Advice from a Three-year-old

What do you do when you are 18 months old and are very worried about having a heart surgery? You talk to someone who has just been there!

Little Gracie is a very bright, 18-month-old little girl from Guangxi. She understands everything that you say to her, even the fact that she is about to undergo heart surgery. When her orphanage asked her if she wanted to go to Hangzhou for heart surgery, she didn’t want to go. Do you blame her?

The orphanage brought older and wiser, three-year-old Ying to talk to Gracie about her surgery. We helped Ying with his heart surgery in January, and it was a complete success. Ying told Gracie that he didn’t feel pain when he had his surgery and that it was just fine. Thanks to Ying, Gracie agreed to come.


Can you imagine this conversation? How funny!! The good news is that Gracie is now in Hangzhou and will soon get her chance to be healed. Thanks to her sponsors . . . and to Ying, her heart will soon be repaired! Maybe Gracie will try to call Ying on her cell phone after her recovery.

Thank You, Facebook and LWB Friends!

We have the most amazing and wonderful friends!!! In just three short days, our Facebook friends have donated $1,740, and $3,362.05 has been received at our website and in the mail, for a total of $5,102.05 for our new Unity Fund!!! That is a lot of $1 (and several larger) donations. That is enough to fund a heart surgery for a child whose family is unable to afford this lifesaving medical care!!! We can't thank everyone enough for your support.


The goal of the Unity Fund is to provide medical care for children whose families are unable to provide that care, enabling families to stay together and preventing children from being orphaned. Please share with your friends the opportunity to donate $1 to our new Unity Fund and to make a difference in the lives of impoverished families in China in need of medical care for their children. More information can be found on our website at:
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/unityfund.cfm


Don't forget our contest going through August 15th. There is a great LWB gift pack and $50 gas card just waiting to be won. You can read about the contest at the above link. We have received lots of entries but would like to receive lots more. We're looking forward to seeing some great videos about why families are so wonderful.



We consider each of you part of our LWB family, and we know exactly why you're wonderful--it is your concern and support for children and families in China needing help. Thank you for joining us in "living with hope and loving without boundaries." Thank you for being a part of our family!

LWB UNITY FUND CONTEST

Okay, we are TOTALLY stealing a fabulous idea from the Old Red Barn Co (http://www.oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/) because we had so much fun entering and doing our own videos to try to win their quilt for our art auction. We lost….waahhh!

Starting TODAY, you have a chance to win a FABULOUSLY INCREDIBLE LWB PRIZE PACK in celebration of our Unity Fund launch. What is the Unity Fund, you ask? It is our new medical fund for impoverished families in China who cannot afford the life-saving medical procedures that their children need, in the hopes of keeping their families UNITED (hence the name) and actually preventing orphaned children. Yes, it is a big dream, but if we help even one more child stay with their family, that is beyond happiness for us. We are often approached by rural families who are desperate to help their children but who believe their only chance of healing them is to leave their child at an orphanage. We want to have a separate fund that we can use to bring HOPE to their lives, so that we can tell them immediately, “We know you love her, and yes we can help.” So in celebration of keeping families together, we are copying the contest held by the Old Red Barn Co and because we are busy people (ha ha) and want to save time, we are even copying their rules! Shameless we are!

First prize in this contest is an LWB prize pack, which includes:

A copy of our coffee table book, “Love’s Journey 2: The Red Thread”—a beautiful, hard cover book of over 250 pages with beautiful photos and stories about adoption.

PLUS a Red Thread Jewelry Set, valued at $125, which is SO BEAUTIFUL that you know you want it! Sterling silver, pearls, red silk cording…..did I mention BEAUTIFUL?!

PLUS one adult LWB t-shirt and one child’s LWB t-shirt.

PLUS (drum roll please because this is a biggie these days!) you will also win a FIFTY DOLLAR gas card to 7-Eleven donated by a friend of LWB!!! WOOHOO!! Free gas!!! Gas card! Gas card! Gas card!!! Okay, we admit that doesn’t exactly go with an LWB prize pack, but hey….we told you we were shameless and we want you to enter!

