Wish Upon a Star
Jeanette Dubanowski

House of Angels
Krishan K. Agarwal
Mr. and Mrs. Homer A. Gregory
Susan Berger
Marcia McHenry
Elwin Leung

Kazakhstan
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark, In Honor of Director Erbol Kapanovich
David Wilstermann, Shining Light and Semey Windows Project
Lex and Karla Moran, for Vasalisa in Shymkent

Ethiopia
Brian & Margaret Dillingham, BP Pino Hope Project
Louis Demarco, BP Pino Hope Project
Jennifer Hall, BP Pino Hope Project
Eduardo Sanchez, BP Pino Hope Project
Christopher and Ann Muehling, BP Pino Hope Project
Teresa Carnt, BP Pino Hope Project

Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
Melany Bartholow

Little Miracles International General Humanitarian Fund
Just Love Coffee Roasters
Asset Value Investors Limited, Kimberly Lau
Anonymous, In Memory of Alan R. Elia and in Honor of Irene Elia

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If you wish to send tax-deductible checks:

Check made out to “Little Miracles International”

Haiti Earthquake Orphan Relief
Little Miracles International
PO BOX 19776
Amarillo, Texas 79114

Your tax-deductible donation will provide food, formula and medical supplies to orphans in Haiti. The need is great. Babies and children are living outside for fear of falling buildings. People are desperate. Everyone is at risk. The Red Cross and other aid organizations are attempting to reach orphanages but in many cases, are not there, yet. Injured children need medical care. Transportation is difficult and looters are stealing fuel. Please help. These children should not suffer starvation after losing their families, and then their orphanages. PayPal will come faster to our agency, but checks are also welcome!!!

In order to understand why we cannot assist with adoption of these orphans I am re-posting an excerpt of an article located on Rainbowkids website written by Martha Osborne.

Many people hear of natural disasters in various parts of the world, and want to open their homes and hearts, via adoption, to children who have lived through them. While these well intentions are commendable, it is rarely possible or advisable, at least in the short term. The reasons are simple:

1. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, it is often difficult to ascertain that a child is truly an orphan. Parents may have become separated from their children in the confusion and may be in another refugee camp or just over the border. It is not ethical to place a child for adoption unless it is clear that no parent able to care for that child will be found. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not grant an orphan visa to a child unless he/she clearly meets the definition of an eligible orphan; eligible orphan status cannot be considered if there is a possibility that a parent could provide care at the country’s normal standard of acceptability and did not purposely abandon or relinquish the child.

2. Even if it is clear that a child has no parent able to care for him/her, good adoption practice requires that attempts be made to place the child with extended family, members of the community, or others in his/her birth country. Intercountry adoption is appropriate only if a child is unlikely to find a permanent, loving family in his/her birth country. In addition, children may need to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and international adoption may not be in their best interest at this time.

3. Ethical adoption practice requires that a child be considered legally relinquished or abandoned, and then legally adopted according to the laws of his/her country of citizenship. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, a country’s government may be in disarray and what resources are available may be deployed on projects such as providing safe water and food, caring for the injured, burying the dead, maintaining order, etc. Thus, the courts and other entities that could handle relinquishments and adoptions may not be functioning at all, or may be giving first priority to projects in other areas. Adoption cannot proceed in such an environment.

4. In the immediate aftermath of natural or man-made disasters, an area may not be safe for travel. Occasionally, U.S. government officials who review the legitimacy of adoptions and process exit visas are unable to work safely in a country. Moreover, even if staff and families might be willing to travel, civilian air and ground transport to and within an area might be unavailable.

5. Even if a country manages to get its legal system functioning and to identify parentless children, the process is long and thorough. The best interests of children who have been through traumatic situations is to receive immediate care within familiar surroundings. Families wishing to help children during this crisis may best do so by contributing to their loving care through a reputable charity or humanitarian group.

On a sad note, we have learned of one orphanage near the epicenter that has been completely destroyed. We were unable to confirm the name of the orphanage, and will add it to this article once confirmed. Several orphanages are taking the precaution of having the children and caretakers sleep outside in the yards or driveways. There are many orphanages that have been damaged, and are in need of the most basic of supplies, including diesel fuel to run generators, water and water purifiers, food, and antibiotics.

