China: Inside the Dragon

National Geographic May 2008- All about China.

A great Video

Waiting Indian children

Here is a list of waiting children in India. India is the 2ND most populated country (next to China) in the world. While India is a rich country, it is severely over crowded and all the money is in the hands of the upper 10% of the population. As the poor get poorer, and we also see an increase of AIDS, kids are abandoned more. This list has mostly older waiting boys. Some of them are really very healthy and look like great kids just needing a home. You can not change the world but you can change the world for one! Single women can adopt from India. Large families can not adopt...but I don't know if that rule applies to SN kids? Here are some facts and agencies that do India adoption.

One billion people live in India. India's land mass is 3,287,263 square kilometers.

12 million children are currently orphans in India. This is more than the entire population of the state of Georgia.

Over half of the world’s illiterate population lives in India.

Some 30 million children are not attending school.

Polio cases occurring on average each year is less than 10 in the US. In India it is estimated that 200,000 cases occur each year.

The malnutrition status of the U.S. is less than 7%; in India it is as high as 69%.

There are more than 200 million cases of worm infestation in India and nearly 50,000 die annually.

The world totals 10 million cases of leprosy. More than 3 million of these are in India.

Nearly 1 million children die each year in India from Diarrhea.

Infant mortality rate = 79 per 1000 (US = 9 per 1000).

HIV facts

I was reading Owlhaven (one of my favorite blogs) and there was a post about HIV. It was written by a mom of two adopted kids who are HIV+. Can you adopt HIV+ kids? Yes you can. AAI has HIV+ kids available from Ethiopia. These kids can live long healthy lives with the right treatment. HIV is spread just like Hep B (Sarah has Hep B). I would hate the whole world to shut her out and not allow her every chance any other kid enjoys. Children did not contract HIV because of a wrong moral choice, they were born with it. We all need to care about AIDS because it's making orphans out of millions of children in Africa and Asia. Here is the post.

from this weekend...sweet!

Win a Wii

My kids are down stairs working out with the new Wii fit made for the Wii. It's totally cool! They have balance exercises that are super good for the brain. Astronauts and professional athletes use balance exercises to help improve concentration, focus and visual tracking. These are skills I'm trying to see developed in Philip and Thomas. Concentration, focus and visual tracking help a child read. Any way, my good blogger friend Jill is heading back to China to adopt her 2ND daughter (an older child). They are giving away the wii in a drawing. Please help them bring Bethany home. Go to their blog and chip in some money towards Bethany's adoption. You could win the Wii.

New kids on a list

Adoption House has a few new kids on their waiting list. There are a hand full of babies (around one year old) with Congenital heart disease. Most Congenital heart disease is correctable and easily manageable. If you are interested in adopting a young child look at this list. 2 of my kids (Jessica and Philip) were born with heart issues. I remember talking with Jessica's surgeon after her surgery. He said, they go in to surgery very sick, even dying. After surgery they are on the road to a healthy life. Jessica went home 10 days after her heart surgery. She recovered very fast. Now we have an annual check up. So far, so good. She may have to under go another surgery (she is 16 years old). But at her last check up the doctor said that could maybe wait another 20 years. Jessica had ToF. Philip had ASD and VSD. Really, both have had very healthy hearts.

food fight

Our family went on a church retreat this past weekend. Sarah played so well all weekend. The retreat was at an old castle. There was loads of space to just run and play. Lots of kids to kept an eye on her. Freedom like I'm sure she has not experienced in her entire life. But now we are home. The rules are applied. The limits are set. Sarah is not too happy to comply to the rules. We have had a few melt downs. Today it was over lunch. No lunch, no snacks. This is the rule. After all, a kid has got to eat her vegetables. Chocolate maybe the worlds most perfect food, but we need our vegetables! I'm strong...I didn't bend. She finally gave in. But I noticed that she does put up a longer fight now that she has had the chance to race around the castle grounds with out her Mommy and Daddy! How does that old song go? How you going to get them back on the farm now that they have seen Paris?

Cooking contest

Owlhaven one of my favorite blogs is having a Frugal Cooking Carnival tomorrow. You may want to check this one out. "The object is to put together three days of yummy and affordable menus. Serve it to your family anytime between now and April 25Th. Then share your three day experiment with all of us." I'm not in on this, but I will be reading it and taking notes!