Total prize pack is worth over $250! Now that’s a fun contest, right?

Second prize will receive a Love’s Journey book, and third prize gets their choice of an adult or child’s LWB logo t-shirt.

All you have to do to enter and receive one chance in the drawing is email info@lwbmail.com and say “I support helping rural children in need.” That will count as one entry!

You earn FIVE extra entries into the drawing if you post an entry about our contest in your blog and let us know.

You get FIFTY ENTRIES (yes 5-0) if you make a video on why families are wonderful (to go along with our Unity theme) and mention the words “Live With Hope, Love Without Boundaries” at least once. Post it on Youtube with the header “Love Without Boundaries Unity Fund.” Send us your name and the link so we can credit you 50 chances! Since we are having fun with this celebration, we are going to follow the same rules and say we need your video to make us smile at least once. We know kids always make us smile, so we know this won’t be any problem!

International supporters are also welcome to enter. The contest will end Friday, August 15th at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Get your comments in before then. We’ll announce the winner on Saturday, August 16th! The winner will be selected by random drawing.

We are also having a $1 challenge to kick off this fund, where we are challenging EVERYONE we know to pop $1 in the mail (LWB, 306 S. Bryant, Ste. C-145, Edmond, OK 73034) to help a rural child in need. Who needs an extra diet Coke today when you could put those four quarters in an envelope to save a life? Can we get 5,000 people to send in $1? We won’t know until we try. Spread the word! And enter our contest!

Let’s celebrate the joy of families as we launch this new fund to help those families in China truly in need.

Good luck!

Help Heal a Heart!

"Born in my Heart" Art Auction
April 24-29, beginning the 24th at 9:00 am Pacific Time

In nearly every orphanage in China, children in need of heart surgery wait to be healed. In an effort to help as many of these orphans as possible, Love Without Boundaries began the "Born in my Heart" art auction five years ago. This is an annual event that serves as our special tribute to the miracle of adoption, and also as a fundraiser to help us provide these essential operations to children who need emergency heart surgery.

You can help to save the life of a child by taking part from April 24-29. Every penny raised will help to heal precious children and give them the opportunity to grow and thrive, and perhaps even find a family of their very own. So please bid often and bid generously!

Auction items will begin to launch at 9 am (Pacific) on Thursday, April 24th. Nearly 300 items will be added throughout the day, and the auction will close Tuesday, April 29th (again, with items closing throughout the course of the day).

We have some absolutely incredible items this year, all donated by LWB's fabulous supporters! Just a few of the items you won't want to miss are: "Jia: Portrait of Hope" by Leila Ashton (above): an original oil painting of one of our LWB heart babies, a life-size replica jade burial suit,

two giclee prints of "Qi Pan" by Zhao Kailin, personalized digital lifebooks, the most beautiful collection of quilts imaginable (including several "100 Good Wishes" quilts),

beautiful paintings (both originals and giclee prints), calligraphy, custom adoption videos, amazing photography, embroidery, gift baskets, jewlery, clothing, heritage items and so much more!

You will be able to access our auction from the Love Without Boundaries website homepage at: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/, beginning April 24th.


You can also play a part in healing hearts by posting about the auction! If you have a personal or family website or blog, we would be so grateful if you would mention this event, as so many children are counting on us for surgery. Help spread the news that lives can be saved!

Thank you in advance for helping to make this year's auction our best ever!
Love Without Boundaries Art Auction Committee

New Medical Photoshow

Karen Maunu, our medical director, has put together a photo show of some of the beautiful children healed through LWB in 2007. You can watch it here:




If the direct link doesn't work, you can also click this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM-J2fGM1Ts

If LWB wins the Facebook Charity Challenge on February 1st, we will be able to use the prize money to heal even more wonderful kids like those in this video. If you haven't yet joined up to donate $10, we are hoping you will as we are still in first place, but only by a handful of people. We need as many new donors as possible within the next 2 days. The next 48 hours will decide whether 10 beautiful babies with heart disease can have the operations they need for a healthy life.

