Just before I left China, we got the chance to go to the orphanage and pick up some more babies. You have no idea how much I love bringing babies to Starfish!! I wanted to get five cleft palate babies and prepare them for the two medical teams who are coming in July 2010. The plan was to leave for New York and then leave responsibility of taking care of them to Elise, a Dutch volunteer who has been coming to Starfish since March 2009. She took time off work and planned to spend 4 months with us in in China. In her previous life she was a neonatal ICU nurse, specializing in premature babies so it was a really good person to leave this huge task to.
As always, we got more than I planned. I always think of the one rather than a group (as in 1....1.....1....1....1....1). We brought six babies home. The orphanage worker kept on adding a baby and finally I said yes, a very unexpected addition. She was the only one who did not have a cleft palate. I have never named a baby and have always asked volunteers to do that. So we got names from people who come from all over the world. So we now have an Angela, Isaac, Ryan, Kathryn and Elise. Our surprise was named: Amanda which means worthy of love. That would be the second Amanda. The first one was one of the original six babies when I started in 2005. Later when she was adopted her parents decided to keep her name.
Elise took some pictures and I wanted to share that with you. The time lapse is so important to see where they start off and what a few weeks can do for them. Thank you to Elise and Jack a 17 year who spent 2 months with us at Starfish and became Papa to the six babies as they stayed in the volunteer apartment, before Elise moved them out.
Life, love and laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 112 children to date, arranged more than 80 surgeries and had 31 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain and in China. Our latest four adoptions took place in two weeks and we now have babies in three new places: Sweden, Denmark and Canada and a new US state, Georgia. We currently have 52 babies under the age of 3 and two foster homes. We have ten babies matched and we are waiting for their families to come and get them.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
New email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 112 children to date, arranged more than 80 surgeries and had 31 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain and in China. Our latest four adoptions took place in two weeks and we now have babies in three new places: Sweden, Denmark and Canada and a new US state, Georgia. We currently have 52 babies under the age of 3 and two foster homes. We have ten babies matched and we are waiting for their families to come and get them.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
New email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Kathryn
Elise
