Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Tears of Joy



Our lives are made up of many complex experiences; some are difficult and stretching, some make you angry, and some move you to tears of joy. What makes you tear up and cry? The sound of a newborn’s first cry brings so much happiness to new parents. Everyone is filled with relief and joy when a newborn comes into this world making noise. However, when a child is born with complicated medical problems, a parent’s cry may go from joyful to anxiety ridden as they figure out how to help their newborn child.  

Little Yue is an example of one of the children that might have brought sorrowful tears and anxiety to his parents. Yue was born with anal atresia. This means that he has difficulty passing stool. Yue is the 1 out of every 5,000 babies that is born with this condition (based on statistics provided by Healthline). He was rushed to the hospital for his first stage surgery. Yue was a tiny boy with protruding ribs when he came to us and it was clear that he would need ongoing specialized nursing care to get stronger. 

Yue when he first arrived at our home
 Over the last 4 months, we have provided him with meticulous care. We have changed his colostomy bag over one hundred times and ensured that he was gaining weight. Now, Yue is a transformed boy!


Does Yue’s story bring you to tears? His transformation fills his caregivers with tears of joy! At the end of last month, Yue was hospitalized again for his second stage surgery. The surgery was successful but after the operation, Yue caught a serious infection. He continues to need specialized care to heal from this infection that is causing his abdomen to swell. Despite this, Yue is full of smiles. His eyes look lovingly at his caregivers. Even so, his primary caregiver is full of tears for this sweet boy as she tries her best to comfort him.



To keep him comfortable, his legs are raised. 
To help reduce his fever, a wet towel is placed on his head. 
When he is strong enough, his caregiver helps him drink some water and Yue is full of smiles. It seems like he doesn’t remember that he is still fighting an infection! 


Yue’s story brings us to tears – tears of joy for the hope of his future and tears of sadness that he has to go through so many surgeries at such a young age. Together we can take away sad tears and bring smiles to the sweet babies at Dew Drops!   


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Giving Tuesday



Dear Friends, 

“Giving Tuesday” does not really seem like our kind of thing at Little Flower.  We hardly ever even send out any appeals.  But that does not change the fact that day in and day out, year in and year out, we quietly go about our work of “helping the helpless” in China.  This is the time of year that we ask for your help! 

Caring for children abandoned by their parents due to medical needs...



     


Helping poor, rural families with children who have medical needs but no resources available to them in their small villages… 





Still raising the older orphaned children who did not get adopted and have been in our care now since they were infants…


 



Intervening with the toughest cases of women in crisis who need help for both themselves and their babies…




These are the kinds of things we do and our ability to continue to help depends on your generosity.    


Send in donation checks to: 
China Little Flower,
PO Box 1235, 
Kearney, Nebraska, 68847

China Little Flower is a 501c3 organization in the USA. 

Contact us for information about how to make tax deductible donations in China. 

Friday, November 10, 2017

Piggy back rides are the best!



What are some of your favorite memories growing up? Being cuddled, sung to, bed time stories, or playtime? We often think about our childhood days with fond memories with our family and friends.

Dew Drops provides specialized care to abandoned children. Most of the children in our care were abandoned because they were born with complex medical conditions and disabilities. Unfortunately, these children do not get the experience of having a loving family to play with them and care for them. This is why it is crucial for the Dew Drops nannies to engage with the children; providing a loving environment that allows the child to know they are treasured. We captured a small example of the beauty of our children and nanny relationships.




By chance our paths have crossed and we are so grateful for the joy and happiness you have provided us!







We get to eat, play, sing songs together and even get piggy back rides!

 




Piggy back rides are the best! Because of your support, the children at Dew Drops are loved and cherished and do not miss out on their childhood.Thank you for loving us!





                                                    Thank you for loving us!







      

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

A New Home for Bei!


Throughout the course of each child’s Dew Drops Little Flower experience, they are bound to travel with us. Many times this is to transfer a child to or from our long-term locations (Inner Mongolia and Shanxi) to Beijing. They come to Beijing to seek medical expertise and return to their home province for long-term care and/or to be adopted.

 

Here we tell the story of Bei’s travel from Beijing to our home in Inner Mongolia.  While Bei was in our Beijing home, he was treated for club feet. Earlier this month he transitioned from two large casts to braces. With his transition to braces, he was ready to move from our more medical intensive Beijing home to our long-term home in Inner Mongolia. In addition to continuing to receive medical care in his new location, we are hopeful that Bei will strengthen his eating skills by being with our older children in the mom-care unit.


The trip from Beijing to Inner Mongolia is a total of 8 hours by train. This overnight train ride is no small feat, especially for a feisty three-year-old. Bei went with two of our staff members, Mary Claire and Rebekah, and our physical therapist, April. To catch our 11:00pm train, we left the Beijing home at 9:00pm and traveled by car to the train station. For Bei, the short car ride was an adventure in and of itself; he was intrigued by the busy street and all of the unfamiliar noises and smells. Once we arrived at the station, we hurried to find our train and get settled in.  As it was already long past Bei’s bedtime, he was quite tired once we reached our bunks. As the train began to move, the swiftly passing scenery and the soft sway of the train lulled Bei right to sleep. We woke up in the morning as the train slowly pulled into our stop in Inner Mongolia. From the station, we went directly to the long-term home, arriving there around 7:15am.


Bei was excited to see some familiar caregivers at this home, but especially his “big kid” friends. When they sat Bei down for breakfast around the big table, we could already tell his eating habits would quickly improve! The older kids set a wonderful example for him and we know he will continue to thrive in these surroundings.


That morning, April taught the on-sight physical therapist how to stretch Bei’s feet and properly remove and put on his braces. They developed a strategy to make this routine as comfortable as possible for him. In his free time, Bei went straight to the bookshelves to look at the new books! He was so excited to have sing-a-long time with the older kids as well!


We are eager to watch Bei grow and learn in his new home and very happy this transition came with such ease! If you would like to invest in Bei, please consider sponsoring him. You can sign up here.




Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A Day in the Life: Inner Mongolia



Currently we have 7 older children, ranging from 3-9 years old, in our mom-care-model in Inner Mongolia.  Three nannies by day and two by night provide amazing, around the clock, mother-like care to these children with special needs.




Although this special care unit is housed within the orphanage, it has a single door that leads to an apartment-style living area. It is comprised of 6 different rooms: two bedrooms (a large one for the children and a small one for the nannies), a kitchen, a dining area with child-size tables and chairs, a play/therapy area, and a bathroom/laundry room.












This mom-care-model functions as one large family and provides the children with not only the love and nurturing that is crucial to their overall health, but also the stability, structure and consistency to help them thrive and optimize their potential. Monday through Friday, the children have busy schedules that look something like this:
















With the exception of Zhong who is in specialized seating, the children all sit independently in their chairs at the table for meal time. While waiting for their food, you might hear singing, laughing or even typical sibling banter. This communal eating has a very family feel and has been therapeutic for the younger ones who haven’t always enjoyed mealtime; you’ll see them desiring to feed themselves or possibly even trying new foods.








 The children go to school on-site with other children from the orphanage.  Classes typically include 6-8 students and two teachers. Their nannies drop them off and pick them up from school, just like a parent might.



 

The children are thriving in this environment and tremendous gains are evident. This mom-care-model has got to be the next best option when fostering or adoption aren't immediate realities. Several of these children, do however, have adoption files and others will in the future.  We hope and pray that each child in our mom-care-model will come to know the love of a forever family.