Merry Christmas ?

I started this blog on September 25th, in the hopes of zeroing the zeros by Christmas. Did I achieve my goal ? Sadly, no. However - wonderful things have happened over the last 3 months ! When I started, there were 130 children aged 6-9 years, who had zero in their grant. A month later, the children aged 10+ were added - another 41. That's a total of 171 zeros. One hundred and seventy one zeros. Discarded children. Beautiful children, who through no fault of their own were languishing in orphanages and institutions. Children who had been passed over. And over. And over. Children who suddenly had their own adoption grants, instead of a collective grant. Children who had a chance to grow those grants, to get their faces seen, their names heard, the chance to be a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter. Children who deserve so much more than zero in their grants. 171.

But that was then - and this is now. As of last night, there are 73 LESS zeros than three months ago !!!! Seventy three. There are less than 100 zeros left - a mere 98 children aged over six have zero in their accounts. Now, it may be true that most of the 73 who now have money on their grants don't have much - it may just be a few dollars. BUT - it's a start. Baby steps. Get everyone above zero - then build them up, a little at a time. Get those grants growing. Get those faces out there. Find those families !! But first - let's zero their zeros !!

Three months ago I had a Christmas wish. It WILL be granted - maybe a little late, but I know it will happen. We CAN do it.

Torn

Every year Reece's Rainbow has their wonderful Angel Tree fundraising drive - they feature all the younger kids with Down Syndrome, and raise thousands of dollars for the kids grants. Click here to learn more. While I love the Angel Tree, I'm also, as ridiculous as it sounds, jealous of it - how I wish there was something similar for the older kids and the "other angel" children. I am also torn - I see the pleas from people who are Christmas Warriors for particular children on the Angel Tree. I see the pleas from parents trying to raise money for their own adoptions. I see the pleas for the children who are even more desperately in need of a family than others. I want to help them all. But I can't. I am advocating for MY kids,the zeros, and I can't help THEM all, so how can I possibly help the other kids too ? Should I just give up and not help anyone ? How is it fair to donate to one and not the hundred of others ? How do I choose ? I am not rich, by any means, but I am able to donate small amounts on a pretty regular basis.

Last Saturday evening, I did my usual checking on Reece's Rainbow - going through all the profiles of the older kids, to see if any of them were zeros no more. I do this every three or four days - and recently things had really slowed down - only one or two children getting donations every few days. Baby steps. To my dismay, there had been zero new donations for the zeros, and I was pretty disheartened. I was ready to make a couple of donations myself, when I read a blog post by a mommy having a really hard time raising money for her own adoption. Torn. Help my zeros - or help this beautiful boy ?

You can read his mommy's blog here .

I chose to donate a little to Sergei's adoption fund, instead of to "my" kids. It wasn't easy, but I knew it was the right thing to do at the time.

Fast forward two days - again, I'm checking the "zeros" profiles, not expecting much after the last time. Boy, was I ever wrong !! There were NINETEEN less zeros !! I was in total shock (and tears) as I saw the names, saw that they now had a little something in their grant. Not huge amounts - but enough to say that someone cares, someone out there saw their face, read their profile, and decided that that child would be a zero NO MORE. I am so very thankful - if you donated and you're reading this - thank you so very much !! I donated to Sergei - I chose Sergei over "my" kids - and YOU chose "my" kids. How wonderful is that ??

Of the many blogs I read - there are a couple that tug at my heart strings just about each and every time I read them. One is responsible for me advocating for the zeros. Both are responsible for me being torn again. The first is Julia - she is currently advocating for some children on the Angel Tree - children that were on the Angel Tree last year, and have been passed over, not yet chosen for adoption. Children who deserve so much more. You can read her blog here -please head over and help out her kids. I did. I was torn again - but she won me over.

Then there's Kolina -

She is in desperate need of a family - you can read about her here - please feel free to help save her life this Christmas time. Please don't be torn.

128

There are currently 128 "older" children listed on Reece's Rainbow who have zero in their adoption grants. 128 forgotten children, deemed so worthless that their families abandoned them at birth or soon after. 128 children who, despite the fact that they are listed for adoption, are deemed so worthless by us that they have zero in their grants. No-one has looked at their faces, or read their profiles, and seen their own child there. No-one has looked into their eyes and found it in themselves to donate a few dollars to them. Zeros. Why is it that some children have hundreds or thousands of dollars donated to them, and some have nothing ? What is it that makes us decide to donate for one child over another ?

