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 !!