ADDITIONAL INFO ON LEAH CAN BE AVAILABLE contact andrea roberts at www.reecesrainbow.com
The scruggs family had to come back to the States and had to leave their new daughter in China with a foster family. Praying that the test will come back soon so they can go back and get their daughter ASAP. below is the links for the goodbye of daddy and his daughter.
Part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKp1jVkIMYo
Part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s673ld--WgI
Can you imagine traveling around the world and adopting a beautiful 4 year old to later be told that you can not bring her home. The US will not allow this child to come home as of now as she tested positive for TB. Below is their picture and their blog please read it and say prayers
I was over checking out all the little ones on the new site and boy do we have alot of cuties. Look at our little Magda(25) you can already see that she is going to have a spunkiness about her. Then I looked a little more and almost drowned in Duncan(31)'s baby blue eyes. I came across Anna2(9) and Ross(20) and could not help but smile as you can see that they are going to be thier moms silly ones that will always have you smiling. Then I found the perfect anidate for a Reeces Rainbow Pageant; Yup our lil miss Cordelia(37) she can win hands down. I found a little one that looks like she would want to be snuggled all the time. Sophia(3) is just waiting for her mommas arms. Caitlin(23) has the cutest little pout going on. Don't you just want to pick her up and hold her forever? Lera(4).... she just has that look like she is pleading for her mommy to find her. Then I found our princess Lilly that looks as if she has tears in her eyes. I just wanted to reach through the computer and pick her up and show her the love that she so needs and just be there to wipe away there tears and promise her that everything will now be alright. Linda Duncan are you sure you do not want to travel again? That is all I can think when I see Julianna's picture as she looks so much like your daughters. Then I saw that Santa and his little elves delivered a very special gift on Christmas eve... Mary Margaret. Look at them creamy brown eyes that would melt anyones heart. Oh I see my little John and Joseph are still available also. Who could ask for a cuter set of brothers. I am so shocked that their mom and dad have not found them yet. Go look at these handsome boys; you can see they have alot of love to offer a family. Leah(9) look at that heart stopping grin. She is just too cute. Then I saw lil miss innocent looking Iryna(33) won't you be her mom and let us all enjoy being her auntie. THen last but not least is my all time favorite.... ERNIE... how can you look at him and his beautiful smile and not want to run all t he way to Mexico and bring him home? He is going to be a blessed addition to a family.... How I wish it could be mine.
Sophia (3)
Girl, Born November 12, 2007
These girls are at risk of being taken into a new foster care program in their region. Technically that should be a good thing, but there are still no resources for them, no place in their society, and no care for them as adults.
Families who are paper-ready would be the ideal choice for these angels, but any family is welcome. Families committing to these girls must be open and aware that they may need to choose a different child at some point during the process, if the child ends up being fostered by a native family.
Contact Andrea directly for more information
I have $0 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!
Andrey P (14 or 7)
Boy, Born June 27, 2004
What a precious, lively, glowing with happiness little boy! Andrey is facing institutionalization very soon....I can't bear the thought of that happening to him. He will bring the greatest joy to any family who adopts him! We so hope he will be saved by a committed family!
Andrey does have an ASD and a PDA. He will likely require surgery when gets home, but this heart condition does not seem to have impaired him much! He is very active, crawling, playing, and very lively! He is an orphanage favorite and is loved by all of the staff and the other children. They desperately want to find a family for him right away!
He is up and learning to walk with a push walker, but will likely have to be adopted from the institution. Please save him!
From one of our adoptive families who visited with him in May of 2009: " He is such a camera lover. I snuggled him for quite a while!! He can pull to standing position, but I didn't see him take any steps but I think he is a bit lazy. LOL The caregivers think he can do much more than he lets on but is just to lazy to do it! He has a beautiful smile and engages well. He tracks and has great eye contact. What a cutie!!!
The children in this orphanage are VERY well taken care of. They are blessed by the financial and humanitarian support of a very large aid group, meaning adequate food, stimulation, toys, and even therapeutic items. They are all being raised with the typical children, so this helps them be even more high functioning. Even more so, they are shared with us by a loving director who genuinely wants to see these angels find families. We are honored to be able to seek families for these children, and hope we can succeed in placing ALL of them very quickly!