Do we donate because a child is just so cute that we can't help ourselves ?

Is it the bows in the hair ??

Is it their eyes ??

Maybe their smile ??

Their attitude perhaps ??

Or maybe they just look like they need all the help they can get...

All of the children pictured are listed on Reece's Rainbow. They are all aged over 6, and they are all available for adoption. They all have zero in their grants. They all deserve more.

Please help.

November Birthdays

A few posts ago I featured four children who were "celebrating" their birthdays in an orphanage or institution, with no family or loved ones to even acknowledge their special day. They are not alone. This month, November 2011, nine zeros had birthdays. Ellie, Walter, Judie and David turned 7. Kelly, Leonard, Ruslan and Andrey turned 9. Poor Yana turned 10. Ten years in an orphanage. Ten years of being unloved. So wrong.

Yana - 10

Ellie - 7

Leonard - 9

David - 7

Andrey - 9

Ruslan - 9

Unfortunately, Kelly, Walter and Judie don't have photographs, which makes it so much harder for their family to find them. No photo. No money in their grants. Double zeros.

Maybe - just maybe - next year they could celebrate their birthday - and Thanksgiving - with a family. Their family. Can you help it happen ?

The GOOD news this week is that two older children HAVE been found, and now have a family working towards bringing them home - Rafferty and James will be brothers !! You can follow their journey home here.

Zero's no more - soon to be orphans no more. My wish for ALL these kids.

Johnny

I have been following along on a families journey to adopt from Eastern Europe, and I just wanted to share what they had to say about their son's orphanage - and why we need to advocate for all these kids as much as possible. To read more, their blog is here. This is their son, Johnny -

""Coming to get Johnny has necessitated that we spend a significant amount of time in the orphanage. That has allowed us to see, just a little bit, into the lives of the children that live there.

The things that they do and see each and every day, rarely changes. They have little, if any, interaction with another person (child or adult). We have seen a couple volunteers come in to play with them, however, it seems as if the children don't know how to play. On one occasion, the young volunteer told us in English that the child didn't like to play. It was quite obvious as the child just sat still, not even looking at the toys that were brought in front of her.

Another older child with Down syndrome was sitting on her butt on the floor rocking forward and backward. One swing forward went too far and she hit her head quite significantly on the thinly covered concrete floor. She sat up after that looking a little confused and then continued to rock. As with Louey (I don't think that Johnny has learned this yet), they learn that it is pointless to cry because no one will come to help.

A young child with Down syndrome has a crib that he stays in all day long. I thought to myself that he was blessed to have a crib that wasn't quite level, allowing him to slightly rock the crib (which seemingly allowed for slightly more entertainment value).

There is a young girl (7?) who appears blind and is a room all by herself. Day after day, she tries to find something to do. She seems active, but has nobody to interact with and very little to do. They keep the lights off, but I suppose since she is blind there is no reason to keep them on. It just looks all the more careless without the lighting.

There has been a young child crying multiple times a day on the floor when Johnny is (there are 5 floors). Additionally, we had to wait a half hour in the lobby of the orphanage one day and there was a newborn crying endlessly the whole time. We have no idea if there was someone trying to comfort the baby or not. But, what we have seen (or rather, not seen) in the eyes of some other children seems to indicate that little interaction takes place. The children seem to lose their life - there is no flame, not even a spark, that appears in some of the children. We heard that baby crying and thought of the potential of that baby growing up to have the same lack of spark because of the lack of love.

We are not naive enough to think that all of these kids should be constantly entertained or provided with things to do. What should an orphanage do? What do the orphanage workers do? Should they be interacting with the children when they are not preparing food or changing diapers? Is that "job" of volunteers?

I think of the things that I used to spend my money on before we decided to adopt (and even now). I think of the things that I used to spend my time on before we decided to adopt (and even now). I cannot think of anything better to do than to spend it helping these children""

Please, if you can, give a little - every single penny helps - help some zeros out, give them a chance - if you don't - who will ??

New zeros

These three boys are newly listed on Reece's Rainbow - look into their eyes - they need a family so very much. Please, share their profiles, and help them out ?

Wayne

Boy, born January 2005

Wayne is a sad fellow, who could benefit greatly from more attention, and a patient, loving family. He's said to cry often

He has a deep mental delay, cerebral palsy / spastic diplegia, and microcephaly (small head size), .

$0.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Frank

Boy, born May 2000

Frank is listed with a moderate mental delay. He could use a family to help him reach his full potential!

