Eagles Wings Program for Blind Children

One of our focus areas is for blind children. We currently have seven vision impaired children in our care (one was adopted in December). This is a really challenging area, and few programs like ours have the training to meet the needs of children with significant vision impairment. With the help of Bethel School for the Blind in Beijing, we are getting trained to help these children reach their potential. In the fall, I went with one of our staff to a week long training to help us see firsthand how to run a program for children with visual challenges. After six years, they really have a great program and are willing and excited to share what they have learned with others.

Most of our vision impaired children have other issues as well, so we are working on several fronts at once. Sensory issues are common and one of the first things we need to work on so that we can get to strategies for managing their vision problems. We currently have one staff member who works five days a week with our three most affected children. The improvements have been quite amazing, and we are so encouraged about what is possible with this kind of focused attention!

This past week a team of four from Bethel came to Jiaozuo and spent time evaluating each of our vision impaired children and giving us some additional advice and strategies for working with them. We appreciate this help so much! Learning from these experts makes us all smarter and also encourages us that we are on the right track.

Of course, I don't have any photos...I had my camera but was too busy soaking up all that knowledge. :)

With a thankful heart,

Donna
Director, Eagles Wings

More Happy News...

This time it's Danielle who met her forever family just this week. We miss her serious face that breaks into laughter and then becomes completely serious again. Her little pouty lip, and her quiet, inquisitive way of exploring.

Happy Life, Danielle!!

With a thankful heart,
Donna
Director, Eagles Wings

Tessa...Happy News!

Just a quick follow up on my earlier post about Tessa...our special girl met her forever family on Monday!

Yeah, Tessa! Yeah, family! From all accounts she did great. I so hope that her family will keep in touch with us. Tessa has been part of our Eagles Wings family for 2 1/2 years. We all miss her so!

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

Today our Lucy is 12...or 13, depending on where you live. Traditionally in China, your age counts the year you are beginning, not the year you have finished, as in the west. So today our Lucy started on her 13th year and thus is shi-san, 13. Which also means that for the next 3 weeks I have 2 15-year olds and THREE 13 year olds in my house (and a 9 year old -- she and I are the only non-teenagers).

For orphaned children, birthdays are seldom even acknowledged much less celebrated. With 60+ children in Eagles Wings you can imagine that it is difficult to have a big party and many gifts on every birthday. One of the issues that I hope to work out as China Director is how we make every child feel special on their birthday without having it be focused on cake and ice cream and presents. In some ways this is a small issue, but in the context of raising children with a sense of value and of individuality, I think it isn't really that small. In fact, I think of all the things we do here, this may be one that our children will remember well into adulthood.

So today was all about Lucy. A cake, many homemade cards from her sisters and brother and a couple of small gifts...all in all it cost me about $12. I think these photos tell you what it meant to her.

Eagles Wings Holiday Fundraiser

We are once again making handmade donation cards to raise money for our holiday celebrations at Eagles Wings. We want to provide a small gift and a holiday meal for each child as well as a holiday bonus for our hardworking staff. These costs are above our normal budget, so we are once again offering a great gift option for that hard-to-buy for relative/teacher/neighbor or anyone who would appreciate a clutter-free, calorie-free gift that benefits children without a family.  You may make a donation of any amount; each multiple of $25 entitles you to one donation card. Click the link below to complete the form...we'll have your donation cards in the mail in time for Christmas!

Holiday Donation Form

FYI - The donation form link will redirect you to our family blog. 100% of these proceeds go to Eagles Wings, these funds are not intended to support our family.

With an thankful heart,

Donna

Director, Eagles Wings

Meet Tessa!

Isn't she adorable? Even hanging upside down! It wasn't so long ago that Tessa would have been very frightened by being spun around or tipped over. Like many children with vision impairments, she had some sensory difficulties as a young toddler. Now she loves it! Unlike many VI kids, Tessa's overall development has been right on target. She started exploring her environment as soon as she could crawl and took her first steps soon after her first birthday. The attention she received as a baby in Eagles Wings 2 has enabled her to grow up just like a fully sighted child. We are so proud of her! Now we wait with excitement and a little sadness for Tessa's forever family to finish the adoption process and come get her. We don't know exactly when that will be, but we do know that there is a very lucky family out there working hard to add her to their family.

Well, I clearly get the prize as the world's worst blogger. I had great visions of spending "just a little" time each evening updating the blog about my day, about some of our children, what's going on, what's coming up. So much for those great plans! I can assure you that my silence is not a consequence of a lack of activity...quite the opposite! There is so much happening that it is hard to pull out just one nugget! But I do promise to try.

One "nugget" that I want to share is that we are making wonderful progress on the adoption front. As an adoptive mother myself, this is very near to my heart and very exciting. In 2010 Eagles Wings sent a record number of children to their forever homes, and 2011 is shaping up well also. We have five children who we know for sure have families working to bring them home; there may be others that we are not yet aware of. That's wonderful...nearly 10%!  We have also seen greater numbers of our children selected to have their paperwork completed so they have the opportunity to be adopted, including children with cerebral palsy and Down's syndrome, who in the past have not been considered eligible. I am happy to say that we have developed a good relationship with those who have the final say, and I have been working behind the scenes to bring some children to their attention who have great potential for adoption. We will greatly miss the ones who leave us for other homes, but will rejoice that they have opportunities that only a family can give. At this time the information on who is being adopted is confidential, but we will certainly share that information when we can, so you can rejoice, too!

Tomorrow is a very big day for one of our little girls,  "Zoey" has congenital cataracts and a possible cyst or tumor in one eye. She is traveling to Beijing with one of her caregivers to be examined at the eye hospital. Based on their diagnosis, we will find out what course to pursue. Please be praying for Zoey and her caregiver as the trip will be long, and with her lack of vision she is very sensitive to environmental changes; this will be a challenging day. But we hope that we will soon have Zoey well and ready for therapy to help her adapt and thrive in the future.

"John Wayne" is a little boy who has been near and dear to my heart for almost two years now. I met him on Christmas Eve 2008 as he was bundled into my arms and sent home with me to Eagles Wings 2. Since then John Wayne has undergone treatment for a club foot and had his paperwork prepared for adoption. So far we aren't aware of a family who has chosen him, but hope that that will happen very soon! He is a very lively, smart and happy boy. He runs everywhere and enjoys laughing and playing with his friends.

With a promise to try to keep in touch better, and

With a thankful heart,

Donna
Director, Eagles Wings