Service Project #2

The 2nd service project for Jaden's GEMS club is today!  They are decorating boxes for the local food pantry.  The boxes will be filled with food to fill hungry bellies for the holidays.  We filled 2 boxes with food as our contribution.  It included veggies, gravy, jello-o, rice, beans, etc. 

In a couple of hours we will be headed to the GEMS meeting where the girls will decorate and fill boxes.  How fun is that?!

Service Project #1

The girls did their first service project of the school year at the beginning of September.  They visited the seniors at an assisted living center.  They sang songs for them, and then, they passed out cake and juice to everyone.  They had, also, made handmade birthday cards for all of the seniors in the center that were born in September.  What a great experience!

My Avatar

This is me- I have never had an avatar before. I was setting up an Etsy shop, and I noticed that several people used avatars for their profile picture. Since I am selling bead necklaces, and some of them remind me of hippie-wear, I decided to dress like that. I wish I was as cool as this avatar surely is :o) Now Jaden and Morgan want me to make them an avatar. Stay tuned for that, if I ever figure out how to make more than one.
Oh, and if you want to, check out my Etsy shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/makeachange

Miracles in Caring Group

I started this group in January this year when an opportunity landed in my lap. This opportunity, has God's hand all over it! It was amazing how desperate the situation was for these Ugandan's and how we were brought together by nothing less than a miracle! Now, after gathering information and getting this business set up, I am ready to show it to all of you. 100% of the profits go directly to the women who made these items in the slums outside of the capital city of Uganda in East Africa.

Miracles In Caring is about giving parents the tools they need to provide for their families. In Uganda, for example, a years long civil war has left many children father-less and without homes. These families have moved to the capital city Kampala to escape the violence in Northern Uganda. When the families finally made it to Kampala, they found they had no skills to compete for the jobs there. These women and their families were farmers, and self-sufficient in Northern Uganda. Now, they are without land, and live in whatever home they can put together with the scraps they find.


These hard-working women have found one job that will take them in. This job is breaking rocks from big pieces to smaller piece. They sit down in the rock quarry and hammer at the rocks all day long. For 12 hours of work, they make about 50 cents! To do the math for you, that is 4 cents an hour!!

Because the pay is so small, most mothers HAVE to include their children in the work. Instead of going to school, the children break rocks right alongside their mothers to put food on the table. These are not bad mothers who want to get rich off of their children. These are mothers who have two choices: put their children to work alongside them, or watch their children starve to death!!

Their children should be in school, there is no doubt about that. An education is the key to breaking out of poverty. The problem is that these children are just trying to survive. When you don't even know if you will have enough to eat one meal the next day, it is a matter of survival. What good is an education if you will be dead from lack of food and dehydration tomorrow?

Our organization is going to change the lives of these women and their families. We have set them up with a business that isn't so back-breaking, and gives them more profit. This will allow their children to attend school, and allow the mothers to have the resources they need to take care of their families.

They have already lived through a civil war- Now it is time to restore their peace of mind!

There could not be a better time to help. To order, go to the MAC webstore.

To see a video of the stone quarry and what it is like to live in the slums of Kampala, and WHY the families are struggling so much, you have to check out this you tube video.

I have all of the items they are selling in my home, so if you see something that you like & would like to save on postage, just let me know!

A Package from East Africa

For those of you who are not familiar with my non-profit activities. I have two organizations that I started. One of these organizations is Miracles in Caring. Here is some information about the group:

Miracles In Caring is about giving parents the tools they need to provide for their families. In Uganda, for example, a years long civil war has left many children father-less and without homes. These families have moved to the capital city Kampala to escape the violence in Northern Uganda. When the families finally made it to Kampala, they found they had no skills to compete for the jobs there. These women and their families were farmers, and self-sufficient in Northern Uganda. Now, they are without land, and live in whatever home they can put together with the scraps they find.

These hard-working women have found one job that will take them in. This job is breaking rocks from big pieces to smaller piece. They sit down in the rock quarry and hammer at the rocks all day long. For 12 hours of work, they make about 50 cents! To do the math for you, that is 4 cents an hour!!

Because the pay is so small, most mothers HAVE to include their children in the work. Instead of going to school, the children break rocks right alongside their mothers to put food on the table. These are not bad mothers who want to get rich off of their children. These are mothers who have two choices: put their children to work alongside them, or watch their children starve to death!!

