The World Race

March came in like a lion with snow and wind and on March 7th the World Race blew into town as well! A group of eleven young people enthusiastic to serve and learn on a trip around the world, they certainly made an impact here in Jiaozuo. First of all, they pretty much doubled the foreigner population in our city, and they stood out wherever they went. Second, they brought so much love, joy and laughter into all our homes. And I mean into all our homes. We had team members staying in visitor quarters in all Eagles Wings homes, where they could really get to know our children and our staff in an up-close and personal way. What an amazing experience it was for them, and for us, too. Here's a little bit of what they were up to during their three week stay:

Cindy Pearson and Beth Griswold
Special Education      Physical Therapy

1) Provide care for the children while we did staff training. We were able to do two full days of training on policies, processes, and fire safety for the entire Eagles Wings staff of managers, ayis and teachers. We were also able to conduct special education training for the teachers in XWLY and the orphanage and special needs child development training for staff from Eagles Wings 4 and the orphanage thanks to volunteers from Jian Hua and Christian Action.  During all these training days the World Race team members gave tender loving care to the children whose ayis and teachers were in training. They took care of the blind children in EW2, manned the school and handled the care and feeding of the Eagles Wings 4 kids. They did a great job and brought a lot of joy.

2) Brighten our homes with color! The teams designed colorful murals for four of our homes. Eagles Wings 4 activity room had two walls painted in bright colors, including one wall with bright yellow paint and geometric shapes to bring some sunshine in. In the activity room for Eagles Wings 3, the teams painted a large tree with the fruit of good character which Chew Gim has been instructing the children about. Eagles Wings 5 now has a bright rainbow, a smiling sun and lots of butterflies to inspire our babies. Eagles Wings 6 was painted with an undersea theme, complete with octopus, jelly fish and coral and a bright sunrise over the water.

Rainbows and butterflies at Eagles Wings 5

Eagles Wings 3 Activity Room

Eagles Wings 6

Eagles Wings 4

Eagles Wings 4

Parker enjoys a Blizzard!

Chris - flying along in his racechair

3) Outings! By far the most valuable part of their service to us was the outings they were able to do with our children. Twenty-six of our eaglets were able to go on outings with team members. Two team members took two children (two by two just like Noah) outside for a morning or afternoon of fun geared specifically to those children. The kids were paired up by age, gender and ability. These outings allowed the children to get away from their normal environment and out into the community as well as to get some special attention from the volunteers. What an amazing success! Once they began, the children were anxious for their turn and they talked with great excitement about their experience after they returned. Some children went kite flying, some went to DQ for ice cream, some went to the park, some went for manicures

Mia and Hailey show off their pretty nails

Chad and Zach had fun shopping

 and some just went for a ride through the grocery store, picking up some goodies along the way. In addition, most of the children who were not singled out for these outings were taken outside to play on numerous occasions by the team members.

Chris and Wayne - boys day out!

Wendy and Shaelyn go cruisin'

Barry tries on a new look

Obviously  our first experience with the World Race was a great success. We miss our teams very much. They really were a blessing to us in so many ways. We hope we will have the chance to host more World Race teams in the future. See The World Race to find out more, learn how you can support a team, host a team or become part of a team!

With a thankful heart,

Donna

Director, Eagles Wings
(Please forgive the terrible layout...it isn't as easy as it seems!)

Happy Birthday, Hailey!

Today is Hailey's 10th birthday.  A big milestone for sure, but an even bigger and better one will be the day she has a forever family of her own. Today I met with her house mother and she asked me if I would consider taking

Hailey into my house once my oldest foster daughter goes for adoption. Here was her reasoning:

"Hailey is a great kid, who would benefit so much from being in a real family home. She has some mild aspergers-like characteristics but is really just a good
kid who needs a chance for a normal upbringing. She is bright and learns quickly so she can adapt well to family life, and she responds well to instruction and
correction. Her only area of weakness is sometimes being stubborn and a little impulsive, but she has learned to control herself much of the time. We would be losing a really great helper who is so good about helping her friends who have less function. But she deserves a chance to be part of a family, to go to real school and to live a
normal life."

As much as that statement was directed at moving her into my home with my kids (some adopted and some fostered), doesn't it apply even more to Hailey having a forever family home? What I would like more than anything is to keep Hailey right where she is, knowing that a forever family will be here soon. Hailey just turned 10, is really a lovely kid with a special spark.

Hailey is doing great in Eagles Wings, and we sure love having her here, but our greatest birthday wish is that a family will realize that Hailey is the daughter they are looking for. Can you be part of the chain of people that helps this wish come true?

With a thankful heart,

Donna

Director, Eagles Wings