Happy Children's Day! 儿童节快乐!

Hello, ASIA friends and family!  Happy Children's Day! 儿童节快乐！Marci sent a video and two photos of the Children's Day celebration in Changsha. She'll write more later, but for now, enjoy:

Hi Folks! Sorry for the silence the last couple of days! They have been action packed, fun-filled and exhausting! Children's Day was heart-warming in a Chinese kind of way where it's filled with Indiana Jones Theme songs and such. Kids from outside schools and activities came into the perform for everyone. The Mayor was there as well as a whole bunch of media, which you can see standing in front of my video! The video of the boys doing martial arts is mostly boys from the orphanage, which is why I chose that performance to highlight.

After the festivities were over, we had to do two evaluations of children that live in foster homes that came in especially for Children's Day. They needed to get back, so we did their evaluations right away. Those two kids absolutely stole my heart! I would snatch either one up in a heartbeat! Whitney was one of them, and you literally would never know this little girl has a special need. At under 5 years old, she can skip, jump on one leg, hop, dance and sing at the same time, write her name, draw, and just about anything else you can think of. She is beautiful and girlie, loves dresses and frilly things and wants to have her clothes changed several times each day. She asks why she doesn't have a mama and a baba like other kids, so we hope we can change that for her. I will send pictures to be posted. We don't have her file yet, so hurry up with your dossier if you're interested in sweet Whitney.

We also met with little precious, giggly Cade. This boy is under 2 years old and also has a very minor special need. He's happy, healthy and extremely ticklish!!!! He can walk, run, squat quite impressively and climb onto and off of riding toys. He went bonkers for a little ride on car at the orphanage and became a little jealous when one of the other kids got on it. He has the cutest smile with little dimples and pudgy cheeks to die for!!!!! He's cuddly and funny and a little tease. What more could you want in a little cutie? We don't have his file yet either, so whoa Nelly! Focus on that paperwork to be eligible for him when his files comes.

After those two evaluations, some of the higher up staff in charge of adoptions at Changsha #1 took us out to lunch. Then we headed back to the orphanage for eight more evaluations of kiddos, which all went well. More on those kids in the coming weeks:-)

As usual, we were then informed that our plans for the next day would have to be adjusted a bit. I'll fill you in more on June 2nd in next post....

More on Changsha Day 2 - Foster Homes

Hello! This is Pattie guest blogging for Marci, who is getting ready for Children's Day in China. Here at the ASIA office, we're really excited to see all the pictures coming in from Changsha and I know that our families are going to love them, too. I thought I'd post a few more pictures from Marci and Fei's visit to the foster homes on Day 2.

The first picture is Marci playing with "Jasper", one of the boys you can see currently on the waiting child section of our website. Jasper was crying a bit because he wasn't at home and is scared of strangers. But when Marci played music on her Ipad, he put his hand on it and calmed down. According to Marci, "It was pretty cool. Again, the Ipad conquers all. I should get paid by Apple for advertising".

Here is a picture of "Doug" being his cutie self. We posted a couple of pictures of Doug on the earlier Changsha Day Two post. What a cutie! If you want more information on Jasper, Doug, or any of our other kids and you don't have the current log-in information for our waiting children photo list, please email me at pattiec@asiadopt.org.

The last one is a picture of Steve, our volunteer R.N. and adoptive parent, who is helping us with the evaluations. Marci and Fei are there in the background, playing with the kids. I'm so jealous!

I hope that everyone is as excited as I am to see the photos from Children's Day! 

Day 3 in Changsha

This morning we went back to Changsha #1 to revisit some children we wanted to get more information on and let them get more comfortable with us. We were able to visit a Half the Sky classroom that had 4 kids from our program in it. Let me just say that it was awesome to see the kids in action! They were all so comfortable in their class, that they readily interacted with us and let us take photos. However, they don't want us to post the photos on our website, so those will, unfortunately, have to be saved for the kids' files.

One part of that, which was really neat for me was I was playing with a really cute and sweet child who was very personable with me. After I had played with her for a while, I asked her name and it turns out not only is she a child on our list, but she's one that I have tried to place with several of our families before. We haven't found the right family yet, but now I can allay many of their fears about her special need. It was not at all clear to me that she even had a special need.

