On this day of reflection, as I scroll through the Blog and Facebook Page for Hope4China'sChildren over 2010, I am in equal measure both amazed and humbled when I realise just quite how much we have achieved together, how many little lives have been changed...........
We began the year with our Jack from Jinchengjiang. A little boy with much pain, finally taken to Guilin where he can have surgery and treatment. We needed funding to make this possible and after a short request via Facebook, we had enough to pay for his care for the year, thanks to AFAC
http://www.afac.info/ in Spain and friends around the world. We have received reports throughout the year showing a little boy thriving and making great progress......
We hope to continue his care through 2011!
New Hope which began from a tiny seed at the beginning of 2010 has been slowly taking root and establishing a strong branches to support our children with major needs.
We are now seeing little flowers blossom.......
.....and as we head into 2011 we are ready to expand and begin helping children in another area......
Shawn's Neurodevelopment therapy programme was wondeful for the children, and Helen was able to travel with her to Beijing for a 3 day intensive course which will now enable her to train new staff in these methods to help more children in Guangxi. We look forward to sharing more of Shawn's work in the Blog throughout the year.
Here was one of our Magical Moments from 2010.....
....when Leo just melted and relaxed....
and is still doing well with this therapy.
I have just received this quarter's reports from Helen and am amazed at the progress being made in these precious childen's lives thro her love, dedication and committment to learning what is best for each child.
Last Chinese New Year,with the help of Desheng Families we were able to bring new hope to our special children at Desheng with some new clothes and H4C staff going in to play with the children. While it was not possible for this arrangement to continue, we have continued to be in touch with the SWI and think of ways to help make life better for these children.
As we go into 2011 we have news of changes at Desheng......
As there are no longer any babies or children without special needs, new measures will be put in place to help meet the needs of the children there. In the meantime, we have been working with Grace-Hope and Desheng SWI staff to assess/measure each child and have a therapy chair made to fit them. These chairs should be ready for Chinese New Year, and it will be a dream come true to finally have these children lifted from the floor, able to sit up and face the world!!!!!!!!!
This has been made possible by the wonderful work of Hope4China friends and supporters around the world , running Christmas stalls and selling goods at school, church fairs.
A true Christmas Gift!
We also hope to raise enough to buy some new chairs for our New Hope children.
In March, Matthew's visit to Scotland was an amazing experience!!
He inspired so many with his insights into life in China and his wonderful work with the girls in Guangxi,
while enjoying taking MORE photos of new experiences :-).
This culminated in a wonderful sharing at Hinckley where many adoptive families
became new sponsors of our girls.
It was wonderful to finally get to Hinckley and meet old and new friends (especially all our cyber friends!!!!!)
And the icing on the cake of course was to be nominated as the CACH charity of the Year for 2010/11.
This has been amazing in enabling us to continue our work in Guangxi.
He shared much of his experience in schools and churches also raising awareness of the needs of the girls. MY students now talk of him as their friend, Matthew :-)
We began this year needing many new sponsors to continue to support our girls and amazingly we have around 35 new sponsors, with some exciting new developments in the pipline with partners to increase these numbers further.....
It has been just priceless to see our girls develop and blossom!
This year we have girls just about to leave University and are in process of looking at jobs, we have a girl running a Pig Farm with her husband (she has just given birth to a beautiful girl!), others beginning work in their local communities and even a few more bringing up babies.........they have all been given hope, choice to become who they are intended to be........
Another of my magical moments was when one of our oldest girls , with us since 2005 and just about to qualify as a psychologist came with us to visit some new girls in our programme. On meeting one desparately poor and introverted girl, she spent time, made contact and shared QQ number to keep in touch with this girl - beautiful and touching!
In May we realised that Hope4China needed to communicate more effectively!!!!!!
And so Hope4China's Facebook Page was established to make it easier and quicker for the Team to share news. It is so easy now for all Team members to share news with over 370 friends who share an interest in helping the children in China.
You can join us here on Hope4ChinasChildren Page:-)
Wang Wang, our girl of Hope
became the face of the Guangxi Girls, raising much needed funds to help our girls
And Pauliina's wonderful work with her team of talented artists and translators produced the wonderful Ten Blazing Suns which has delighted our children and is still selling around the world. Funds from this have already helped our Guangxi girls, with some profits going to this artist to help her continue at art college in Guangxi.
June 1st, Children's Day in China, saw a wonderful oppurtunity for people around the world to celebrate all that we have achieved together thro Hope4China....from parties, barbeques, sponsored walks, school events to simply setting of sky lanterns in Guangxi, UK, Europe and USA.
We hope to build on this as Hope4China'sChildren Day again in 2011...start thinking???????
Throughout the year, it has been really exciting to hear from people all over who have been busy organising events, from a Puppet show in Finland, to Lantern festival in UK, to school events, friend events.......
We cannot tell you how important it is for our work to have so many people involved in helping in this way...so please if you have any ideas, just let us know :-)
Our Marathon runners, David, Terry, Suzanne, Sarah have pounded many miles and achieved amazing amounts of money to make huge differences for our children in China. We cannot thank them enough for all their efforts, and the kind people who have sponsored them!!!!!