While the need to take in additional children is being considered by the orphanage staffs, it must also be noted that the caretakers of the orphanages are primarily Haitian women who have their own families to care for during this time of tragedy. Fortunately, we are hearing reports of local families coming forward in the less damaged areas to offer temporary care for the children of the orphanages. Though poor economically, it should be noted that the people of Haiti are a warm and loving people who recognize the needs of their community. They are reaching out to one another, offering their homes and care whenever possible.

Currently, the greatest challenge is getting the much needed supplies in and around the country. The easiest and most economic way to do so is to buy supplies in the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s nearest neighbor, and use emergency transport (by air and land) to reach the orphanages. This requires monetary donations, and the coordination of existing in-country charities and humanitarian-aid organizations. In short, donations to small, established organizations that have been working with orphanages for years, is the best way for donations to reach the children in an expedient manner. Most of these orphanages are small, housing from 12 to under 100 children.

While it is not possible to adopt Haitian children who have been separated from their families (due to their undetermined orphan status), there is still much that may be done to ease the suffering of these children. Please donate today through the donation button above or by check.

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The House of Angels would like to thank all of their supporters, donors, volunteers, friends, prayer partners and the staff that work tirelessly for the children so gently entrusted inside it’s strong walls. Thank you for this year of hope, this year of dreams that seemed unreachable, thank you for your support and generosity.

On New Years Eve, it is a Romanian tradition to leave a lamp alight on the New Year’s night until the dawn. This light has shined eternal each year during all of the years of the projects we have done. The light will continue to shine again this new year with your help. Fie ca lumina sărbătorilor să vă rămână în inimi tot anul Toate cele bune! Un an nou fericit! (May the light of the Holidays be in your hearts all year long! All the best! Happy New Year!)

Now HOA shares with you their most extraordinary year in photos:

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It turns out that giving is good for you and your health!!  CNN posted a very interesting article this month about charitable giving and volunteering.

If everyone gave time, money, talents or passion, what could that mean for individuals, communities, even the world?

“The power of giving is instantaneous, continuous and eternal,” he said. “When you die, you don’t take what you have.You take what you gave.”

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What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.  Each and every day we face with extreme courage and faith.  We have so much hope for the future for the orphans and families we assist. Without you, all we have done would not have been possible!  We pray that one day we won’t need our projects or that there is never a child to be found without love in this world.  Until then we will continue to have broken hearts and do everything we can to make lives better.

Thank you for the great year and we wanted to let you know that tax receipts will go out in the first two weeks of January.

We will be posting an update of the Semipalatinsk Window project, Wish Upon a Star and House of Angels within a week.

We are still seeking Volunteers for the House of Angels!  Please consider how you can help!

Please see a special Holiday Greeting from Little Miracles.

Merry Christmas and a bountiful and blessed New Year!

Lori Scott

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Just Love Coffee Roasters is a company that provides fair trade specialty coffee, while helping orphans left behind and orphans soon to be adopted. Just Love Coffee Roasters is assisting Dream of a Child, by allowing us to sell their coffee to raise humanitarian funds.

The coffee is hand roasted upon order, and hand packed to deliver! They have a variety of different blends, and who doesn’t love coffee? If you or someone you know is interested in buying coffee, we would appreciate it! The coffee club allows us to have a constant fundraiser while you enjoy your morning brew every day of every month. You can also order individual coffees.

Funds from the purchase of these coffees will go to our projects as well as the JustLove projects in Ethiopia. You will be helping orphans around the world. We look forward to your help!

Please retweet if you would like to help us spread the word!

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When the after-school program was opened at the House of Angels, there were two bright faces representing this poverty, 12 year old Ionela and 8 year old George Sandu. Ionela and George always worked very hard on their homework, working into the night by candlelight at home, and they’ve done very well in school. They are the first kids to come to HOA after school program and the last kids to leave in the late afternoon.

After seeing the conditions of the home environment of the children, something just had to be done to alleviate their home situation.

