Becca's Bag

With the fall fashion season right around the corner, we can't help but notice that Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Coach have a firm hold on the designer luggage market. However, there is a new carry-on bag on the scene that has been getting a lot of attention. With only 50 of these bags in production, "exclusive" is the word that best describes these bags. Designed to hold all the essentials that a baby on the go could use, we think these will soon be THE bag to have for fall: The LWB TRAVEL BAG.

Who is this that I see as a lucky, proud owner of the LWB bag? Why it is little Becca, the newest child to enter LWB foster care, sassily waving to the crowds while sporting her new bag casually on her shoulder.


Cruising the aisles in her four-wheeled steel taxi looking for treats, the LWB bag also looks stylish strategically placed at the bottom of the cart for all to see--logo side up of course.


And if all that shopping wears you out going from store to store, feel free to let your fans (foster grandma) carry your bag for you.

Meet Diana McCown - Team LWB

15 runners have signed up to run for Team LWB in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. on October 26th. Each runner has an heartwarming story on why they are running to raise funds for our foster care programs. We would like to introduce you to Diana McCown in her own words.

I am not what you would consider to be an athlete. In fact, I only started running eight years ago after my husband brought home a half marathon registration form and said, "I think you could do this." It is amazing what you can do with a little help from someone who sees your strengths when you are blind to them yourself. For the better part of nine years, we were a family of two until that wonderful, magical red thread began tugging. With remarkable speed, especially given the lengthening timelines in China adoption, we were blessed with the most amazing son. Now the McCown crew consists me and my boys--an incredible husband, an amazing son, and of course Monty the wonder dog!

The Marine Corps Marathon was my first marathon and charity race. I have run other marathons, but Marine Corps I remember most. I know the fundraising that coupled my training went to help others. So here I am, registered for Marine Corps again, and in need of motivation greater than a personal accomplishment. I was excited to see LWB create a marathon team and honored to be welcomed to it. More than running for LWB, my motivation is in Scott's precious face, an LWB foster care child in Xinxiang.

For this marathon, as I hit the pavement with my beautiful white-haired, blue-eyed son in tow, I will also be thinking about another beautiful white-haired, blue-eyed child a world away waiting, in foster care thanks to LWB, to be united with his Forever Family.

Healing Love

At the beginning of March this year, a little baby girl joined our foster care program in Zhaotong, Yunnan province. She was only a few weeks old, very weak, and had clubbed feet. I named her Claire and looked at her photos that had been sent to me by our local manager in Yunnan. Within a few weeks of joining the program, it was discovered that she had pneumonia, and she was admitted to the local hospital. The local manager sent me regular email updates about baby Claire, but, despite the hospital's best efforts, her condition worsened. Due to the severity of her condition, she was discharged from the hospital as the doctors believed they could do no more to save her life. But her foster parents refused to give up.

Back home, the young foster parents, who had no formal medical training but a heart full of love for Claire, did all they could to help her. They took turns staying up all night to care for her, rocking her gently and stroking her face. They patiently fed her small amounts of milk throughout the day and night. They talked to her and encouraged her to keep fighting. When the warmer weather came, they took her outside for fresh air and sunshine.

Most importantly, they loved her! Every day I checked my inbox for news about Claire. Three months after being sent home from the hospital, I received this picture of Claire. Just look at her now!

Her picture is a true testament to the healing love of a family. When I saw this picture, it summed up for me the Love Without Boundaries motto of "Every Child Counts." I want to thank every one of our foster care and other sponsors for believing in this motto too.

Jennifer Drake
Zhaotong Foster Care Coordinator

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!

Generational Gain

Families...the love and nurture they give. Our children....our gain/their gain. I’m sure this is a thought that has swept through the minds of most parents more than once in the wondrous road of parenting while quietly we "snap" a moment to store in the often dusty boxes of archival cellular matter. Stored for that unavoidable day when the cyclical changes of time have altered our terms of nurturing engagement.

A recent event had me savour just such a simple instance—my daughter learning to knit. Her Nana’s watchful eye, both encouraging and guiding as the generations easily share a moment in time...and a skill in the making.

Gosh, I do remember the tangle of wool and, yes, the doll clothes, poodle bottle covers and assorted filigree that I managed to complete before the said yarn and motion action like a vice turned tighter and tighter in my chest, snapping any continuation of this particular gift of family heritage for my generation.