Visit http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/51591 to make a $10 donation and bring us one step closer to Facebook's $50,000 prize. Together we can do this! And let 10 precious children receive the gift of life.

Yuan leaves the hospital

Little Yuan has been discharged from the hospital after her big surgery during the cleft mission. She was given many gifts by the wonderful volunteers in Shanghai, and everyone there was sad to see her go. They all hope they will see her again someday, possibly when she has her second surgery.

We are still waiting on the pathology report on what type of tumor she has. During this week of thanks, we are very grateful for the outpouring of support and love shown to this beautiful little girl. We give thanks for all of the people who have supported our medical program, which allows us to touch the lives of so many children in China who will be in our hearts forever.

Urgent heart needs

For the first time in LWB history, we have had to turn away a child in need of urgent heart surgery due to a lack of medical funding. I know what a very, very difficult moment this was for our medical team.

I know that so many orphanages are contacting us now each day for help that we most likely will never be able to keep up with the number of children who are waiting for life saving surgery....but to me that just means we have to work even harder to spread the word that it truly IS possible to save the life of a child by giving whatever one can.

I have put together a short video with some of the heart children we have been asked to help this year. A huge thank you to Lance Musgrave for allowing me to use his song, "Waiting", to help show that thousands of children do just that each day. In orphanages throughout China, children are waiting right now for their chance at life. You can view it on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/v/ceAmyu1FpBc




No donation to our medical program is too small. Every dollar given is used to help bring the gift of healing to some of the most vulnerable children in the world. You can visit our medical sponsorship page today at http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/SponsorMedical.php

Naughty

Every email that we have received from our facilitators when they have gone to check on a little boy named Feng have said what a naughty boy he is. In China, a child who is very spirited is called naughty and this is often seen as a really good characteristic in a child.

Feng has an arachnoid cyst and Dr. Bao at SCMC put a shunt in to drain the fluid from the cyst. He has had high pressure in his brain and so often had severe headaches. With his surgery done, Feng has been feeling SO much better. So much better in fact, that he has been up to all kinds of tricks.

The last update on him said that he was busy running around the ward. They can't keep him in his bed or keep him still. Last week, he started pulling out his IV. By the end of the week, he was not only pulling out his own IV, but he was also pulling out the IV from the child in the bed next to him!

They have also said that he loves making his surroundings quite messy.

We are sure that his caregiver must be beside herself trying to keep up with him, but we are all smiling on this end over the spirit in this child. What a naughty little boy he is, and how wonderful that he finally feels well enough to get into mischief.

A Little Attention

Chloe is a little girl who has anal atresia. She has had two stages of her anal atresia surgery and has just had some additional reconstruction. This child charms everyone she meets and just LOVES attention.

She has learned how to get attention by doing all kinds of tricks. Dr Yan, the chief surgeon’s assistant, came in to check on the babies. The group, including Dr. Yan, our facilitator Tingting, and other volunteers, went over to check on the baby in the bed next to Chloe, leaving Chloe alone. She decided she didn't like that one little bit, so she started a loud scream while moving her head up and down with a "mean" smile. She certainly managed to get everyone’s attention, including Dr Yan's. This reminded Dr Yan that he had not examined her yet, so the whole group moved to her instead. When Dr. Yan began to lift up her blanket, Chloe started to realize that she had probably done the wrong thing in bringing attention to herself. She then started to fake cry. When she realized Dr Yan was seriously going to examine her surgical area, she cried with real tears and began talking up a storm in "baby talk", which sounded like she was saying she didn't REALLY mean to get Dr. Yan's attention.