Their children should be in school, there is no doubt about that. An education is the key to breaking out of poverty. The problem is that these children are just trying to survive. When you don't even know if you will have enough to eat one meal the next day, it is a matter of survival. What good is an education if you will be dead from lack of food and dehydration tomorrow?

Our organization is going to change the lives of these women and their families. We have set them up with a business that isn't so back-breaking, and gives them more profit. This will allow their children to attend school, and allow the mothers to have the resources they need to take care of their families.

They have already lived through a civil war- Now it is time to restore their peace of mind!

I have been working on this project for a few months now. I was finally able to raise enough funds to get a shipment of goods sent from Uganda to Texas. The goods arrived on Monday, and you can tell be the girls' faces, they LOVE the items!! We received dolls, purses, tote bags, aprons, necklaces, and bracelets. All of it is for sale, so if there is something you would like to purchase, let me know. 100% of the profits go to Uganda to the talented women who made the items.

Once we have sold half of the items, I will get some more sent this way. We are, also, trying to raise money to purchase a tailoring machine so that the mothers can make dashikis and other cloth items to sell.

Playathon to raise money for Haiti's orphans EVENT

After much preparation, the Playathon was played. All of the kids had fun playing with their friends and the cool games. The most fun by far for most of the children was the birthday themed play-doh. The other games that they enjoyed was Operation, Battleship, Guess Who?, Twister, Silly 6Pins, Lite Bright, Mr. Potato Head, and more!

Jaden and Morgan raised $47.50 in donations for SOS Children's Villages in Haiti!

Mommy Gets a Break

It is hard to get things done at the house with 2 little girls running around. It is a good situation to be in because I love them to pieces... BUT, I can do things 10 times faster if they are out of the house. Grandma Leslie agreed to watch them for a few hours on Wednesday. I dropped them off around 10:00 ish, and picked them up at 3:30 ish. That gave me 4 hours (taking out driving time).

I had work to do:

1. I updated my resume to include the non-profit work I have been doing. This would open up more employment opportunities for me- I am looking for something I can do in the evenings (after 5 PM) & on the weekends.

2. I applied for jobs that fit into the schedule I am looking for & in the non-profit sector

3. I worked on updating my Ebay store with more items.

4. I packed up the sales I made on Ebay.

5. I added books to my half.com seller account.

That was it, my 4 hours were up- I headed back to Grandma Leslie's house to pick up the girls. When I pulled up in the car, the girls looked like they are in the pictures above. Everyone was outside. Jaden was pushing "her" baby Paige in the stroller, and Morgan and James were blowing bubbles. Such a sweet picture!

I was so happy to have that time to get the things done while the girls had fun!!! Thanks, Mom!

Do you like Cheesecake? Get a slice for doing good!

Taken from The Cheesecake Factory website:

Feeding America is the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity. With a network of food banks serving all 50 states, Feeding America supplies food and groceries to 63,000 agencies responsible for feeding people at risk of hunger.
Today, over 36 million Americans are food insecure - that equates to an astounding 1 in 8 Americans.
Feeding America provides food assistance to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors.
Nearly 97% of donations to Feeding America go directly towards feeding hungry Americans and engaging our country in the fight to end hunger. Feeding America secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually.
To find out more about hunger in America visit FeedingAmerica.org

Sharing a common goal, The Cheesecake Factory has partnered with Feeding America for The 'Drive Out Hunger' Tour. Throughout the month of September, in support of Hunger Action Month, we'll be touring 30 cities in 30 days holding an event each day to collect cans of soup benefiting the local food bank. Join us in supporting this cause by bringing two cans of soup to the event at each city and receive:
A complimentary slice of Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake™ – for the first 500 guests who donate two cans of soup.
A special gift to use on a future visit to The Cheesecake Factory® for every guest who donates.
Being a part of the bigger picture by getting an official 'Drive Out Hunger' Tour photo taken and uploaded to our Photo Mosaic page online.
Live radio remotes featuring your favorite local radio station personalities and music.

