Piper...a little princess!

Today I would like to share with you a little girl named Piper. Another adoptive family was able to meet her during their recent trip to her orphanage. Here is what they had to say.

Last month, my husband and I traveled to Eastern Europe to visit the child we’re hoping to adopt.  It was a fantastic experience.  Plus, we got the opportunity to meet another potential adoptee along the way.

This is Piper:

Piper is a very sweet three and a half year old that lives in a fantastic baby house in a rural area of her country.  Piper’s baby house has 43 children, with 11 in her groupa.  Piper was only recently transferred into this (the oldest) groupa due to her special need, microencephalopathy.   Basically Piper is small.  Although she is nearly four years old, she’s roughly the size of a two year old.  She is easily the smallest child in the group.

The baby house Piper lives in is ran by a fantastic medical doctor who was very patient and kind to us.  Unlike many other adopters we’ve spoken to, we were encouraged to see all aspects of the orphanage including meal times, snack times, indoor play areas, the outdoor playground, cribs and beds, the baby rooms – everything.  We were even allowed to give our child a bath.  We were amazed at the openness and the patience the entire staff gave us.  Here’s Piper eating a peeled apple during snack time:

Piper’s doctor related that Piper was kept with the younger children for longer than necessary, in hindsight.  With the older group, she’s coming out of her shell, speaking in complete sentences and enjoys playing with the other children.  She has some orphanage behaviors, including rocking and self soothing, but accepts redirection.  Piper was excited to see us.  She was friendly with us, the other adults and children.  She seems quite smart and was always in a great mood when we interacted.  In fact, while I was attempting to take a picture of another Reece’s Rainbow child, Piper hopped right in and gave me a big smile!

The baby house itself is a large building in a rural town.  We found it to be very well staffed, with adequate supplies and plenty of food.  The children were very well taken care of and their love for the orphanage director was evident every time she walked into the room.

Time is limited for Piper.  She turns four in October, at which point she will be transferred to either an orphanage or an adult mental institution.  It’s likely she won’t fair well there.  The two things standing in the way of Piper living a better life is a family and funds for them to adopt her.

Please consider passing along the link to this blog post.  Share it on Facebook.  Visit Piper’s page on Reece’s Rainbow (http://reecesrainbow.org/40845/piper-1g).  Consider making a donation.  Every dollar gets her one step closer to finding the family that will improve her life tremendously.

What a sweet child! Piper would make a lovely daughter and would love to have a family to call her own. Are you Piper's family? Could you take a moment to click "Share" to help them find her? Thank you all. 

Joyful news!

I have great news to share with you all today! Two of the boys I featured in this post have been found! Hooray! Congratulation to  Everett and Olson! They have been moved to the "My Family Found Me" section of Reece's Rainbow. I am excited to find out who their Mama is and to follow their journey home. 

Olson                                                           Everett

A Plea for a Little Girl

Today the Reece's Rainbow community is again coming together for a blogging blitz. This time, on behalf of a sweet, adorable little girl named, Carolina. 

This precious child is six years old. She should be learning to ride a bike, going on family outings to the park, watching fireworks, going to drive-in movies (yes, we still have one of those close-by and it's ideal for taking kids to see a first-run movie).  Carolina should be getting ready to start first grade this month. She should be picking out a backpack and lunch box and cool printed folders for her first year of "all-day" school. She should have a Mama who is excited for her as she is growing up into such a big and wonderful girl......

But Carolina's life is very different from all that.

Carolina is an orphan in Eastern Europe. As if that weren't hard enough, this girl has special needs. Carolina has a relatively mild case of cerebral palsy. While this disease has a wide spectrum of effects, for Carolina, it affects mostly her lower legs.

While living in her previous orphanage, Carolina was a favorite. She was well cared for and loved. But, the years passed and sweet Carolina was not adopted. And so, in 2011 she "aged out" of her baby house. Her orphanage director wanted her to go to a boarding school where she could at least get an education. It seemed that - while not ideal - Carolina had been given the best chance that an orphan with special needs could be given in her country. 

But this was not to be.

The boarding school where Carolina was sent has been closed. As Carolina is deemed "disabled," or "defective" or "delayed" she was sent to the only other option for children of her age who carry a label next to their names. 

Carolina is in a mental institution.

You read that right. And in Eastern Europe, a mental institution is not a place one goes to get psychiatric treatment and then leave. It is a prison. For life. She will never get to go to school. She will not get the AFO's she needs for her legs in order to walk. She will spend her days doing basically nothing. Day in, day out. 

Unless....

Someone has the courage to take a leap of faith. Carolina needs a Mom and Dad to cross an ocean for her. She needs parents who will go through the tedious process of international adoption, walk into that place and be strong enough to take the broken little girl in there home. She will be behind emotionally, socially, cognitively and physically. Her Mom and Dad need to see past that and see the beautiful daughter she is....and help her to see it too. 