The first piece: a "unique" scarf—a combination of wool, time, love, and generations. It seems that even my generation gets blended into this masterpiece as my daughter wants it to go to one of the Love Without Boundaries babies :-)

Family love and memories....what a gift we have...one we cherish and can spread the word about through the LWB Foster Care Program. To learn more about our Foster Care Program, please visit: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/foster.cfm

Julie Flynn Coleman
Loudi Foster Care Coordinator

Brody

I met him first in a picture. His face was almost expressionless, the tear-stained cheeks giving the only hint of what he was feeling. As I read through his description, I became aware that life had not been kind to him. He was over two but not yet walking, and he couldn’t stand without support. Speech that is normal at this age was nonexistent for him. His rocking behavior indicated challenges with attaching to a primary caregiver. I was hopeful that foster care could turn this around, but I must admit I was afraid we might be too late.I was so happy when he was placed into a wonderful foster home at the beginning of the year. He had a couple of bouts with respiratory illnesses and high fever, but each time he bounced back. I found myself worrying about him and reading his report first each month as I received them from our China Manager. I cannot pinpoint exactly when it happened, but he had worked his way into my heart and I often thought about him and hoped he was being loved. In February, I was happy to read he was beginning to walk with the foster parent’s help, and was able to play outside with the neighbor children. Even the rocking behavior was occurring less and less often. When I visited in March, I recognized his sweet little face immediately, though he was much tinier in person than I had imagined. He willingly took my hand and we walked all around the courtyard, practicing going up and down steps and a ramp. The progress he had made was indeed amazing, but I couldn’t help but wish for a smile from that somber little face.Well, in April I received the best news ever! The picture in his report shows Brody walking down the road, maybe even trotting, with a hint of a smile on his face!I think back to that very first picture and I realize foster care has saved Brody’s life. While maybe not in the way we usually think, by taking him from a weakened condition to being fully recovered in a physical way, but in a vital way nonetheless. His foster family has taught him that he matters, that he is important, and that they care about him. Brody has learned they are willing to work with him and encourage him to be all that he can be for as long as he is able to share his life with them. Brody now has hope and a future, and what could be more life-giving than that!

To learn more about our Foster Care program, please visit: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/foster.cfm

Nancy Delpha
Associate Foster Care Director

Craft for China Auction

Craft for China is a fundraiser that raises money through donated arts & crafts. 100% of the money goes to sponsoring orphaned children living in China. Funds that are raised help to sponsor two LWB program children:
Emma, who is in foster care and Gracie, so she can attend preschool.

In order to continue their sponsorship Craft for China is holding an arts and crafts auction on eBay. The auction is live now and all the money raised will go for another year of sponsorship for Gracie and Emma. If the auction can raise enough money another LWB child will be sponsored.

Pictured are some of the items offered in the auction. The auction ends June 7th!

Please visit the auction at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcraftforchina and check out all the wonderful items.

To learn more about Craft for China please visit the website at http://craftforchina.com/ .

Thank you and happy bidding!!

Toys

When I was a young child, I wanted to grow up to be Mrs. Santa Claus. This is because I wanted to have access to Santa’s giant sack containing every kind of toy in the world. I grew out of the Mrs. Claus phase by the time I was 6, but I doubt the excitement over seeing new toys ever really leaves a person.







It occurred to me this morning that I am creating new
Santa Clauses with our Foster Care Managers as they are being sent a variety toys and books, for every age group, to carry around with them when they do their monthly visit.


I can just see the curiosity on the children’s faces wondering what will come out of the sack. And the best part is that every child will get a new toy. But I am getting ahead of myself here on how this all started.

In order to more closely monitor developmental progress in the children, we have revised our foster care report format. The Henan programs were the first to try out the new format on our April reports.

The new report has several sections which include movement, vision & hearing, language, cognitive, and social development. The new format has been useful in determining where the children are developmentally. They also give the foster families ideas for age-appropriate activities to promote development. Each age group has different developmental milestones to check their progress against. The reports vary every other month so that the children have 2 months to work on their progress before they are tested again.

As we know from experience, children who have spent their first months in an institution may be somewhat delayed due to the lack of one-on-one attention that families can provide. We are hopeful that these new reports can more closely monitor the development of our foster children and we can intervene when necessary to get the best care for the kids as early as possible.

Much of a child's development centers on play. We have learned that many of the children do not have toys in the home that help promote their development and learning.


So, we are providing the foster care children age-appropriate toys so that they can be encouraged to develop to the best of their ability.

This will be a learning process for all of us to see if this format will help the children. We are hopeful that it will a the first step on the road to a brighter tomorrow.


Note: please disregard the child eating the book that we sent. This program is still in the trial stages.