Contact Andrea directly for more information
I have $3295 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!
Luke (23)
For those of you who wax, you will understand fully and those who don't will never make this mistake. Better go pee before you read
this. This by far is one of the funniest things I have ever read. Hope to put a smile on your face: Rita
All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - the Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and
now...the wax. Read on..
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours:
'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.
It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius
kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees.
('Cold wax,' yeah.. Right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. IT WORKS!
Ok, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all
wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting
championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the
right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down the inside of my butt cheek (it *was* a long
strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself..... RRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPP!
I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!!.....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half
the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out..must stay conscious..must stay conscious.
Do I hear crashing drums???? Breathe, breathe .OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the
strip. There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX????
Slyly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair.. The hair that should be on the strip.. It's not!! I
touch. I am touching wax.
I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake... remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down..
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do next and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the
wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right????
*WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture 20 prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.
Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom
of the tub..in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation
starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'
There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to
know exactly where the wax is located, 'are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'
She's laughing out loud by now... I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!!!! RIGHT!!!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.
While we go through the various solutions, I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than having
your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!!!
By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace..the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I
really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!
The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooo painful, but I really don't care. 'IT
WORKS!!!! It works!!!!'
I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my
grief and despair..THE HAIR IS STILL THERE..ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color!
> Poem to MOM:
>
> My son came home from school one day,
> With a smirk upon his face.
> He decided he was smart enough,
> To put me in my place.
>
> 'Guess what I learned in Civics Two,
> that's taught by Mr. Wright?
> It's all about the laws today,
> The 'Children's Bill of Rights.'
>
> It says I need not clean my room,
> Don't have to cut my hair
> No one can tell me what to think,
> Or speak, or what to wear...
>
> I have freedom from religion,
> And regardless what you say,
> I don't have to bow my head,
> And I sure don't have to pray.
>
> I can wear earrings if I want,
> And pierce my tongue & nose.
> I can read & watch just what I like,
> Get tattoos from head to toe.
>
> And if you ever spank me,
> I'll charge you with a crime.
> I'll back up all my charges,
> With the marks on my behind.
>
> Don't you ever touch me,
> My body's only for my use,
> Not for your hugs and kisses,
> that's just more child abuse.
>
> Don't preach about your morals,
> Like your Mama did to you.
> That's nothing more than mind control,
> And it's illegal too!
>
> Mom, I have these children's rights,
> So you can't influence me,
> Or I'll call Children's Services Division,
> Better known as C.S.D.'
>
>
>
> Mom's Reply and Thoughts:
>
>
> Of course my first instinct was
> To toss him out the door.
> But the chance to teach him a lesson
> Made me think a little more.
>
> I mulled it over carefully,
> I couldn't let this go.
> A smile crept upon my face,
> he's messing with a pro.
>
> Next day I took him shopping
> At the local Goodwill Store.
> I told him, 'Pick out all you want,
> there's shirts & pants galore.
>
> I've called and checked with C.S.D ....
> Who said they didn't care
> If I bought you K-Mart shoes
> Instead of those Nike Airs.
>
> I've canceled that appointment
> To take your driver's test.
> The C..S.D. Is unconcerned
> So I'll decide what's best. '
>
> I said 'No time to stop and eat,
> Or pick up stuff to munch.
> And tomorrow you can start to learn
> To make your own sack lunch.
>
> Just save the raging appetite,
> And wait till dinner time.
> We're having liver and onions,
> A favorite dish of mine.'
> He asked 'Can I please rent a movie,
> To watch on my VCR?'
> 'Sorry, but I sold your TV,
> For new tires on my car.
> I also rented out your room,
> You'll take the couch instead.
> The C .S.D. Requires
> Just a roof over your head.
> Your clothing won't be trendy now,
> I'll choose what we eat.
> That allowance that you used to get,
> Will buy me something neat.
> I'm selling off your jet ski,
> Dirt-bike & roller blades.
> Check out the 'Parents Bill of Rights',
> It's in effect today!
> Hey hot shot, are you crying,
> Why are you on your knees?
> Are you asking God to help you out,
> Instead of C.S.D...?'
