Learning Together at Nanning SWI..from Tots to Teenagers

It was a wet start to our training.....and almost impossible to get a taxi in Nanning!

                                                        ..but we got there in the end......

and met with a crowded room at Nanning SWI with foster mothers, babies 

and our special guests the teenage girls. 

Given the topic of our training it was felt wisest to split from the teenage boys.

 I had prepared a training specifically for teenage boys but it was presented by Peter in a different room

Our topic, requested by foster families and SWI staff was awareness of sexual issues and prevention of abuse. Sadly this is a common problem throughout the world, and particularly amongst the vulnerable living in institutions. Foster mothers asked for help in making the teenagers aware of the issues in a positive way.

No small task there?

Therefore with some trepidation we began.......

I am well used to chatting to teenagers about difficult issues...but it seemed a bit daunting to have to go straight into such personal issues with teenagers we did not know and who may well have looked at us as "aliens from afar!

So we started with some ball throwing, tell us something about yourself ..which caused lots of giggles and broke the ice!

 The girls were then asked to write down any questions they might have regarding sex

 and pop them in the Magic Hat!

Tho our friend here was much happier just wearing the Hat :-)

             When everyone was relaxed we began the presentation, ably translated by Xiao Xiao.

I think we managed to present delicate isssues to the teenagers and they certainly seemed happy to listen, discuss and even argue at points!

At the end, it was rewarding to pull their questions from the Magic Hat and discuss together with Xiao how they might deal with issues to keep themselves safe.

Afterwards they were happy to chat & laugh at our photos from home- 

especially the one of a strange Chinese man wearing a skirt :-)

                                                                  
                                                                   ( Matthew in a kilt)

                                                             

After a short break we moved on to Practical Parenting for the foster mothers-

 a Presentation prepared in direct response to the questions they had asked .

These mothers are an inspiration working hard to do the best for the children in their care

and eager to learn how to do things even better.

It was important to share with them that parenting is a tough job for us all

there are no experts

and we all have to learn together!

 We had some fun with the mothers desperate to share positive things about their children in order to pick a prize from the Bag :-) Then it was down to business!

 The questions were common ones........................

How to promote self esteem in our children,

 how to communicate, 

encourage,

discipline, 

teach about sex and much more......

                                                   
                                                     This was one of my favourite slides :-)

                                          A picture paints a thousand words right enough.........

              Anecdotal stories from us all lightened the mood and helped us all to learn together.

 Foster mums were most impressed with the reward charts we had brought 

and were keen to discuss how best to use them. 

I have made sure to get plenty more to bring for this trip!

 While all this serious stuff was going on the littlies were quite happily occupying themselves around the room

                                                 
                                                   This little one just loved her new found  Jie Jie

......with even a few outsiders looking in from kindergarten!

We ended with one of my favourite stories- The Starfish

 We can't do it all!

But we can make a difference!

We can't ask more?

After all the serious work, outside to play and share gifts with our Hope4China Nanning children .

It is always quite awesome to think of the amazing difference so many faithful people around the world can make in the lives of these little ones.

A Precious Picture!

                    Thank you Hope4China Sponsors and Grace-Hope Staff for making this possible!

                                                                       then time for home.......

We left, as always , amazed and humbled by these women who take such good care of their foster children.

It was a Blessing to be there!

Nappy Challenge for Warm Bots!

I don't think we can imagine much worse?

Cold wet and sore bottoms on top of many other problems and hardships.......

We are taking lots of Sudocrem on our trip in February along with other meds for babies and children in orphanages. 

But we also need to raise funds for Pampers ( or other high quality nappies) to help keep the older children dry. Their Foster mothers already do a wonderful job  of providing 24/7 love, support and care for these precious children. They value the Pampers Nappies you provide so much that they try to make them last longer by inserting the cheaper versions inside to be removed when dirty , lengthening the life of the Pampers to keep their children dry!

We have funds for Nappies for      :-

               

                    January- Christmas Donations

February- Anne

March - Anne

April - Anne

May- Jean
June- Gill
July - Lee, Goggs and Iain

August- Sharyn & Amy

September - Mary Russell School

October - Alison
November- Vince, Lesley & Dalry Primary School
December - Desheng Families

Thank you ALL so much!!!!!!!
We did it!!!!!!!!

