Xiaoling and her new
family
While in foster or group
care, orphans receive so much love.
But what they
really need is a family.
The
Story of Xiao Ling began three years ago. A group of surgeons
came to Beijing from Cedar Sinan Hospital in Los Angles,
California. They offered to help take one baby with heart
problems to the US for surgery at no charge. Healing the
Children arranged the escorting and other needs. Our friend
Eulilia arranged for us to get in touch with the group and we
helped to find an adorable little baby girl, Long Xiaoling, from
Sanya to go America.
After the surgery, Xiaoling returned
to China, and her foster family in the US made a special
request: they wanted Xiaoling to be cared for in Beijing, at our
foster home instead of going back to Sanya welfare home. Of
course, we were happy to give her care. Xiaoling was carried by
a social worker Keever from Los Angeles off of the plane and
came to CHI foster home in the winter of 2005. Xiaoling was one
of the early residents of our home!
She could speak English and loved
only American food at first. But very quickly, she switched to
all Chinese food and became part of the big family here. We
waited and waited to hear the foster family found a family for
her. The family started the process shortly after she came back
to China. Xiao Ling was told she would have a family from
America to pick her up. She waited and waited, for two years.
The big day was December 1, 2007. Jacquelyn and Mark from New
Jersey came to get Xiaoling. We had a party for them and
celebrated Xiaoling?s birthday early.
What
surprised all of us is the way Xiaoling acted toward her new
family! She ran to them with arms wide open the moment she saw
them. She called them Mama and Baba and smiled so big that
everyone would just melt seeing her that day. She then refused
to identify her bed to her new family and many times urged
Jacquelyn, ?Hurry up! Let?s go!? She told director Wang, ?I have
now my mommy and daddy!? She hugged her little friends one by
one and went with her daddy!
At the end of the party, the rest of
the children realized what was going on; they each wanted to be
picked up and go with mommy and daddy, too. Little John sobbed
as the car started to move, and Peter, Xiao Bai, Min Quan all
cried and asked, ?Where are my mommy and daddy??
There were no dry eyes at the site.
Over and over, our children teach us that what they need are
their own families! Can we find each of them a family? Even
7-year-old XinLi, who is loosing his sight slowly, and is now on
the CHI waiting children list?
Melody Zhang, Associate Director
of Children?s Hope, sees orphans? need for family everyday. When
she met Dwyatt Gantt in 1992, the two began work to find Chinese
orphans homes in the United States. This work led to the
establishment of Children?s Hope International. Zhang assisted
with the formation of Children?s Hope International Foundation,
to help expand upon CHI?s primary mission...to find homes,
health and hope for children in need. ?From the trenches?,
Melody writes on Children?s Hope blog ?Hope?s
Song?.
2008 Children's Hope International.
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