Two little ones laid alone in their cribs. They'd had little to eat and drifted in and out of sleep for lack of anything better to do.
The little boy's body was wracked with sickness and he laid in his excrement in a room by himself for hours until the next broth filled bottle would arrive along with a fresh rolled-blanket which was used for a diaper. His 3 layers of clothes kept him warm but were seldom changed and his cleaning was done by his bottom being swished under warm running water. Then back to bed he went for more endless hours. The door was closed as the nurses left and with no one to hear or answer his cries he often fell silent.
The little girl watched through the bars of her crib as she and her one roommate that could make eye contact looked toward each other. Without any toys, pictures, or stimulation they often laid quietly. Sometimes they occupied themselves with a soft moaning cry. She rocked herself back and forth in her crib, banging her head against the rails on each rock just to feel that something was there- outside of her self. She didn't have the strength to sit or even hold her head up nor did she have the desire to try. Her hands were her only toys and she gnawed viciously on them. Her clothes were cinched tight from her toes to her neck and her legs stayed curled without room to stretch, her toes permanently turned. Her heart beat faster and faster, her blood pressures rising, her body fighting for life as her heart tried to function while missing its entire center.
Sixteen months for the little boy... 5 years for the girl. Their story started with pain, malnourishment, little medical care, no stimulation, and a sad existence.
It's human to hear this story, to picture these children and to think "who could do this?" "where does the blame lie?" "how can this be?" And then the next questions begin, "how did God allow this?" "where were these children?" "does this still happen today?"
Proverbs 24:11-12 (The Message)
"Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses."
The reality of the situation is this: those two children were born into a society that doesn't accept their differences. It doesn't have a place- right now- for people with any form of disabilities. There is no schooling. There are no therapies. There is no childcare. There is little health care. There is little ability or hope for the mothers that birth children with disabilities to raise them at home. The economy requires 2 parents to work. Grandparents help raise the grandchildren, and that generation is even further engulfed in the idea that people with disabilities cannot survive in society. If a family brings home their disabled infant, by the time the disability is 'found out' the family will often lose their friends, be cast out by society, have little or no family support, and be considered "defective" themselves as it poorly reflects on the family.
Can you imagine... having a difficult time getting pregnant and losing the first baby to miscarriage late in the pregnancy. A second pregnancy and the married couple is filled with joy. The pregnancy shows trouble early on and the baby is tiny. They pray and call out to God to allow their baby to be born alive. At 38 weeks their baby girl is delivered in a cold, rundown hospital and they look at their beautiful new baby... then the doctor comes in and says "she'll never become anything. She can't survive with the defects of her heart. She won't be able to learn, to grow, or to have a good life. Leave her here. Go home. Tell your family that she, too, has passed away. Mourn for the child that you have lost. It's better this way. Don't tell anyone she is defective and it will not be known. You'll go on to have more children that will make you proud one day."
Three and a half years later another young family is expecting their first baby. They are young, just 24 and 25 years old. Without any complications they deliver a sweet healthy baby boy with shots of red hair and a pudgy face. One look at his almond shaped eyes and the doctor repeats the story that he has told many times. "Leave the baby and go. you will have more children that will make you proud one day."
Then the families both leave, heartbroken and believing the lies they were told. They tell their families and friends that their baby is dead. They are gripped with sadness, fear, and that little itch of unknown... is their baby still alive today? Did he live another day? Has she made it to a week old?
Meanwhile the baby is watched carefully for weeks or even months in the hospital and continues to get stronger. One day they are sent to the orphanage where they go to the infirmary to live out her "numbered days." For the girl, five years go by, the boy 16 months, in this same plain crib in the plain colored room with the nurses in plain dress and the plain broth and milk is served. One month before the girl's fifth birthday the papers are drawn up so that on the next transfer date she will be moved again. Her final move. To a mental institution a few towns over.
The nurses know the stories of the place she'll be sent. They are aware that none of the children that they've sent there have survived more than a few months or a year. They know how ill, how fragile, this little girl is and they have raised her from infancy from behind the glass window in the bed by the wall. They care for her because she is a human and deserves to live. Their ignorance is in how they treat her- without any love or contact. But their hearts still know she is alive and has a soul. With dread they know the approach of the last of her days.
