Sunday Spotlight

Another Sunday.

The hardest part of these posts is picking the faces, how do you choose a handful out of pages and pages of faces, sadly aware that these are just a small representation of the thousands and thousands of unseen orphans waiting around the globe.

I'm never quite sure aside from the fact that following your heart is always a good place to start.

So here are just a few of the faces that plucked at my heart this week.

 

Otto is  such a little thing for a boy who turns 9 in 2016 but oh the ripples he's created these last few weeks. Otto was one of the recipients of the Shadow Children Giveaway . As a result, Otto  has over 4700 in a grant to help bring him home. This little love has a wide host of conditions noted on his file  including FAS and autistic features. however, he also has some wonderful insight into his personality for interested families thanks to a 10 day stay at camp last summer where he apparently "came alive".

Scout will also be 9 in 2016 and look at the grin in this picture. Scout is listed as having CP as well as club feet which were corrected a few years ago. She  came to the orphanage at age 3. She's listed as a spunky little girl who is quite the talker, has self-care skills and is helpful. 

Waniya is also 9 in 2016, what a wonderful age! He file lists her as being diagnosed with Cerebral palsy; Mixed specific developmental disorders; Coloboma of optic disc. This little girl has been waiting on RR since 2012 and needs a family to call her own.

Shirley will be 12 in 2016 and has 18 months until she becomes ineligible for  adoption :( She is described as a sweet  girl who wants to be adopted and has had the concept explained to her. Diagnosed with CP, it is said to mainly affect her legs and she has received some surgery for her condition. Due to her age Shirley is eligible for an older child grant with RR of 10000.

Rounding out this week is Judith.Her file is almost as small as her grant at the moment  :( Listed  as having  Cp and dual hemiplegia.  This little girl has a smile that outshines anything else.  At only 4, the benefits of therapy and family can  not be overstated for this sweetheart.

Not everyone can adopt but maybe you can share or contribute to a grant, visit  RR and see the other children who wait, advocate, or whatever uses your strengths and abilities.

Not everyone can adopt but everyone can do something and that's how lives are changed.

Sometimes it's too late and sometimes we just need to try again

It's been a hard  few months for those who follow the  goings on at Reece's Rainbow.
The advocates, the quiet cheerers, the families, the would be families.

You see, on RR one of the big things is movement.  There are the children who don't move - the ones who sit on lists unseen as they wait for years with grants  that don't grow or  only grow during Angel Tree.

There are those that move to my family found me and slowly move from page to page until they are home with their families.

Then there are the other children who move and leave us wishing they hadn't. Children like these three.
                   

Cameron, Cristoff, and Judah who joined the 66 other children who have died while listed on Reece's Rainbow before they were able to be adopted. 69 small lives that deserved so much more.

Some children move to yet another page - aged out. These are the children who are no longer eligible in their country for adoption due to their age and immigration laws on both sides of the equation. Children of 14 and 16 who have lost their chance forever and now face a future that, statistically, is not in their favour.

My first angel tree girl. Sweet Tara

made her journey over to the aged out page this month. Though her birthday is in September it's too late to start the paperwork and, therefore, too late for her.

I was her warrior two years ago. At that point her profile was at least a year old and was  not able to be updated until the day it was moved over. Her grant grew into the thousands, 15  000 in fact and still no Mama or Papa saw her. So she waited and time ran out.

It's hard when the time runs out because it's not just a  deadline it's a child, in this case a girl staring down her 14th birthday and the realization that no one is coming. Sometimes it's just too late.

That's hard. so hard. It makes me want to run away from blogging and Reece's Rainbow and all the children who's faces I see and who break my heart in my frustration  at the system, the circumstances, and my own feeble whispers against  a world that doesn't have the time.

Did you notice I disappeared when Tara moved? 

While some  see a deadline missed or a picture moved. 

For others, it is potential lost and a young girl who's path is now set on a much harder path than seems fair and that's okay to grieve,  in fact, it's good to grieve the Tara's and the Cristoff's - to note the injustices of life  and the losses.

It's what you do with that grief and your time and there are still so many treasures waiting.

                        

Sunday Spotlight

June is birthday month in our house.

2 little boys in our house, at least 3 cousins, a few aunts, sister in law, grandmothers - every time we turn around from June 1st until July 1st there is another set of congratulations to send along. Birthdays are a happy thing, a time of celebration and reflection . . . unless you're an orphan.


Depending on where you're from, if you're an orphan birthdays mean you're that much closer to aging out and either left to fend for yourself or destined to remain in a lonely adult mental institution that has probably been your home for a few years already.

For some kids on Reece's Rainbow the birthdays left are getting far too few for comfort.

Winnie

Clara

Morris

Soleil

Scottie

Shirley

Tatumn

For some of these kids there are no birthdays left. This is there last year to find a family before that door closes forever. It's a sad, simple fact and after celebrating with my own babies this past week, one that my Mama's heart finds harder and harder to understand. Every child deserves a parent to love them and celebrate with them. One that won't bypass their hurts and griefs of which these kids have had more than their share. Please share one this week, or hop over to the aging out page at RR and find a child to share so that their last birthday might just be their last one alone.

Sunday Spotlight

Have you stopped by Reece's Rainbow lately?

