CIRCLE Volume 57

Chinese Children Charities is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

2 Adoption Statistics

3 Window to China 4

Window to China continued

5 Professional Corner

6 Heritage Tour

January/February 2007

7 CCAI News 8 Announcements

CCAI Launches Three Mei’s Therapy Program Over the last few years, Project Tomorrow, introduced by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, has made it possible for more than 20,000 orphanage children to receive desperately-needed surgeries. This successful program has in turn created a new challenge for the government and local orphanages: how to provide post-surgery service, rehabilitation, and physical therapy to these special children? In response, and in an effort to continue the “trickle-down” effect of training in Chinese orphanages, CCAI has initiated another pioneering project designed to support and provide training for caregivers to help these children recover. The “Three Mei’s” Therapy Program recruits highly skilled and dedicated occupational therapists, physical therapists, and early childhood development specialists to embark on a two-week trip to China to spend time in Chinese orphanages. This exciting new program brings American professionals right where they are needed most – where children live and play each day. Children in orphanages often experience developmental delays, both physical and mental, but many of these delays can be prevented or reduced through proper early intervention by caregivers. Children with special needs, as high as 80% in some orphanages, may also require specialized care beyond that of a typically developing child, and with the right knowledge and skills, this care can be provided as part of a caregiver’s daily routine. Three Mei’s therapists will teach orphanage caregivers simple but effective therapeutic techniques, promote understanding of common disabilities, and provide training on how to best effect and maintain improvement following surgery, all while respecting the children’s and caregivers’ cultural situation. During each trip, a team of three to four therapists are able to visit an orphanage and spend seven to ten days evaluating needs, creating plans, and providing training and hand-on service. We believe the Three Mei’s Therapy

Three Mei’s therapists (from left) Nancy Turner, Melondie Keaney, and Karyn Spratt educate orphanage caregivers on child development and rehabilitation

Program will not only directly improve quality of life for hundreds of children with special conditions, but also train and nurture a group of dedicated therapists among the orphanage caregivers, so many more orphanage children will benefit from our efforts. Program coordination of the Three Mei’s Therapy Program is run by CCAI’s Charity Department and a volunteer committee. Three of the committee members’ adopted daughters’ first names are Mei, which means beautiful or little sister, thus, the moniker “Three Mei’s.” For more information about this exciting program, please send an email or resume to [email protected].

China Staff Training CCAI’s in-China representatives gathered in Chongqing from December 26-28 to participate in the ninth annual CCAI China Staff Training and Development. Focusing on the training theme of “New Challenges and Renewed Determination,” staff members reviewed our 2006 operation, discussed current adoption issues, and formulated CCAI’s In-China Representatives take plans for 2007. CCAI co-founders Lily and Josh a break from training thanked each and every China staff member for their excellent work in 2006 and challenged everyone to continue to focus their service on the well-being of abandoned and orphaned Chinese children and adoptive families. In order to provide better service to families adopting children with special needs, Lily and Josh invited Dr. Zhao from the New Bridge Hospital to lecture on infant brain development, and sign language interpreter Ms. Peng from Chongqing TV News to teach sign language techniques. Thanks to their new training, our staff members all feel energized and ready for another great year of serving CCAI families!

Happy Chinese Spring Festival!

February 18, 2007

The Year of the Boar

Chinese Children Charities

Adoption Statistics GP#

Destination

Children

1083

NanJing, JIANGSU

1

1107

MaoMing City/MaoNan Dist., GUANGDONG

1108

Donations at work in the Honghuagang Orphanage, Guizhou Province

Kitchen: Before

Kitchen:After

11

HePu Children, NanNing, PingNan, GUANGXI

14

1109

HengNan, HUNAN

11

1110

ShangRao, JIANGXI

7

1111

FuLing, QianJiang, CHONGQING

14

1112

ChenZhou, HengShan, XiangYin, ZhuZhou, HUNAN

11

1113

RuiJin, ShangRao, JIANGXI

9

1114

GuiPing, GUANGXI

1

1115

JiNan, SHANDONG

1

1116

QiChun, HUBEI

1

1117

LiuZhou Children, GUANGXI

1

1118

QiChun, HUBEI

1

1119

HengDong, HUNAN

9

1120

HengDong, YiYang Children, HUNAN

8

1121

FengCheng, NanChang, JIANGXI

7

1122

JiaYu, HUBEI

1

1123

XingYe, GUANGXI

4

1124

MaoMing City/MaoGang Dist., YangChun, GUANGDONG

9

1125

AnQing, ANHUI

1

1126

GuiPing, GUANGXI

1

1127

NanJing, JIANGSU

2

1128

ChengDu, MianYang ZiTong, SICHUAN

2

1129

KunMing, YUNNAN

1

1130

WuZhou, GUANGXI

2

Bedroom: Before

Bedroom: After

We have milk!

