God loves her

Sarah is in the same place as Carissa (the orphanage that was very bad but is getting better, hopefully). She is underweight and severely delayed, but finally these kids are receiving good medical care. She also is diagnosed with cerebral palsy and blindness. Somewhere, though, there is a family willing and excited to love a 5-year-old girl with severe disabilities back to health, to help her reach her potential, to teach her about God's world and His plan for her through what means she can learn. God intended Sarah to be a daughter, not an orphan.

A young man who needs a family

Duncan is 15 and needs a family very soon, or he will age out and likely end up in a mental institution:


Duncan has CP and believes that because of this he is ugly and a family will not want him.

He uses a wheel chair, but he is very bright and in a great orphanage. He will not be able to stay where he is forever, though.

He deserves a chance and a family of his own.

UPDATE: He now has one!

Updated pictures

A couple more of my favorite kids have updated pictures too.

Sasha, who is in very poor condition and has Down Syndrome, has a new picture up. I don't know if his condition is improving; he needs a family so badly. Here's his old picture that I have posted before:


Sasha may also have cerebral palsy and/or autism... or he may just be severely neglected. Here is the new picture:


Remember sweet baby Rebekah?


She has Down Syndrome and just turned 2 in January... here's a much newer picture:



Sweet Constantine has some adorable pictures which inspired this whole post when I saw them. I only had seen one picture of this little guy:


But someone posted some more on the Reece's Rainbow message boards:




Gorgeous, isn't he? His parents are going to be so blessed by him one day.

I also found a few more pictures of Ivan, who desperately needs surgery so his brain has room to grow and develop:




Someone please give this precious boy a home and a family; he is so worth the effort and cost!

One who has a family, and one who is still waiting

The good news: baby Trent has a family!

So many are still waiting.

This little one is called Olga.



Olga has cerebral palsy. She needs physical therapy; she needs to get up out of her crib. She is said to be smiley and happy and lovable. She is sickly and she needs to be up and moving more to help her become healthier. Olga needs a family to bring her home and love her--she will go to a much worse place if she is transferred. She won't be loved. She will not ever leave her crib again. Her family needs to go for her soon.

Olga had a family committed to her, but they were unable to proceed because they were already in the process of another adoption. Olga's country wanted their previously adopted child to be home for a year before they adopted another child.

Have you adopted this year? No? Maybe you're Olga's mommy :)

I know it's not that easy. I know sometimes we just can't swing it. Certainly no one person can bring every child home. But somewhere, Olga has a mommy and daddy.

Facing transfer or transferred

These children do not have forever to wait for their families. Some will age out of the system and be locked away in institutions forever. Most won't make it that long; they will probably die, like Warner and Dakota did.

Today I wanted to point out some of the kids who I've posted here before who are in danger of being sent to institutions soon. (All of the girls at that link--except Teri Lynn, who has been adopted--are also institutionalized or in danger of it).

Kyle is one of those boys who looks a little like my son.


Kyle is 5 years old and has Down Syndrome. He'll be in a mental institution soon. His fifth birthday is this month. He has a $2700 grant.

Sergey was due to be transferred in September, but I haven't heard any updates.

(Actually it looks like I haven't blogged about him before--now I am!) Sergey is 4 and has HIV. He gets along well with other children; he's never aggressive; physically and developmentally on track, cognitively normal. There's no reason why Sergey shouldn't have a family. It's not known whether he was/will be sent to a mental institution or a boarding school for older children.

Last but not least, remember Sasha, age 7 but so tiny.

Sasha has Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, and possibly autism. No one pays attention to him or works with him. No one loves him. He lies in his crib and he chews on his tongue. At his age he must already have been transferred... he desperately needs a family. It is a wonder he has held on all these years. Sasha will need a lot of attention and care, but surely God has a reason for keeping him alive this long... perhaps because he would be such a blessing to your family. His needs would be a lot to take on... but even if you are not his mommy or daddy, you can pray for him.

Last but not least, remember Dmitriy and Genesis, who are both blind and in the same institution... they could be adopted together.


Every one of these kids deserves a family, not a warehouse. They deserve to live, not just be kept alive. Some have more difficult special needs, but sweet Sergey would fit into any family. And nearly every child would be adopted if money was not a problem--if we could fill Sasha's grant, maybe a family with a lot of love who had a heart for very special kids but not a lot of money would be able to commit to him.

Whatever we do for these little ones, we do for Jesus.

another older boy

I think the next couple posts I do probably aren't going to have a whole lot of commentary... not much emotional energy right now.

