by Renee Thweatt-Smith
Give Me A Hug!!!
In the four years the Hunan Foster Care Program has been in existence, we have had over 260 children in the program, with 60 children in foster homes currently. To date, over 200 children who have been a part of the Hunan Foster Care Program have been adopted internationally! We have had the great privilege to provide 63 of those families with pictures and medical/developmental reports of their child/children while they were in the foster care program.
In this issue we have the honor of sharing with you, our donors, a story about a special friendship between two children who have been in the foster care program. We will also be sharing with you a story from a couple who has been blessed with a child from this program. Remember it is with the combined endeavors of you, our donors, and FTIA that we are able to share in these wonderful stories.
As we enter in the Thanksgiving and Holiday seasons, it is a time that seems to spark a greater enthusiasm for giving. As everyone comes together with family and friends to celebrate what we are thankful for, please remember that this would be a wonderful opportunity for families to "give back." With the collective efforts of our donors, Changsha First Social Welfare Institute, and our foster families we have an amazing opportunity to continue helping so many children have a terrific start in life. This program provides the love and care all children deserve!
FRIENDSHIPS IN FOSTER CARE
Every now and then FTIA receives a special story about how a child or children are doing while they are in the foster care program. This time we received a story about a special friendship between two of our children in the Hunan Foster Care Program-Man and Ping.
Man has just turned one year old. She is very pretty and petite. She entered foster care at two months old. She likes to smile and is very popular, warmhearted, and hospitable. She gets along well with her neighbor, Ping. Ping has been in the program since she was one month old. She is about two weeks younger than Man. Ping doesn't like to smile as much as Man does.
The first thing Man does every morning is knock on Ping's door to play with her. The two families installed a fence enclosing the steps between their apartments so the two children could play in the area safely. Because they are so close, the families consider them to be like sisters. Man will hug her little sister no matter if Ping likes it or not! She will bring Ping to play at her home with full enthusiasm. Sometimes the two children will quarrel, but every time Man will make up with her little sister first.
FTIA Note: We are happy to report that both Man and Ping have recently been united with their forever families.
Emma "Yao Jiang You"
This story was submitted by Scott and Maureen who adopted Yao Jiang You almost two years ago:
My husband and I adopted our first daughter Lily in June of 2000. We received our referral for our second daughter Emma (Yao Jiang You) in November of 2002. The information we received from China said that Emma was 11 months old and in the Changsha 1st orphanage.
We traveled to China in December 2002 and spent the first part of the trip in Changsha at the Grand Sun City Hotel which was right down the street from the orphanage. We were very grateful to be allowed to visit the orphanage and meet with the staff. We traveled to Guangzhou for the second part of the trip and celebrated Christmas at the White Swan hotel with Emma. She even had her picture taken with Santa down by the pool!
We have been home with our Emma now for almost two years and she is a beautiful, happy girl. She loves her big sister Lily (most of the time)! She is an animal lover-we have two dogs and a cat and Emma is always patting them and talking to them. She loves to read books and if she chooses her own book it's always one about animals!
Lily and Emma enjoy dancing - next year we are going to have them take dance lessons together. Even though Lily is two years older than Emma (Emma will be three in December and Lily just turned 5) they play very well together.
Emma loves to drink milk-she'd drink it all day if we let her. We had to limit her to 3 cups a day so she'd eat more food! She is a healthy girl- almost 29 pounds and she's 37 inches tall.
A few weeks ago I read an email that mentioned that an adoption agency called FTIA had files on some babies that had been in foster care in Changsha. I had read in the past that people had discovered their babies were in foster care even though they had been told the babies lived at the orphanage. I decided to send an email to the contact person listed, Renee, just in case there was a chance our Emma was one of these babies. I was amazed the next morning to see and email from Renee that started, "Yes Maureen, we did have your daughter in our foster care program."
We have recently received 13 wonderful pictures of Emma and her medical and developmental reports. We are so grateful to FTIA, their sponsors, and to the foster family that took care of Emma.
The foster care Emma received probably explains why she seemed more advanced than our daughter Lily when we first returned from China. Emma could drink from a cup and feed herself, but Lily had motor skill delays and needed help with these tasks.
I am so glad I decided to take a chance and contact Renee. We never would have known that Emma was in foster care and received the wonderful pictures and reports from her first year. It's also very comforting to know that Emma lived with a family who loved her and took care of her before we adopted her.
We are very grateful and plan to send a donation to the foster care program. Again thank you to everyone involved in this wonderful program.
Maureen and Scott
We hope that these stories have touched your heart the way that they have touched ours. We are in urgent need for more sponsors to participate for this program to continue to expand! If you haven't considered participating in this program, please do so now!
Continuing Needs
For the 2004 calendar year the Hunan Foster care Program has incurred expenses totaling $30,524.33. FTIA has directly sponsored administrative costs of $5,275.17. Of the remaining $25,249.16 in year to date expenses, family donations have raised $14,069.63. FTIA has covered the remaining $11,179.53. We continue to be incredibly grateful for the generosity of our donors but there continues to be a tremendous deficit between the monies raised and the monies needed. If you or your family and friends are looking for a worthy cause to donate to this Holiday Season, please consider the Hunan Foster Care Program.
Please remember that monies donated to the Hunan Foster Care Program are completely separate from other adoption related expenses. Also note that 100% of all monies donated to foster care go directly to the Hunan Foster Care Program. FTIA covers all administrative costs.