Melamine

Unless you've been living under a rock the last few months, the word melamine is not new to you. When news of the affected formulas in China came out, I was extremely relieved to see that Sera's was not on the list. At 2 1/2, I also thought she was old enough to have left before the incidents occurred.

And then I learned I was wrong. Children adopted as far back as 2005 have been tested and found to have the kidney stones connected to melamine poisoning. Apparently this has been going on for years. I also started thinking about the fact that I knew what formula we were told Sera was on when we got her, but we did not have way of knowing what she had consumed throughout her time there.

The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I became. This intensified when I learned that children in the Chinese adoption community were being tested even though they exhibited NONE of the warning signs, and the tests were showing problems. Now I've learned that some of these children had normal urinalysis and blood panels, but a renal ultrasound showed the stones.

I talked to Sera's doctor last week, and yesterday we took her for the lab work. This was not something we were looking forward to doing. We'd been home only a few weeks when we had Sera's original lab work done. It was a horrible experience. It took multiple attempts by multiple labworkers to get enough for the tests. It also took four adults to hold her still.

The urine sample was easy and painless to get. Though if someone can tell me how to get a sample from a toddler, mid-stream mind you, without getting urine all over your hand, please let me know. I, obviously, do not have that knowledge or skill. The blood was drawn by one person in one try. Sera wasn't happy and did cry, but the neon pink bandage quickly dried up her tears.

Now we wait for the results and decide whether or not an ultrasound should also take place.

I hope the insurance company doesn't fight this one. The last lab bill was over $1000, and it took months and months before we quit receiving the bill. We just kept telling them to submit it to our insurance again. I don't mind paying my share, but we pay a fortune in insurance for them to cover their share, too.

The Silver Lining

To every tragedy lies a silver lining. This one is a major shift in the attitude of the Chinese towards adoption. There has long been a societal disapproval of adoption. The earthquake seems to have caused a monumental shift in thinking. Though it will take months to get organized and make sure there are no relatives available, the people of China are already signing up to adopt the Earthquake orphans.

I don't want to sound like a case of "I have my child. Who cares about you?," but I can't help but be pleased to see that the stigma is leaving. International adoption was just a tiny drop in the bucket of children available for adoption. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see them all find a home?

Favorite Ingredient Friday - sorry, got so busy this week, that I didn't get a chance to pick a recipe. I'll be back next time!

An Earthquake Story

This is one I found especially moving.

It was the third day after the quake already. The rescue workers were still looking for survivors. They knew with each minute passing by, the chance to find someone alive gets slimmer. They were overworked. Since the quake, many of them had been working constantly, without having any good sleep. The roads to these mountainous towns and villages were destroyed by the quake-induced mudslides. They did not have machinery to work with. All they had were shovels and their bare hands. But they were still looking for survivors.

Click here to finish reading

Update from Half the Sky

All the stories are touching, but as a teacher I was especially moved by Zhang Huibing’s story.



Dear Friends,

It’s Monday afternoon here in China. As I write this, the entire country just held 3 minutes of silence to commence a 3 day period of national mourning. It began at 2:28 pm, marking the very moment the massive quake struck in Wenchuan County, Sichuan. Flags flew at half-staff, the people wore white flowers and, heads bowed, held hands. Across the country, horns and sirens wailed in grief.

There are 32,477 people confirmed dead, more than 35,000 still missing.

Sadly and predictably, we are getting more information about children newly orphaned. We are now bringing together people and resources to prepare and train caregivers to help children through the next difficult phase of recovery. Unlike emergency relief (not our specialty but we're learning fast!), this is an area where HTS does have great expertise to offer. We will give all we can to these children who have many hard days ahead of them. I will be sharing our plans as they evolve.

Meanwhile, we continue to focus our attention on the most urgent needs of affected children – children in institutions and children orphaned or displaced by the disaster.

What follows is our most recent news. I’ve posted a few photos on our
website: http://halfthesky.org/work/earthquake08.php and will update as more arrive.

Ziyang Social Welfare Institution – Building sustained severe damage.
They care for 48 children, 20 of them under four years-old. They request 50 cribs and cots, bandages, 10 milk pots, children’s clothes, 100 sets of bedding, bowls, spoons, chopsticks, toys and stationary supplies.

Deyang and Nanchong Social Welfare Institutions both have received notification that they should prepare immediately to receive newly orphaned children. All the children are living in tents. HTS will provide additional tents, beds and other requested items.

Guangyuan SWI – The children remain in tents. They were notified that they will be receiving several newly orphaned children (perhaps 50-60) very soon.