This is Patrick:


Patrick is 8. He has CP and possibly FAS. He is very high-functioning, and he wants a family and fears transfer.

Malnourishment

This is Sasha:


He is 7 years old. Seven! His profile says 6, so the picture may be a little older, but this little boy is badly malnourished. He needs a family to save his life. You shouldn't adopt a child just to save a life. You have to want that little boy or girl to be part of your family. But sometimes, these kids do need their lives saved. Sasha might just be strong enough to hang on another year, maybe even another decade in whatever institution he's in. But sooner or later he will die alone and hungry and bedbound. Love won't take away Down Syndrome, or cerebral palsy, or autism (at least not on its own, and maybe at all). Love can't erase all the effects of seven years of institutionalization. Love will never make Sasha's first 7 years go away. But only love can save his life.

Updates

First, an update on our adoption process. We had our second home visit on Tuesday! After reviewing our entire lives, the social worker is still okay with us adopting. Next step: a lot more paperwork. Luckily, DH and I enjoy paperwork more than most. We still need to find the time to do it, though.

Remember sweet Vanessa?

She has a new picture!



Vanessa has had surgery to help her heart. The surgery was a success, but she may need another still. Good news for Vanessa, but the best news would be a family of her own--keep praying for Vanessa!

More good news--
Older children on Reece's Rainbow can now have money in their grant funds!

Dakota is 8 and needs a family very badly. I blogged about him before.


Dakota and other children can now receive grant funds, so if you felt led to give to him before but did not because the money would not go to him directly, now you can give. Please keep praying for Dakota!

Feel free to look back at all the kids I've posted before. They are growing and changing... and they still don't have families. Josie, Heaven, Valentin, and Teri Lyn have families; the rest are still waiting. Maybe you glanced over my quick post on Maeve. Maybe you weren't following yet when I blogged about Sammy. But save the four who were found, every child I have asked you to consider is still waiting. None of them is the child I'm hoping to adopt. The Church--and anyone else who recognizes the value of a little person others call imperfect--needs to step up and make sure these children have families.

Kids with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is a very common special need, especially when a birth was traumatic or premature, or there was a multiple pregnancy. In the developing world, where medical care may not be as good as in the US (and other countries), many children with cerebral palsy are released for adoption by their families. The disability has a wide range of effects--some kids are only mildly affected and can walk well; some may walk only with assistance or need wheelchairs. Although CP results from a brain injury, very often this only affects mobility and children with CP are often not intellectually affected by their special needs.



Brett is a sweet little boy who has cerebral palsy. He is three years old and lives in the country I hope to be adopting from--somewhere in Eastern Europe. He is so young still--he will be four soon. It is difficult to know what a child's true abilities are when he has been raised in an orphanage, but right now Brett is able to stand with support, and his caregivers are working with him on learning to walk.

I don't know what kind of training his caregivers have, and whether Brett receives physical therapy. But with a family, physical/occupational therapy, and good medical care, children do much better than they do in an institution. I've read several stories about kids who never walked a step in their life walking once they got home and had the love and support of a family, and appropriate therapy--sometimes within months of coming home. It's great that Brett's caretakers are at least working with him, but he could probably do even better with the help of a family. You shouldn't adopt a child with cerebral palsy unless you are comfortable with the idea that they won't be able to increase their physical abilities--Brett may always need a wheelchair, even if he does learn to walk--but there is so much potential for these kids once they are in families and have therapy.

If Brett stays in Eastern Europe, however, even though it seems like he is getting a chance to progress now, in a few short years he will end up in an institution. If he doesn't walk by then, he will not walk there. He will be put in a "lying down" room. The staff will not be available to work with him individually, so he might never get out of his bed again. He might be tied to his bed. He will lose the ability to stand up he has worked for so hard. He will probably lose the will to live. If he cannot feed himself effectively--maybe even if he can--he will probably suffer from malnutrition. Some of these kids get impossibly thin. Some come home to the US and are immediately taken to the hospital to be treated for severe malnutrition.

Brett doesn't deserve that. No child deserves that. You can help his family adopt him by donating to his fund. You could be the family that brings him home. You can support charities which help little boys and girls in his country.

And you could do nothing. But if you ignore Brett, he will still be a three-year-old boy who can't walk. Ignoring the situation won't mean he doesn't end up tied to a bed for the rest of his life once he turns five. Ignoring him won't mean he gets enough to eat. It might make your life easier. But Brett will still be a little boy in Eastern Europe who needs a family.