This is how the story begins. The story of Emma's family, of her life in an orphanage. The story of Micah's days. The story of their parents, their grief, the love of the nurses, the lack of knowledge...
This same story is repeated day in and day out. So many children with disabilities of all different varieties are born into societies that doesn't accept them. It's not the fault of their parents, their doctors, their caretakers or anyone else. It is a society that is slowly opening its eyes to the gift of the children. A country that celebrated World Down Syndrome Day on 3/21. A country that is moving toward a more open spirit... but still has a long way to go in their socialized ways, their failing economy, and their healthcare which lags behind by a good 40 years or so.
This country is beautiful. The people are kind. The love or the children is apparent in the eyes and hearts of many of the caregivers in spite of the language barrier and the seemingly barbaric treatment.
Today there are hundreds of children in each orphanage that have no mother, no father. Dozens in each location throughout just this one country have disabilities. Their birth families may have 2 or 3 children at home that play on the playground three blocks from the orphanage, and yet they lay in their bed and wait for the next freshening and bit of broth. So many children... and next week might be that next transfer day. The day the institution's 'ambulance' goes around to the regional orphanages and picks up the children that are slated for transfer.
From place to place they go collecting the 'invalid' children that have no place in the schools that the other children will go to. They arrive at the new facility and are put into their new cribs. If they have the ability to get out, their arms are bound to the rails. If they scratch themselves or pull their hair for stimulation their arms are tied "for their safety". They're fed one meal a day and if they cannot take it from a spoon it will be the same broth or milk that they've lived off of for their first years. No health care is available. No medications administered.
One month after that 5 year old girl was slated to be sent to the institution... one month after God laid out the next part of her testimony and sent an 'unsuspecting' family to bring her home... just one month... the flu went through the institution she would have gone to. That crib "with her name on it" lay empty because she had been set free. And yet around that crib were many more... many more that died. Two of those children I've seen the faces of... one I've watched a video of. Just one month after she was supposed to be there, she, too, would be gone.
I'm impressed that you've made it this far reading, and I realize that news like this is often devastating to hear if it's the first you've heard of it. It can bring an adult to tears just considering it being their own child that went through this existence. Tonight as I listened to my son cry as he fought sleep I considered the children that have no one to answer their cries. He once was that child.
God is amazing. I realize after a story like that it may be hard to see the connection, but He is! It's absolutely true!! The world is in the state it is in because of man, sin, corruption. God didn't want for these to perish, but in a way it is a blessing that the children see only 5 or 6 years of life if their story won't be ending with love and a family. But there just may be a family out there that He has prepared for each and every child. Have you ever thought about that? That maybe He has chosen a couple from here and a mother from there to raise these babies... and He whispers it in their ear each night, and he shows them of His will by day. And do they follow?
I don't suppose that's for me to answer. Maybe it's a question for you?
I'm not saying that God has called everyone to adopt. I know that He's equipped other people to do other things to help bring the children into families. Sometimes it's praying for a child, for a family, for their life, their health, their future. Sometimes it may be contributing to an adoption fund for a child in hopes that it will help the family that God is calling to come for them to be able to follow that step of faith. Sometimes it may be financially investing in a family that's in the process of adopting and has already leaped out of their comfort zone and is trusting God to provide the funding. Sometimes it may be stepping out of your own comfort zone and reaching out to a family that is local and offering a meal, an hour of help around the house, a babysitter so they can go out (we know we have been blessed by people with each of these gifts for us and that others certainly will be too!). And yes, sometimes, it means stepping out in faith, asking the questions, and committing to adopt a special child whose futures are otherwise gone.
How does your story begin? Or maybe, more importantly, where will it go next? Will you follow God's calling to care for the orphans and help change the story's ending for one of His precious children?
This Easter weekend we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was crucified as He held the sins of each and every man that had lived and was yet to come. Mine. Yours. Everyone's. He battled death and the grave and OVERCAME them when he rose on the third day. He walked the Earth then ascended into Heaven where He now sits at the right hand of His Father, God.
