Merry Christmas!

There is a place where from the outside, it might not look very fancy or luxurious. But it is filled with laughter and joy. This place is a home for 20 precious children whom are taken care of 24 hours a day by loving nannies. In this place, the children eat nutritious food and are provided medical care to help them grow bigger. 

This week, this place had a visitor….Santa! He brought some presents and extra cheer to this home.



The children marveled at his long white beard and wondered what all the festivities were about! We explained, “It’s Christmas!” And so, we decorated the Christmas tree, ate some cookies, sang some carols and of course, took lots of pictures to remember Christmas 2018 together! 

From our family to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! 

45 Days

The end of the year can seem like a very busy time…preparing for big holiday meals, buying gifts, seeing family, the list goes on and on. Here at Little Flower’s Dew Drops Homes, we too are preparing for the end of the year. Well, actually for the next year. We know that every week, children are abandoned in hospitals, train stations and in baby hatches. Many of these little ones have special needs that the local orphanages are not prepared to handle, so they call us. “Can you help this child?”

We want to be prepared for the phone calls from an orphanage when a newly abandoned baby is found. We want to have the staff and equipment ready to send out to help transport a critically ill infant. We want to have funding ready to do the life saving surgery right away. We want to have enough nannies that we can ask one to do one on one kangaroo care for a tiny preemie who can’t regulate his body temperature. We want to be able to say, without hesitation, “YES! We will help this child.”

They need our help. Will you join us for the last 45 days of 2018 and help us raise funds to cover 45 days of operating costs for 2019? Your gift will make a difference for all of the children in our three Dew Drops homes.

If you prefer to mail a check, please make it out to China Little Flower and send to:


China Little Flower

4388 Steinbeck Way

Ave Maria, FL 34142

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

China Little Flower is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt charity in the USA and donations are tax deductible for US taxpayers to the full extent allowable by law.

Our 1 in 20,000 Butterfly Baby

This week is National EB Week (October 25 to 31). “EB” stands for Epidermolysis Bullosa, a group of genetic conditions that result in easy blistering of the skin. EB may be classified into 3 types depending on how the condition manifests: EB simplex, junctional EB and dystrophic EB. Patients with EB simplex show the least symptoms. Sometimes, they may not develop symptoms until they start to crawl or walk. Junctional EB (formerly known as lethal junctional EB) is the most severe out of the 3 types, and patients with junctional EB have a low survival rate. EB affects 1 out of every 20,000 people. As medical technology develops, EB patients have a better survival rate and quality of life. Children with EB are often referred to as “butterfly children”, not because they look like butterflies, but because their skin is fragile like butterfly wings.

 

                             

From the moment they are born, these children suffer from skin damage, blisters, adhesion of their fingers or toes, having their nails fall off, shrinking of their joints, skin infections etc. In serious cases, skin damage or peeling may even occur while the fetus is still in the mother’s womb, resulting in partial loss of skin on the children’s limbs after birth. Children who are fortunate enough to survive face lifelong struggles with skin that is easily blistered and damaged, and have to implement strict skincare routines. There has been some successful treatment of the condition via bone marrow transplantation, but due to the expensive cost of such treatment, there are not many precedents and the effective treatment of EB is still a way off.

Some may think, why prolong the suffering of such children? It’s not an unusual thought, but life is priceless, full of surprises and unquantifiable – who are we to put a price on a child’s life and decide that such a child’s life is not worth living? Looking at the face of this smiling child, our doubts and fears are erased. We choose to give him a future.

This little guy with a sunny disposition and a smile up to his ears is a 1 in 20,000 butterfly baby. Although his skin develops new blisters every day, his warm smile never leaves his face. Here is his story. Shortly after the Spring Festival in February this year, this little guy with a 1 in 20,000 EB condition came to Dew Drops seeking help for his heart defect. Prior to his case, there has never been a successful precedent of such a young baby with EB undergoing open heart surgery here in China. Unwilling to give up despite the crushing odds against him, Dew Drops asked for and received generous help from all around the world for the little guy, and good news ensued. After more than 5 months of preparation and effort, this special butterfly baby entered the operating room in July this year and received a record-breaking heart surgery. The little guy beat all odds to recover day by day with the blessings and hope of everyone, starting a new life journey full of hope and strength!

In conjunction with the International EB Week, little Ping Ping, a 1 in 20,000 butterfly baby with a congenital heart defect, hereby represents all EB patients to thank all of you who have helped to care for and raise awareness of EB. May the richness of life be experienced by these precious butterfly children!

Fundraising Success!

It is always a joy when supporters from around the world join us in raising funds to directly benefit the children at Dew Drops Little Flower. Every donation counts towards making a difference in the lives of the 71 children in our homes. We don’t always know about the fundraising efforts happening around the world, but this week we were contacted by a teacher at an international school in Beijing and we would like to share her contribution.



