Waiting for a Family

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes…"

 – David Platt, Radical

Children in the US Waiting for a Family

The pictures and descriptions listed below are of children in the United states that waiting for a forever family. These children are just a few out of the hundreds of thousands of children waiting for family in United States. Could your family be that family?

Meet Olivia (for more information visit AdoptUsKids)

Olivia is a nine year old, beautiful young lady with blue eyes and blonde hair that she loves to have braided. She is described as a girly girl who loves to wear dresses and look nice. She wears glasses due to being blind in her right eye. She is currently a 3rd grader in regular classes. Her favorite food,that she would eat everyday if she could is grilled cheese and tomato soup. Olivia likes to rider her bike and go swimming. She loves to read, color and paint. She is involved in therapy and takes medication to help with her behavioral challenges. Olivia can be possessive of her things, which can lead to her behavioral problems because she gets upset with others when they touch her things. She thrives on and loves one on one attention from adults.

Meet Andrew & Dontez (for more information visit AdoptUsKids)

 Andrew and his big brother Dontez are healthy and energetic boys. Andrew is eight years old and in the second grade. He loves to build and create things with Legos, blocks and play dough. Andrew likes to play outside and his favorite sports are baseball and basketball. Dontez is an active and rambunctious eleven year old who is very popular with peers and teachers alike. He wants to be basketball player when he grows up. Dontez is described as “an endearing and engaging youth who is friendly and polite, with a good sense of humor. He is a positive child and has good relationships. He is loyal to his family, despite hardships he has endured in the past. Andrew and Dontez have experienced significant trauma including physical abuse, separation and loss. Dontez feels emotions deeply and is described by his worker as "a very kind soul.” The boys are bonded with each other.  The boys' worker seeks a family able to provide a loving home with firm structure, clear expectations, and frequent reinforcement of pro-social behavior including the use of healthy coping strategies. Their family should also help them learn to have fun in family activities. These delightful boys are eager for a sense of love and security.

Meet Sarah & Savannah (for more information visit AdoptUsKids)

 Sarah and Savannah area wonderful sibling group of 2 who are uniquely different; but share a common need for a special forever family. Savannah has a carefree personality and is happy and content for the most part. She has relied on her sister heavily in the past. Savannah has been diagnosed with a speech delay. She made great progress her kindergarten year but is still behind academically.

Sarah is the oldest of the two sisters and has a much stronger personality than Savannah. She will sometimes try to speak on behalf of Savannah. Sarah shows a wide range of emotions. Sarah obtains good grades for the most part and is only slightly behind academically.

Both girls are very needy of attention and have some boundary issues. Both girls are very active. Both girls love things many girls their age enjoy such as shopping, making crafts, and watching movies. Both enjoy being outdoors and love animals. Sarah would like to be involved in dance, cheerleading, or gymnastics.

Waiting Around the World

Not only are children waiting for family here in the USA, but there are millions of children waiting around the world. The children pictured and described below are from China, but there are children waiting in lots of countries. Could your family be their forever family?

Meet Dawn

Dawn is beautiful girl who will age out in Febuary 2013. Dawn wants a family of her own. Dawn is being cared for by a wonderful organization in China. She has spina bifida and is in a wheelchair, but she is able to get into and out of the chair on her own and can get up stairs on her own. She does her own self-care independently.

Someone who knows her personally wrote:
"Dawn is 12 and will age out of the program soon. She is aware of this. She has spina bifida, uses a wheelchair and is studying grade 4 in local school - and doing well. She is confident, articulate and happy. As Dawn is in the adoption program, one of our teachers that has lived abroad in another culture and I took some time to really talk to her about adoption this week. Dawn already has a degree of understanding that adoption to another culture and language would be difficult (she is used to playing and being around non-speaking foreign people that come to the centre on short term teams), however, she has stated that she would like to have a family, and that she would like to go abroad. She is willing to work to overcome language difficulties for that. She is also aware that education, future jobs and life in a place like the USA would be easier for her than in China where wheelchair uses are still not supported well."

Meet Dean

Dean has Thallasemia and is currently waiting  on China's  shared list. (Here is a short video about this special need: http://www.youtube.com/lwbvideos#p/u/6/zEh8R527NUo). Dean does not currently attend school because he has to receive transfusions every 1-2 months. Because of this, his developments in all areas are a little delayed compared with his peers. Now he can walk up and down stairs independently, and he can jump off the floor with both feet. He can walk in a straight line. He can hold a pencil to draw lines and circles. Dean likes coloring and he knows the concept of big and small, in and out, many and few, right and left etc. He can identify different colors, such as red, yellow, green, blue, white and black etc. He can count from 1 to 10. He knows concept of week and he knows what day it is today or tomorrow. His language development is average. He is talkative and can carry simple conversations, but his some of pronunciation is not so clear. He can feed himself and go to toilet on his own. He can put on or take off his clothes, shoes and socks. He likes to be helpful and do things such as fetching bottles for younger children.

Dean is active and precious boy. Every time when people come to his living group he is always the first to call “mama” or “baba”, with loud sound and bright smile. He is very active in outdoor activities, but in his room he likes sitting on his own chair quietly to play toys or watch TV, very attentively. He gets along very well with children in the same group. He is closest to the caretaker who looks after him and other children in the same group. His favorite toy is toy gun.

Dean receives blood transfusions every 1-2 months. Please pray that Dean finds his forever family soon. There is a critical blood shortage in  many provinces in China. It is crucial for the orphans that are transfusion dependent to find their forever families soon. 

  

Meet Danielle

Danielle is a pretty little girl who is active, fond of listing to music, playing games and watching TV. She has a ready smile. She knows colors and animals, body parts and can button and unbutton clothing. She can put on and take off her shoes and clothes and stand on one foot for at least two seconds. She can draw. She is not picky about food and her favorite food is rice. Danielle has normal mental development. She knows things in her environment. She can count from one to twenty. She can communicate with grown-ups. She often communicates with people she knows. Danielle lives in the institution and her eyes reflect how much she needs a forever family. A plastic surgeon look at her file and said the area in and on the side of her mouth could easily be removed and should be removed as to not interfere with her eating.