We decided to ask our manager in China and the teacher to choose a treat that all the kids could enjoy in honor of the birthday girl’s day. The treat turned out to be a new t-shirt for each child.
The kids loved getting an individually wrapped present and then modeling for the camera. What a fun celebration for the kids. It was indeed a happy birthday, and we hope you will enjoy the moment with us.
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
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On Tuesday, May 20th the Jinjiang, Fujian SWI moved into its brand new orphanage. A part of the move included our Believe In Me students, teachers and learning materials into brand new classrooms. With Children’s Day coming soon, the teachers decided to celebrate with something these children had never experienced before, a cake! Not only had the students not had cake before, they also did not know about the fruits that decorated the top of the cake. 
All of the children from the preschool classes, kindergarten-prep class, and the tutoring class participated and, from the pictures and video, everyone had great fun! Here is what our manager reports:
This sports meeting gave a great opportunity for them to learn to be part of a team. Both tug-of-war and parallel walking (three legged race) require close cooperation between kids. We taught the kids “Friendship First, Competition Second”. It is important for them to participate, and in the end every student got the prizes. We taught them to face victory and defeat with a calm mind, and believe that perseverance makes success!"
Back in my summer camp days, I used to sing a song that began, “It only takes a spark, to get a fire glowing…” Usually, it was one of the first songs sung around a campfire and the words to those lyrics never fail to remind me of those feelings of friendship and community.
In the Fall of 2007, NACURH was looking for a charity to focus its philanthropic efforts upon. An advisor and former nanny suggested Love Without Boundaries as a possibility. And, the rest, as they say, is history.
One day my daughter was fingering her collection of key chains dangling from her backpack and asked me, “Mom, what do you collect”?
The walls of our family’s garage are completely plastered with my kid’s artwork from school. On Labor Day weekend, we hold an informal art show, save a few keepsakes and enjoy our “ripping party” as we clear the walls for next year.
Today, I offer you a small and unique collection of art produced by the wonderful students in our Believe In Me School at Jingzhou in Hubei Province. These children are absolutely alive with the delight of having a chance to draw and color and create with purpose—to delight their teachers, to share with a friend and have photographed by our school’s manager for their sponsor.
While she was there, the school also received several boxes of supplies the teachers had requested last semester. The preschoolers were, of course, immediately drawn to the plastic crawl-through tunnel and new toys.
The list was long, and it was so great to be able to see the beautiful children who once had heart disease or cleft now looking so much more healthy. One darling little girl that we helped with cataract surgery had on her new glasses, and the babies who had come to our cleft mission in Anhui last year were looking oh so cute. 
Our one concern was that people might look at the fancy building and think the children don't need any additional outside help. While the building itself is wonderful and is so very needed, support will still be required for the actual programs inside. The orphanage is so grateful for our upcoming help with setting up a school, as they have never done anything like that before. They are in the process of hiring teachers whom we will send to Beijing for Montessori training, and they asked for any and all advice on ways to improve the lives of the older kids with medical needs. Stay tuned for much more news on this important new educational program. We all know it is going to bring so much joy to some very special kids.
Believe in Me III actually consists of three parts: Montessori-style preschool, kindergarten-prep, and tutoring.
This summer teachers were also hired and trained, and now classes have begun! Before BIM III, the children who could not attend public school did not have much to keep them occupied but that has changed! Can you just imagine the wheels turning in the preschoolers little heads as they learn through play? In kindergarten-prep, the children are getting prepared to attend public school next year or the year following so it has to be exciting for them as well. This is a more typical Chinese-style classroom for the children at the orphanage. This is a full-day for them so I bet they will be very tired after dinner! For the children who attend public school, the tutoring will help ensure that they can keep up with the curriculum like the other children attending from the city who have parents to encourage them. Our tutor is studying computer science at the nearby college so maybe we can even introduce computers to the older children…who knows! 
Heather Hough
I remember the first time I stood at the edge of the ocean; I was about 14 and even though I had been told that the ocean is as far as the eye can see I really couldn’t have comprehend it before that moment. I found the Chinese proverb above, and it reminded me of a kite who just needs a little bit of wind beneath it to fly high. Thank you to all of our education sponsors who are that wind so that kids like Joey can have the chance to fly high above all the obstacles life has placed before them.