On September 28th, 2018, a group of international elementary school students at Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA) participated in a charity fun run. This is actually the second year that they have dedicated their fun run to the children at Dew Drops. This year, they raised over 32,000 RMB. A total of 153 individuals donated money. Not only was this event successful in directly benefiting the children at Dew Drops, it also raised awareness about orphans and their medical needs. We plan to use the funds to pay for little Wen Han’s upcoming surgery. 

So if you are looking for a way to make a difference and get involved today, please contact us! It can be a one-time event like a lemonade stand or bake sale or you can persuade your school or work to host a fundraising event! We are so grateful for all of our donors and supporters. Because of you, we are able to continue this life-giving work!

The Women behind the Happiness of more than 2,000 Children

A baby, a father and a mother are typically the key ingredients needed for a family to start their happy life together. However, even children without a family of their own are able to have a happy life. At first, these children’s stories start in a difficult place. They are abandoned by their birth parents for various reasons and found in different places, including train stations, bus stations, rubbish bins, or even by river or mountainside. Maybe the parents were unable to afford the medical treatment and surgery that the child needed. Maybe the child was just too “special” for the parents to accept. Maybe the child was unexpected….there are a lot of possibilities for why the story of these 2,000 children started the way it did.

…but because of your support, these children have had a very different experience to what one might expect for them. No matter how long or short their lives may be, they are all loved and cherished. Because of your support these caregivers and children continue on and are refreshed each day by the love you show them.

Dew Drops is made up of a group of women whose life and breath are caring for orphans and supporting poor families. They combine their kind-heartedness, stubbornness and persistence to delicately untangle the unique stories that makes each child special.

She, Lily, or as she calls herself, “the infant queen,” has been working with orphans since 2006, reaching over 2000 children in total. Regardless of the outcome, she feels that each encounter with a little one is a beautiful experience. Though her work has contained both heartwarming smiles and heartrending tears, she persists because of the unique beauty of each child’s story.

And she, she, she….the list goes on.

These are the women who surround these children’s stories. For the past 12 years, they have worked together to make a difference in over 2,000 children’s lives. And with your support, we are able to continue to make a difference in even more children’s lives.

Help Give the Gift of Hearing to You

Meet You! You is a little boy that we happened to see in one of the orphanages we work with back in April. We were in the medical ward of the orphanage to look at another baby but You caught our eye. We asked if we could take a closer look at him and what we saw was startling. His face was gaunt, with hollow sunken cheeks, his lips were cracked and dry. Undoing his shirt revealed skin stretched taught over ribs and a concave abdomen. His pelvic bones protruded. His skeletal hands and feet appeared too big for his stick like limbs. He weighed 3 kg (6.5lbs) and he was 6 months old. We suspected that You had Treacher Collins syndrome. But we asked the staff what his medical problems were. They informed us that he was recently discharged from the local hospital, was difficult to feed and they couldn’t get an NG tube to go down. We knew we had to help him quickly before the malnutrition ended his life.

A couple of weeks later You came to Dew Drops Little Flower. We aren’t sure what changed but little You did not have any trouble eating for us! He very quickly began eating large amounts of formula like he knew how much catching up he needed to do. Initially he was gaining about 200 grams per week!

You has been with us for over two months now. He is 9 months old and he has gained just short of 2 kg (4.4 lbs)! He is still very small for his age. Just under 5 kg (11 lbs) and he has a lot more work to do to grow bigger and stronger. But we are so happy to see the progress he has made so far in such a short time! When he first came to us he could barely lift his arms and legs and he had no strength to lift his head at all when he was laying on his belly. He now holds and plays with toys and can lift his head high and steady when prone, he can roll over and is working on strengthening his core to sit up. We can tell by the way You watches everything around him that he is ready to be mobile so he can explore the world!

You recently came to Beijing to have some general health checks and ENT checks done. We found out that he has a cleft palate that will need surgery when he is bigger and older. He also had a hearing test done. You’s ears are deformed and he doesn’t have an opening into his auditory canal. The hearing test showed that because of this he doesn’t hear very well. They recommended a hearing aide for him. While we know how important proper hearing is to allow him to catch up on his development and so that he can be more engaged in the world around him, these hearing aides are expensive (about $3000). We don’t currently have the funds to purchase one for him. Will you help little You by contributing to help him gain the gift of hearing? Little You and everyone who loves him at Little Flower Projects will be so thankful for your help and look forward to seeing what new progress You will make once he can hear better! Thank you for your support!

Our Butterfly Baby

There is a group of children referred to as “butterfly children”. It’s not because they look like a butterfly, instead, it is because their skin is as delicate and fragile as butterfly wings. What exactly does this mean?

This group of children are born with a rare genetic disorder characterized by the development of blisters following minimal pressure to the skin. The medical term for this group of skin diseases is epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Blistering can happen when a child is simply held or handled. There is no cure for this inherited disorder but treatment focuses on prevention and treatment of wounds.

On top of this challenging condition, what if a child also is born with a heart defect? We know such a boy and today we would like to share his story. His name is Ping.