The 'Drive Out Hunger' Tour may end on September 30th, but that doesn't mean our drive to end hunger will stop there. Over the next 12 months The Cheesecake Factory will continue to support Feeding America's cause.
For every slice of Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake™ sold in our restaurants, we'll donate .25 cents to Feeding America.
We'll also donate $1 to Feeding America for every Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake™ ordered online. Purchase here

My Seedlings class

Something terrific happened yesterday as I pondered how I was going to assist in the Friday School of our co-op. A teacher opening became available for Morgan's class! I will now be teaching the 2 & 3 year olds!!! I have named the class "seedlings" because of the plant reference and how you must cherish and cultivate the plant in order for it to grow healthy and strong.
The curriculum I will be using is "Before Five in a Row", since the kindergarten class with be using the "Five in a Row" curriculum. For those of you familiar with teaching styles, the curriculum follows the "Charlotte Mason" methods of learning.

For those not familiar with Charlotte Mason, her teaching philosophy as found in Wikipedia is as such:

Mason's philosophy of education is probably best summarized by the principles given at the beginning of each book mentioned above. Two key mottos taken from those principles are "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "Education is the science of relations." She believed that children were born persons and should be respected as such; they should also be taught the Way of the Will and the Way of Reason. Her motto for students was "I am, I can, I ought, I will."

And her teaching methods as summarized by Wikipedia:

Probably the best known of Mason's methods is her use of living books instead of dry, factual textbooks. Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The size of the book does not matter nearly as much as whether it is "alive" and engaging. Textbooks are allowed if they meet that criterion. "Twaddle" refers to books or information that is dumbed down and insults the child's intelligence. Living books should be used with as many subjects as possible.

Children are expected to tell about what they have read. The narration can be oral, written or drawn and should be performed after only one reading of the material. This method requires the child to synthesize all he has read, organize it in his mind, and determine how best to communicate all that he recalls in his own words.

Mason encouraged a child's learning the habits of attention, perfect execution, obedience, truthfulness, an even temper, neatness, kindness, order, respect, remembering, punctuality, gentleness, and cleanliness, among others. Usually, a child would work on a specific habit over a four to six week period.

Mason advocated short lessons for younger children, growing progressively longer as the child matures. Elementary-age children's lessons should be no longer than fifteen or twenty minutes on one particular subject before moving on to something else. In this way, the habit of full attention is encouraged and children receive a broad education filled with many varied subjects.

Charlotte used prepared dictation to teach spelling and reinforce grammar and composition skills. In prepared dictation, the child is given a sentence or passage to study until he is sure he knows all the spelling, capitalisation, and punctuation. The teacher then dictates the passage to him, one phrase at a time, watching carefully as he writes to catch any misspelled word and correct it immediately. In this way, spelling is taught within the context of great thoughts and rich language instead of static lists.

Handwriting was also taught within the context of ideas, not isolated letters repeated over an entire line or page. For copywork, children are given a phrase, sentence, or paragraph to copy in their best handwriting. The exercise should take only a few minutes each day so as to encourage the habits of attention and perfect execution without becoming tiring.

Art is another place where living ideas are found. The great ideas of men and women of history are revealed in their works, whether paintings or writings or music. Art appreciation is taught through Picture Study, which introduces the child to the works of a great artist one at a time, allows her to look at it undisturbed, then asks for a narration of what she has observed. Music Appreciation is taught in much the same way, listening to the works of great composers.

In Mason's schools one afternoon each week was devoted to spending time outdoors. For nature study, children take along a sketchpad to draw and label the different aspects of nature they observe. Regular nature study paves the way for meaningful science instruction.

Mason emphasised the importance of children's understanding mathematical concepts before ever doing paper and pencil equations. They should be encouraged to use manipulatives and to think through the whys and wherefores of solving word problems -- in other words, how mathematics applies to life situations.

Poetry was an integral part of daily life in Mason's schools. However, poetry is not presented in order to be analysed, criticised, and told what to think about it. Poetry, as in other subjects that introduce the child to great ideas of the past, is shared together and allowed to stand on its own, encouraging the child to develop his own relationship with that poet and his thoughts.

Students in Mason's schools studied Shakespeare regularly, as well.

Since grammar is the study of words, not of things, Mason thought it is a difficult concept for young children to grasp. She recommended postponing the formal study of grammar until the child reached the age of ten. Consistent practice in narration, dictation, and copywork lays the foundation for grammar study.

Mason's method of studying the Bible was simple: read it every day. She gave children credit for being able to understand passages directly from the Scriptures, and she assigned several large portions to be memorised and recited each school year.