Dr. Wu, the chief surgeon, came in an hour later. The group was all still there playing with the babies. They all started crowding around the baby in the bed next to Chloe’s again and once again, Chloe decided SHE wanted the attention so she began to yell again. When Dr. Wu looked back at her, she suddenly remembered that perhaps she didn't want to come to the attention of any doctor in a white coat and she got quiet REALLy quickly. Everyone got a good laugh over how smart she was, and they have reported that she has now moved on to tearing up cartoon books instead of trying to get attention from any doctor.

A day at Shanghai Children's

We are so grateful for John Dai, who visited the children having surgery in Shanghai each day for us and who would send wonderful reports on their progress. Today, instead of telling a story in words, we thought we would simply tell the story of a typical day at the hospital in pictures. Enjoy! (although we do have to comment on the stylish Mohawk hairdo that the aunty gave Hao while waiting for surgery!)

Critical Care

Most of you know that the way LWB raises money for the children we heal surgically is by putting them up on our website, finding sponsors for their surgery, and then notifying the orphanage that the child can be moved for their operation.

However...there are times that we cannot wait to move a child. There are many times that we are notified by orphanages that they have received newly abandoned babies who are critical. It is during those times that we are so grateful for our general medical fund, as we can immediately use those dollars to do emergency surgery. We have even told our facilitators that whenever they are called by an orphanage about a child who is critical, they don't even need to talk to us first....the life of the child is first and foremost and they can contact us after they have made the medical arrangements to save the child's life.

Last week we learned of a tiny baby girl, just a few weeks old, who had arrived at an orphanage in Anhui with severe megacolon in critical condition. Thankfully she was able to have emergency surgery that very day because of our general medical fund. We thought you would love to see baby Wa recovering from her surgery in the hospital. What a beautiful little girl who now has a chance to grow up and be adopted. Thank you to everyone who made it possible!

Brotherhood

This gorgeous and handsome young man is Chuan's best friend, Yang. You might remember Chuan from previous blogs. He is the 12 year old who had neurosurgery on his spine and who wants to be a doctor some day. After he had surgery in Shanghai, he was moved to an orphanage in Hangzhou where he could study and get the PT he needed every day.

Yang and Chuan originally were from the same orphanage in Anhui. Yang came into the orphanage as an older child and quickly became best friends with Chuan. Yang can read and loves to study, and so he taught Chuan to read and write.

When we told Chuan in the hospital that we could move him to Hangzhou, he was all excited about the chance to go to school except for one thing...he wouldn't be able to see Yang again. So he asked if we could send some gifts for Yang and asked to visit him if we ever had the chance.

Of course, when that chance came, we didn't forget about Chuan's wish. Our mobile medical van was to visit Yang’s orphanage this month. One of our volunteers went shopping for Yang and got some really cool looking T-shirts, pants, a big dictionary, an encyclopedia and some study supplies for him. She thoughtfully printed out some pictures of Chuan, including Chuan's favorite picture of himself for Yang to see. Yang was so happy receiving all the gifts that came in the name of Chuan for him. Of course, he was thrilled to see Chuan's pictures and see how much he had changed. He hopes that he will be able to see him sometime in the near future.

Everybody on the trip, including the orphanage staff, were so touched by their brotherhood. We definitely hope that someday these special friends can meet again.

Cute as a Button

There is a little girl we have been helping for several months who had a complex spinal tumor. Her name is "Naomi", and she first came to Shanghai Children's during the UCLA medical mission, where she proceeded to charm the socks off of everyone, including the neurosurgeon.

Naomi has returned to Shanghai for the second part of her surgery, and once again the hospital ward is buzzing with stories of her cuteness. One of our friends visited her today and wrote these words which made us smile:

"I saw Naomi for the first time. She is so cute. Everybody in the ward loves her, and I am no exception. "

Isn't that great? He also shared with us that Naomi speaks in long, long sentences of her own language and using her own grammar. She just loves to chat! In fact, she especially loves to talk on anyone's cell phone who is near, so of course she had to try out his.

We are so happy to report that her second surgery went very well, and we know she will now have a great chance at adoption.