The eyes of the children that see only a future of death... they need to know the resurrection of the Father. Their caregivers need so see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of the people stepping forward for the precious ones who are cast aside by society. The Word can be silent... but it speaks volumes. Please consider your role in the lives of orphans this Easter weekend. If you feel called, visit the website www.reecesrainbow.org and take a look around at the families in process and the waiting children. Pray for them. If you feel it's your calling to donate, please do. Ask God to reveal to you a family that's altered the life of an orphan near you. Step out in faith and offer a hand. Help however you are called... but find the calling... It's there.
I think we need a birthday party, don't you?! It is my 41st.birthday on 4/10. I would love to share my birthday with all of my friends and the little ones on Reeces Rainbow; But one of them is still waiting to get home and his family needs a little help in collecting the funds. He is still waiting for his turn to be the Prince of the Ball.
I would really, truly, expressly love it to see us have a birthday party that would bring some cheer to our cyber family and funds for Alexsey's adoption fund.
Can we see a huge donation of cheer? I bet we sure can! To put on a party we need decorations. Who can help? What we'll do is donate the money and figuratively decorate our ballroom. Please look at the price list and see what you can contribute! We'll need LOTS of decorations so pick what you can help with. If you can think of anything else I missed make sure to let the group know.
Balloons $5
Streamers $5
Punch $10
Party Hats $10
Party Blowers $10
Gift Bags $20
Presents $20
Disco Ball $50
Multi tied Birthday Cake, each tier is $15...how many tiers high can we built it???
Lets get these donated at:
http://smilingallthewayback.blogspot.com/
I know we can have the Ball of the Year!! Lets see just how much fun we can create. When you have "purchased" your item, please post to let us know so we can all imagine our glittering ballroom that is fit for this Prince Charming
Tammy
Boy, Born July 3, 2004
SIGNIFICANT RISK, PLEASE ADOPT ME SOON!!
Ernie is just darling! Look at that smile!
Ernie is considered lower functioning than Cara or Mary Frances, but he has such tremendous potential. He has shown some signs of self-aggression, but these behaviors have been greatly reduced since he was provided his own "foster mom" at the children's home and has benefited from more one on one attention. He is tiny for his age, but doing well physically.
Ernie was found abandoned, there is no knowledge of any parents or other relatives :(
From his caregivers: Emotionally: Low self esteem, self-aggression, low tolerance to frustration and anxiety. He greatly needs the image of a mother, he was assigned a foster mom at the children's home and this resulted in a reduction of his self-aggression. He has definitely benefited from the one on one attention and support, both physically and emotionally.
He goes to CREE where he receives treatment with neurologist & rehabilitation. He is receiving treatment at the Rafaela Arganiz School which specializes in Down Syndrome.
We have requested more detail about these behaviors, and about his current skill level as far as walking, feeding himself, etc. Will post as soon as we have this information. Please consider saving Ernie! He can do so much and will just blossom in a loving family environment!
Married, hetero couples only
Small families preferred (no more than 5 children)
2 trips, both parents for 5 days
Return home for a month, both parents for 10-14 days until court
One parent can leave after court, the other stays another 10-14 days to finalize
Very comfortable accommodations, wonderful staff and officials to work with
EXCELLENT care of the children, including therapy and school
Low cost, approx $18k
Please contact Andrea directly for more information
I have $ 600 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!
for Ernie
ANOTHER FAMILY ADOPTING A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL THERE HAD THE PRIVELEDGE OF VISITING THE ORPHANAGE AND THIS IS THE INFORMATION SHE PASSED ON .....
Ernie is really cute. He had cataract surgery last month, so they had
him in a little protective helmet and his hands were wrapped so he
would not mess with his bandage. I believe it was his left eye. I'll
have to pull his picture up on my other computer. They took it all
off for the picture, but his eye is bandaged.
They said he really needs a mommy! Some of the other children have
adjusted ok without a family, but little Ernie really needs and
desires one-on-one love according to the director and the others
giving us info. He's doing better with someone assigned to him like a
mom now and they think he will do really well once he has a permanent
family.
He was walking with the help of a lady when I first saw him go past.
I didn't realize who it was at first, but the workers were making a
big deal out of him walking like that and seemed excited.
Pamela
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