"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters
compared to what lies within us."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Before and After

A friend of mine, Adeye, who writes much more eloquently than me, asked if I would send her a few before and after pictures of Victoria. She wrote a great post about how a family and love can change a child's life.

So many of the kids featured on her post "Seeing is Believing" were near death and are now thriving.

http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/

Her posts made me cry. Please scroll down to some of her other posts to see the reality of the children once they are sent to the institution. Their eyes haunt me.


Like my friend, Adeye, says, if not us, then who? You don't have to adopt to help.


Here is Victoria only 8 months ago. Her eyes were so blank.


She is not smiling here, she is grimacing in pain. We were still in the Ukraine and I was scared she wouldn't make it home. What if we had left her there, too afraid to take a chance on her? She wouldn't be happily singing in her crib right now.


Here is Victoria now, a happy little sweetie, with light and joy in her eyes.


Please share the stories on Adeye's blog. Maybe their family is out there right now, hoping to find them!

4 comments:

  1. I'll never forget holding Victoria at the airport the day we left and how tiny she was. Now when I see her pictures, they never fail to make me smile. That's what love can do!

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  2. Their eyes haunt anyone with a conscience. Adopt, donate money to save them, or even just speak about them, but never, ever let them be forgotten.

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  3. If you want to adopt, don't forget Chinese babies need nice homes too! I am from China. I want to adopt Chinese babies in the future. However, I am working hard to be financially stable, so I can provide my future adopted children good lives.

    Meanwhile, it hurts me that some babies are dying in Chinese orphanages. So I want to let you know that Chinese orphans are also suffering.

    In China, many girls are killed before they are born. Then, a big percentage of baby girls are abandoned or killed shortly after birth. As a result, more than 90% of children in orphanages are girls.

    Gender Selection Abortion in China:
    http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/421455/1/.html

    Chinese orphanages are horrible. This article was written in 1996. I am not sure about the current situation, as I have lived in North America for more than a decade.

    I had a friend, who witness healthy newborns were placed in a dying room with opening windows during winter, as government didn't have enough funding.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2349973/

    ReplyDelete

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