She shared half of her cracker with me at snack time, grabbed my big nose and seemed to understand that I couldn't speak much Chinese, so she found other ways to communicate with me. It was really neat because I could just see how she would do with the adjustment to a family through those interactions.

Another child in our program kept giving me tiny pieces of his cracker:-) I really wish I could share photos, because the class was decorated, wall to wall, with the kids' art projects and creations. It was a bright, cheerful classroom and the teachers handled all the kids very well. The children we were a bit worried about really seemed to blossom in there.


We also took some time individually with some of the kids' that we got rushed through the other day, so I got photos to document each of their special needs. One girl, who cried the entire time on our first day, today came in calm and responsive and even smiled several times for me. I might share that smile with you.

FYI, tomorrow we have a day off so they can prepare for Children's day, so there is unlikely to be any updates tomorrow, but June 1st should bring wonderful photos of the Children's Day performance.

ASIA in China - Day Two! Foster Homes

Today we ventured out to a couple of the foster homes outside the city. When I say outside the city, I mean potholes the size of mac trucks, bumpy dirt roads, one way roads, our "van" driver (we rode in a modified ambulance) going through red lights repeatedly and regularly, and of course the usual nearly hitting other cars, motorcyclists and pedestrians. Thank goodness my stomach is still with me! It was a close one, though.

My Ipad was awesome for getting the kids to warm up. Being able to take their picture (of them screaming their heads off) and then show it to them helped to distract them. Three of the kids we saw today were pretty outgoing once they got over their fear of the big-nosed caucasian :-) I was able to keep one little boy in smiles and giggles most of the time we visited. All of the kids wanted to play with the Ipad. I really think it is a must for every trip.

ASIA in China - Day One!

After 22 grueling hours of travel and some adventure along the way with almost missing a flight and the mystery of the missing luggage, we have all made it safe, sound (and tired). Our team visited the orphanage this morning and were able to visit with 12 adorable babies and toddlers. We did brief evaluations on all of them, but will definitely be visiting with some of them again during our stay.

Let me just say that these kids are Adorable with a capital A! Once they warmed up to us, they were sweet and personable and very photogenic:-)

We also got some great video, and the older of the kiddos loved my Ipad! It was hard to pull it away:-)

There were half the sky nannies there as well for some of the kids and all of the nannies seemed to really know the kids and seek out age appropriate interactions with them. The kids all seemed to have attachments with someone there. One little girl even called Steve "Baba!"

Our Oregon staff will be posting pictures for me, so look for those a little later. We're having technical difficulties with doing that part from China. But I will continue to update the blog on our adventures from here. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Well, we are off to China! Hopefully we will be able to update the blog from China on the 28th or 29th with some precious news about the orphanage and children we meet! Stay tuned....

Here at ASIA we are all busy readying ourselves for this big trip to China--assigning duties to make sure everything is covered while Fei and I are away, preparing evaluations for the children, finalizing our itinerary with the orphanage, getting our props together for the mini-camps we'll do with groups of the kids as well as the general scurry that goes on around our agency to continue to process the adoptions that are already in process for our families.

The kids below are kids whose files may be coming our way--too cute!!! If you're interested in a Non-Special Focus child and qualify, apply now and get going on your dossier so you will be eligible.

Right now we have kids from the shared waiting child list from the same orphanage who are now on our individual list. They are quite adorable as well and are mostly Special Focus children by now. If you would like to see their adorable faces, please take a look at our password-protected waiting child list. These kids are definitely not defined by their special needs, they just happen to have some. Take a look~!

New Brighter Futures Kiddos

We are getting the most adorable pictures of children from Changsha and Zhuzhou! Don't they just melt your heart? Look at that incredible drawing the handsome boy above is doing--what talent!

The girl below with the beautiful braids seems like just what so many folks describe when they request girls! We've also gotten pictures of very young girls and boys, as well as older ones. I can't wait to go meet them! And these are just a trickle of the sweet pictures that have poured into our emails. Once we get there, we will start posting much more information about these kids, but for now, take a peek at the 26 new kids we have on our waiting child list from Changsha! If you don't have the passwords, please contact Pattie: Pattiec@asiadopt.org

Changsha and Zhuzhou Are Here!!!!

