By Nicole
"Because Every Kid Needs A Family"
Kidsave is an organization that is dedicated to getting children out of orphanages and foster care and into permanent families. You can go to their website for all of the information – they do several different things! This year, we will be hosting for their Summer Miracles program. I don't yet know if it will be a boy or a girl, but to make this article easier to type and read, I will use “she” and “her.”
For approximately five weeks this summer, a parentless child from Colombia will become part of our family. This will give her the opportunity to experience life in a family, learn about another culture, and possibly do things that are not normally available to a young person in her position. Most importantly, we hope that we will be able to help find a permanent family for this child. The chances of this happening are excellent!
According to Kidsave, “Since 1999, more than 1500 children have traveled to the US as part of our Summer Miracles program, and 93% have found families who have adopted them or are pursuing adoption.” Ninety-three percent! When you consider that Kidsave targets kids ages 6-16 or so because they are often too “old” to be adopted, this is a very big deal. There are so, so many orphans in the world. It is easy to become discouraged and look away because there's no way we can help them all. But like the man who walked along the beach tossing stranded starfish back into the water, we can help one child at a time, and that makes a 100% difference to that child.
This will be our second hosting experience. Our first was in 2007. The boy we hosted that year has been adopted and is living with his forever family in New York! What we did that summer was worth it, even if it wasn't always easy. Hosting can take a lot out of you financially, emotionally, physically . . . it is easier with the support of the community. I believe that more people would be willing to host if they could depend on a community of people helping them. We can survive, even without help, but it sure makes things easier. And it spreads the blessing of being able to change the life of a child around to more than just the hosting family.
We do not yet know the gender, age, size, or interests of our host child. But once we get the information, I will let our friends and family know what clothing and shoes we will need, as well as a bicycle. The bicycle would be to borrow, but the clothes and shoes would have to be a donation in case she would like to take any of it with her. It is possible that she will arrive with very little more than the clothes on her back.
This time we've requested a girl age nine or older. Last time we kept it open and took whoever they wanted to give us, and we got a boy who was six months younger than our almost-six-year-old son. For whatever reason, the boys had a good deal of trouble getting along. To minimize the chance of another similar situation, this year we have requested an older girl.
In the past, the YMCA has donated day camp for the children. This was wonderful of them! But this year, they're not doing it. Hosting a child can get crazy-expensive. So this is where having other families involved can help. We believe the cost is worth it, for everyone. We've asked friends and family to help pay for some summer activities such as gymnastics, swimming, horseback riding, sports, trips to the zoo, etc. But we will be doing a lot of free activities as well like going to parks and riding bikes, and some community planned events. A lot will really depend on her interests, which we don't know yet. She may love sports, she may be afraid of the ball. She may love to sing, she may have no sense of pitch. So I can't make concrete plans yet. We're still in the coming-up-with-ideas phase.
I will also likely be looking for medical help such as an eye exam and dental cleaning and whatever else comes up – our 2007 child had ear infections while he was here. The kids come with insurance for major issues only. Minor things need to be paid for by the host. We're hoping nothing goes wrong, but if it does, it would help to know ahead of time if there's a doctor who will be willing to give us a reduced rate or treat her for free.
Finally, and this may go without saying, talk it up. You may know someone who is interested in adopting an older child. EVERY child needs a family. Every child, every age. Consider either being a host family, or helping a family who is already hosting a child. As a community, we can make a difference in the lives of children with no family. Love them, and find them a place to call home.