125 Children placed in 2007 10 Waiting Children Placed in 2007 767 Children Placed in 2006 192 Waiting Children Placed in 2006 521 Total Children Placed Through the Waiting Child Program

7287 Children Have Found Loving Homes Since 1994 page 2

Thanks to recently-matched donors Blake and Kim Newsom, children in Guiyang and Zunyi Orphanages, also in Guizhou, now sport brand new NY Yankees gear! January/February 2007

Chinese Children Charities

Professional Corner

Sleep Struggles Following Your Adoption By Janelle Althen, LCSW – Red Thread Counseling Center Director Tired? Cranky? Struggling with how to handle your adopted child’s sleep problems? You aren’t alone! Many families who have adopted children abroad experience difficulties with their child’s sleep patterns in the first year home and beyond. Parents call their social worker, the Counseling Center, or friends describing “night terrors,” their child waking every few hours, their child being unable to go to sleep alone, or their child crying inconsolably unless one parent remains close. Most families report that the problems wane within the first year of placement, but many children have sleep issues well into the second year or sleep problems that surface years down the road. Children who have been exposed to loss, separation anxiety, chronic stress, multiple stressful events, or a significantly stressful one-time event are more prone to sleep disturbances and difficulties. Literature describes the sleepwake cycle as a system that is vulnerable and easily impacted by stress or trauma. Even in the best orphanages, institutional life can be a “chronic stress” because of the infant-caregiver ratio. The impact that multiple losses (for example: transitions from birth parent to orphanage to foster home to adoptive family) can have on children can be traumatic. Even for those children who don’t have lasting sleep problems, many children have difficulty in the first few weeks because they are adjusting to a new time zone and experiencing a major and sometimes shocking change. Adoptive parents are right to worry about how to handle sleep issues. There are dozens of books out there touting sleep-problem “remedies” and many of them are very effective for secure, well-adjusted children when the time is right, but using “cry it out” or even “controlled-crying” methods, like the wellknown “Ferber Method,” are inappropriate for children who have suffered trauma or loss and are in their first year of placement with a new family. To let a child like this cry can tap into fears of abandonment or past loss, triggering feelings of sheer helplessness and rage. It can be emotionally exhausting for a newly adopted child to “keep it together” during the day. Even children who appear to be doing well all day – happy, alert, eating well, etc., may let their defenses and coping mechanisms down at night, resulting in sleep problems and an unusually high need for comfort from a parent.

Some General Guidelines: 1. Remember, we have to work on establishing a secure attachment foundation before we rush to “train” our children to soothe themselves or put themselves to sleep. The basis of attachment, our first and most important task with our adopted child, is to make our child feel safe and secure. To establish a profound sense of security and trust, we need to meet the child’s needs for comfort and security in an unconditional, repetitive, and sensitive way, much like we would with a newborn. Just like a newborn and caregiver are starting from the very beginning, we are starting at the “beginning” with our adopted children. We cannot base our responses and parenting techniques on our child’s chronological age. We would never let a newborn “cry it out!” Night-time crying is actually a wonderful opportunity to hold, comfort, and connect with a child who may be very busy and active during the day. 2. Don’t rush! The first months back are a time to slow down, relax, and enjoy your new child. Many people who have a baby take this time, but sometimes, because their

