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January, 2001 | |
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Dear Sponsors, Some of the Amity staff traveled to Jiangxi province in December and were able to visit seven Jiangxi orphanages, while an Amity Grandma visited an eighth orphanage! This is a brief update based on their trip report and on other information I've received from Amity during the last few months. A lot of wonderful work is going on, which will improve the lives of hundreds of Jiangxi's orphans. Your support for this work is much appreciated. Without you, it wouldn't have happened.
Foster Care: As mentioned in my last update we've increased the number of children we're sponsoring in foster care. We've added new foster care programs in some orphanages. We've also increased the number of children in foster care at some of the orphanages where we were already sponsoring children. Most of the new children are toddlers or older and many have mild special needs. Recently Amity has added a foster care program at Leping. The orphanages where we're now sponsoring foster care include Nanchang, Jiujiang, Guixi, Wanzai, Xinyu, Yingtan, Pingxiang and Leping. It looks like we may have the opportunity to sponsor some children in foster care from Gao'an. Amity visited many of the homes and here are some of their comments: "We found that each foster care family loved the child that was put into their care very much, treating the child as their own. All the children we saw were clean and beautifully dressed. Some of them wore sweaters that were knitted by the foster mom themselves. We also found all the children were well fed. We could see that there is an attachment between children and their respective foster moms. All of the children were more active and lively than they were in the orphanage." And, here's a recounting of their visit with one of our older foster children, who had surgery this summer: |
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"We also saw CHH, she could walk
with crutches now and she could also stand and walk a little without
crutches. She is in a foster care family. Her foster
mom loves her very much and helps her do the rehabilitation exercises.
The foster mom has her own daughter, who is a little younger than CHH.
The younger sister loves CHH, too. She calls CHH "sister". She helps CHH do rehab and they play together. When we visited them, they were drawing a picture together. It's a happy family. CHH likes singing and drawing." |
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We've received and distributed photos of the new foster children from Yingtan, Xinyu and Pingxiang to their sponsors. Amity put the photos of the Leping children in the mail January 19th. Although the fee paid to the foster families will remain the same at most of the orphanages, it will increase in Nanchang and Jiujiang. If you're sponsoring a child from either of these orphanages, but feel you are already paying as much as you can afford or want to pay, I'll make up the difference from "wherever it's needed most" donations. So please don't be concerned about this upcoming increase. If any of you would like to make a donation to help with these increased fees that would be great. |
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Hugging Grannies: These loving and hardworking women help bring care and attention to all those children we're not able to get into foster care and help them progress developmentally. Amity hasn't yet found Grandmas for the Xinyu and Yingtan orphanages, but they are still working on this. The Grandmas at Nanchang, Jiujiang, Guixi and Yichun continue their special work. Here's Amity's report on the Nanchang Grandmas: |
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"Grandma Tang, a retired special education teacher, was teaching a song to children when we entered the children's room. The children sang a song for us while we were there. Grandma Tang and the other Grandmas think of interesting ways to teach the children; combining joy and learning, entertainment and knowledge. |
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The
children like this way of learning and can absorb it quickly. They
learn characters, numbers and common knowledge about themselves and
nature through this kind of song."
I just received the news that Amity has started two new Grandmas at the Ruijin orphanage, so we will be sponsoring them as well.
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Medical Needs - Heart Surgeries Needed for Four Children: There were reports on medical needs from several of the orphanages. Some children have had their surgeries and more are scheduled to have surgery with the support we recently sent. "Katie", the little girl that had open heart surgery with the donations many of you sent, has improved. She is now a healthy pink instead of a blue color and appears much more well. But, her congenital heart disease is an uncommon type and not as easily fixed as other types. So, she is still requiring medical care and will have a second surgery this year. We have enough funds to cover "Katie's" second surgery, but not enough for four other children that also need heart surgery. These include a two year boy and a two year old girl from Nanchang, an eight year girl from Xinyu (who says she loves to play football and got 100% on her recent math mid-term) and another child from the Xinyu orphanage. I don't have details of their conditions yet, but will get more information soon. I hope that some of you will be interested in helping these children. I'd love to make sure that YZ can play football with her friends and that the other children can also thrive!
Schooling: The Amity staff members were able to visit with several of the schoolchildren that we're sponsoring. You can read about them in the more detailed Field Visit Report. Many of you have received the photo of your schoolchild and often there was also a letter and a school report. Amity has said that they will send a mid-term report on all of the children, after they return from their New Year holiday week on January 31.
Equipment Needs - Gao'an Needs Beds and Warm Quilts: Amity visited the Gao'an orphanage during this trip and as noted their report, they found that is was a poor orphanage and in much need of assistance. Some of their comments include: "The beds in the children's rooms are old and shabby and the quilts are old. There is little furniture in the students' rooms and no pillows or desk lights. The children's rooms are poorly lit and cold in the winter. There is no washing machine, so they have to wash clothes with their own hands." In case any of you might be able to help, here is a list of their requests (all in US dollars):
Equipment Needs - Jiujiang Needs Beds and Medical Equipment: The Jiujiang Welfare institute has just built a new medical clinic and rehab building, so that if the children in the orphanage get sick, they can receive a medical exam and treatment conveniently and immediately. Once it is equipped, it will enable them to provide medical treatment that they might not otherwise be able to afford, to the children. It's quite expensive for them to send the children to the hospital. The rehab equipment will enable them to help their disabled children. This type of equipment and therapy would not otherwise be available to the children. This building was built in large part by the $3000 donation required from adoptive families. The Chinese government limits how the orphanage can spend this money. For example, a large percentage can be used to build new buildings, but none of it can be used to hire additional caregivers. So, many of the orphanages have built new buildings, but then have difficulties equipping them. Here's Jiujiang's request for items they need for this new facility (in US dollars):
Thank you again for your help in making all of this happen. It's wonderful to think of all the positive changes in the lives of these children. And if you'd like to make any additional contributions, please feel free to contact us. Sincerely,
Peggy Gurrad
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