Are you Carolina's parents? 

If not, can you help her anyway? Carolina has a matching grant of $1,000. This will be given when her grant fund reaches $4,300.  Right now she has $4,107.75.  She is SO CLOSE! Can you help? 

Every. Single. Dollar. Matters! 

Truly it does. 

Please consider donating and sharing Carolina's listing. Her parents are out there....they just haven't found her yet.

Teamwork Tuesday...Kurt

Welcome to my first Teamwork Tuesday post. This is where bloggers from all over the web come together to spread the word on one waiting child. Today, that child is sweet little Kurt.
Kurt is an adorable little boy who has spent his entire life in an Eastern European orphanage with no mother or father to read to him, tuck him in at night, take him to the park or to the zoo.

Why has this sweet boy been dealt this fate? Quite simply because he is labelled as "defective." In his home country, children with disabilities are viewed as burdens. Perhaps his birth mother simply felt she could not afford to care for him? Whatever the reason, this adorable boy with big, brown, puppy dog eyes and dark brown hair is running out of time. You see, Kurt is still residing in what is known as a "baby house." But sometime in the next year, Kurt will be transferred to an older child "internat" at best or at worst, a mental institution. Kurt has mild cerebral palsy. Despite this, he can walk. You can see full-length pictures of Kurt standing and even running here on Daneille's blog.

Sweet little Kurt will blossom in a family where he can receive the therapy needed for his cerebral palsy. This boy has stolen my heart. Please consider donating to his grant fund, sharing his profile on your blog or social networking site, and of course, please consider if Kurt is your son. 

Let's plaster the internet with this boy's photo and help his Mama and Papa find him! 

The Moment...

I knew when I began this journey and this blog that this moment would come. I didn't know when, but I knew that one day, the weight and urgency of the orphan crisis would hit me and bring me to my knees. This is that moment. The moment where it all seems too big and too much. The moment where my soul is rent in pieces because I cannot save them all. This is the moment that I cry unto God once again to guide me where He would have me go....and to strengthen me. But for right now, right this moment, my heart is torn in pieces because I can only rescue one. How does one choose only ONE precious angel to ransom when they are all so deserving? How can I ask God to direct me to one child when it means saying, "No" to so many others? I knew this day would come, but I didn't know just how much it would hurt.

Jesus left the ninety and nine to reclaim the one. But what do you do when the ninety and nine are lost? I humbly ask for anyone who reads this to pray for us to be led to the child that God has planned for our family. Pray for us to be able to receive those promptings and recognize them, even though our hearts are heavy with the needs of many.

Carolina

Kurt

Olson

Jacob

Tucker

Everett

Brett

Calling "Search and Rescue"

Two little boys are lost. They are forgotten and alone. Two sweet boys who have relatively minor special needs have been locked away from their society with no one to hear their cries. I am rallying all of the Prayer Warriors and adoption advocates out there to please, please, share the information on these two sweet boys so their mother(s) can find them.

First we have "Everett"

Look at that sweet little face! Everett is a 7 year old boy who deserves to be in school making friends and playing as young boys do. He does not deserve to be in an orphanage. He does not deserve to miss out on education because he has special needs.  Everett has a minor VSD which stands for Ventricular Septal Defect. This is commonly referred to as a "hole in the heart." This condition can resolve on its own, be corrected with surgery, or be left if the hole is not big enough to cause problems. There is no way to know how severe Everette's hole is, but one thing is clear: it is treatable and curable! 

Having spent his life in an institution (3 in fact) he likely has some moderate institutional delays, but this is normal for kids coming from this environment and CAN be overcome. Everett would blossom in a family. Can't you see him as a little brother? Or an older brother? Maybe a sweet only child? I can see so much potential for this little one. All Everett wants is to have a Mama. 

A fellow blogging Mama, Renee, is in country right now and has met little Everett. She posted about the experience here. Please read her account of her visit. Have tissues handy.

But we aren't stopping there! At the same facility waits ANOTHER sweet angel from Reece's Rainbow. Please allow me to introduce you to Olson.

Olson is also 7 years old and has some special needs. From his medical records, it states he had extrophia of the bladder. This is where part of the bladder develops through the wall of the abdomen and is exposed. This condition is quite fixable with surgery and it appears from Renee's post that he has had this corrected as he showed her his scars. She also describes his sweet little lisp which I think sounds adorable! This boy deserves to be playing and enjoying life, not relegated to a life in a facility. He should be in school, not being reminded every day that he is "defective." He is a child. A precious child of God. 

Now my dear Search and Rescue team members, let's share these boys' faces all over the web. Pray, donate, share, whatever you can do. We can ALL do something.  Let's search the world over to find their Mama, so she can rescue them from a life of shame and sadness and bring them into the light of a home and family.