January/February 2007

new children are older, adoptive parents rush back into normal work schedules, routines, and expectations of themselves. The parent of a newborn has an expectation that they may be awake many times a night for the first several months. They give themselves time to rest more during the day and grace when they are not functioning at peak performance. Adoptive parents benefit from embracing a similar framework. A good guideline for families is to not worry about or attempt to get their child to sleep on their own for the first three or four months of placement. During the first one to two months, our children are working on adjusting to their new environment on a sensory level – new sounds, sights, tastes, and faces to adjust to. While they may have formed an “immediate dependency bond” (a bond that occurs rapidly to ensure a child’s survival) to one or both of the parents to get their basic needs met, the “real” attachment and bonding process usually doesn’t start happening until they have gotten very comfortable in their new environment. The attachment and bonding process continues to grow and strengthen over the first year of placement and beyond. Over the first several months, parents can relax and treat their child like a newborn, no matter how old they are – spoiling them and meeting their needs unconditionally. Once a child has started to develop a deep and secure bond and is clearly feeling safe and comfortable in his or her environment (which for some adopted children can take three or four months and for others it can take up to twelve months or longer), parents can begin to experiment with controlled crying or other popular methods of teaching children to go to sleep and sleep through the night. If children are not emotionally ready for this, they will let their parents know in a very obvious way! Parents need to give themselves permission to give up and try again later if their child doesn’t seem “ready.” 3. Experiment In parent training classes, parents often ask, “What is preferable – the ‘family bed,’ the child’s own crib or bed, or ‘sidecar’ (crib with one side down, next to the parent’s bed)...?” The correct answer is any of the above. What makes the most sense for each individual family? Can parents sleep with a child in their bed? How much work do they want to invest in moving a child to another room down the road? How does it impact the marital relationship? The key is not where the child sleeps, but how quickly and consistently the parent meets the upset child’s needs when they do wake up. With monitors, this can be done no matter where the child is sleeping. If you are choosing to work on getting a child to sleep in their own bed, you may have to try six or seven ways of soothing your child before you find something that works! Rocking, rubbing, changing light, adding white noise, holding a hand on your child’s head, bouncing a mattress, lying in the room next to your child’s bed.... the options are endless. It may help to get your child to a drowsy, but not quite asleep state before you quietly leave the room. Remember, for every year your child was in an orphanage or foster care, they will need an equal amount of time to adjust and adapt to their new home. Patience, love, and time will help! Make sure to take care of yourself, support each other if you are a two-parent family, get extra support if you are a single parent, and reach out for professional help if you are stuck or struggling!

Look for a follow-up article on night terrors in the next Circle Newsletter! page 3

Chinese Children Charities

WINDOW TO CHINA

What is Behind the Long Wait in China Adoption? Joshua Zhong, CCAI President & Co-Founder For almost a decade after China first opened its doors to international adoption in 1992, an unspecified quota of children allowed for international adoption had been carefully and consistently enforced by the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in Beijing. It was not until 2001, when the current DirectorGeneral Mr. Lu Ying was appointed, did we start to see a gradual loosening of this quota. In November 2002, the CCAA finally threw out the quota to enable more abandoned children to have a permanent home. The same year, the CCAA broke the historical mark of 10,000 placements. In 2004, the number reached 12,000, and astonishingly 14,000 in 2005. However, the number of placements quickly dropped back to about 10,000 in 2006 and, as a result, the child match wait time started to get longer and longer. The question is, “Why the current long wait for child match?” Or rather, “Why the sudden and dramatic drop of children available for international adoption?” No one has an easy answer. Here are my personal thoughts on the situation: Dramatic Increase of Incoming Dossiers By the time the CCAA did away with the international adoption quota in late 2002, China had surpassed South Korea and Russia and become the most sought-after international adoption destination due to its program stability, reliability of child information, relatively low cost, and manageable wait time. The decision to scrap the quota let open the flood-gate of dossiers, a “good problem” that the CCAA was unprepared to deal with. The fast increase of dossiers in the past two years has outpaced available “paper-ready children” (a phrase commonly used in the China adoption community to describe adoptable children whose files have been completed by local orphanages and are ready to be matched by the CCAA with adoptive families) by almost two-fold. As a result, the child match wait started to lengthen from 6 months to around 10 months, and now to 17 months. To encourage local orphanages’ cooperation and to discourage the surge of incoming dossiers, the CCAA took two major steps. First, instead of being the boss and waiting bureaucratically for orphanages to report children’s files like in the old days, the CCAA took the admirable initiative to contact orphanages and visit the local civil affairs departments that supervise orphanage operation. Their message was clear: “International adoption is beneficial to children and to the orphanage. Your success is measured by how many children find permanent homes.” Second, after months of careful research and intense internal debate, the CCAA issued a new set of adoption qualifications in December 2006, to be effective May 1, 2007. The CCAA hopes that these tighter qualifications will decrease the number of incoming dossiers. Thus, they hope the child match wait will return within several years to the “good old days” of 10- to 12-months’ wait. Hunan Baby Trafficking Incident In September 2005, a local newspaper in Hunan Province carried a report exposing a “baby trafficking ring” who offered abandoned children to a local orphanage called the Hengdong Social Welfare Institute for a fee, an illegal activity for both the orphanage who paid the fee and the traffickers who demanded “reimbursement.” This was a terrible nightmare that the government had been trying to prevent. Since the inception of its international adoption program, the CCAA has refused any media coverage. This was to prevent “bad people” in China from profiting from the government’s “good deeds,” as well as to minimize any “wrong interpretations” by the international commu-