Hope her future parents-to-be have a good calling plan! I think they are going to need it. :-)

Yang is Moving

Miracles happen often around here, but there aren’t too many children as special as Yang. Yang was our very first resident of Heartbridge, arriving last October. She was so tiny and so sick. There were so things wrong with her little heart. On January 24, she received her life-saving heart surgery. You can read more about her story in this blog on that date in the article titled “Sweet Baby Yang”.

You would never believe that this is the same child. Yang is now doing so well and is thriving! She will now be leaving Heartbridge for regular foster care. She no longer needs this intensive medical care she was getting. In fact, she won’t need another heart surgery for 3-4 years and her orphanage is now putting her paperwork together for adoption.

This child is truly a miracle and a fighter. She has overcome so much and is an example to us all on what strength one little baby can have.

Baby Wang

Monday and Tuesday this week was a blur for a little 2 month old baby from Henan named Wang. This baby had a spinal tumor that broke open on Monday morning. Because neurosurgery is so specialized, and because we have a wonderful neurosurgeon in Shanghai, we knew we need to try to get him there immediately. Through the coordinated efforts of many people, Wang was on a flight to Shanghai Monday night.

Arrangements were made to have this child fly on a China Eastern flight from Zhengzhou to Shanghai. Once they were in the air, one of the flight attendants noticed this baby and the caregiver. She thought it was the baby’s grandmother, and she asked the caregiver how her grandson was doing. She noticed that the caregiver was having a hard time understanding her, because of the difference in dialect, so the passengers around her helped to translate for her. From their conversation, the attendant learned that this child was an orphan and was on his way to Shanghai for emergency surgery. The attendant was a new mom herself, and she was so touched by this baby's story. She told the caregiver that she would be happy to help change diapers and give the baby a bottle to help out, but in her heart she still felt like she wanted to do more. So she went into the cockpit and told the pilots about this little boy and his story. One of the pilots, who was also a parent, thought they should all do something to help. He asked the flight crew to donate for baby Wang's surgery, and then he broadcasted over the flight system about this child being on the plane! The pilot asked everyone to send their good wishes to this little boy so that he could have a successful surgery. When the passengers heard this announcement, they started to donate funds as well.

In all, over 2300 rmb was raised on that flight! Isn't that such a wonderful story?

In Shanghai, the wonderful group of LWB volunteers there went into action and put out a plea for assistance for the baby. The nanny and baby Wang were picked up from the airport by private van, checked into the hospital, and then Wang was examined by the ER doctor. This group of volunteers also started a collection of their own for his surgery and were able to completely finish paying for his care.

Tuesday morning, Wang was thoroughly examined by Dr. Bao, the neurosurgeon, and we were told that he was quite severe. His surgery was scheduled for that very afternoon, and we all were so thrilled to get the wonderful news that his surgery was a complete success! The spinal tumor didn’t involve any of his nerves, so he will now be totally healed. In addition, Dr. Bao said that without the wonderful team of people who pulled off the transfer so quickly, he would have been in serious danger. This child received surgery, several provinces away, a little over 24 hours from when we first heard about his emergency. We couldn’t have done this without the wonderful support from his orphanage, our facilitators, the volunteers in Shanghai, and the very giving people who helped along the way. How grateful we are that this child was surrounded by the love and generosity of so many great people.

Please keep this child in your thoughts and prayers as he continues to heal!

Oh What a Beautiful Boy

We are so grateful to everyone who kept BaoJin in their prayers last week as he had his very complex surgery to remove a huge tumor from his backside. The tumor itself ended up weighing over 4 pounds. Today Tingting went to visit him at Shanghai Children's and she reported that he is doing just so great. Today was the first day he could be up and held, and so his caregiver held him constantly and walked with him everywhere. Tingting said you could see her walking up and down the hallways with him in her arms. He just loved being held and any time his aunty would try to put him back down for a moment he would cry, so everyone took turns loving on this sweet child.