History is considered most relevant to children through the use of living books, biographies, autobiographies, and narration. In addition, Mason's students kept a Book of Centuries that was similar to a personal time line in a notebook. They added people and events to the pages as they studied about them.

Just as history is the story of what happened to a person, geography is the story of where he was and how his surroundings affected what happened. Geography is best taught through living books, also. Short map drills can supplement.

Since Mason lived in England, her students learned French as a second language. Consistent with her philosophy, a foreign language is best taught in a living setting.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Of course, if you are drawn to learn more about her style and how to implement it in your home/school, there are many books to choose from. Most can be found by searching under the subject "Charlotte Mason".

Now, one of the important aspects of Charlotte Mason is "living books". My class will be reading the following list of books, so if you have these at home or know someone who has them and no longer wants them... Please send them my way. I need to get ahold of all of these books, and our library is not the best for having books in stock/at all:

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by N.W. Carlstrom
The Little Rabbit by Judi Dunn
Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets
Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack
Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
We're Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
Corduroy by Don Freeman
If Jesus Came to My House by Joan Gale Thomas
Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler by Esphr Slobodkina

***Classes start in October, so I have 1 month to hunt down these books***

Baby brother, before becoming a missionary

Check out the car seat!!!
Proud daddy with baby son Kevin
Baby Kevin playing the piano- who knew he would become a piano star & teach piano lessons
Awwwwww~~~ Isn't he cute!
Baby Kevin's first birthday. He is about to get really excited with the sugar on his plate!
Kevin hanging out on the party barge at a visit to grandma & grandpa's lake house on Lake Hamilton in Arkansas
Check out the glasses!
So this is what Kevin looked like in the 80's. His birthday is coming up in 4 days (July 4th). He will be 21 at that time. He is in Utah right now at the missionary training camp, but he will be leaving there in less than a week to go on his official mission in Washington state. I am sure he will send us lots of great pictures to post, so stay tuned!

A Raffle for Microsoft Zune 4GB

Hey, everyone!

Diego and his aunt are going to get the help that they need. Thanks to Kristen and all of the other Aura's House partners, Deigo will get a chance, and hopefully show a real smile from the inside out. The link to his fundraiser is here:
http://aurashouse.com/2009/06/emergency-project-for-diego-of-columbia/

I know Diego needs the nutritional supplements, tuition, uniforms, and textbooks ASAP, so I have started a raffle. He will be delivered the help he needs as the funds are raised little by little.

As soon as the first $150 is raised, he will be delivered the Pediasure immediately, and so on (in order of priority).

To help him get the help he needs quickly, here is my offer:
For every $10 donated, you will receive 1 raffle ticket. At the end of the fundraiser, I will get a spread sheet of the donors. I will use this spread sheet to print off the raffle tickets. My daughter Jaden will draw a number out of the hat to determine the winner. The winner will receive a brand new black 4GB Microsoft Zune Video and Music MP3 player found here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WG1QRS/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
Thanks everyone for helping out this family! This is going to change Diego's life forever!
Heather

A wild surprise

http://http://ilovemykids08.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-for-those-in-need.html

You may or may not remember one of the things that my girls got involved with around Christmas time last year. I put the blog post link above, just in case you missed it... Jaden, Morgan, and I packed up Christmas presents for children with HIV/AIDS and took them to a non-profit that works with these children and their families. A month or so later, I received a magazine from the organization. I didn't even look at the magazine. I put the magazine in the pile of junk mail. 5 months later (today), I decided to flip through it and was surprised to see our names in an article about Christmas items they received. In the picture above, you can, also, see our brown lunch bags that we put Christmas decorations on. We are not pictured (thank goodness!! I mean, thank goodness I'm not!!) If you have trouble reading the small words, you can click on the picture above to maximize the attachment.

I wanted to mention that I have begun a new book that is inspiring. It is giving me many more ideas of how to help people, and include my children. Maybe we can even start a non-profit! Whatever we decide to do, we won't be doing it to get our name in a magazine, though. I hope that we can make at least one person's life better, but I believe we can do more than that (with the help of others).

Get your kids involved in helping others!