page 4

nity about China’s noble efforts and therefore to protect the “face” of this proud nation. To serve as a clear warning, the provincial court of Hunan issued a severe sentence in early 2006 to the wrong-doers after a lengthy investigation. Two traffickers received 14- and 15-year prison terms and the orphanage director received a three-year imprisonment. The sentence sent a shock wave through the orphanage community in China. At the same time, the CCAA ordered all orphanages to thoroughly review and resubmit all the children’s records to make sure that no “trafficked” children would have ended up in the homes of international adoptive families. To the relief of the CCAA and all families who had adopted from the Hengdong Orphanage, the CCAA concluded that “all children adopted through the CCAA are true abandoned children and no trafficked children have ever been placed with international adoptive families.” However, the legal consequences and the CCAA’s orders left many orphanage directors with the pessimistic conclusion that it was not worth risking their lives to “help a few children.” They became reluctant to report available children’s files to the CCAA, fearing possible complications. As a result, the CCAA lost a great deal of support from the orphanages that they had counted on in the past for paper-ready children. The large number of children’s files that the CCAA had expected to receive in 2006 began to drop significantly, and the child match wait started getting longer and longer. It will take some time for orphanage directors to put their fears completely behind them and become enthusiastic again about fully cooperating with the CCAA. The good news is that we have started to see some turn-around in recent months. Lack of Motivation among Local Officials Guizhou is one of the least economically-developed provinces in China. But like provinces such as Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei, the orphan population in Guizhou is in the thousands, according to our research and conservative estimate. However, each year fewer than several hundred children from Guizhou are adopted internationally. The problem lies with none other than the provincial officials in charge of international adoption. For them, international adoption is too troublesome and it adds unwanted extra work to their already-heavy workload. Such a lack of motivation is not uncommon. Other provinces in the northern and western parts of China belong to the same un-motivated group. China adoption has come a long way since 1992. To improve service quality and match information accuracy, the CCAA has through the years required orphanages and local civil affairs offices to constantly improve childcare conditions and standards, to provide more information, and to conduct more frequent physical exams for children at designated hospitals. Often the local officials and orphanages just feel the CCAA is asking too much. A common misunderstanding among westerners about China is that, in a communist and authoritarian society, the central government has absolute power. So if the CCAA asks the locals to do something, their request should be immediately and unconditionally met. In reality, this is simply not the case. One of the challenges the Chinese central government has to reckon with nowadays is the increasing independence or passive resistance at the local level. This is also true with the CCAA’s operation. If the locals decide to delay or refuse to report children’s information to the CCAA, the CCAA can do very little about