LWB Born in the Heart Auction

Please take a look at the LWB Auction to raise money for orphans in China that need life saving heart surgery. Philip and Jessica were both born with heart problems. They would not be with us today without the surgeries that saved their lives. Please consider helping this cause. They even have a book that is Autographed by Jackie Chan himself!

one year checkup

Sarah had her one year home checkup, and a blood draw. She was a brave girl. Her speech is delayed. We had hoped just speech therapy would do the trick. The doctor did a test, and it looks pretty bad. We have not made it easy on the kid. We speak English and German at home. There is a special language kindergarten Sarah is probably going to need to attend, and perhaps a special school for kids that are language delayed. We are blessed to have both schools near us. We will be looking into this right away. Nicole also had a doctors appointment. I took some sister photos. What great girls! Oh, Sarah has grown! She gained 6 kilos ( over 13 pounds) and is now 104 cm tall (41 inches or 3foot4inches) .

Hunger in India

Here is the story.

Waiting one year old boy with dry skin

Here is a real cute boy who has waited a long time on a list. His only SN is a condition that cause dry skin mostly on the legs. Here is more information on his SN. He is such a sweetheart, why should he be waiting?

7 year old with a large grant

I just read on one of the yahoo groups that a family that had a 7 year old girl from China with a large grant and a very manageable SN on hold will not be moving forward with the adoption. I don't have any more details except she is with WACAP. You may want to contact them if you want to adopt a 7 year old girl, and need a large grant to make that possible. WACAP often has grants that cover almost everything. They don't let Americans living abroad like me (non military) adopt. I've read they are a great agency!

Less food means more orphans

There is a shortage of food in the world. A large part of this is caused by the increase of meat eaten in China and India. Grain is fed to animals and then we eat the animals. What can be done? I'm trying to eat less meat. I am cooking more tofu, eating more nuts, taking chlorella (a green alga that is very high in protein) and cooking Quinoa (a grain that is like rice but also high in protein)and eating more beans. Americans have eaten too much food for years. We all should go on a diet not just to lose weight but to consume less of the resources in the world. I write more about the benefits of eating the above foods, and how to cook them on my diet food blog. I'm also going to read Diet for a small planet. I read this book in College. It is basically going to encourage you to become a vegetarian. I'm not encouraging you to stop eating all meat. What you might want to do is just cut back on the amount of meat you eat. It will be better for your health, and better for the world. Why? It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. This is not even touching the amount of water animals need to drink (there is a very large water shortage in this world) and farm animals also produce a large amount of waste that is bad for the environment. We will never feed the entire world on an average American diet. Also this diet is making us all fat! It's a win win to cut back on meat! One last thing to really think about. Poverty forces people to abandon their children. Desperate poverty drives people to sell their children as prostitutes. Poverty forces people to take their kids out of school and make them work in factories and mines. The increasing consumption of meat is driving up the price of grain. When a family must spend 90 % of their income on food and the price of rice doubles it pushes them over the edge. If you really care about the poor you should consider cutting back on meat.



The video is how to make black bean soup. I would serve it with rice or Quinoa for a perfect protein meatless meal.

The view of butterflies in China

I was wondering what the Chinese think of butterflies? Anyway, I did a web search and this is what I found...

The usual, Western, view is that the butterfly is a carefree creature. The Dalai Lama explains that, rather than carefree, it is uncaring:

"The butterfly never meets its mother. It must survive independently and remains a stranger to affection. An animal nurtured by mother's milk, however, is dependent on another for its basic survival. A child who grows up in a cold and detached home environment is similar to the butterfly, in that kindness is sparing. Once an adult, it will be very difficult for that person to show compassion."

I thought this was really amazing if you think of the orphans of China as butterflies. They are beautiful but must survive all alone!

4 years home

4 Years ago we met Thomas (almost 7 years old) in Bangkok, Thailand. He was small and his hair was very thin from under nutrition. They actually feed the kids pretty well in Thailand. Thomas has a digestive disorder, and an intolerance to milk that wasn't treated. He was a spoiled baby. He still wore a diaper because of his digestive disorder. He would get almost anything he wanted if he had a fit. They called him the gangster. Oh boy! Not easy, and not always fun! But he needed a family. He needed a family bad! He needed good food, medical care, and rules. He was happy to get a daddy, but not so happy to get me. I made him tie his own shoes. Today I drove him to Toys R Us to buy Lego. I didn't give him the money, he earned it(he had 13 Euro to spend). I even stayed in the car because Sarah had fallen asleep. Thomas and Philip went into the store alone to buy the Lego. He was a bit nervous, but I knew he can count change. He did just fine. Just 4 years ago this baby still in diapers had never done a thing for himself. Today he can speak German, and some English (he understands English very well and can even read English). He is in a normal 3rd grade class. He is pulling his D's to C's this semester. In time I bet he will even bring home A's and B's. He has really come along way. He is more and more our son. It takes time for the older kids to feel at home, but it does happen.

