Egg My Yard

A team from North Darien Bible Church will be traveling this summer to serve with Foundation for His Ministry in Baja, California, Mexico.  As part of our fund raising efforts, we are Egging Yards for Easter.

EGG MY YARD!

Support the North Darien Bible Church Mission Trip to Mexico.

Order your candy-filled eggs to be delivered to your yard for Easter morning fun!

Contact Natalie Keller at ntkeller08@gmail.com to order.

15 eggs for $10

25 Eggs for $15

50 Eggs for $30

100 Eggs for $50

You can check out more about our Missions Trip at www.facebook.com/BajaSummerTrip

If you'd like to order, you can fill out the form by clicking here.  

You can donate to our trip by clicking here.

Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign For Andre

I always say that I'm not going to do Reece's Rainbow's Christmas campaign but then I can't help myself. Kids need families. If a big grant is what gets them one, then I'll keep advocating and fund raising.

This little hunk is not even 2 yet. I refuse to watch him grow up in pictures---unless it's pictures taken by his new family. Kids shouldn't grow up in orphanages. They need love and families and security. I often wonder how Sara's progress would different be if she had been adopted sooner. You rarely see kids this young in his country! He needs a family now!! The early years are so crucial.

More than a big grant, this little guy needs some early intervention and love! Would you consider being his family? Watch for fund raisers for the next few months. I'm committed to raising his grant but more committed to finding him a family!

For more of his story, check out his RR profile: http://reecesrainbow.org/102230/andre
You can follow all the fundraisers and updates on this facebook page.

*Coffee and Travel mugs to support your favorite professional and college sports teams. This runs through December 14th.

*To make a purchase to benefit his adoption fund, you can order avon here: www.youravon.com/adoption

*You can also purchase hand made knit items including scarves, ruffle skirts, stockings, dish clothes, hair pompoms, and tons of other things. Check out the photo albums on my knitting page to see what is available.

*Use my Amazon link. A percentage of each purchase will go to his fund.

*Auction for Andre is happening December 4th-13th. Check it out here.

*You can get a Christmas ornament with Andre's adorable picture by making a $35 or more donation to his adoption grant.

Past Fund Raisers:
*Pampered Chef Party. Through October 31st.

*Shop the Virtual Craft Fair. The facebook group is here. The list of vendors is here. This runs from November 1-15th.
*LuLaRoe Pop-Up. November 12-13. If you haven't experienced LuLaRoe's clothes yet, you need to! So very comfortable and versatile! Feel free to join the group at any time but only purchases made during the November 12-13 sale will count towards Andre.

To inquire about adopting him or the process for his country, send me a message!

Missions Trip Fund Raisers

Current Fund Raisers:

You Caring Link

Avon Link - 20% of each purchase will go to the missions trip.  Please follow my facebook page for sales and special codes.

Amazon Link - a percentage of each purchase  made through this link will go to the missions trip.  (The percentage varies.)  

Scarves and Skirts for Sara - Hand knit items.  50%  of each purchase goes to the missions trip.  Custom orders accepted!

Baja T-Shirts - Each shirt is $20 including shipping.  Shirts can be ordered on this form.



Future Fund Raisers:
Online Auction

Baby Leo---So Many Thoughts

Everyone in the Down syndrome community (and society in general) is all abuzz about Baby Leo and his dad.  When the story first broke, Leo's Dad claimed that he was given an ultimatum:  His baby (who has DS) or his wife.  He was declared a hero and thousands upon thousands were raised for him and his son on their Go Fund Me page.  A few days later, the mom came out with her side of the story.  It's a story that struck a chord with me because it's so true all over the world.  She knew that her son would not be accepted in her native Armenia so she wanted to place the baby in an orphanage.  After all, that's what people do in Armenia (and around the world) when their child is born with a disability.

Now, of course, there are a million questions and speculations going on:

*Why isn't the mom going with the Dad to New Zealand? 
*Why couldn't they raise the child together in Armenia?
*Do most kids with disabilities in Armenia really end up in orphanages?
*Does the dad really need all that money?
*Were the parents going to get divorced any way?
*Is that dad really a nice guy?
*Doesn't the dad already have tons of money?
*What is the dad going to do with all that money?
*Did the dad already have a disabled child and family in New Zealand?

And on and on and on.....

I have no idea where the donations are coming from.  Are they from mostly Americans?  Armenians? Or people all over the world? I don't know.

I find it fascinating that so many people care about this little baby.  I'm glad they do.  They should.  But there are so many kids around the world (and in our own country) with Down syndrome and other disabilities that no one cares about.  In the US, an estimated 92% of women who get a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to end that pregnancy.  Americans have no right to judge how other countries deal with children with Down syndrome.  We don't even let them exist.

In many countries around the world, children with disabilities are given up at birth and placed in orphanages or institutions.  (That is my daughter's story.)  It wasn't that long ago that we did just that the in the US.  Hid kids away and told their families to forget they existed. I won't judge birth parents for doing that.  They don't know any differently and are following the advice of doctors and "experts."  To say they are unwanted or were unloved because of their disability majorly oversimplifies a very complex issue. 

People all over the world have a lot of work to do to overcome the huge stigma of disability.  This is true of the US, Colombia, Armenia, and the entire world.  Until then, we need to find ways to support families so they can have the confidence and ability to raise their children.  All of their children.  Mission to Ukraine is a great example of an agency doing that every day in Eastern Europe.