$0.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Francis

Boy, born Oct 2004

This young man has a deep mental delay, and cerebral palsy. He's sitting in a chair with a handle, so it looks as though he's not currently walking on his own.

$0.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Birthdays

Anyone celebrated a birthday lately ? It was my husbands last week - he turned 56 - he has celebrated 56 birthdays surrounded by family and friends. Never known a birthday without a special meal, a yummy dessert, and gifts galore. Have you ? Maybe once or twice you were away from family - working out of town, maybe sick in hospital, even deployed abroad - but mostly, you celebrate with family, another year gone by, with many more to come.

Today is Ruslan's birthday - here is his profile on Reece's Rainbow -

Boy, Born November 12, 2002

ALREADY TRANSFERRED, PLEASE ADOPT ME SOON!!

Ruslan is a handsome young man who is in desperate need of a family right away. He has strabismus, and is also a CARRIER of Hepatitis B. (www.webmd.com) He is asymptomatic at this time. We are trying to get more details on his Hep B….he is living in the general population of children, so they don't appear to be very concerned about him transmitting it to other children. (Typically, children with blood-born viruses such as Hep B and HIV are isolated in special orphanages and never available to be adopted, so we are thinking that maybe he tested positive at birth and hasn't been retested, or he isn't showing any outwards symptoms).

From a nurse in the infectious disease unit in a pediatric hospital:

*** Hepatitis B is something that children in the USA are routinely vaccinated for. If parents have not received the vaccinations, they can easily go to their physician and receive the series. With these vaccinations transmission is extremely minimal as vaccinated parties can have immunity to Hepatitis B. Titers (simple blood test) can also be drawn after taking the vaccines to make sure immunity has been acquired. Hepatitis B is also treatable with medications and people can also just be carriers of the virus. This health condition is labeled chronic, but with proper medical treatment and simple precautions it is very treatable and the risk of transmission is minimal at most. ***

Ruslan has already been transferred out to the institution due to his age, but he can still be adopted!! Please open you heart to little Ruslan….he needs you!

$0.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption

See that big fat ZERO ?? Ruslan turned NINE today. Nine years without a mommy and daddy, 9 years without a family to celebrate his birthday with. Wouldn't it be just the best thing ever if this was the last year he missed his birthday celebration ? Can't you just imagine him surrounded by a loving family, eating cake and opening gifts ? Please help him - please go to his profile on Reece's Rainbow - go HERE - and donate a little to give him a chance - a chance of life, of love. Please.

Dane also had a birthday today - he turned 6 - click on his name to see his profile - he has a whopping $10 in his grant. Wouldn't you like to give him a little birthday gift, too ??

Kelly turns 9 tomorrow - another zero - what better gift could you give her than getting rid of that 0 ???

Then there's Victoria -

Victoria

Girl, Born November 13, 2005

HELP, I HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRANSFERRED!

Victoria is too cute! She has brown hair and blue eyes, and is in the same orphanage as Andriy and several other children with Down syndrome. Victoria is a smart little girl and very *able*. From her medical records: congenital cataract of both eyes (blind), microphtalm, delay of psychological development. Outgoing, can walk independently, knows her way around in her group, is interested in studies, responds well when adults refer to her.

From a missionary who has spent time with Victoria: "What a sweetheart! Gentle, calm, outgoing, and very affectionate. She has made a lot of progress since she was at the baby orphanage. Vika has had some self-harming tendencies but the workers have been working with her on that… Whenever she would start banging her head they would pick her up, lay her across their lap and start massaging her back. Now, when she gets upset she goes to them and lays across their lap all on her own, no longer resorting to self-harming behaviours. Vika is independent and was walking around all over the room hardly ever bumping into anything. She doesn't speak much but she does say "Mama". She also knows how to let the workers know when she needs to go to the bathroom. They also said that her fine motor skills have greatly improved as well. Finally, she is a real snuggler. First thing she did when I called her over to me was climb up onto my lap. I tried to get better pictures of her but all she wanted to do was cuddle in close… how could I say no to that???"

This orphanage is one of the good ones. Small, with all higher functioning special needs children of "preschool" age (ages 4-8). There were only 6 kids in Victoria and "Andriy"'s room and two workers caring for them. It was clear that workers care about them very much and showed them plenty of love and affection. The director is not only open to adoption, she is actively looking for families for all of the kids so that they don't have to be transferred once they turn 8-years-old! Unfortunately, "Andriy" and Vika are in the lowest functioning group and they usually have a hard time finding families for those kids… but maybe that's something RR can help with :)

$2452.80 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Not a zero - but she so needs a family !! She should celebrate her 7th birthday next year with a family, just as Ruslan, Dane and Kelly should. Please - donate of you can - but if you can't, spread the word, tell everyone you know about these kids - help them eat cake next year !!