His story has certainly touched so many people in Shanghai. There was a 13 year old girl in the hospital herself who had been coming to visit him each day, and when they told her that she was being discharged, she didn't want to leave because she wanted to feed BaoJin one more time!

He also got a little stuffed animal today and absolutely loved it.

We are all so thrilled that he has been healed and is on the road to recovery. His story is truly one that we will never forget, as so many people thought he did not have a chance and yet once again we have been shown what miraculous things happen when people come together to touch the life of a child.

Inspiration

Today I happened upon an article about Marian Wright Edelman, who founded the Children's Defense Fund in 1973. As I read the following quote from her, I of course (as always), read the words and thought about how they relate to working with children who live as orphans:

'We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make, which over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.'

Sometimes it is very easy to look at how many children there are around the world needing help and almost be overwhelmed to the point of non movement. I think we would be hard pressed to find very many people around the world whose heart isn't affected by the thought of a child growing up without a mother or father to love them, but I think many people read the stories and hear of the needs and think, "what difference could I really make by helping even one of them?" I have actually been told this on several occasions, of course reminding me of the famous starfish story that every child we can touch is absolutely essential.

I had a very emotional conversation one day with the mother of one of the children we had healed in China. Her daughter is now their beloved child, but without the life saving surgery she received in China, her fate would have been quite different. I know when I think of the children we help, I almost always think just of the child and how we can make a difference to them, but in talking to this woman, I realized that when we touch the life of a child....the results to the world are so much greater.

The mom explained to me that the adoption of her daughter post surgery had changed not only their lives in an incredible way, but also the lives of those around them. For instance, she shared that the teachers and parents at her school now understand that "special needs" isn't a term to be feared, and that her neighbors now understand that real families are formed in many ways other than genetically. I was nodding about all of this as she then said, "and just think that someday her own children will know the story of how she was first healed in China and then adopted to the US." It was those three words..."her own children"...that really got to me. Because then I realized that when we work together to change the life of one child....that child will then have a chance to grow up healthy and most likely will have children someday as well. Children that might never have existed except for the very real fact that perfect strangers stepped forward to help heal their mom way back when she was just a little baby. How monumental is that? It really is not an overstatement to say that the very fabric of the world changes each time we are able to help give the gift of life through healing to a child.

So I reread the words of Ms. Edelman today and agreed that it is those perhaps seemingly small daily differences that do add up in astonishing ways to bring real miracles to this world. Miracles like baby En below, who now has a chance to grow up and be a treasured son, and maybe a doctor or a teacher or a writer, and yes....even a daddy himself someday.

Thank you EVERYONE who is helping to make a difference to children. You are a part of the whole rest of their lives to be sure, but isn't it amazing to think that you are even playing a part to future generations as well?

That is pretty heavy stuff, indeed.

Amy Eldridge

GOOD NEWS! Medical Update

Tingting went to Shanghai Children's today to check on the little boy who had the huge tumor surgery on Monday. She wrote the following to us:



*****************



Bao Jin is such a sweet little precious child!!!

Poor baby, he has this huge incision on his bottom and also on his tummy. They have removed everything that weighed totally 4lbs during a 4-hr surgery.

He has chubby little cheeks and arms.. he also has the softest skin. He was sore after surgery but he enjoys my head massage - then he would stop crying. He likes to grab my finger real tight too. He just won't let go of my finger. It was so hard to say goodbye as he was holding my finger really tight. I love that baby!!



**************



Thank you to everyone who lifted up this beautiful little boy. We are all so thrilled that he now has a great chance at a healthy life!



Tingting also stopped by to see baby Yuan, a baby who is at the hospital with an urgent heart condition. We learned today that he has an 8 mm VSD that is leading to pulmonary hypertension. He is being urgently treated for a lung infection and we are hoping surgery can be scheduled as soon as he is stable. He is such a tiny little guy....just eight pounds. But he has already proven that he has a true fighting spirit.


We are so grateful to the CHI waiting children group for rallying around this beautiful little boy and helping him have every chance at being healed.


Amy Eldridge

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