Over the top or a ticket to Hell?

I read this on CNN. Some people are paying $5000-$10,000 for their child's birthday parties. I'm sorry, but I think God will judge people who waste that kind of money to entertain their spoiled children while too many kids do not even get one meal a day to eat! Why must people over indulge their kids. What is wrong with one gift, and ice cream and cake? If they are so smart, why must they waste this kind of money to "create a memory"? Why don't they spend extravagantly on the poor and teach their children compassion instead? I could scream!!! Don't they know their is poverty in this world?

Don´t give up Africa

Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 15 million children under 18 have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. More than 12 million of these children live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where it is currently estimated that 9% of all children have lost at least one parent to AIDS.

I encourage you to read the book "There is no me without you" by Melissa Fay Greene. This is one women's story trying to help rescue some of these children orphaned by AIDS. She said that people can not respond as if things are as they always have been. AIDS is like a tidal wave, and we need to respond in a different more urgent way. Millions of children are being raised without anyone to care for them. If ever there was a moment in history the Church should respond to Gods many encouragements to care for the fatherless, now would be that time. In fact I'm sure God will judge the Church based on what they did for the least of these.

AAI has a great program to adopt from Ethiopia and now Ghana.

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents.
7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!).
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

Germans adopting from Africa and Haiti

Most of my readers are American, but some are German. I found this website from a German agency that does adoption from Africa and Haiti. They now have a program with Mali in West Africa. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, but the children are beautiful! The fees are very small (3500-5500 Euro). That is just a third of what you must pay to adopt from China. The Burkina Faso program is only 2,200 Euro. That is unbelievably cheap! The people are so very poor! It breaks my heart. I know many people would worry about how a black child would feel growing up in a mostly white population. This is a difficult thing to work through. They probably would face some prejudice. But they would also have opportunities they could never have in Africa. 100's , maybe 1000's of Africans risk their lives every year crossing dangerous seas hoping for the opportunities we have to offer these kids. If you have thought about adoption, and you live in Germany here is a cool site.

viewing waiting kids

I read these new restrictions today.

"... keeping children's privacy at the forefront, we have asked that
> adoption organizations undertake certain information protection and
> encryption actions when publishing information via the web". "...
> children's names, provinces where located, and the name of the social
> welfare institution should never be disclosed." Photos of children
> cannot be listed on the website. Information about the children listed
> cannot be copied, transferred or reproduced in any format.

Also agency's will not be allowed to send information about waiting kids to people who are not registered with that agency. This is good for the privacy of the children, but it makes it very hard for us to advocate for these kids. You're basically not going to see any photos of waiting kids on my web site and very little information ...maybe the bare bones basics if I can still get any information. I can not tell you how many people have written me to say, you wrote about this child or that, and we went and took a look and found our child. I respect privacy, but I also want to help these kids find homes. Sometimes it just takes the awareness that this or that child is waiting. They are waiting...some are looking..then you find each other. I will continue to do what I can without breaking any rules. I wish every child had a family!

What beautiful ,beautiful girls

Adoption Advocates International (the wonderful agency that helped us bring Philip and Thomas home ) have two beautiful older girls featured in the Rainbow kids newsletter. I am not allowed to share their photos or information, but you can sign up to get the Rainbow kids newsletter Here. There is a news letter sign up on the sidebar. Both girls are healthy, intelligent and social. One wants to be a doctor and loves science, the other wants to be a teacher. They are absolutely lovely! I can only guess they have been orphaned by AIDS. AAI has a very good children's home and they do a wonderful job preparing the kids for adoption. Perhaps you were meant to be the parent of an Ethiopian princess?

All God's Children Has a waiting list

All God's Children has a waiting list from China. There is a 2 year old boy with Hep B that has a $3500 grant.
I don't have the password, but I've read that Great Wall of China also has a new list of cute kids.