We still have 3 weeks before we leave for Changsha and we already received 26 files of children from the shared list that are from our partner orphanages, Changsha #1 and Zhuzhou, both in Hunan Province! We will be working our tails off to get their information and pictures posted on our waiting child list on our password protected website. In the meantime, our China Director already visited most of the kids, and has sent us pictures and videos! So we will be gradually posting those for your viewing pleasure, and of course to help them find families! If you are part of the the Hunan or Changsha yahoo groups, please let them know about ASIA's partnership!

New Waiting Children!

ASIA received 26 new waiting children from our newest partner orphanage that were waiting on the shared list. Meanwhile they are working on registering the other children they have for adoption. If you would like to see our password-protected waiting child list, please contact me: marcisk@asiadopt.org

 We have 2 weeks until we leave to go visit! Then we will be posting pictures, video and stories from Changsha about the kiddos we meet there, so stay tuned!!!

Oh, Those Cute Little Faces!

Our China Director is currently visiting Changsha #1 Social Welfare Institute, where we are starting our newest partnership program with the orphanage. She has been sending us the cutest pictures of the children there! Those of you who have just applied or are applying to ASIA are in for a treat once we get those files! Time to get those dossiers done to be eligible for these cuties.

We are still hoping that an Occupational Therapist or someone with expertise in developmental psychology will materialize and want to join us on our trip:-) So if you're interested, please contact me: marcisk@asiadopt.org
We do have a pretty great team going already, but that would really make it special!

Now Recruiting Families for Changsha #1

Extra! Extra! Calling All Families! ASIA is now recruiting families to get started now with ASIA to be eligible for our next Brighter Futures program with Changsha #1 Social Welfare Institute in Hunan Province! If you wish to be eligible for the Non-Special Focus children we will have available, you will need to start your dossier process now! If you take a look at our current Brighter Futures Program waiting children (most are only posted on our password-protected website), a great number of those kids are Non-Special Focus, which means they are only available to families who have dossiers logged in with China. So if you're hoping for a young child with minor special needs or an older or Special Focus child, I would encourage you to get started on your process with ASIA now. You can find the application on our website here: ASIA Application

Can You See The Children?

When we post pictures and short summaries of children in a waiting child list format, it is sometimes hard to see the child beyond the special need. But when I have gone to visit these children in person, I don't see their special needs so much. I just see their adorable faces and unique personalities that could just blossom in a family. I see their potential, not their limitations. Sometimes I think that rather than posting what the special need is, we should post their strengths. Most of these kids are amazing survivors, determined little rascals with so much potential and so much character. A good example of this is Shane. In the full pictures, if you haven't met him, it may be hard to miss his special need. However, in person Shane's strength, determination and his captivating personality shine through past any physical need. His special need doesn't seem to limit him much and he is such a tease and the word sprite or imp seems to embody his personality perfectly. He burned an image and a place in my mind and heart that I will not forget. Yet few people have chosen to even have a look at his file. Why?

Calling Volunteers for Our Next Program!

We have exciting news to share! We will be launching our next program in the next couple of months! It will take place at Changsha #1 Social Welfare Institute in Hunan Province--the spicy kids:-) We think we will have around 35 kids to visit and we hope to do a short program with them, and then go around and visit them each individually to get a better idea of who they are and what their special needs may be. We will be taking LOTS of pictures and videos this time and we can't wait to share more information about the program when we have it!

We will be visiting at the end of May for a couple of weeks and we are looking for a volunteer that may be an OT or PT, or perhaps a Developmental Psychologist, willing to share their skills and join us on the trip for all or part of the time. Last time we had a wonderful Occupational Therapist that joined us --thank you to her! We are currently building our team, so if you have skills you think would be helpful to us and you wish to go or you would like more details, please email Marci: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Happy News, Sad News and the like

It has been a while since I have reported happy news for kiddos as well as reporting on who is still waiting. My happiest news to report is that Jason will be coming home to his family next month! He needs lots of folks to keep him in your thoughts and/or prayers so that he makes the trip safely and smoothly. The ASIA staff is very confident that Jason is and will be in good hands.

