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CHINA AND TAIWAN PROGRAM NEWSLETTER
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This month Gladney is in China!
Thank you to our
Superkids Team and Advocacy Campers
who are meeting new children and
getting
updates for waiting families!
Many of you followed them on the Superkids blog and Facebook. But if you haven't, take some time this weekend to share their special journey.
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Kostas, Violet, and big brother George, welcomed home 6 yr old Halle!
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Program Update:
It is already the second half of April! So far this month Gladney has received five LSC's (official referrals) and five TA's (invitation to travel to China to complete adoption). Four families are travelling this month: One family is just arriving home, and three are in China as this newsletter is being distributed! There are four additional families that should be receiving their TA before April ends.
We hope the Welcome Home section of the May newsletter will be able to include some of our February, March and April families who have completed their adoptions! Sometimes we are all a little delayed to coordinate receiving the pictures and permissions to publish. We never mean to overlook anyone who arrives home who would like to have their picture included in the newsletter. Please feel free to submit a family photo after your adoption to
[email protected]
The
Superkids blog and
Superkids facebook page have done a great job of capturing time spent this month in China. The 2016 Spring Trips, while only comprising one week for the Advocacy Camp and two weeks for the Superkids Team, becomes the foundation of information, hope, and communication that will be ongoing throughout this year and next, as we advocate for adoption opportunities for many of the children we met.
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Program Update:
We are so excited to be traveling back to Taiwan in May with Gladney's Superkids! The team will include Superkids Pediatric PT, Keely Farkas, Gladney VP and Asia Programs Director, Gongzhan Wu, Taiwan Program Caseworker, Mary Chapman, a wonderful professional photographer and an amazing adoption advocate. The team will be visiting both of our partners - Cathwel Service and Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation. They will be meeting many of the waiting children we've been advocating for, and hopefully some new children as well! The team will be able to gather vital information for adoptive families considering matching to a waiting child. Be sure to follow the team's journey on the
Superkids blog
!
Congratulations to the family who completed the adoption of their six year old daughter from Taiwan in March! In March we also received new profiles for several waiting children, including a sibling group of two adorable brothers! For more information on waiting children from the Taiwan program, please visit Gladney's
A Child To Love website.
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Click the images to read stories about children from our China and Taiwan programs!
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April Uduhiri, China Waiting Child Program Coordinator
We wanted to highlight April in this month's newsletter to thank her for her great work -- and to further introduce her to all of our newletter readers!
Many of the parents in Gladney's China program today started their journey after talking with April. April's role as Gladney's China Waiting Child Program Coordinator is to communicate with interested families about specific children available for adoption. In this role she helps parents understand how the adoption process works and helps families think about their preferences and priorities regarding age, gender and medical need.
How to describe April? Let's start with friendly, witty, sensitive, ethical and responsible, good sense of humor, and intelligent. But truly, April can perhaps best be described by the quote "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts". She really brings a depth and connection to all she touches that makes all we are doing even better.
April works closely with Asia Program Directors, Gongzhan Wu and Wendy Stanley. She helps counsel adoptive parents about children available for adoption through Gladney's partnerships with several Chinese orphanages. She meets frequently with the China and Taiwan caseworkers to suggest specific children to propose to parents for consideration. April also coordinates update information from our partners in China regarding specific children. She is also is in discussion regularly with Superkids Pediatric medical specialists as we receive profiles of children for matching with families. This is not an exhaustive list of April's responsibilities, but is illustrative of some of the ways that April has touched, or will touch, your adoption process.
In addition to April's adoption experience through the years, she is interested in continuing her learning in regards to counseling adoptive parents to understand how to strengthen attachments to their children. April has attended Gladney's Pathways Training and recently
participated in Dan Hughes' Level 1 DDP training as a scholarship recipient provided by the Adoption/Foster Care Therapist Network (AFCTN).
April is currently in China with the Superkids Team. We can't wait to welcome her back!
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The
Superkids blog and
Superkids Facebook page have done a great job of capturing time spent this month in China. The 2016 Spring Trips, while only comprising one week for the Advocacy Camp and two weeks for the Superkids Team, becomes the foundation of information, hope, and communication that will be ongoing throughout this year and next, as we advocate for adoption opportunities for many of the children we met.
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Garrett
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"One of my favorite parts of this trip so far is seeing the kids that I met a year ago. Even though they don't remember me, I have such fond memories that make it especially exciting to see them again. When little Garrett walked into the room at Shanghai, I almost cried. He was such a little baby last year who was pulling up on my fingers to get a better look at my hair. This year he is walking and talking - he even counted to 5! He's a real toddler now and it was a joy to see him!" -- April Uduhiri
 "It's not for me to understand the diagnosis of each child that we visit with, or even to know their real names. In the greater picture, this journey to four provinces and seven Child Institutions requires each of us to see and understand the children in whatever way they choose to reveal their hearts and minds.
Today, as we near the end of our journey together, we were privileged to witness the determined spirit of one child, who easily represents the heart of so many others who wait for a family. We learned once again how strongly some children can push back against the challenges, both emotional and physical, of living within an institution. Children were meant to grown in families, surrounded by loving, invested adults who cherish them deeply." - Martha Osborne
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| Please join us in New York for the annual Larchmont Picnic! Friends are welcome too! A registration link will be available soon on the GFA's website.
The GFA has chapters and events around the country - check out the
site for a calendar of events in your area!
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