Butterflies in the UK

Here is the video.

New Waiting List

Harrah's Adoption International Mission has just received a new waiting list for sn kids from China. This is the agency's list, and they also can help you adopt a child from the large shared list. I was not sure that agency's would be getting their own sn lists anymore. I guess they will. I have not seen the new list (yet). I'm still trying to get a password. If you are looking for a sn child, I have read that Harrahs is a great agency.

Olympic protests analyzed

Here is the story.

FTIA has some new kids on their list

Families Thru International Adoption has some new kids on their shared list. This is the only shared list I have the password to see. They have a very large list that other agency's also have. This list has 3 older kids (two girls and a boy) that all look so healthy and bright. They have Hep B. The girls were born in 1998, and the boy in 2000. I wish I could post their photos but I'm not allowed to. I wish even more that I could get a green light from Juergen to bring just one more child home. The girls are both so cute, but I actually think the boy is the one I would want. He looks like a real prince. He is very handsome and looks very smart! If you are interested in adopting from China's SN program, you may want to get your home study done and ask FTIA for password to their SN list.

Super food

I'm cooking healthy food these days. Tonight we ate waffles. These waffles were packed with dried fruit (apples, figs, bananas, and coconut) soy flakes (extra protein) sunflower seeds, and flax seed (omega 3 fatty acid). The kids ate them up with sugar free apple sauce and yogurt. I'm trying to lose weight, and get healthy. It's a real education in real food. The kids only know that it taste great. And it did!!!
After dinner we danced. You can see a video of the kids doing the dance HERE.

If you want to follow me as I learn about healthy foods then take a look at my new food blog Here.

Have you seen this? Wow!

Hard news

I'm reading on the Yahoo adoption groups that China is not going to be giving TA's for the months of June, July and August. I think it is because of the Olympics? It may also be because of the changes they are making in their SN program? Everything will be moving to an online system. IT will be sad for those who are waiting, but I believe in the long run the whole process will move faster. I can not confirm this information, but I did read it from a pretty reliable source. Consider yourself blessed if you get to travel in June. It looks like it's going to be a long sad summer for some families who had hoped to travel this summer!

Bugs Bunny

Orphan boy lives in garbage dump

Here is the story. It breaks my heart. My boys are from Thaildand. Why doesn't the reporter or tourists buy that poor boy some shoes?

Olympics

What the athletes think of the whole Olympic controversy.

World Hunger

Juergen just returned from India today. He had a hard time with the extreme contrast between the rich and the poor. He would eat lunch at a 5 star hotel, then outside the gates of the hotel were buildings that looked like they were bombed. People were everywhere. The streets were as bad as those he had seen in Africa. India is not a poor country. India is the 4TH richest country in the world. It has more wealth then Germany. How could so few people live like kings, while the rest of the population sleep on streets? I wrote a few posts back about the cost of rice. The cost of food will bring allot of instability to this world. We should be feeding people with our wheat, not using that wheat for bio fuel. I know it's very fashionable to care about the environment, but I think it's more important to feed children then cars!!! Here are some facts about hunger...

854 million people across the world are hungry, up from 852 million a year ago.


Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds.

In essence, hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food.


Hunger manifests itself in many ways other than starvation and famine. Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness.


Countries in which a large portion of the population battles hunger daily are usually poor and often lack the social safety nets we enjoy, such as soup kitchens, food stamps, and job training programs. When a family that lives in a poor country cannot grow enough food or earn enough money to buy food, there is nowhere to turn for help.


Poverty is probably the single greatest reason parents abandon their children. If they had the resources to feed and educate their children they would keep them. I hate poverty, and I see a tidal wave of need about to hit this world. We need to be aware of the need. We all need to care about the cost of rice!

Here is a CNN story about Hunger

adopt a boy

80% of all adoptions are girl adoptions. The waiting lists are filled with boys. Boys need parents to love them, correct them, and buy them Lego. Maybe your next child is not a beautiful girl, but a boy that will drag you on to a soccer field and fill your life with a whole lot of chaos ( I mean excitement).

The cost of rice in China

Philippine activists warn about possible riots. Aid agencies across Asia worry how they will feed the hungry. Governments dig deeper every day to fund subsidies.

A sharp rise in the price of rice is hitting consumer pocketbooks and raising fears of public turmoil in the many parts of Asia where rice is a staple.

