I found out Children of China Pediatric Foundation (CCPF) soon after I started Starfish and took James (Jonas) and Laura Joan to them in 2006 for cleft surgery. Every year we have sent babies to this wonderful organization, who work so hard to help the children in China. Gena has been doing this for 14 years, ever since she adopted a daughter from here. Last year, I think the medical team had 25 members, including 4 different specialties, and offer the best help since many of the doctors are from NY PRESBYTERIAN and COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. Thank you to all people who volunteer. I would really like to encourage you to support this wonderful foundation because they really make a difference in the lives of children in China.
Life, Love, and Laughter,
Amanda
Children of China Pediatric Foundation (CCPF)
CHANGE A LIFE! 2009 Bike/Hike
Be a team leader with a group of 10 or more and your registration is free!
Change a Life! 2009 Bike/Hike
Sunday, October 4, 2009
1:30-4 pm
Bike or Hike along the Hudson River and make a difference in the life of a forgotten child!
Click here to register or start your team:
www.chinapediatrics.org
Call 212-248-7561 or email info@chinapediatrics.org for more information
Thousands of disabled children remain in Chinese orphanages because of their medical conditions and deformities. With your help, these children can receive life transforming surgeries.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
News from Norway
You cannot imagine how surprised I was when I found out that Jeannie who became Ann Celine was going to Norway. I had no idea China was even doing adoptions to Norway. She became Simen's sister and as you can see from the photos is having a grand time. I love to see the pictures of all her travels, Greece and now Spain. I also have so enjoyed seeing how the women dress in their traditional costumes and I love seeing Anne Celine in her mini version. Here is a letter from her family. Just so that you know her birthday in August and she and Norah (Rachel) who is in the Netherlands share a birthday.
Dear Amanda
Thank you for the congratulations on Anne Celine's third birthday. She asked for her birthday weeks before because we had other in the family we celebrate, and she started to see that this is a big event. When the day came she was very excited and Simen had bought her small train, she had told him for weeks she wanted very much..We had a big celebration with our family.
It is over one year since we left China with her, the year have been a big change for Anne, now she is speaking Norwegian, in August she started in a new kindergarten, Ellen (mum) has been home with her until August 09. She likes her new kindergarten very much, she has already got new friends. The kindergarten is only a few minutes’ walk from home
This summer we have spent our holiday in Spain nearby Barcelona bathing and playing. Anne had a great time in the sun. We also had some holiday in Norway with fishing and boat life as we like to call it in Norway.
Anne is a little girl now, she is 95 cm and weight is 16 kg, she almost eat all food, but still I have to put some food in her mouth so she can taste. She loves to cycle outside and play in her room with dolls and loves to hear music and sing when she listens to the cd-player.
Her health is good, only a little cold this winter. The doctor told us after examined her that she is the most healthy adopted child he had seen, thanks to you at Starfish foster home.
We read all the mail you send us, and hope that Rose soon will have a family, I remember her and have send her many thoughts because I carry her at our visit at the foster home.
Love from Anne Celine, Simen , Jørgen og Ellen
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Dear Amanda
Thank you for the congratulations on Anne Celine's third birthday. She asked for her birthday weeks before because we had other in the family we celebrate, and she started to see that this is a big event. When the day came she was very excited and Simen had bought her small train, she had told him for weeks she wanted very much..We had a big celebration with our family.
It is over one year since we left China with her, the year have been a big change for Anne, now she is speaking Norwegian, in August she started in a new kindergarten, Ellen (mum) has been home with her until August 09. She likes her new kindergarten very much, she has already got new friends. The kindergarten is only a few minutes’ walk from home
This summer we have spent our holiday in Spain nearby Barcelona bathing and playing. Anne had a great time in the sun. We also had some holiday in Norway with fishing and boat life as we like to call it in Norway.
Anne is a little girl now, she is 95 cm and weight is 16 kg, she almost eat all food, but still I have to put some food in her mouth so she can taste. She loves to cycle outside and play in her room with dolls and loves to hear music and sing when she listens to the cd-player.
Her health is good, only a little cold this winter. The doctor told us after examined her that she is the most healthy adopted child he had seen, thanks to you at Starfish foster home.
We read all the mail you send us, and hope that Rose soon will have a family, I remember her and have send her many thoughts because I carry her at our visit at the foster home.
Love from Anne Celine, Simen , Jørgen og Ellen
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Four Year Anniversary
I slept and dreamed that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold service was joy.
Rabindranath Tagore
September 13, 2005, what a day!! I will not forget the sight of having six little people who were carried into my life. I will never forget looking at them and being so excited at the prospect of helping and at the same time being terrified at having to take care of them. All of them had some sort of special need and I had no experience with any of it. Today, I am so stunned at what has happened in the intervening four years. I have had an extremely steep learning curve in areas of medicine, social work, non profit management, marketing and human resources with a whole range of other skills which I did not possess, but had to learn. I could not have predicted that I would be running a foster home taking care of almost 50 children and all that it entails. I had no idea what was coming! If I had, I might have not taken this on. I would have run and hid myself refusing to take on the pain, the work load and the hassle.
At the same time I would have missed the joy and the successes that have played out in the lives of the children as they have been healed and in those who have gone on to be adopted. I find such joy in hearing from each family as they share with me the lives of these babies that found themselves all alone in a park, hospital, cemetery and river bank hoping that someone would help. I cannot imagine what that must be like, abandoned by your very own family, waiting, hoping that someone would take pity on you and help........... I guess in my heart I want to make life a little more fair for each one of them, offering HOPE in a very bleak situation. I carry a story for each one of the 94 children that have come to Starfish, all of the babies I chose to come to live with me and the condition I found them in. I revel in our ability to offer care that allowed them to overcome the medical need they had and to protect them until their families arrive. This is the purpose of Starfish. At the same time the hardest lessons have been the babies that I could not help enough. I will never forget how I pleaded with God for the life of Susan and having her die in my arms. It took me a while to get over that and as I tried to learn the lesson which was that I was not going to save every child but that I was going offer love, warmth and care while their little bodies were not to be helped by the medical care that was available. My desire is to be able to find better medical care for the most fragile of these babies, who need some specialized care that I can find in Xian.
