Volunteers Needed!

Volunteers make such a difference here!  Truly! Our staff are great, and of course they keep the place going day to day. But volunteers are what help us get better, and if there is one thing I am passionate about, it is getting better and better for our kids. 

This past weekend we had students from SAIS who are part of the Bring Me Hope* program come and distribute Christmas gifts to all sixty of our kids. But they didn't just give gifts, they gave of their time. They spent the morning and part of the afternoon playing with the kids and shared a meal as well. Some of these volunteers have been part of the Bring Me Hope camps and have developed relationships with our kids over the last few years. It's so cool to see how excited the students are to visit the kids they know from camp!

 We also love our "medium term" volunteers like Kaitie and Micah (below). Kaitie came to do a two month internship in occupational therapy. Yippee! We really need these kinds of skills to better help all of our kids. Kaitie worked directly with our kids but also trained our therapy staff, our teachers and our ayis in ways to assess each child and then help each one progress in his or her school work, physical activity and lifeskills, based on his individual abilities and limitations. Her husband Micah helped with translating needs and generally brought JOY and FUN everywhere he went. (He and Kaitie also took my five to lunch now and then to give me some alone time in the apartment. Priceless!) We miss them, but are excited to see where their heart for orphans will lead them in the future.

 I am so thankful to have a young woman here now who is majoring in social work. For the next three months she will be our "Childcare Manager". She will be monitoring the care in all of our homes, looking for areas for improvement, whether that be retraining on current processes or possibly new practices or improvements. She will also (finally) be doing full evaluations on all of our kids. I have done this in bits and pieces since I arrived but haven't been able to just focus on getting that done for every one in every area (physical, emotional, social, developmental, etc).  Thanks, Flick!

We need more people like this who can come for three months (or more) to keep the process going, as well as a Medical Manager/Nurse and an Education Manager. It isn't necessary to speak Chinese.
Short term visitors are also welcome to help in our school, to take kids for playdates and other projects. Like our World Race team that painted an entire apartment, made our awesome video, took kids out into the community and spent time daily with a very fragile little boy who spends all day in his crib.

AND...last but really not least, we need some committed people to take on tasks that can be done wherever you live, especially working with us to find resources (medical, educational, financial) to meet the needs of our children.
What do you think? Ready to put your passion and your talents to work for the eaglets here at Eagles Wings?

Donna
Director, Eagles Wings China

*If you aren't familiar with Bring Me Hope, check them out...a truly wonderful organization and more volunteer opportunities!!