The Sandu family has always had modest expectations from life. Mr. Sandu often worries that the next month won’t bring enough money to feed his children. Mr. Sandu is a gravedigger for the local cemetery and regretfully is happy when someone in the community dies. He knows this will bring money to his family. Mrs. Sandu suffers from severe epilepsy her occupation is to sweep the roads in Gaesti, in front of the homes of the “wealthy” families.

Dambovita county Romania, the home of the House of Angels and the Sandu family, has in the past been recognized as having one of the highest child abandonment rates in the country. Under these very difficult circumstances, the Sandu parents never abandoned their children and they found great relief when HOA’s daily care center opened its doors for service to their children. Their hopes were to one day have electricity in their home so that Ionela and George will no longer have to do their homework by candle light. They hoped to one day have money enough to replace the plastic in their windows with real glass. And they hoped to one day get over the daily fear that they may not have enough money to buy food for their children.

The Sandu home was a one-room shelter made from cardboard, a completely deteriorating home-made adobe type dwelling with a plastic roof and plastic windows. Regardless of how fate treated the Sandu family, Ionela and George were children who were forever friendly and always smiling. They were never complaining, never saying they were too cold in the brutal winter.

Fortunate for these two, they had a special place to visit, a House of Angels where they would get hot meals and assistance with their homework. And it was at this House of Angels that they watched films of Hansel and Gretel. They were always hoping and dreaming that one day the angels would bring them a cottage like the one in the story.

In fact, the angels at the center had told them that indeed they would one day have their dream, they needed to believe. They asked without wavering through weeks and months on end, “Is it true?”. The answer was always, without wavering, a resounding “Yes!”

Those at the house of angels knew that money and bureaucracy were forever standing in the way. But the angels’ hope and faith also never wavered.

The situation turned suddenly. The Sandu family facing Romanian winter without electricity, was in danger of loosing this “home”. The shelter that housed them belonged to the grandmother of the children who at one time moved out with her two 40 year old handicapped sons into a kind of tent made of pieces of wood, plastic and other things. They now want their “house” back. If this were to have happened, the Sandu family would have had no place to stay.

Mother Sandu works hard to keep Ionela and George extremely clean and takes very good care of them but if they were to lose the “house” they currently lived in, the kids would immediately be taken by child protection to a foster family. The mother said if this happened “her life would be worthless because she only lives for her children”. Something had to be done very quickly to save the home environment of this dear family.

Finally… asking day after day, the dearest dream of all dreams of these children came true, they had a house that was truly a home!

Operation Habitat was launched in July of 2008. The funds were never raised to fulfill this dream. But during the desperate hours, House of Angels never gave up. With the knowledge that the Sandu family were soon to lose their home, a relentless search turned up a miracle. A company with a compassionate owner had a pre-fab type dwelling, and it was priced at 2,000 euros, the price was cut in half for the benefit of the Sandu family after he heard the story.

At 1000 euros (approximately $1,500 USD), a deal was finally made. There is continued hope that current negotiations with the Gaesti Mayor will result in bringing electricity into the house, something this family has never known. Since the family does not have a stable income, this poses a problem as well, but a simple light bulb and a heater would warm this family and create a really wonderful environment in which to raise children.

With no funds available to have the house transported or re-assembled, our dedicated Gelu “George” the HOA administrator and his generous friends recently disassembled the house and then transported it to the Sandu family to reassemble it there. Arriving late at night, time only allowed for unloading, so the family turned sentinel over the logs by night to ensure they would not be stolen.

The next morning the sun shone bright upon the labors of the workers. Gelu and friends spent the day putting the house back together, with the help of the family. Ionela and George refused to eat or do anything, instead staying close by to help.

Simona Stewart, House of Angels founder was amazed: “I noticed little George far-away in a daydream, thinking probably that he will have a real room for the first time in his life. The contrast between the old house and the new one was just stunning. It was desperation vs. hope. It was a revival of life. The family was so happy and grateful.”

Now we need your help. We must raise the $1500 to pay for the house since we decided to just go ahead with this dream with approaching harsh winter.

