Saving Lera

Why must it be so expensive to save a life? This little girl touches my heart. But, I would need 25 more thousand dollars to adopt her. That is half of what I make all year. This journey seems impossible financially. Still, I believe that God has placed these strong feelings in me to adopt a child that I will not give up...ever, until I bring hope home.

I wish it were in time for her. She has Down Syndrome.

Soon, she will be sent to an institution in Russia. Life there is unimaginable. It is not what any child should ever have to endure. This is how one person described the places where Russian orphans with special needs often end up when they age out for adoption:

In most orphanages, children are bathed together with no hot water available. They dine on porridge and bits of chicken with no fresh fruits, vegetables or red meat available. They sleep in wards of typically 12 children on old mattresses with ragged blankets. Many of these facilities are under heated and toys or other tools to stimulate a child's mind are scarce. Many of these orphans suffer from weakened immune systems and, thus, all manner of illness. Their mental, emotional and physical development often seriously stunted.

God keep you and save you sweet little Lera.


Update!!! Lera has a family!!!! She is being adopted!!!

The beginning of my Russian Connection Story and other things

Anastasia L and I in New York City, 10/21/09

My Russian Connection

So, why adopt from Russia of all places? Well, as I have mentioned, I have a deep affinity to mother Russia, her land, her people, the language. The time I spent there in 1988, just before the falling of the iron curtain, was life changing. The people I met, traveling from Odessa to Kiev, were amazing. I recall meeting one old women who told me that she had not seen Americans since the ending of World War II. She was frail and humped over, using two twisted canes like sticks to stand. People treated us like rock stars there, when our tour buses would pull into a town or place, we would be swarmed for autographs and pictures. People gave us their worldly goods. As an African-American, I got even more special treatment (the good kind of course). People were curious as to what life was like for me in the United States as a minority. The International Peace Walk, or IPW, from Odessa to Kiev in August of 1988 most certainly informs my wishes to adopt from Russia. I would love to see the country many, many more times, and bring my children along too. I would love for me and Ari and "hope" to all speak Russian and English in our home and I plan to keep my new child's cultural ties strong with education in the Russian language, as well as trips to Russian cultural venues here in the US.

On October 21st of this year, I was truly blessed to be able to travel to New York City to meet with my beloved friend from the IPW, Anastasia L. We had not seen each other in 22 years! She looked the same, and all the more a picture of her mother. We were able to spend about 12 hours together, walking and riding the bus around the city. We ate and talked and laughed, her life since we were 16 and 18 years old has been nothing short of a true life movie! Seeing her really made me want to travel to Moscow again. My next trip there MUST be my first trip on the last steps of my adoption journey.



Other stuff

From what I understand, you travel to Russia to an orphanage and "choose" your child. Choose your child? I am fearful that I will get there and want them all! How do you choose a child? What makes one child more deserving than another to escape life in an orphanage? How do you look into a child's eyes and another and another and make a choice? I can't imagine "debating" with myself, or anyone else, over what child to choose. I am sure there will be many mixed feelings on that visit. I look forward to it but I am also fearful that my heart will break, for a long time, over those I had to leave behind.

This morning I woke up before Ari did (a rare thing indeed!) and I could not fall back asleep so I got my computer and turned it on. I felt the need to check on the children I follow. I checked on Will, a five year old boy from Virginia who has a very aggressive brain cancer - but no new news as of late, which makes me worry for him; checked on Jonah, his blue eyes are so beautiful! For this child, God do I ache. I wish I could take even a little bit of his pain away. I would do it gladly. Still, he amazes me with his smiles; I checked on Noah B., the little child in Michigan who won't live to see Christmas this year to due to cancer. I sent Noah a Christmas card, and I was so overjoyed by the news report from the South Lyon, MI post office that they have received 30,000 cards and 1200 packages for this child of God! What a blessing! I hope Noah can hang on so that he can enjoy opening some of his cards.

Update on PHASE 1:

Well, I for went going somewhere this morning in order to get my "paper on!" I'm going to try to finish it this weekend.

Today marks the begining of my journey as a single parent to adopt a child from Russia

I'm Excited!

It's funny how God's love and power seem to work in my life. At times when things seem most desperate, there is always a light, always a seed of faith, and always something to look forward to. I'm getting older, 38 now, find myself in school trying to earn that elusive doctoral degree with no funds to pay for my education, a ton of debt from student loans and bad money management, a still costly and still less than civil divorce, a recent weight gain of 30 pounds, a month long bout with Strep, H1N1, and other insundry bugs,...and, I have a three year old son who has been diagnosed with Autism, Hypotonia, Speech Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Fine motor Delay, and best of all A GIGANTIC HEART that spews love and hugs and joy wherever he goes!

For anyone reading this, and even for myself, now seems not the time to begin the journey towards adoption. Yet, as I just hung up the phone with one of my best friends (Durana) on the West coast, I again confirmed, and so did she, that we will adopt children, and that we have been destined and called by a higher power to do so. Being an only child, I miss what could have been for myself and my son in regards to family. When my mother is gone, I will be truly alone (on this earth) as far as family is concerned. I don't want that same fate for my son. I have always wanted three children and to be able to adopt two would be a dream come true. Of course, I'll start with one (unless I get to Russia and can't resist a sibling pair!). Honestly, I could care less that I am not the picture of perfection. I am a great mom! I love being a mom and my kid has more fun in life at three years of age than most adults. I could never tire of giving him direction in life, providing chances for learning, and just, well, being there. The tough love parts are harder, I hate tears but as a professional educator, I know that children need guidance.

SO, what will I do, now that I am committed to this?

Well, first I need to get in a better financial place. Having grown up in a home where money was more than tight and where my mother was always borrowing from family, I want to be self-sufficient. This PHASE 1 is going to include opening a savings account to BRING HOPE HOME, fund raise with friends and family, and work really hard at eliminating my consumer debt. The first part of that plan is to complete my final paper for the granting of my Education Specialist Degree. Doing so will result in a good little pay raise at work. Next, I am going to better market my hobby - taking pictures. I am going to re-work my photography website and start advertising for family shoots on the weekends. Finally, I am going to get my stock photography site up and running. Phase one needs to be completed in the next 60 to 09 days. Specifically:

- by 11/23/09 - completion and first submission of my EdS final paper

- by 2/1/10 - http://www.1000wordsgeorgia.com/ is reworked AND http://www.99centstockpics.com/ is up and running and making money.

so, please wish me luck, pray for us and that God's will and grace and promises be revealed through the skills and spirit that he hath already placed within me to get-r-done!

This is Phase 1 in bringing hope home. (HOPE is the name I have given as a placeholder for the actual name of the child I pray to, during 2010, bring home from Russia to join his or her forever family :)