In honour of the tenth anniversary the website has undergone a massive overhaul. It's definitely worth going over and taking a look. As with any major reno it takes some time to work out all the kinks in the system so it may take a few extra minutes to spot the page you're looking for or the page may be down for a few more days.

But while you're looking you may just find

Hana

This little sweetheart will be 9 this year. She's noted for her amazing laughter, agreeable nature, intelligence, and hard work. She loves piano and colouring. She also has spina bifida and loads of potential.

Emma

Emma turns 7 this year. She's reported to be friendly and calm although she does struggle with delays. Emma's orphange can only keep her through the summer at which point she will be transferred to a school orphanage for mentally delayed children.

Lucie

Lucie is 7 and lives in an adult mental institution. This is never the best option for a child this young and yet Lucie still has her smile.

Lexi

Lexi is almost 12 (children age out at 14 in her part of the world) This sweet lady has lower spine issues and an issue with her right knee. At her last update she was reported to love singing, was smart, and had formed close friendships with other children.

These are just four of the reasons why Reece's is overhauling their website and gearing up for another busy decade. No child should be forgotten, every child deserves to be loved and wanted. So celebrate with me by checking out the new website, finding a few new faces, and helping spread the word.

Sunday Spotlight

It's hard to believe but Reece's Rainbow turned 10 this week!

It's been a crazy ten years and almost 1600 children have be united with their families since those early days.

While there have been some changes over the years, the focus remains the same bringing orphans home. One of the more recent changes involves the oldest children on RR, the aging out who's window for rescue is starting to narrow.

Thanks to a pooling of resources all older children are eligible for a 10 000 grant (until the fund runs down which i'm told is many, many adoptions from now). This 10 000 goes a long way to helping families combat the high cost of international adoption and the lower fund raising time which can accompany these older kids.

Kids like

Irina

Already listed for over 6 years and still waiting :(

Haven

Listed for over 5 years

Angela

Maiya

Maddie

Each listed for 4 years

And Tara my first Angel and so close to aging out who's been listed almost 6 years :(

Each of these beautiful young ladies have been listed for years, a quarter of their lives waiting on a site that advocates getting these kids seen. Sometime change is hard but in this case I'm so grateful that the older children are now eligible for this amazing grant and hopefully these girls will celebrate 11 years of Reece's with families of their own.

Sunday Spoptlight

It's always hard to post these pictures.
How to choose a handful of faces from a list that is constantly growing.
To be honest, I get overwhelmed and disappear for a bit to regroup, returning when time or a familiar face like Mandy and Victoria make their way over to the my family found me page.

So I'm back with a new little group to shout for this week and today's post will be different because each of these children are summed up by a single line. Please see them, see the potential behind the name and diagnosis and help get these kids seen and home!

Chelsea - born 2009, mild intellectual delays

Christina - born 2010, blind.

Harlowe- born 2008, Cerebral palsy, focal symptomatic epileptic syndrome, complex local convulsions; rough delay of psychological and speech development

MaryAnn- born 2008, Cerebral Palsy, hydrocephalus

Skyler - born 2003 - Cerebral Palsy, eligible for 10 000 older child grant

See past the line and shout for these kiddo's who deserve so much more.

I love you

Three little words.

They mean so many things to so many people.

Our oldest turns 3 in a week and a half.

This week he said I love you.

It's the second time he's said it to me.

It's funny the things that go through your mind when your child receives a diagnosis. What will this mean? How do I help my child? If your nerdy like me - Where's the nearest literature? The questions keep coming as you navigate  raising your child in a world that has charts, averages, and progression lines and your child's taken the box and is spinning in the kitchen with it on his head.

After awhile things start to even out. You learn terms like OT, PT, Speech path. You start your own experiential master class in sensory needs, therapy techniques, and how to feed a child who's brain literally makes most common food textures public enemy number 1.
You even start learning to ignore the stares and glares when your child melts down because the lights and to bright and the noise echoing hurts in the stores but you go because life goes on.

You find the joys as the grow, like any child, like every child, just on their own pace.

In our house:
We've cuddled over trains, laughed over tickles, and blown bubbles til our cheeks hurt.
We've painted pictures to give away because even in his own world he likes to share smiles and boy do his grandparents smile when they get a picture. We've bakes cupcakes because he loves to pour and sprinkle sprinkles. We snuggle every day and get lost in books because that's who our little guy is and so much more.

But there are still challenges and even though the big ones remain in varying forms, we're far enough in that new variations have come to light.

Like speaking.

Autism and speech delay seem to go hand in hand. A terrible twosome that helps keep kiddo's in their own world. Those first words come with such work and for some never come.

We took our techniques and lessons, our speech path and OT's, our self regulation and started small: bubbles, Dada, Mama.
Slowly jabbering came and turned into words.
We've moved to jabbering and small sentences. He just learned No :) For us each emphatic "No" is a slightly exasperating victory. We also have entered the realm of echolalia, a world that makes me wish all those autism books I uncovered months ago had a chapter on cryptography.

It's two steps forward and 1 step back (with a few spins, flips, and a little breakdance thrown in for good measure).

This week we snuggled and like every other day I told him I loved him and in his little voice he parroted right back.

Somedays you make your victories out of the scraps, others they're given to you on a silver platter if you have your eyes open to see them.