For more happy news, following are all of the kiddos that have families pursuing them: Tacy, Shaylee, Josh, Jasmyn, Penny, Jeb and Jocelyn! We are thrilled for those children and their future families!

 See what I can do?

 I'm not trying to escape, really!

 Where is my family?

 Here, I'll share this with you if you'll be mine:

 Yummy...I like you!

 There's more to me than meets the eyes.

 Is my family out there?

 I can learn to use the phone!

 I may be an older boy, but I still have dimples!

Surely a family out there wants my pinchable cheeks!

Now for the not so happy news...the news that I hope you will help me to change. Following are the children who still wait: Joyous Jaci, Sneaky Shane, Earnest Evan, Hilarious Hogan, Smiley Sherman, Shy Simon, Silly Seely, Cute Caroline, Brave Balin, Rowdy Rayna, Leader Lewis, Yearning Yuna as well as the new little babies Landon, Zoe, Lorelai, Faith, Hardy, Jessie, Ricky, Bryan, BJ and Dylan. Some of these kiddos I believe will find families once some of our families finish their dossiers. However, for the rest of these kiddos, they need some help. Please share this post with others and help these kids to connect their red thread to the family that is meant to be theirs.

Shane Again

We put a video of adorable little Shane up on our password-protected website. Shane is a 1 1/2 year old little boy with a limb difference. Take a look at his video and let me know if you would be interested in his file. He's a cute little dude with a captivating personality that doesn't let his special need slow him down!

Reminiscent of the Olden Days

Ah to think of the Olden Days, back when adoptive families just completed dossiers with an agency who submitted the dossier to China for them, and then were assigned a child........sigh. The wait was short and the children were young.....

  Things have gotten much more complicated since then! Now the children are older, with more special needs and most families try to choose a child before beginning the process. The downside to this, I have to say as a child advocate, is that the children are waiting longer to be adopted. They are waiting for their adoptive parents to finish paperwork, and for our government to process the many steps they require to adopt internationally. Of course it's still an option to complete dossiers first and then identify a child, and some families do it that way still. Those families, generally, don't wait long after the dossier process to find their child, at least with ASIA. Now, here ASIA sits with a bunch of gorgeous, young boys who have minor special needs and we need some folks with dossiers completed who will consider a boy! Consider Hardy, who earned the nickname of Captain:-) Or BJ with his adorable chubby cheeks! Boys are lovable, too. If you ask anyone who has adopted or parented a boy, they will tell you that. So take a look at our waiting child list and consider one of those lovable boys! At least take a look and see where your heart leads you....

Just a Kid Who Needs a Family

We got updated photos of Jaci and they are quite cute! I got a wonderful email from one of our families who adopted a child with similar needs to Jaci's. She said: "It's funny how adoption changes you.  With each adoption, I feel more comfortable with more serious special needs.  I guess I've learned that no matter what the special need, once they are home they are just our kids.  The need is secondary.  I look at Jaci and I see [my daughter].  I see the little one that we took a chance on that is such an important part of our family now.  I am so glad that we stepped out of our comfort zone to bring her home.  I keep praying that someone will do that for Jaci." 

New Waiting Children!!

ASIA received 12 new adorable, young waiting children from our partner orphanage! They are all Non-Special Focus kiddos, meaning that they are only available to families with completed dossiers already. Because of their status as Non-Special Focus, their pictures cannot be posted here. However, if you are a family with a completed dossier, please feel free to contact me. Families have to complete adoptions of these kiddos through ASIA. We have both girls and boys with minor special needs and are excited to find these gorgeous kiddos their families!

Exciting News Coming!

Exciting News Coming Monday............stay tuned!!!!

Beautiful, Thriving Jaci

Little 20 month old Jaci is still waiting for a family to come forward for her. All reports from her orphanage say that her condition is mild. She had a repair already and it was successful. Lots of folks have reviewed her file, but they have all said no. There must be someone out there meant to be Jaci's family! There must be a family for this adorable little pudgeball:-) Just imagine some cute little pigtails on this toddler--irresistable! You don't have to have a completed dossier for this one, just contact me if you could imagine this child as yours. I've known children with similar conditions to hers and they are thriving, smart athletes. Take the leap of faith and come forward to at least consider Jaci! She has waited too long already!