January/February 2007

Chinese Children Charities

it. Thus, the CCAA is making a fundamental change to their operation philosophy by more actively reaching out to the locals and persuading them to cooperate, an effort that I hope will see some meaningful results soon. Orphanage-Building and Symbols of Power In the past 15 years, about 400 Chinese orphanages involved in international adoption have received nearly $200 million through child rearing fees paid by adoptive families. Most of the money has been spent on improving orphanage conditions and building new orphanage facilities. It is absolutely true that orphanage children today reside in much-improved living environments as compared to ten years ago. It seems there is unspoken competition among orphanages to see who can build the biggest or fanciest new orphanage on the largest piece of land at the most beautiful location. I marvel every time I am invited to visit a newly-established orphanage facility. You can easily tell that the orphanage is the most beautiful building in the whole town! Now, especially in the bigger and richer cities where abandonment has gradually decreased, more and more orphanage directors are sitting on rather empty buildings. They have no children to fill the poorly-planned and overly-large facilities. Their question is, “What would I do if no more children lived in my orphanage?” Not wanting to lose their jobs, and desiring to legitimize their existence and to showcase their accomplishments, more and more orphanage directors decide to keep a certain number of children in the orphanage. They don’t welcome foster care programs, and they don’t care about the international or domestic adoption program either. What these directors need to hear and understand is: “No matter how beautiful your facility is, it is not a loving home where a child belongs.” But this is easy for us to say. For them, it is about their job, their livelihood, and their pride, no matter how hypocritical and selfish. Impact of Economic Success Nearly thirty years of economic reform, made possible by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978, has transformed China from a third-world nation to a global economic power. It has also, unfortunately, created an enormous gap between wealthy urban residents and poor farmers plowing in the countryside. Such a gap can only hide volcanic social discontent and unrest waiting to explode. The current president of China, Hu Jintao, realizes that his power would be very short-lived if he did not address the crisis. Therefore, in 2006, his administration finally decided to take the unprecedented move to reduce or cancel many agricultural taxes, the most contentious and unpopular burden that Chinese farmers have shouldered for hundred of years. The government also issued a series of policies to curb agricultural land-grabbing and invasion by greedy urban developers and corrupt local officials. They started to allocate special funding to meet the farmers’ minimum social security and medical care needs. Furthermore, starting January 1, 2007, the government has begun to offer nine years of free and compulsory education for all school-age children in the countryside. These measures, if fully implemented, will gradually improve farmers’ living standards and will in turn contribute to the eventual decrease of child abandonment in the countryside. Economic success has been no doubt slowly but surely influencing people’s views on adoption, as well as making people more and more reluctant to abandon a child. In the last few years China has seen a quiet but steady rise of domestic adoption: around 30,000 registered adoptions each year, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, I don’t think economic reform is the immediate reason behind the current slowdown of China adoption. China is a huge country with 1.3 billion people. We should never confuse the apparent prosperity in many major cities with the enormous economic struggle in most of the inland regions, which have a much higher abandonment rate and provide most of the chil-

January/February 2007

dren placed for international adoption. As I revealed in my June 2006 Circle Newsletter article, there are more than 573,000 orphans in China today, a figure that has since been confirmed by the Chinese government. None of these orphans are in the social welfare institute system. They are either living at the mercy of their relatives, many of whom see caring for these children as a financial burden rather than a familial obligation, or are scattered in communities with little support or care. On May 30, 2006, during a historic visit to Beijing Orphanage, President Hu called for orphans “to live under the same blue sky as other children.” In response, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs announced an ambitious five-year and $125 million “Blue Sky Plan” on December 28, 2006, to hire 200,000 additional caretakers, to build more orphanages at the county level, and to remodel current orphanages to house and educate these orphans. No doubt the government would like to see many of these children find a permanent home or grow up with skills and opportunities. Beijing Olympics in 2008 Does the current slowdown have anything to do with the coming Beijing Olympics in 2008? Some people seriously believe so. However, I personally think such a belief is quite a stretch. Three years ago, after China won hosting rights for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, a group of officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs conducted research to determine if its international adoption program should be put on hold during the Games. This concern was prompted by what had happened in 1988 when South Korea hosted the Olympic Games, during which the international community, mainly from America, expressed outcry over its adoption operation. Since then, the South Korean government has drastically restricted its international adoption program. Interestingly, what the Ministry of Civil Affairs found through their research was that it is the Americans who fear that China might close the door to international adoption and it is the Americans who strongly encourage the Chinese government to continue its adoption program during the Games. The officials concluded that the continuation of China’s international adoption program during the Games should not be a problem. This is still the dominant attitude among the Chinese decision-makers. And just for the record, the 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing and several surrounding northeastern cities. The truth is that most American adoptive families do not even visit Beijing during their busy adoption trip. They all go to the southern city of Guangzhou for their children’s visas, well over a thousand miles away! In conclusion, I personally believe that there are many reasons behind the long wait for child match, with the increase of dossiers, the Hunan baby trafficking incident, and the lack of motivation from local officials being the most responsible reasons in the short term, and continued economic success, resulting in a gradual decrease of children being abandoned, being the secondary reason in the long term. It is obvious that there are still many children both in and out of orphanages available for adoption. China’s recent confirmation to continue its “multi-dimensional and flexible” One-Child Policy may be good economic news, but as long as the deep-rooted belief in the value of males is not fundamentally changed, the widening gap between rich and poor is not bridged, and the power abuse by local family planning officials is not curbed, for many soon-to-be born girls and children with special needs, it is a tragedy waiting to happen. Upon starting this agency, our prayer from day one was to be out of a job soon, because we want to see no abandonment in China. We want to see all children in a loving family. Sadly, we know we will be here for a while. It is important for all of us to keep in mind that adoption is not just about fulfilling our dreams. Most importantly, it is about the bigger dream of a child; it is still about making a difference in a child’s life.