Kay, who understood the foster home more than intimately that any one before or since, told me once that running the foster home was the most lonely job. That may seem true, but I do not feel so lonely. I feel that God's hand is over the foster home and that He loves these children so much. I see it in the miracles that take place and the help that He sends. I feel His influence all the time and it offers me comfort, truth, wisdom and a tremendous sense of tenacity.
I want to thank each and everyone who has had some connection to the foster home. There is the synergy that works together for good. I love the mixture of the different nationalities, walks of life, different religions and the offer of the US$12 from a little boy's piggy bank to the tens of thousands of dollars from corporate and foundation donations. I am so grateful for the specialized skills from medical staff to the 91 year old Chinese woman who cannot read, but wants to volunteer anyway. I am so extremely grateful to the Starfish Staff who works so hard. They pour their love and care out on the babies and have such a huge hand in the success of our foster home. I love the volunteers that want to come back and the many who do, some who travel across the world back to Xian to be part again of the HOPE that Starfish offers. Thank you to the local volunteers, who spend hour after hour with us and who love the babies so much.
Thank you for following our story and for being Starfish Ambassadors, spreading the word and living the adventure with me. I know there are some very interesting events coming up and some that I cannot talk about yet. One of these days.....I hope it makes you keep on wanting to come back for more.
Here is to saving a life, offering love with a generous dose of laughter, acting in service and finding joy.
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 94 children to date, arranged more than 55 surgeries and had 22 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We currently have 47 babies under the age of 3 at two foster homes. www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
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Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Michael becomes a BIG Brother!
Michael was adoption number 6 from Starfish and it has been almost two years. A while back, I got the news that Debbie was pregnant and that the baby was due in September. Andrew made his arrival earlier than expected last month. I loved looking at Michael's little face as he is holding his brother. Congratulations to Debbie and John and Michael of course!
This is what Debbie had to say: By the way, these two photos were taken the day we got home from the hospital and the first time Michael held his little brother. He kept saying, "he's so cute".
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Don't forget that it is not too late to order special keyrings for the Grandparent's Day Fundraiser for Starfish! Check out www.thestarfishfosterhome.org for more details!
This is what Debbie had to say: By the way, these two photos were taken the day we got home from the hospital and the first time Michael held his little brother. He kept saying, "he's so cute".
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Don't forget that it is not too late to order special keyrings for the Grandparent's Day Fundraiser for Starfish! Check out www.thestarfishfosterhome.org for more details!
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Megan's Family Pictures
Megan (Jasmine) was adopted a year and three months ago. It is amazing to think of it because to me it feels like yesterday. I was so grateful that Leslie brought Megan and her sister, Carly to Nashville and I just watched in wonder how she was playing in the pool and jumping around. Megan was one of the three flowers that had spina bifida surgery by Dr Jorge Lazareff and his team that were in Shanghai in 2007. I remember a doctor telling me that spina bifida is like a car accident which I thought a great way to explain it. Some of them can be fender benders and others head on collisions. Megan was just a little fender bender and watching her go I thought that there was no way that anyone could have guessed she had spina bifida. She has a really compact body and has always been very athletic. I can honestly see her doing gymnastics one day. SB can strike so much fear into people's hearts because it seems like only the severe cases are ever talked about. Back to the letter from Leslie:
We have had a busy month. We went to Branson for a week of vacation before Carly started Kindergarten. Our hotel had an indoor & outdoor water park which both kids loved. We went to Silver Dollar City amusement park, played miniature golf and took in a Chinese Acrobat show. Both of them loved the show - - Megan sat on my lap and would say did you see that Momma? She clapped at the end of each event and when they were playing the drums, Megan beat her arms in the air just like she was playing the drums too! You should have seen her playing miniature golf, she tried using the kid's putter a couple of times but then decided kicking it was the best way. She just kept walking down the greens kicking the ball until it went in the hole.
Carly started kindergarten and the 1st day she got on the bus, Megan had a fit because she wanted to go too. She is still doing pretty good at potty training. Hopefully this fourth attempt will be the last. We went to a bridal shower today. Carly & Megan are going to be flower girls in Ken's niece's wedding in October. Well I'll talk to you soon.
Take care,
Leslie, Ken, Carly & Megan
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
We have had a busy month. We went to Branson for a week of vacation before Carly started Kindergarten. Our hotel had an indoor & outdoor water park which both kids loved. We went to Silver Dollar City amusement park, played miniature golf and took in a Chinese Acrobat show. Both of them loved the show - - Megan sat on my lap and would say did you see that Momma? She clapped at the end of each event and when they were playing the drums, Megan beat her arms in the air just like she was playing the drums too! You should have seen her playing miniature golf, she tried using the kid's putter a couple of times but then decided kicking it was the best way. She just kept walking down the greens kicking the ball until it went in the hole.
Carly started kindergarten and the 1st day she got on the bus, Megan had a fit because she wanted to go too. She is still doing pretty good at potty training. Hopefully this fourth attempt will be the last. We went to a bridal shower today. Carly & Megan are going to be flower girls in Ken's niece's wedding in October. Well I'll talk to you soon.
Take care,
Leslie, Ken, Carly & Megan
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
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