This week, Jaden, Morgan & I will be gathering up books to send to the orphans in Uganda. It is never TOO early to show your kids that they can make a difference in the world. Anyone who would like to do the same (sending books), but who does not have books to send, let me know. I will gladly share the books we have with whomever needs them. Stay tuned for pictures of the project, and let me know if you need some books to send.
FamilyCares is partnering with LEAD Uganda to educate orphans in Uganda. LEAD Uganda finds forgotten children with innate talents and molds them into leaders. They provide bright, motivated AIDS orphans, former child soldiers and child laborers, with the 21st-century skills needed to lead Africa into the future. Uganda, located in eastern Africa, has 1.9 million orphans. Some of them have been child soldiers, abducted from their villages and forced to fight; some are street kids and some are struggling to raise their brothers and sisters after their parents have died. Education is the route to transforming their lives, and your family can help. These children are desperate to attend school, but schools are not free in Uganda. Children need uniforms and supplies. These items are beyond the reach of poor families and orphans. LEAD Uganda pays for school fees for AIDS orphans and former child soldiers, with the goal of getting students into elite Ugandan schools. Their program is work; students are now attending top schools.
Your family can help in the following ways:
Collecting T-shirts or dresses (ages 8-18)
Contributing laptops (PC & Apple), consumer DV video cameras or digital cameras – they can be used but should be in good condition
Collecting paperback books (ages 8-18)
Making a contribution or sponsoring a child's education
Steps Involved:
Talk to your children about what it is like to go to school in Uganda (See facts, map and resources below). Discuss why it is important to go to school, the fact that schools in Uganda are not free, that these children are desperately poor and lack basic necessities.
Decide how your family will help. It could be as simple as looking through your own closets to asking other families to contribute the following items:
T-shirts – i.e. team shirts and camp shirts that are often only worn for one season. Dresses and skirts - African girls do not wear pants. Please send children's sizes for ages 8-18 only . Do not send stained or ripped shirts or dresses.
Laptops, video DV cameras and digital cameras - perhaps your company or your family has used (but in good working order) items that they no longer need. Outside the Dream will be conducting a workshop this fall to give university bound students marketable skills. Laptops are especially needed. Place all adaptors, cables and instruction books in a zip lock bag and send with the equipment.
Paperback books - English is the official language in Uganda. Books for ages 8 yrs to 18 years are requested. Books should be in good condition. At media rate, you can mail 10 lbs of books for $4.84, 25lbs of books for $9.84 and 50lbs at $16.84. Bookmarks - If you send books, your family can include homemade bookmarks made of cardboard or paper. Bookmarks with stickers, drawings or phrases encouraging kids to read are fun and easy to make and fun for the Ugandan children to receive. Enclose letters and/or drawings from your family members in your package.
Consider making a contribution or a commitment to support a child's education. Your children can help raise funds by doing chores, holding a tag sale of household items, setting up a lemonade stand or collecting cans and bottles to redeem.
$5 feeds a child at school for a month.
$10 buys books and supplies; helps keep a child in school.
$25 boards a primary school student.
$50 boards a high school student at a good school.
$100 boards a high school student at a top school.
For more details, visit http://www.leaduganda.org/.
Mail items to:
LEAD Uganda 202 Saint Marks Ave. #4 Brooklyn, NY 11238
For more information, photos of children in the LEAD Uganda program and a recent newsletter go to http://www.leaduganda.org/.
Education in Developing CountriesEducation in developing countries is not free. Poor families are not able to pay for fees, uniforms and supplies. Orphans and children living on the street rarely attend school consistently. Consider the following facts gathered from UNESCO, UNICEF and CARE:
125-140 million children worldwide do not receive even an elementary education.
60 percent of them are girls.
1 billion people live in absolute poverty living on less than $1 per day
15 million children worldwide are AIDS orphans 2 million children have died in the last decade from war and violent conflict
300,000 plus child soldiers are exploited in over 30 countries
250 million children – that is one out of six work as child laborers
Education benefits not only the child and her local community, but our global community as well. Your family can help make an education for a Ugandan orphan not just a dream but also a reality.