Shifang saw many of its schools destroyed, hundreds of children and their teachers buried. They sent us this heartbreaking story during the rescue efforts at Hongbai Primary School:

“‘We found him!’ Teacher Zhang Huibing’s body was finally discovered, frozen in a posture of pushing against the door frame. According to the students saved by him, when the earthquake happened, Teacher Zhang was on the platform of the classroom on the second floor, which was very near the door. He yelled to the students, ‘Run outside! Hurry!’ And he somehow held the door frame up with both arms as the children ran out, one by one.
Just as all the students were safely evacuated, the building collapsed on him. Teacher Zhang, who was only 30 years-old, had a four-year-old child of his own.”

As I mentioned in my last note, Mianyang has become a major refugee center. Of the more than 20,000 refugees in the city’s Jiuzhou Stadium, “scores” of them are young children. We are told, but this is not confirmed, that the entire center area of the stadium is reserved for toddlers and infants. Most are said to be from Dujiangyang, Beichuan and Mianzhu. Ma Lang is on her way to Mianyang now, so we will learn more soon.

Many children who have lost or become separated from their families are being brought to Chengdu, but not yet to the Chengdu Children’s Welfare Institution. Some have been taken to the Sichuan Children’s Center (an after-school and weekend activity center for children.)

About 30 children, from Yingxiu and Dujiangyang, were taken a Chengdu city park, the Qingyang Sports Center, which has been converted to a refugee camp. Some children have been united with family members. We’re told that some from the media are actively trying to reunite families. Most of the children in this camp who survived were in their teens. They told us that many younger children in their town did not survive because those in the primary schools and kindergartens were napping when the quake hit and could not run.

The youngest camp resident was 16 days-old. The military police made a special effort to bring her and her very young mother down to the camp from Yingxiu. The baby was only 11 days-old when her daddy perished in the earthquake.

Perhaps today's most heartbreaking story was about some of the 70 injured children who’d been carried down from the affected areas to Huaxi Hospital. Most of the children were reunited with parents or relatives; some were even well enough to leave the hospital after treatment. But a few children remained alone and unclaimed.

They were required to sign their own consent forms so that the doctors could amputate their limbs to save their lives.

Half the Sky spent much of the weekend purchasing requested supplies and shelter, organizing distribution and continuing to assess needs. In addition to the much-needed and wonderfully generous monetary donations from our amazing community of supporters, we have been flooded with offers of in-country help from from volunteers.

As you can imagine, many requested items are getting harder and harder to come by. Just today we doubled our refugee tent order to 200 – all that was available immediately – and already have requests for more. Shoppers in Chengdu have begun filling a no-longer-habitable room at the Chengdu CWI (Children’s Welfare Institution) with everyday goods destined for hard-hit areas. Others around China are working on fulfilling our giant shopping list. Some are flying in to Chengdu, hand-carrying items from our medical wish-list. Our wonderful friends at Gung-Ho Films, a Beijing-based film production services company, are offering logistics support, including shopping, shipping and door-to-tent delivery!

I can’t really express how moved we are by your generosity and your trust in Half the Sky to ensure that the children benefit from your gifts.
Today 3 more HTS Beijing staffers and 2 Gung-Ho staff traveled to Chengdu to help facilitate our relief efforts. We all feel privileged to be able to help.

If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund, it would be great if you would do so at Global Giving as (even though they take 10% for processing and we do not (100% to the kids but at cost to our
programs) it allows HTS staff to focus on relief efforts while keeping our programs going.
http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

If you prefer to donate directly to Half the Sky, of course that’s fine.
Here are the various ways: You can donate by calling Half the Sky (+1 510
525 3377) or on our website:
http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund


Many companies have announced they will match employee gifts for earthquake relief. Please check to see if your company will double your gift!

If you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate at
http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248

If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call us at +852 2520
5266 or online at
https://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947

Thank you so much for your kindness and concern.

with love,
Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org

Update

We've gotten word from multiple sources confirming that everyone at Sera's orphanage in Liang Ping is okay. The building does have structural damage as one wall collapsed and there are large cracks in others, but all the people are okay.

The orphanages in China are called Social Welfare Institutes or SWI. They house orphaned children and senior citizens. It is wonderful that no one lost their life. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the nearby elementary school.

The other day, I posted a letter from Half the Sky with a link to their site. They are collecting donations to be used to help the SWIs and the children affected by this earthquake. Since then, I've received another email from them. They are now requesting that donations be given to Global Giving

I've added their widget to my sidebar. Click it any time to donate.