For more information about our Foster Care Programs please go to:
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/foster.cfm

Happy Children's Day!!

June 1st is National Children's Day in China and is celebrated with

cards, presents, special foods, parades, and other activities.

Although schools remain open, children

do not attend class and are free of homework for the day!!

LWB wishes all the children in China a very happy Children's Day!

What a wonderful way to celebrate the innocence and beauty that children bring to our world.

Thank you to all of our donors who realize that

helping a child can truly change the future of the world!

Erik

I have a new update about Erik, a little 5 year-old blind boy, that I’d like to share regarding his future enrollment at a School for the Blind. He had previously traveled to another city to be seen at a School for the Blind.

School teachers recently traveled to his town and his foster family's home and evaluated Erik and taught his foster mother some things. Erik is too reliant on her for enrollment at this time, so he needs more training in his ability to be independent. Teachers should come and train him more in the future. Since his file has also been submitted for adoption, we are not sure yet which road this sweet little boy will be on in a year.

We hope he will be provided a forever family of his own soon.

We are grateful for those who help us with Love Without Boundaries' Foster Care program as we try to touch the lives of these children.

You can read more about our Foster Care program at: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/foster.cfm

We Love You Nana!

No trip back to my beloved Loudi Foster Care program would ever be complete without a sit down in "Nana's" home. This wonderful woman who has nurtured so many foster children is no longer a foster parent, but time is always made for that welcome visit. This time I had another LWB volunteer with me, Melissa our Loudi PT coordinator, who was on pins and needles with excitement to meet our legendary foster mom--a woman with fun, laughing eyes and so much love for the children. I had a special book to show her:

a copy of LWB's "Love's Journey 2: The Red Thread" was tucked into my bag so that I could convince this wonderful lady of how the world now knows of her gentle, selfless nurture.

She quickly brought out a small table and laid it with biscuits for us, clicked on the kettle for tea, and then, with such warmth in her eyes, looked over the book She, I think, was finding it unbelievable that she should appear in this glossy, beautiful book. I hugged that woman yet again and thanked her for being her. I sent her the love of the children now adopted to their great and super Nana!

You can read Nana's story on page 83 of the book and are sure to love all the other wonderful photos and stories on the over 250 pages in this book as well. If you don't yet have a copy, ordering information can be found at http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/lwbshop/Detail?no=47 . All proceeds go to help the children in China in LWB's programs.

Julie Flynn Coleman
Loudi Foster Care Coordinator

Goodbye Charlie

One of the hazards of volunteering for LWB is that it is hard not to become attached to the children in our programs as we read about them every month and watch them blossom and grow. Of course there is nothing better than the news that a child has been chosen off a list and will soon have a forever family. From what we have been told, next month we will also have to say goodbye to another child in our program. His name is Charlie and you may recognize him as he is one of the kids whose photo appears on the homepage when the pictures randomly change. I always looked forward to reading his reports and seeing a photo of his deep brown eyes.



Charlie is a typical 4 year-old little boy full of fun and mischief. He is in our Anhui foster care program. Charlie is also a LWB Medical Child. I met Charlie in Hefei in October 2006 when he came for an evaluation by the cleft team. My “office” was in the same room where they did the pediatric screening for cleft surgery. I would always wander over to the examination table every couple of minutes to lend a hand…aka a good excuse not do my own computer work because it was more fun to hang out with the kids. I remember Charlie very well because he was quite social and older than the other babies who came for surgery. He was such a good little boy when Dr. Melloy was examining him. She was moving his legs all around, bending his knees, moving his hips one way then the other to get his range of motion. Charlie didn’t fuss at all. He just had this look on his face, “wake me when this is over lady.” He had been diagnosed as having CP but on examination Dr. Melloy felt his physical limitations were the result of polio. This diagnosis has not stopped Charlie and on his foster care reports it says and he can run fast, although one leg does trail behind.



I am so happy to report that next month Charlie will soon be with a forever family and will be living in sunny Spain! What lucky parents to have such a treasure in a son. Charlie's adoptive parents sent a gift to him and when LWB Foster Care volunteers visited his program last month they were able to deliver it to him. It was awesome to read about Charlie as they reported the excited look on his face as he opened his treasures. I am sorry for the loss the foster family will feel as they have done an outstanding job raising Charlie.





Goodbye Charlie, we will miss you. We wish for you a wonderful life.