If you want to help children who have already been placed in orphanages because of their disability, you can check out Maya's Hope.

If you would like to help some kids in the same country as baby Leo find adoptive families, you can make a donation to any of these kids.  Or pick one and share their profile!

If you would like to help a family that is adopting two kids from the same country as baby Leo, you can make a donation to the VanHalle family here.

Let's not worry about who is right and who is wrong in the situation.  Let's use it to highlight the plight of kids with Down syndrome around the world.  Let's use it to make a child or family's life a little better!  

If baby Leo's story makes you mad or  sad or indignant or even curious, do something about it!

Implications

I found out a few weeks ago that Sara's orphanage closed.  It made me really sad but I couldn't figure out why.  I visited the orphanage briefly but I didn't really have any emotional connection to it.  Sara hadn't been there very long.  It's not like she had spent most of her young life there.  But still, it made me sad.

I touched on the history of adoption in Colombia here.  Basically, during the 80s and 90s (and into this century), Colombia was a baby factory for families in Europe (and some in the US) seeking to adopt infants.  Private adoption houses were created.  Pregnant young and/or poor women could come to the house and receive room, board, and medical treatment.  Their babies were then adopted out to foreign families.  These adoption houses could conduct private adoptions separate from the social service agency.  Most of them had (and still have) private foundations that support them.  

While I won't get into Sara's social history here (some things are only for her mama to know and be heartbroken over), I will say that she was moved to one of these private adoption houses in order to find her a family.  (It worked!)   In the middle of my process, her house lost its license due to some financial indiscretions.  I was able to complete her adoption through social services but her house was not allowed to complete any more private adoptions.   I was told at the time that social services was taking over the house and children in their care would continue to reside there and be placed there.  

A few weeks ago, I asked the agency about another little boy with Down Syndrome that was in Sara's orphanage.  They told me that the orphanage had been closed and that all the children had been moved.  They no longer have his file so they are not sure where he was transferred.  I didn't make a big deal about the closing but it did make me really sad.  We were at my parents at the time so I didn't really have time to figure it out.  

A few days later, Sara and I attended a fundraiser for a great grant organization that helped us out with travel expenses.  (I could write a whole post about that.  They kept thanking us for coming.  I went to thank THEM!)  One of the questions they asked was about the timing of the adoption.  What would it have meant to Sara if the adoption had been stalled because of a lack of funds?  I hadn't thought about it until then but it suddenly came to me:  She would have moved AGAIN.  The orphanage closed 3 months after we got home.  If I had hit any more snags; If I had waited to commit; If I had to wait for grant funds; If I had to wait for loan approval; If, if if....  If the timing had been a little different, my poor baby would have moved again.  She would have left behind everything and everyone she knew days or weeks or months before leaving it all again to move in with her mom.  

Sara is very adaptable.  She will go anywhere with anyone.  I used to think this was a good thing.  (It's great that your child gets on the bus and doesn't cry or stays with a baby sitter, right?)  Now, I'm realizing it's another sign of her young life.  She has moved a lot.  A lot for a four year old.  She is used to going with new people to new places.  

I had to list all the addresses I've lived at in the last 25 years for part of the adoption process.  The list was so long.  It was almost embarrassing.  The difference is that I always moved with my family.  She has moved alone from place to place.  She has given up everything she knows countless times.  I am so glad to know that if she ever moves again, she will move with her family.

I'm so grateful that Sara came home before the orphanage closed.  My heart breaks for all those other children that had to move again.  

Baja Trip - Part 1

Last weekend, I flew to San Diego with two coworkers to check out some organizations in Baja California, Mexico that are hoping to open some orphanages for special needs kids in the fall. This was my first trip like this with work so I had no expectations whatsoever. It turned out to be a pretty cool trip.


The two coworkers that I went with were pretty nervous to go into Mexico. I kept assuring them we would be fine. Their nervousness was what allowed me to go on the trip---I went as the official Baja expert and Spanish-speaker. We were supposed to be driven into Mexico by someone from California but he backed out at the last minute so we rented a car. I assured them there was really only one turn and as long as you didn't miss it, you couldn't get lost. Well, we missed it and took a little tour of Tijuana. I thought maybe they should conquer their fears early.

Our main contact was at Genesis Diez (http://www.genesisdiez.org/home.html). Their main ministry is a summer camp for kids from orphanages in Tijuana and Ensenada called Rancho Genesis. We were told that there are 98 orphanages in Baja California Norte. Most of these children are placed by social services and are not true orphans. We got to be at the camp for their Friday Night Bonfire. It was really special to share that moment with the campers and with the work group that had come down.

In the fall, Genesis Diaz is hoping to open a 6-bed home for children with special needs. Kim and I stayed in the home that isn't quite finished yet. (It was interesting to shower with no shower curtain in a bathroom with a door that doesn't close.) We were able to meet two of the kids that will be a part of the home. (I really wish I had taken more pictures but everyone else was taking so many. I didn't want to look like the paparazzi.)

On Saturday, we met with two other groups of people that are starting group homes for kids with special needs. One in Rosarito called Catherine's home and the other in Ensenada on the property of the Calvary Bible Chapel Bible Institute. (Sadly, I can't remember the name of the home. Both groups have great visions that will really help the children of this area. I'm really excited to see this partnership develop and to see these dreams come to fruition.