Can you please make this your covenant with us to be a part of this special dream for these children?

What would make this even better is if we had a donor generous enough to help us keep assisting this wonderful family as a sponsor.

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Wish Upon a Star
Jeanette Dubanowski
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Faragher

House of Angels
Greg and Michelle Smith
Beth Lipton
Susan Berger
Mr. and Mrs. Homer A. Gregory
Nancy Shephard
Carol Jansson
Brady and Anne Woody
Marcia McHenry
Richard and Debra Kruger in Memory of Mary Goodall
Michael Doheny
Gabriela Santa

Kazakhstan Window Project
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark

Kazakhstan
Michael and Cara Covert
Robert and Angela Kenner
Susan Knoblauch

Little Miracles International General Humanitarian Fund
Robert and Angela Kenner
Susan Knoblauch
Michael and Cara Covert

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These five short words have never have rung more true than they do today. When I began working with orphans, nothing ever seemed to remain the same. The laws changed, the people changed, the economy changed, the government and political climate changed temperaments changed, and more often than necessary, the life of the orphan changed.

Special Angel

Although we haven’t seen the change we wish to see in the opening of international adoptions, we are getting closer to the orphans plight yet again. I remember taking teams of volunteers to the disabled orphanage next to the HOA for the first time. It was always a disturbing experience for some. We never exited the building with the same number of volunteers. We would lose some along the way. Disabled children that have been allowed to languish without treatment and therapy in this country is impossible for some hearts to witness. These exremes are really something unknown to most Americans. Without describing the small frailness of it’s contents, the disabled orphanage of Romania has long had a poor reputation for humane treatment of the child.

In August 2009 HOA took some of the children from the special needs orphanage while they renovated their building. Special needs has always been in the center of our vision. We have been working with these children giving them occupational and physical therapy now for many years. We have assisted with surgeries and treatments of children that would not have them otherwise. Taking in these children seemed like a wonderful fit again. Our halls that sang with orphan voices began to sing again. We felt like this was home again and we wanted so desperately to offer these special children some hope at a life with quality care. The Child Protection came to Simona with a proposal that she could not refuse.

It is with great joy we announce in September, 2009 we will re-open our doors as an emergency shelter once again. This time we will embrace children with special needs. We will begin with the tiniest and frailest babies from the hospital. We wish to start with these children so we can prevent institutionalization problems right away. So it is official. We are working on the budget now and we will have some emergency needs of our own to get baby care supplies and salaries for staff donated!  We will continue to need something we do not have currently, your full support!

How can you help? Right now we need donations of baby care items: hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, infant/toddler toys, shampoo, soaps, lotions, very gently used or new baby clothing 0-3, cans of regular, and soy formula, blankets, pacifiers and our biggest item, disposable diapers. We simply need everything again! Monetary donations can help even more so we can purchase these items in Romania immediately!

If you wish to donate goods please consider helping financially also with their shipping! Tax receipts will also be given for gifts in kind (donated goods)

Make payable to “Little Miracles International” on the “for” identification line of the check, please write the “House of Angels” and send to:

Humanitarian Projects
Little Miracles International
PO BOX 19776
Amarillo, Texas 79114

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I will be very busy again. Many students are still interested in my teaching them English. So my week hours of teaching will be 28-29 hours per week. It is a lot of work.

I am not sure if i will be able to visit the village orphanages. Let’s pray and see.
Orphanage #8 has been under my care for 11 years now. I love going there and helping the kids and caretakers with their needs. I also help the orphans who left this orphanage and study at collages. They also need attention and care. There are 61 children living at Orphanage #8 right now. Eight orphans have left the orphanage this year because they entered technical school. One boy was taken to a foster family.

My programs for 2009-2010 at this orphanage are:

1. Art classes at the orphanage and art school.
This will be the children’s second year of art classes. Ludmila, the art teacher is going to continue art therapy for 12 boys and 6 girls. Mostly all the kids are aged 8-12. The teaching will be once a week, one hour with each group. First taught will be girls then boys.