We are contacting Pampers in China to see if they can help, 

and Pampers giving here in the UK to make our money go as far as possible.
Any size contributions are wonderful to make up the £50 for each month.

                                           Helen making our purchases and delivery China style!

 Our children and foster mothers going home delighted with their Pampers!!

Happy Customers :-)

Thank you so much!

New Hope for the New Year of the Dragon 2012

The Year of the Dragon is one that brings Happiness and good Fortune.

It is one of the most positive and strongest of all the 12 Signs.

 It is considered a favourable year for new ventures......

We move into the New Year of the Dragon with great Hope for our special children, 

and the mothers fighting against the odds to keep and help their children with special needs.

Helen has been working hard visiting the mothers fostering our New Hope children,

bringing them extra support,

encouraging them in the therapy which is so hard to do, but so beneficial for the children,

 providing pampers nappies so that the children can remain dry and comfortable for longer.

And with your help we can provide a small subsidy for the mothers who work above and beyond,
 24/7 for these children

provide specialist chairs and equipment to help make their life just a little easier

Warm clothes to help keep inactive kids cosy in the chilly winter months

Aren't these smiles just precious?

               Our Linda, here with her new foster family, settling in well and with her new cozy clothes!

We also have 4 new families who need our help to be able to keep their children with Cerebral Palsy in their own homes and have the means to help them and have hope for the future.

                                             In this New Year of the Dragon, we need :-

• £50 a month to help provide Pampers nappies for all the children-so anyone could sponsor one month.
• £10 a month for each foster mother to provide a Subsidy to help encourage foster mothers in their demanding role- anyone can sponsor just one month for one mother and help to make this possible.

If you can help us to do this, you can make a donation on the Donate Paypal Button 

and mark it for Nappies or  Subsidy. 

Every little helps to make a difference for these children!

Xin Nian Kuai Le

Xie Xie Ni 

xxx

Old Friend Noodles in Nanning

                          At last...

we can move into the 2011 Adventures in China!!!!!!!

This year's trip was once again special for many reasons.......

it was one of these events seemingly organised "from above" 

and was once again so important at many different levels. 

And so after a lot of amazing co-incidences, on October 5th,  

I set off for China with my Old Friend (known hereafter as Lady A) 

to work with the children of Guangxi!

Anyone who knows Lady A and wonders about the title, just needs to ask me privately about Pilots, I-pods, Tea Shops..and so much more :-)

After telling Lady A that all she needed were cropped trousers & T-shirts, we arrived to torrential rain and cold weather!!!!!!!!

Never have I experienced that in October???

My credibiity was gone!

                                   After settling into our "home" at the Majestic, we were ready to seek out food.

For those who know the area, we were disappointed to find that Food Street ( the wonderful restaurant where you could order ANYTHING Chinese was gone. )

Lady A was unimpressed , having been assured that there was wonderful food available on our doorstep...

my credibility took a further dive........

                                     We set off in the rain to see what we could find at this time.....

                                                   Nanning was very different in torrential rain!

                             Matthew by now in the bright pink to prevent being soaked to the skin!

However, the day was about to be saved as we came to a little Noodle shop tucked away in a quiet street.

We dripped to our table and sat down to share the specially ordered

Old Friend Noodles

                                         

The noodles have a history of a century. 

It is storied that there was a father who drunk tea in Zhou’s Teahouse everyday. 

Once, he missed due to a cold, the boss of Zhou’s Teahouse cooked a bowl of noodles with spicy ground garlic, lobster sauce, chili, sour bamboo shoot, ground beef and pepper for him. 

The father had a sweat and got his illness released after eating the noodles. 

Thus, the noodles gain the name (Old Friend Noodles).

It was very fitting after a friendship of many many years, and a journey of many, many miles to sit down in Nanning and share Old Friend Noodles together

                     Good humour restored, we set off into the rain again to seek out shops!!!!!!!!
                                                              It had got even wetter!!!!!

                                                   Our star buy was this wonderful Umbrella!

                                  PS It was not raining in Walmart!!! We just wanted to try it out :-)

                So we had arrived, survived the long flights, the crazy rain, 

and were ready to start our work the next day!