Uganda
ResourcesThe World Fact Book at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ug.htmlUnicef- Africa's Orphaned Generations at www.unicef.org/publications/africas_orphans.pdf

My loving girls

In case you haven't read the article about Jaden and Morgan on the Children International web-site yet, you can check it out here:
http://www2.children.org/en/us/News/FeatureStories/2009/Pages/SponsorshipExperience-AFamilyAffair-2-17-09.aspx?sid=108CBC7-EDA9-458E-9D2B-BBFD0D7CB51F1

It will probably be up for just a few more days. Jaden is already 1/4 of the way into reaching her goal of buying beds for all 4 children with HIV/AIDS. She raised $125 to send to the Dominican Republic to buy a bed for Dulce. Next on her agenda is to raise $160 to buy a bed for Jonathan in Ecuador.
She has a million other ideas that involve helping others, and she wants to do them all (some of the things she will be able to do without spending money, but rather time). Every day, her show of compassion for others amazes me. Morgan sees what Jaden is doing and automatically wants to do what her big sister is doing! What a great example she is to her little sister (and to others)!

A Family Affair

The article about Jaden and Morgan is now live & will be up on the Children International web-site for the next 2 weeks. Enjoy:
http://www2.children.org/en/us/News/FeatureStories/2009/Pages/SponsorshipExperience-AFamilyAffair-2-17-09.aspx?sid=F22461C-840F-4BFE-9097-ADAF89036C931

Jaden & Morgan will be famous tomorrow!!!

Big announcement! Of course, we all know how special both of the girls are, but soon the world will know. Jaden and Morgan have done a few projects to help others and already understand that there is a world beyond themselves with people that have less than they do. For Christmas, you may remember they put together Christmas gift bags for 40+ families in the Dallas area.
Now, Jaden and Morgan have decided to get money together to purchase beds for 4 children who do not have a bed. None of this came by my persuasion but rather by Jaden seeing a need and asking questions. Of course, all of that will be in the article that will go live tomorrow. It will be on the home page of the Children International web-site for a week. To see it, starting tomorrow morning, go to: http://www2.children.org/en/us/Pages/Home.aspx?sid=7AEBEA10-4811-443D-BCFE-6EBCE651AB41 , and scroll down to the bottom of the home page on the left hand side.

Good news from around the world

In a world full of bad news, this story below and other great stories like it can be found at http://forbetterlife.org/good_news/ :

Why we are hopeful for the future of our HIV+ children and thankful that they are ours.
December 1 is World AIDS Day. Three years ago that would have meant just about nothing to me. I did not know much of anything about HIV/AIDS, and to be very honest, I did not care very much either. It was something that didn’t affect me, and I thought of it as “other people’s problem”.

And then I made a very life-changing trip to Ethiopia, and met a little girl that would change me forever.

The little girl was an orphan, and she was HIV+. She sat down in my lap and as I rocked her in my arms, held her fat little toddler hands and rubbed her soft hair, I felt my heart swell and my eyes water. She melted into my body like my own babies do…in that way that says, “I am yours and you are mine and this is where I belong.”

As I was filled with the desire to be that little girl’s mom and to give her the love she so clearly wanted and needed, my brain started racing with questions. What would her long-term prognosis be? Would she die young? Would she be a risk to the rest of our family? Could we afford her medical treatment?

That day I did not know much about HIV. But I could not forget that little girl, and so when we returned home, I was committed to educating myself and my husband about HIV.

We did research on the Center for Disease Control website and many other resources, and we consulted with a Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist. We found out that HIV could not be transmitted in any type of casual contact and that an HIV+ child would not be a risk to the rest of the family or to our community.

We found out that her long-term prognosis would be excellent with a close to normal life expectancy, that she would likely live in great overall health, and that parenting her would not be much different than parenting any other child. We found that the costs of medications, with our health insurance plan, would be very reasonable. We found out that although there would be a lot of extra red tape, that it would be possible to adopt her.

We prayed a lot; maybe more than I have ever prayed about anything. My answer was always the same. “She is yours.” We plowed ahead, determined to get her home.

Belane finally came home in November of 2006. During the time that we waited for all of the paperwork to be complete so we could travel back to Ethiopia to get her, I made myself an “expert” on parenting HIV+ children and on adopting HIV+ kids. I wanted to know as much as possible. Although at that time adopting HIV+ children was almost completely unheard of, I shared our story openly and honestly, in hopes of educating, and possibly even inspiring, others.

When we returned to Ethiopia to get Belane, my heart and my eyes were truly opened to the plight of HIV+ orphans. Being an orphan is a terrible fate, and orphans who are HIV+ are at the very bottom of society’s “ladder”. It was heart breaking to realize that with limited medical care available in Ethiopia and a crushing social stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, these children faced almost impossible odds.

