ChinaBird

Greetings Friends!! I'm here today to tell you about one of the greatest young men there is, Xander! He's very quite but has a very loud personality. Xander will be 12 years old on June 20th of this year and although he can't verbalize it, his hearts desire is to find a forever family. I believe I've shared this before, but in China after kids reach the age of 14 they can no longer be adopted. They lose the chance to have a forever family of their own. As of June 20th, Xander only has 2 years to find his family. Last April, I wrote a blog post about Xander, we received several inquiries into Xander's adoption file, but haven't had a family step forwards just yet. Here is some of what I wrote last year...      "When he first came to SFCV back in 2008, Xander struggled to control his Autistic "meltdowns", he couldn't self soothe nor did he know how to effectively communicate his wants, needs, or feelings. Although a sweet boy, he was at...

Richard and his May birthday buddies: Gloria & Francis Guess who turns 11 years old today?! Yep, you guessed it! Richard Xie Minyu! 11 years ago today, May 25, Richard was born and I'm oh so glad he was! I love this boy so much! How has the time gone so fast? When did he get so old? Richard is one of the coolest, happiest and best kids I've ever met. I know, I know....I'm biased, but I'm being honest. He's so incredible. He has an amazing sense of humor, servants heart, and is always looking out for his friends, brothers and classmates. In November of last year, I wrote an advocacy post about him. Here is an updated excerpt of that post.... " Richard came to SFCV from his orphanage in Fuzhou when he was 6 years old. He has Unilateral Cerebral Palsy, meaning he has high tone and spasticity that effects only the left side of his body. Over the last 5 years that he's lived here, he's made incredible gains socially, emotionally, and physically. ...

Yes, this is real 😍 Ever feel yourself loosing focus on what's truly important in life, with family/kids, at work/school or spiritually? I think it happens to all of us sometimes. We so easily get pulled out to sea by the tides of life, and before we know it we're struggling to stay afloat. Every now and a again feel this way. Despite having a very rewarding job surrounded by an awesome team and kids, sometimes things get tense and I find myself frantically trying to not let life drown me out. A few weeks back, I headed out of Beijing for yet another Visa Trip. Before I left, I was feeling quite drained and exhausted from trying to stay "afloat". I love the "forced" vacation part of it, but frequent travel (every 60 days) can become tiresome and a little annoying as the expenses add up. Instead of heading down to Hong Kong, like I normally do, I ventured out and went somewhere new: Thailand. Pork Pad Thai! Let me start by saying, if Thailand i...

Hey guys! It's been a time of great movement and fluctuation in our program. This last few months we've added Six new faces and I'd like to introduce them to you all! Charlie Charlie came to SFCV back in December. Guys - this kid, ahhhh, He's the sweetest child!! He has such a gentle and loving spirit. Before Charlie Arrived at SFCV, he had never had the ability or been given the chance to stand or walk on his own. In the short time that we've been working with Charlie he's made tremendous progress. He now propels himself in his wheelchair, can stand (with some assistance) for about 12 minutes and has even begun to take steps using a platform walker! He's such a hard and determined worker. We're seeing Charlie for PT and OT. Samuel Samuel came this last December from another foster home in Beijing. He's 8 years old and oh so hilarious! He's got quite the dry sense of humor, but when he's got a smile that can warm any soul. Desp...