Free Webinar Q&A Discussing Feeding Issues

Adoptive Families will be presenting ”Adoption Expert Q&A Webinar: Love Me, Feed Me”, a free webinar and Q&A led by feeding expert Katja Rowell, M.D. on Feb. 7th from 1pm to 2pm EST. This webinar and Q&A will focus on feeding issues may adoptive children face when they come home. Participates will be able to ask questions specific to their child’s needs.

Click here to register for the webinar.

Announcing Wuhan CWI Reunion Tour!

The Wuhan Child Welfare Institute (CWI) located in Hubei, China has announced a subsidized Reunion Tour open to all children adopted through their institute. This unique opportunity for adopted children and their families will take place from July 10 through July 17, 2013 and includes sightseeing and cultural activities in Beijing and Wuhan. Optional extended tours to Xi’an or Shanghai are also available from July 17 through July 20.

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) is granting, through CCCWA, $800 in fund support toward the in-China Reunion Tour fee for all Chinese adoptees attending the program. Subsidies are available for a maximum of 30 adoptive families.  For a full agenda and costs, please visit www.GladneyAsia.org. Applications will be available on this site at the beginning of February, 2013.

This opportunity is open to all families with children adopted from Wuhan CWI regardless of agency or facilitator.

Tours for all families with U.S. citizenship will be coordinated through Gladney China Heritage Tours, under the direction of Gongzhan Wu, Vice President and Managing Director of Gladney’s Asia Programs. In-China arrangements will be made by the Bridge of Love Adoption Service (BLAS) in Beijing.

If you have questions about the application process, please send your name and email address to chinaheritagetours@gladney.org.

Chinese New Year Traditions

It is time to prepare for Chinese New Year! To say good bye to the year of the Dragon and pray for luck in the Year of the Snake, 4711. This year, the holiday begins on February 10th and continues for fifteen days, ending with the lantern festival on February 24th.

Also known as Chinese Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, this important holiday is celebrated around the globe starting with Chinese New Year's Eve, a day when Chinese families gather from near and far for their annual reunion dinner. Below, one Gladney family shares their Chinese New Year Traditions.

"New Year is the Chinese tradition that our family has completely embraced. We fill the house with flowers, pay all of our debts, clean out our closets. Then we go to Chinatown and eat dumplings at Joey's Shanghai. More than parades and the dragons, our Chinese New Year is a time to reflect and renew, and it does the trick year after year after year!"

- Tina B.

Philippines Program Announcement

Last summer, Gladney was licensed by the Philippines Intercountry Adoption Board (ICAB) to place children for adoption. We are excited that as 2013 begins, we are able to begin accepting families into this program! We would like to invite parents open to adopting a waiting child through the Philippines' Special Home Finding program to learn more by contacting Judy.Hayes@Gladney.org or on Gladney's website (click here for the Philippine's Program page).

 

For families interested in adopting from the Philippines, the first step is to complete the Adoption Information Sheet. Families may be considered for matching with a child after being approved through the home study process and submitting an adoption dossier for approval by ICAB.

 

At this time, Gladney's adoption program with the Philippines is a Waiting Child program. This means that the children available for adoption will be:

--Part of a sibling group; or

--Older (healthy or with a medical need); or

--Under age 7 with a medical need

 

We look forward to sharing the progress of this program in the months to come in this newsletter!

 

Additional Resources:

Rainbow Kids is a helpful resource to learn more about adopting waiting children through the Philippines.

The U.S. State Department has a web page with helpful information about the Philippines intercountry adoption process.

China Winter Tour

The China Winter Tour officially concluded on January 1 in Chengdu, China. We hope our China Blog readers enjoyed following the adventures through the wonderful writings and photos regularly submitted by Robin Reif and Gongzhan Wu.

The Panda and Happiness Groups outside CCCWA offices in Beijing

Whereas most members of the travel group continued on to Beijing and then home, a number of families took the opportunity to extend their trip to visit their child's Social Welfare Institute. We will be sure to continue to post any further reflections and photos we receive from these families or any of the travelers.

To read posts about the China Winter Tour on our China Blog click here.

Quilt Project

Our quilt project continues! At the upcoming Chinese New Year Parties in Texas and New York, we plan to have supplies for the children to make additional squares.

We invite all Asia families to be involved in this project. If you are interested in making a square, please contact Pat Marcus at msdmouse4u@aol.com for instructions on how to participate.

New Year's Greeting

We are excited about a New Year with many possibilities in 2013!

We are truly beginning to see the results of our advocacy efforts take root and grow! More and more families are learning about the children who are waiting for a family through word-of-mouth from Gladney families who are committed to sharing their stories with friends and families in hopes that others will explore adoption!

As we celebrate the start of a New Year on the Gregorian Calendar, we are also preparing for the Chinese New Year - the Year of the Snake. Many consider the Year of the Snake to be a year of transformation. For parents who will welcome their children home this year, that transformation will be especially wonderful as they watch their children bloom before their eyes. For the Gladney Asia Team, we expect to have great transformation this year as well.

We look forward to expansion of our Superkids Charity work with Patricia Marcus and other pediatric therapists. They not only bring life changing education to the children living in orphanages, but also bring these children to life by seeing beyond their profile information and conveying their observations to waiting families!

If we all considered just one more New Year's resolution -- To spread the word about the children who wait for families, . . . imagine the possibilities for each child who waits to be adopted, loved and celebrated!   

Happy New Year to All, from Gladney's Asia Staff!

Aid for Survivors of China Orphanage Fire

We were saddened to learn of a fire in a private orphanage in Henan, China which killed 6 children and a 20 year old man last Friday. Investigators determined that the fire was caused accidentally by children. To read more, click here.

Gladney’s Vice President of Asia Programs, Gongzhan Wu, is currently in China and plans to visit with officials in Henan, next week. He would like to present humanitarian aid from Gladney Center and families, for the care of the children as they recover from this tragedy and transition to another orphanage. Gongzhan previously had the opportunity to meet the government officials and orphanage directors from this province in the United States during recent NCFA/CCCWA training tours.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, you can do so on Gladney’s website (click here). In the Designation field, please select “other” and type in “Henan Aid” in the “Other” box.

All donations, large or small will be greatly appreciated. Please email Wendy Stanley at Wendy.Stanley@gladney.org with any questions.

Thank you in advance, The Gladney Asia Program Staff

Recently in Taiwan Adoption News

Happy New Year! With 2012 behind us, we reflect on a very good year in which Gladney assisted 19 families in adopting their children from Taiwan! We have enjoyed watching these families grow and have especially appreciated seeing some of the children and their parents in our offices, their homes, and at Gladney events across the country.

Pictured below is one of our Gladney Dads, Jamie Peter during his trip to Taiwan to attend the court hearing for his daughter's adoption. She was so thrilled to be riding so high!! They are looking forward to their return trip to Taiwan to complete the immigration process and bring Aliza home!

We look forward to sharing news about the Taiwan adoption program with you throughout the year in this monthly newsletter, our website, and our Taiwan blog.