Allen and Ann have cycled to Paris and been involved in many other ways helping us to raise funds to help
http://www.prenticeevents.com/
Heather has been working away selling goods on Ebay steadily rasing money for our work.
We have enjoyed help from Graham and the Blackford trust in Edinburgh
http://www.blackfordtrust.org.uk/
Rotary in Dunfermline have helped provide funding to help our work in New Hope.
Our Sponsored Slim (coming again soon :-)with Vicky and Good Rock
http://www.goodrock.org.uk/ , helped us to be fitter and raised more to help children in the north and south of China.
Helen has helped with Barefoot Books- check it out now for amazing bargains!!!
http://www.barefootbooks.com/uk/shop/?bf_affiliate_code=000-04eh
Marcia has helped with Magnolia Dolls
magnoliaHope4China@bizlatino.biz
Iain has been out and about sharing the news of what we do in Hope4China, raising awareness and funds, and of course does the all important task of accounting and managing the thousands of pounds donated to continue our work. A Big and Wonderful job!!!!!!
As our work has grown, so has the team of people needed to make it all happen. This year it has been wonderful to see this Team emerge with Sharon as Nanning Mama, Marion as Yongning Mama. Ellen as a GGEF Mama, Shawn as Special Needs Mama. Heather as Fundraising Mama, Pauliina as Ideas Mama...and so many others( just can't name them all here:-) all blended together to make a difference!
It is wonderful to us to see all this happening!
By the summer, our minds were turning to our October trip back to Guangxi
where it is just fantastic to see the effects of all this hard work!
Matthew and I had spoken about the many needs of the girls and somehow the concept of a Teddy Bear for each girl began to take seed. When a lovely friend shared her daughters Build a Bear outfits/accessories for Hope4China, the Teddy Bears Picnic for all the girls began to take shape. In an amazing venture, with Build a Bear in Edinburgh and Glasgow donating bears and outfits, sponsors around the world sending Teddies, and friends all over donating teddies, making clothes, the Team set off in October, squished Teddies in cases and delivered Teddies to over 100 girls in Da Mo, Nanning, Yizhou and Desheng!!!
We have already received letters back from the girls telling us the Teddies have names,
are keeping them warm and sharing their dreams.
As building relationships with our girls is so important, it was wonderful this year to be able to listen to their Hopes and Dreams and inspire them to follow their dreams thro Ellen's Craft and Inspirational activities...more on this later too...
One of the most important aspects of Hope, is Choice...and that has been an important theme for 2010.
To be trapped in a world with no hope, is to have no choices available.
In Da Mo, a remote and poor Miao village in Jingxi, this has always been a concern.
Although the first girls have been able to go to Middle school, it has not been the "right thing" for some, and so we have been delighted to work with others here, in the US and China to help set up the Butterfly Project where local women can use their own skills to create beautiful dolls and ethnic costumes to raise their own money. The first batch of dolls sold instantly, the money has gone back to the Da Mo women, and the next batch are in progress!
Throughout the year of course, we have had the joy of opening reports of over 100 children whose lives have been changed by the wonderful foster care programmes of Grace- Hope
http://www.grace-hope.org/ , reading of little ones being loved within families with aunties, grandparents, siblings, kindergartens, school...normal life!
One little boy with hydrocephalus, abandoned by parents unable to cope, immediately found a loving foster home.
An eleven year old girl found living alone in a village after her grandmother died, a blind girl found in desparate need of help...all precious children in need of love and care....fostered thro Grace-Hope, sponsored by Hope4China.
We have been able to help with advice on particular problems, help with medical needs and just enjoy being little cogs in the wheels that make a difference.
Of course NONE of this would be possible without our faithful committed sponsors
We truly could not do it without you all!!!
It is impossible to encapsulate all that has happened this year in one blog
but two recent events for me sum up the joy of Hope4China........
Helen indicated that the foster mothers in our New Hope Programme really needed Pampers nappies, costing around £50 a month.
We said OK -we will provide this.
Witin 12 hours wonderful sponsors had provided all the money necessary to make this happen!!!!
A lady in Dunfermline in her eighties....has asked that she could donate enough to sponsor a Guangxi Girl thro school for the next eight years. She wanted to pay it all now, in case she is no longer around........!!!!!!
It is a JOY to be a Cog in the Wheel that makes this happen!
Thank you to ALL who make this possible!
So for 2011, we build on all the achievements of 2010 ........
beginning another New Hope Project for children with special needs,
looking for more sponsors for our Guangxi Girls,
continuing to develop relationships between girls and sponsors and schools,
continuing to enable more children to be nurtured within foster care,
developing the Butterfly Project in Da Mo,
and meeting any other needs as we find them working with the wonderful staff in China-
without whom NONE of this would be possible.
Watch this space for more news on the 100 Wishes Quilt, Bai Jia Bei......
a new DVD filmed in China
and a few wee books in the pipleline......a wee worm called Silky :-)
......and the
Jar of Hope
Here's an idea from Marion.
Fill a jar between now and next New Year with all your spare change then in Jan 2012 send a cheque to Hope4China for the amount you've saved and help change the lives of children in China.
Just print off this label or contact us at info@hope4china.info
if you would like us to send a label
2011 is going to be another busy year...can't wait!!!!!!!
Hope4China Team
