved seeing the kids learn with colorful beads…but the help they gave each other in mastering these skills.

Thank you to the sponsors and donors that made this learning possible for these students. To learn more about LWB students in need of sponsorship for educational opportunities please visit: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/education.cfm

Learn by Teaching

Isn’t it true that we learn by teaching? I know that as I teach my children to pick up their things, clear the table, do homework in a timely fashion I am actually learning to do those things myself. Our Believe In Me teacher in Jingzhou, Hubei Province knows that the best learning comes from teaching – especially when it comes to learning Pinyin. Pinyin, as many of you know, is the Romanization of Mandarin. When it comes to learning how to read/write in English and Mandarin, Pinyin is the first alphabet students will learn.

Our Believe In Me students are no different. They are having fun teaching each other English letters and Chinese sounds…and they are some of the cutest little professors we ever did see! I just love these photos. They show how a school, even a little, itty bitty tiny school with one teacher and a whole lotta hope can transform lives.

Thank you to all the sponsors and donors that have made this learning possible for these students. It will be very useful in their futures.

Linda Mitchell

To learn more about LWB students in need of education opportunities please visit: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/education.cfm

The Wonder of Color

If most of your world was gray concrete walls....what happens when a simple mural is painted? We loved this photo from our new schoolroom in Hubei. What a small but beautiful gift color can be for a little one.

Believe in Me IV - Hubei

Such wonderful things are happening at Believe In Me IV in Hubei. With the help of two wonderful sponsors, we have been able to send one of our students who is deaf to a highly respected school for the deaf in her home city. This girl was so excited to finally be able to participate in school activities. LWB hopes that next she will have hearing tests to see if she can benefit from hearing aids. Also this month, the LWB medical team helped coordinate cleft lip surgery for one of the students as well.

Recently the teachers of our school in Hubei traveled to Changde, Hunan for a special training session on education. While they were away, a wonderfully talented little birdie came in and brightened up the school room walls. If you look at the picture with the tree, you'll see the students' handprints on the leaves. The artist is also going to incorporate the students' pictures into the mural. The kids were very excited to see the art and were pleased to have a part in decorating their room.

The students are doing so well in school. They are learning so much; how to recognize their written names, shapes, and colors, and how to count. The teachers have been spending a lot of time helping them better their small and large motor skills. They have been practicing stringing beads, stacking cubes, and playing soccer.

All of their successes are because of the wonderful sponsors who care enough to make a difference. Thank you!


Heather Hough

BIM IV Coordinator