In January of 2008 I was hired by Adoption Advocates International to be their HIV+ Adoption Coordinator. I get to advocate for HIV+ orphans, monitor their health care, provide prospective adoptive families with information before, during and after the adoption process, and best of all, I get to see these children, who are truly some of the most vulnerable on Earth, join loving families and thrive.

Along with fueling my passion to advocate for HIV+ orphans, something else very significant and life-changing happened while I was in Ethiopia getting Belane. We saw a little boy who had just been brought into the orphanage. He was a year old, but could not even sit up. He was emaciated, and so sick that his eyes were glazed over. They were open, but if he “saw” us, there was no sign of it. I asked if he was going to be available for adoption, and they told me that they didn’t think he would live through the weekend. I went home, and could not forget him. Again it was whispered to my heart, “He is yours.”

In February of 2008, I traveled back to Ethiopia to get my beloved Solomon Tsega, who is now a robust three year old. The little boy who had once so given up on life that he was barely there, is now so full of life he touches everyone that meets him. His recovery has been nothing short of a miracle and the doctors have high hopes for his long-term health.

Belane is now five years old, is the picture of health, and is quite the sassy princess.

Some people think we’re saints for adopting our kids. We’re not. Some people think we’re crazy for adopting our kids. Again, we’re not. We are just a family like any other, that has come together in a different way than most.

Both Belane and Solomon are normal, typical, healthy kids who are full of life and energy. They are both expected to live long and full lives. They take their medication twice a day and have extra trips to Primary Children’s for monitoring, but other than that they run, dance, get put in time-out, play, and act like any other little kid. They have taught me a great deal about life and love and hope, and I am so grateful to be their mom.

While three years ago I did not know much about HIV/AIDS and I saw it as “other people’s problem,” I now know that HIV is a human problem. In July 2008 it was estimated that 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and over two million people die each year without access to treatment.

Because of the stigma and unnecessary fear surrounding HIV and transmission, many people who are HIV+ are not open about their status. However, with the number of people living with HIV in the United States, it has been estimated that most American citizens regularly interact with someone who is affected or infected by HIV, whether they are aware of it or not.

While medically speaking, HIV is relatively easy to “live with” (often considered much easier to manage than diabetes, hepatitis and many other conditions), socially, there is still a nasty stigma and a great amount of ignorance and unnecessary fear surrounding the disease. Many people living with HIV feel that dealing with the social and emotional aspects of the disease are much more challenging than dealing with the medical aspects.

Our greatest fears as parents do not involve our children’s health, but how people will treat them.

We believe that educating people, and providing accurate information about HIV, is the only way to fight the stigma, and hopefully make the world a little easier for our children to live in.

The Basics
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Not everyone that is HIV+ has AIDS. HIV is the virus that left untreated, causes AIDS. HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the immune system. The immune system gives our bodies the ability to fight infections. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell (T cells or CD4 cells) that the immune system must have to fight disease.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. Having AIDS means that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point at which the body has a difficult time fighting infections.

Information we wish everyone knew about HIV

HIV can NOT be spread through casual/household contact. HIV is not spread through hugging, kissing, shaking hands, sharing toys, sneezing, coughing, sharing food, sharing drinks, bathing, swimming, playing or any other casual way. It has been proven that HIV and AIDS can only be spread through sexual contact, birth, breastfeeding and blood to blood contact (such as sharing needles).

HIV+ children (and HIV+ adults who practice safe sex and do not use drugs) are not a risk to those around them. By using “universal precautions”, such as handling any blood with care, you can completely eliminate the risk of contracting HIV from a child. It is important to know that there are no documented cases of HIV ever being transmitted by a bloody nose, a scraped knee, in contact during sports or in any other casual way.

HIV is now considered a chronic but manageable disease, when treatment is available. With treatment, people who are HIV+ can live indefinitely without developing AIDS and can live long and full lives.

People who are HIV+ deserve to be treated with love, respect, support and acceptance as all people do. If anyone wants more info on transmission, there is great information here: www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/transmission.htm and here: www.thewellproject.org/en_US/HIV_The_Basics/

If you are interested in learning how to sponsor an HIV+ orphan, please visit www.ahopeforchildren.org