Heidi Reitz
Foster Care Director

The CNY Bunny

Just a funny little blog today. We got a wonderful photo of all of the children in our foster care program in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year. We all smiled when we saw the little girl on the far right in her bunny hat. And then we began laughing when we noticed the little boy to her left trying to figure out why a bunny is sitting next to him.

Don't you love the "cool kids" in front? Happy New Year to everyone!

Foster Care Visit

What a great day today! I got to meet all of the children in the Shantou Foster Care Program. At the first house we visited, we met the two children who live there plus two other Shantou Foster Care children who were visiting at the house. One of our little girls sang a song for us, and we were served candy to help celebrate Chinese New Year.

Next we went to another home where two little foster boys live. Several other foster moms and their children were also there to meet us. The orphanage took rice and oil to the families for Chinese New Year. What cute little chickens, I mean children, live in Shantou.

It was so fun to see these kids and their happy foster mamas. WHAT A WONDERFUL BLESSING it is to these children to be in a family! We saw Erik, who was featured a couple months ago on our blog and is blind, with his foster mama. He is so happy in his home.

One foster mother of a recently adopted little girl wanted me to know how much they loved her. I took a small photo album to one little girl who has recently been chosen by a family and I found out that two of the children in the program have families that I wasn't aware of yet. There are now seven children in the program who have families waiting to come get them. How wonderful that so many of our foster children will soon have permanent homes.



After lunch we returned to the orphanage and I met more children....babies, babies so cute and so sweet! Their nanny was so energetic, all smiles and so much fun. What a wonderful lady. Then we visited the room where the Angels Love program allows the small children who are still crawling or just learning to stand and walk to play and have fun and some interaction together. There are so many cute babies in Shantou!

I am thankful that these healthy babies are being so blessed through the hard work and dedication of the workers at Shantou SWI, and through the programs that many people help to support through Love Without Boundaries. Thank you everyone who helps with this incredible effort at changing children's lives.


Suzanne Damstedt
Shantou Foster Care Coordinator

Dedication (in heels, no less)

Everyone who follows our blog knows how much we love quality foster care. We absolutely love when a baby who has been lying in a crib most of the time is able to move into a family setting and get loved on all day. We are so excited by our newest program in Huainan, Anhui, because the orphanage staff agreed that we could move some tiny babies into foster care so that they can spend almost their entire time before adoption in a home environment.

Well, the contracts were signed, the families were selected, their health physicals were done, their homes were prepared, the babies were chosen, the day had arrived to meet their new mommas.....and WHAT'S THIS? A snowstorm? Oh my, oh my.

But did snow deter our great new moms and dads? Not one little bit. They showed up to meet their new children and pitched in to carry their new cribs home as well. We were particularly impressed with this photo of them moving a crib through the snow (in high heels.)

Now THAT'S dedication! We knew right then that these parents are excited about their new jobs as we are, and we can't wait to see the progress that each little baby makes in their new home.

Cleft House Preview

Our Cleft Healing Home is really beginning to look like a home now, albeit a home under construction. With each new addition, whether it’s a staircase or tile in the kitchen, we get more and more excited because that means we are one step closer to caring for the babies who need us. We haven’t even opened our doors yet and are already more than half way full with babies who have been identified as needing care from orphanages in Anhui.

The push is on now to complete as much as possible before the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration, when everything stops for a week. The kitchen and baths have been tiled; the kitchen cabinets and appliances have been ordered and should be installed before CNY. Door and window trim has been added, as have lots and lots of shelves for storage. We have stairs now and the walls are ready for paint.

We have paint colors!! Soft shades of yellow, green and blue for the babies’ rooms.

We have rooms, beds and babies that need sponsors, as well as specific needs for the home that have not been met yet. Please email us if you would like to help (foster@lwbmail.com). Thank you for your patience as we get our website back online.

Sandi Glass

Cleft Healing Home Coordinator

New Foster Care Program Begins

Hi all,

I am so excited to share with all of you the opening of our brand new foster care program at the Huainan SWI in the Anhui province. Many of you may recognize the name of this orphanage as being the home to one of our Believe In Me schools. Since our earliest contact with this SWI, we have seen and felt the need for a nurturing foster care program to be in place here. A few months ago, at the urging of several LWB volunteers that were visiting the SWI, the director agreed to begin a program there.

We will be starting the program with 10 of the most adorable little ones you have ever seen! We have 8 girls and 2 boys ... all born in 2007 ... that will be entering foster care sometime this week. They will be placed with foster families that are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to hold and love them. Most of you know how important the role of foster care is in a child's life. This will greatly improve their physical and emotional lives and give them a better opportunity to find their forever families through adoption.