In 2018, right after Chinese New Year, Dew Drops received a phone call from an orphanage. They had a little boy who had some kind of skin problem and they needed help taking care of him. After 10 long hours of travel, we were able to bring this sweet boy to Beijing for further medical consultations. The doctors confirmed our suspicion that he had EB and also diagnosed him with a congenital heart defect (VSD). When we went and picked up Ping, we were ready to take care of him. We were ready to treat his wounds, hold him carefully and love him a lot. But now, an unexpected challenge had risen. How can a boy with EB have heart surgery? How can he recover from surgery with ventilators, post-operative monitoring systems and IV’s attached to him? But if we didn’t provide him with this surgery, his heart would continue to decline and eventually would stop…..

We had only one obvious answer to this complicated situation – we had to find a way to provide Ping with life-saving heart surgery while taking care of his skin. And so the preparation started. We started collecting special supplies to be used during the surgery and post-operative care. We also contacted a team of doctors who are experienced in providing care to children with EB and heart defects. And we focused on Ping’s growth so he would get bigger and stronger for surgery.




After 5 months of preparation, the day has finally come. We are headed to the hospital with a suitcase full of supplies, a team of medical doctors and nurses ready to tackle this surgery and concerned supporters all around the world sending this sweet boy many best wishes! Today, we are tackling this challenging situation head on and giving Ping a chance to live.

A New Home!

We are excited to share with you that earlier this week, the Dew Drops home in Beijing moved to a new location. Finding the right home in a big city like Beijing can be challenging. We need to be in a convenient location with easy access to hospitals and train stations; we also need to have a large enough space to provide a loving nurturing environment for all of our deeply loved babies. Lucky for us, we found the perfect location!




There are 5 rooms in our new home, with beds for up to 25 children. We have two large playrooms – one for the older kids and one for the smaller babies.

We are very grateful for all of our donors in Beijing and abroad who made this move possible. With your generous support we were able to purchase new cribs, air purifiers, high chairs, bath rubs and oxygen concentrates.




Thank you for making this into a home full of love for those in need!

Qi's Transformation

Our volunteer physical therapist, April, has helped many children in our program catch up on their physical and developmental milestones. In this post, she shares of a recent transformation she witnessed in one of our newer babies, Qi.

Transformation. It is one of the things that continues to draw me to orphan work. I never grow old of seeing the degree to which optimal care and love can impact a child.

Meet little Qi.




We first met her at a train station. Some orphanage staff brought her and another baby boy to a colleague and I as we were traveling back to Beijing from one of our other projects. It was a quick handoff: two babies and a bag with a few diapers, formula, and a bottle for them to share. We knew very little about either one of them other than their names, birthdates, and that they were joining our project for further evaluation of their medical conditions; they each had visible ear deformities.

Qi didn’t love being in a baby carrier. She didn’t especially enjoy being held. She’d fuss intermittently during bottle feedings, likely frustrations related to her poor oral motor skills; more milk spilled out of her mouth than went in, and what went in easily caused her to cough or choke. She cried a decent amount that first train ride, before eventually tiring herself out and falling asleep.




Qi weighed just shy of 12 pounds when she arrived at our Beijing baby home, placing her below the 3rd percentile for her age of 6 ½ months. From a developmental perspective, Qi wasn’t doing much better; her developmental motor skills were quite delayed. Her favorite position was on her tummy, where she would rhythmically lift her legs off the surface over and over again while staring blankly into space. She wasn’t motivated to roll over. If you tried to sit her up, she was like a noodle– her trunk would completely flex over your hands. She couldn’t put any weight on her legs if you placed her in supported standing. She wasn’t crawling. She actually preferred not to be held; she’d often fuss in someone’s arms and be too content in her crib.



Given Qi’s bilateral microtia, we weren’t sure about her hearing. Her affect was generally quite flat, but it was hard to tell if this was a result of her previous environment and lack of stimulation and/or her inability to hear. After her first medical check, however, we discovered she did have some limited hearing bilaterally, although likely very muffled.


Fast forward just a few weeks and Qi has made tremendous progress! She’s more easily drinking and enjoying her bottles. She’s now 15 pounds and her entire body has started filling out. She can roll in both directions, put weight on her legs in supported standing, and sit with minimal support. She can pivot around on her tummy, has mastered army crawling, and can briefly get on her hands and knees. Her interest in toys has definitely replaced her contentment with nothing.


Qi enjoys social interaction like being talked and sung to. She is growing more engaged in her environment daily, especially now that she has her hearing aids. She’s even starting to vocalize!




My personal favorite changes in Qi– how she recognizes and smiles big when I pick her up in the mornings or how she no longer resists being held and will even crawl over when she wants to be picked up. And how she easily falls asleep in my arms.




This little one has come a long way in a short amount of time and it’s transformations like hers that keep me coming back for more. I look forward to seeing what Qi will be up to a few months from now and hopefully someday in her own forever family.