I watched with real joy and interest as the children were working on their art classes. It was amazing how interesting the art works can be with the help of the teacher. It was like magic. First as the art begins you see a clean slate, with nothing in the picture. But then gradually something new and beautiful appeared.

I was wondering how kids could become so creative!! At the end of the year they were able to express themselves showing brighter colors in their art works. The first class will be September 8th. I am meeting Ludmila and we will discuss the plan for the year and the art supplies we need to buy. The teacher will get 350 rubles (11.26 USD) per hour, 700 rubles (22.50 USD) per two hours a week.

2. Two orphans Luba and Sasha will continue attending our art school. For Luba it will be the 3rd year of art school. I am still very concerned about her because orphans can’t control their emotions if something does not go well no matter where they are. Not all adults are so patient with such fussy children. She will have art classes two times a week (6 hours of art.)

3. I am going to continue providing swimming pool classes. This will cost 3000 rubles (96.50 USD) a month. Most all orphans are able to go to the swimming pool once a week and some boys are taking professional swimming classes. This sport has helped the orphans to become stronger. The orphans are not having as many illnesses and sicknesses now.

4. The boys attending art classes will start learning English next week too. I ordered the books for them, bought copybooks (composition books.) They will have two classes a week. Their teacher will be a disabled girl Anna. She graduated from the university and works as a translator for missionaries from America. I got to know her at VBS School this summer when my missionary friends came to Khabarovsk this summer and we worked with children at the Christian school.

Anna can’t walk without crutches. So she will take a taxi. I will pay her 250 rubles (8.00 USD) per 1 hour and 200 rubles (6.43 USD) for the taxi each time. So it will be 500 rubles (16.08 USD) a week and 400 (12.87 USD) rubles for taxi a week.
I think she is a very reliable girl and is very interested to help me and work with orphans.

5. The boys will also have knitting once a week. Their teacher’s name is Tatiana. She is on vacation right now and will be in Khabarovsk next week. I plan on helping the boys to continue knitting. They will knit scarves, mittens, and socks for themselves. I am going to provide the teacher with yarn, and also pay her 250 rubles (8.00 USD) for one class a week.

6. There is a new caretaker Ekaterina who helps the kids to work on the computer. These teachers are interested in making a group from orphans and teach them origami. This is Japanese art to fold the paper and make different objects. This is a good way to involve the kids. Origami teaches attention, patience and motor skills. I am going to pay for the paper. There will be 10 kids in her group.

7. I gave some money to pay workbooks for the kids for school. These working books are to be bought every year for the kids no matter if they are from families or orphans. It is a big problem for the orphanages to buy these books. This is a very important purchase.

8. I bought some books in the summer. Theses books are classic Foreign Literature for children. I have talked with the director about planning time for each orphan to read 30 minutes every day. The director liked this idea. I would like to help the orphans to make a good reading a habit.

9. I am helping Anzhela and Yana who are studying at the railway collage. I am going to provide Anzhela ‘s tutoring. This year is her last year at college. She is going to enter the railway academy and needs help in math and physics. I give the girls money for food and clothes every month.

10. The kids at the orphanage participate in different celebrations every month (holiday, birthdays, guests, etc…) It is a big problem every year to buy treats, sweets, snacks, and cakes and to find money for flour and oil. So we talked with the director and found out that it will better idea just to buy flour, oil, maybe some vanilla, yeast, jam, cinnamon, raisins and the orphans will be able to cook themselves with the help of the caretakers rather then buying the treats and take everything for granted. I am going to provide the orphans with those ingredients. I am very excited about that idea.

That’s probably all. I will continue writing my updates.
Sincerely,
Lena

Lena continues her ministry with the orphans of Khabarovsk and surrounding villages. Her amazing faith and endurance continues to be a personal inspiration and this spreads to everyone that hears her story. She has managed to overcome great obstacles of health and bureaucracy to build a ministry that not only helps with the physical needs of the orphans, but also provides educational and spiritual guidance that continues after orphans have graduated from the orphanage system. In addition to her tireless work with orphans, Lena tutors students in English in her home and she teaches English in a private Christian School in the city.

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