Please look at these beautiful faces and feel free to pass on the news that these little ones are ready to be moved into foster homes. We will be double sponsoring each baby so that we can completely fund their foster care and pay for a local foster care manager to monthly spend quality time with each family. The sponsorships are $35 per month or $70 for a double sponsorship. With your sponsorship, you will receive updated photos each month and an updated development report every other month. Most of all, you will know that your loving contribution is making a HUGE difference in this baby's life.

Because of the website difficulties, potential sponsors may contact our foster care program to get the information to begin their sponsorship. Please email foster@lwbmail.com if you are interested in sponsoring one of these beautiful babies.


Thank you,

Margie Creel
Huainan Foster Care Coordinator
Love Without Boundaries
"Every Child Counts"

Foster care needs

Until our website is fully back up, we will list our current needs here. Thank you for your understanding!

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Back in October, I was fortunate to be able to visit all of our foster families in the city of Kaifeng (Henan province). As you know from our blog during that time, we had such a wonderful time seeing all of the children, handing out new coats and shoes, and getting to meet the foster parents who were taking such great care of their kids.

One of the children that I loved meeting was a little boy named Luke who has Down Syndrome. He was just so adorable, and his foster mom was completely in love with him. She told us how curious he was, and how much he loves music. I stood and listened to her talk about Luke, and looked at the walls behind her while she did. This foster mom had recently had another little boy to care for in her home, who had recently been adopted overseas. On the wall behind her, there were so many photos of that first little boy, all taped to the wall in a line like a border. Even though he had left her home, he certainly had not left her heart. As I listened to her now talk about how smart and happy little Luke was, I could only smile knowing that he was in the exact environment he deserved...loved and cared for by his very own "mama".

Luke is in need of a foster care sponsor at $35 per month (just a little more than $1 per day) so that he can continue to be shown each day what a special little boy he is. If anyone would like to be Luke's sponsor, please email foster@lwbmail.com Sponsors get photos and updates every other month.

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TODAY is a "targeted day" for the LWB Facebook Challenge. If you want to help us try and win the $1000 daily prize to help fund baby Yang's heart surgery, visit http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/51591 and donate $10 by 12 noon PST.

Wishes Come True

Let me tell you all a story … Little Rosa came to my screen and into my mind on 13th Dec 05 . Funny just looking at that date now makes me intake a breath ...13 is my lucky number. I smile and think of China and numbers and cultural connection to luck associated with numbers :-)
Rose stared out at me from that first report sitting on her Foster Mom’s knee her head tilted to the right in what I now know as “her” stance in most all photos received over these last 2 years.
As I scanned over the report I wondered about her foster parents, trying to “get to know them” through that one photo. Trying to place this child and her parents in my mind. One of many children in Loudi foster care at that time.


I remembered on a visit I had made a month earlier that I had met a little girl with special needs matching hers ...I scanned my photos to see, match and understand. Little Rosa did stand out more than others because she came with some very special needs listed.

Time moved on and I went on several more visits to the program. Little Rosa became one of the constants in those visits as I wrestled to recognize the other newer children. Every time I received her report I would be overjoyed with her constant progress. Sitting on my sitting-room sofa I’d shout her updates out to my husband working in the other room, and would say yet again that I wanted her to have the chance of adoption ...but her Special need would probably make that impossible. Every time I finished my hollering to my husband I sent a wish for her to get the chance.

Then it happened!!

I visited Little Rosa last March and said my goodbyes. I gave her a Princess dress that my Loudi daughter Lian had worn.

Well in Sept I received word from her Mom then in China ...now the proud adoptive Mom to our little Rosa. Can any of you imagine my emotions when I read, “We got quite a bit of information and the foster family sent a photo album with a number of pictures (including the one of her in the princess dress you told me about). The ladies told us that she wanted to wear her princess dress all the time which I was happy to hear since everyone knows I wanted a girly girl. This morning when she and her brother woke up at 6 a.m. and it was still dark I peeked over the side of my bed and saw them holding hands. Then he gave Rosa’s hand a kiss and she gave his hand a kiss back. It was just so sweet” .

I end my story with Rosa’s new life emerging. The center of attention at this year's Thanksgiving dinner as she is the only girl in her home of doting uncles and brother. She had amazing Foster Parents who have loved her and taught her well. She had people in her orphanage who gave her the chance first of a foster family to call her own, and the gift of the very BEST family in the world.....her forever one.

...Sometimes those wishes do come true.

Julie Flynn Coleman

LWB Foster Care