Part of a surge in global food costs, rice prices on world markets have jumped 50 percent in the past two months and at least doubled since 2004. Experts blame rising fuel and fertilizer expenses as well as crops curtailed by disease, pests and climate change. There are concerns prices could rise a further 40 percent in coming months.

You can play a game on line and rice will be donated to feed the poor.
Here is the rice game.

Happy Birthday Shelley!

Adopted Five Year Old Blind Genius Pianist

Hallmark Adoption Stories

I thought I would point out something I try to keep on my side bar. It's the link to adoption stories, a 13 part show about adoption by the Hallmark channel. These are very real people and their adoption stories. If you want to get an idea of what its like to adopt, this is worth a look. I love story number 12, the last segment about Amy and Brad Russell who have adopted 10 children of all different backgrounds and races.

The new blog look

Juergen is in India for a few more days. Jessica (my 16 year old autistic daughter) could not fall asleep until 2am last night. I decided to just fiddle with my blog look. It's a little red white and blue. I don't want to get too political on this blog. I personally love politics, and this is a big political year. I saw a piece on CNN this morning about John McCain being very pro life, and that would some how turn women voters off. I'm not going to tell you to vote for McCain (although I am going to vote for him). I just wanted to say, I am very pro life. Your probably thinking Oh, really!!! I began thinking of adoption when I was at Oregon State University. I took an ethics class. We had to take a stand on the issue Pro life vs pro abortion. I was for life. I will always choose life! But I know not every family is in the position to raise a child, so I also decided to become pro adoption. And as you know, I put my money (and heart) where my mouth is.

A very cool post

My friend Jodi wrote a very cool post about a young man who decided to make a difference. Now this is great!!! It is not hard to make a difference.

She's a butterfly

I can not believe I found this very special video on you tube about the adoption of a 13 year old girl with Spina bifida named Sarah Jane. Beautiful!!! It makes me want to smile!!!

Do they get enough exercise?

My friend Kristy asked me if kids in orphanages get enough exercise. Sarah did not get out much. She spent a whole lot of time inside. Her coordination was not very good when she came home. Today she can ride a bike, and roller skate. She is amazing! I know conditions in orphanages vary. Philip and Thomas came from the same orphanage in Bangkok. They practically lived outside. The playground equipment was not very nice.It was not nice because it was worn out! I have a video of Thomas riding a bike (with out training wheels). The bike didn't have a seat either. He could zip around the compound like anything on that bike. Both boys are very coordinated. I know in China allot of the out side playground equipment is just for show. Kids rarely get to play on it. Sarah does know how to dance and march. She did do that in her SWI. She marches just like a soldier...if fact they train the kids early to be soldiers for the State. Over all I would say Chinese kids are healthier then most American kids. Too many American kids spend too much time in front of TVs and computers.

...one more thing

Tonight I prayed for Sarah and gave her a big kiss good night. Then I went into Nicole's room and prayed for her (she is almost 15 years old and does not generally go to bed so early, but she is sick). Then when I am done praying for Nicole, Sarah calls me into her room for one more kiss. Then Sarah grabs me and says that she wants to pray for me...and she did. "God, thank you for Mama. Bless her and give her a good sleep. Amen".

Today is gotcha day

One year ago today our family met Sarah in an office in Nanjing, China. She cried (for months). It was the transition from Hell. Still, we got through it. This morning Sarah had an appointment at the dentist. She stayed home from kindergarten. We watched the movie Curious George together. She sat in my lap the whole time. Her favorite words are now "My Mama". I'm sorry I don't have new photos for you. Juergen is in India on business. He took my camera. We decided not to make a big deal of this family/gotcha day. We have 3 adopted kids. That would be 3 family days on top of all the birthdays. Thomas has his gotcha day in a few weeks (it will be 4 years home). We may decide to do one big/joint family day. I read once that another family with multiple adoptions does this on Valentines Day. I think that’s a good idea. I am so grateful to God to have a view of that rocky beginning very far behind me. It makes me really appreciate the amazing treasure I have in Sarah. She has grown in every way. She is such an amazing kid! She was my daughter before I met her 365 days ago…but now she really is mine. Does that make any since? I guess the truth is she was mine before I met her...but now I am hers. Thank God I am now hers! My Mama...Oh yes...what sweet words!!!