Numbers

I spend some time each evening looking through the waiting children listings on Reece's Rainbow - checking to see who is a zero no more. I usually just look at the older children, obviously, but today I started to look at the younger children, aged 0-5. The difference in the sizes of the grants is amazing - a few dollars in most of the older kids grants - thousands in the younger kids grants. Which I'm not complaining about - it's wonderful that those children have that much !! It just saddens me to see how little the older children have - especially knowing that some of them are in their teens and close to being unadoptable. Knowing they'll spend their lives in institutions, or worse. I believe the children with HIV age out of their orphanages and are left to fend for themselves, probably living on the streets as best they can. These kids deserve SO much more, and it's so sad to know that the only thing between them and a wonderful family life is money. So wrong, but so true.

To put into perspective the differences in grants on Reece's Rainbow between the younger (0-5) and older (6+) children - for the younger age group, there are 310 children listed who have donation buttons (76 are waiting for more information before they can accept donations). Out of that 310 - 42 of them have zero in their account.

Now look at the older children - 283 listed, with 241 with donation buttons. How many zeros ? More than HALF - 138 children in the older age groups have absolutely nothing in their grants. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nil.

Sad. What can we do ? If I could, I'd donate to every single child and get rid of every single zero. If I could, I'd donate so much that every single child is fully funded. If I could....but I can't. I give what I can, when I can. All I can do is ask for help - for a few dollars here, a few dollars there - it really doesn't take much, if you think about it. I'm NOT asking anyone to fully fund a child - that's just crazy. All I ask is that we get rid of all the zeros in the older age groups. Go to Reece's Rainbow, look at the waiting children in the 6-9 and 10+ age groups, and look at the faces. Read their stories. Imagine your child living without a family forever. Give a little. Help save a life. Skip your morning coffee, give that money to one of the listed children. It's easy.

I am amazed

I usually check "my" kids on Reece's Rainbow every 2 or 3 days, to see how their grants are doing, and see how many less zeros we have. I'll be gone for the weekend, so even though I ran through the names last night, I had a quick look this evening, too. I am stunned - since last night, SIX more children have lost their zero !! This is truly amazing and wonderful - and I don't know how to say thanks except to just say it - THANK YOU !!!! Whoever donated to Andrue #16-4, Madden #61-1, Sheridan, Alexei, Luke (China) and Alex - I thank you - and so would they, if only they knew !

FORTY less !!!

I just wanted to share that since starting the campaign to zero the zeros, we now have FORTY less zeros !!!! FORTY children now have cash in their grants - they ARE worth something, and they ARE worthy of a family !! We also have THREE children who have families actively pursuing their adoption !! That's the best news of all - after all, that is what Reece's Rainbow is all about - raising money and raising awareness, so these wonderful children can find a forever family. Please help, if you can - every $ helps.

Please, also, read and share this blog - any donation to a child on RR may save a child from fearing the approaching clouds - http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/2011/10/on-rainy-days-they-stayed-inside.html

GREAT NEWS !!! One of our little boys - who until VERY recently was a zero - has been chosen for adoption !!! He is on Reece's Rainbow's "MY Family Found Me" page - which means a family have stepped forward to commit to adopt him !! I can't wait to see who his family is, and to hopefully follow them on their adoption journey !! This is Sadler - who is no longer a zero - and will soon no longer be an orphan !!

Congratulations to Sadler and his family !!!

Far from zero

While focusing on the zeros, I get to see the faces of all the older children, and some of them have substantial grants, so I thought I would share. Who knows who might be reading, and falling in love ?

Just click on their names for more info.

Preston has $12435.40 in his grant:

Nicholas has $5002 in his grant:

Maxim has $4565 in his grant:

Alexander has $8000 in his grant

Victoria F. (Vika) has $19175 in her grant!

Evie 9HA has $6147.70 !

Celine has $7095.80

Kate has $3105 !

In our "Other Angel" department, we have Gregory, he has $4398.97 in his grant !

and last but most definitely not least, beautiful Lorie, who has $3831.50 !

Please, if you are considering adoption, or know someone who is, please don't forget about our older children - they are so very deserving of a family.