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Chinese Children Charities

Journey Back to our Daughters’ Homeland By Linda Droeger

Just over a decade ago at Thanksgiving, Group 16 brought home our nine adopted babies from China. At the time, we vowed to take our daughters back to their homeland when they were 10. In November 2005, four of the families made that life-changing journey with our daughters to China. When we stepped off the plane in Beijing, my curious daughter scanned the crowd of Asian faces in the airport and announced, “It feels like home.” In Beijing, we visited the ancient Forbidden City and historic Tiananmen Square a few days before President Bush arrived for a ceremonial visit. The next day his photograph appeared on the front page of the China Daily, along with a story on our adoptive daughters’ return home. We climbed the massive Great Wall, then flew to Xi’an to see the amazing, life-size Terra Cotta warriors. What most moved us, though, was our visit to the orphanage in YiWu, where our girls began their lives. Rebecca, CCAI’s representative in Hangzhou, arranged our visit and rode the bus with us down a superhighway through the rural countryside to Yiwu. Ten years earlier, when few adoptive parents were allowed into orphanages, our babies had been driven by van from the orphanage to our waiting arms in Hangzhou. Our girls had no memory of their early months at the orphanage, and we parents were seeing it for the first time. To our surprise when we stepped off the bus, Mrs. Luo, the retired director who had delivered our daughters 10 years ago, was there to greet us. We wept as she held our daughters in the same loving way she had cradled them so many years ago. She remembered delivering our babies to us at the Wang Hu Hotel, and her face lit up as the girls called out their Chinese names and showed her their baby pictures. The current director took us to a nearby restaurant and treated us to a Chinese feast, along with two Chinese reporters who wrote stories on our return to the orphanage. We asked him what we could buy for the children, but he politely insisted they needed nothing. After much discussion, the possibility of a computer for the older kids came up. Rebecca wisely suggested we buy a heating unit so the babies could be bathed. Ten years ago when we got them, our babies had never had a bath. The nannies warned us not to bathe them until they got to know and trust us. A bath could come as a shock. We were taken aback to learn that the orphanage still did not have hot water. The new heating unit was delivered that day. After lunch came the moment we’d all been waiting for – the visit to

the nursery. Like a decade ago, the room had no heat. Twenty babies in rows of cribs were swaddled in layers of clothing and wrapped in quilts, tied with rope, to Group 16 Heritage Travelers (from left): Neely Droeger, keep them Kiana Guist, Kira Krupa and Emily Pitman warm. When we picked them up, they were so bound up in layers they could barely move. Many had runny noses and their tiny hands were cold. A black birth mark covered one baby’s face, another was deaf, and one had a cleft palate. Praise God for CCAI’s medical mission last year to repair cleft palates and for the loving parents who are adopting special needs children from the Waiting Child Program! On our return to Hangzhou, Rebecca told us about CCAI’s training program to teach nannies the “scientific method” to care for babies (specific feeding and bath rituals, a six-to-one ratio of babies to nannies), along with CCAI’s efforts to get more children out of orphanages and into foster care. I came home to Colorado to find CCAI’s annual fundraising letter in my mail, and I read it with a new heart. When you’ve seen with your own eyes babies living in an orphanage without heat and hot water, you are moved to give in a deeper way. Thanks to Lily and Joshua for all they’ve done for us and our children, and all they’re doing to improve the lives of the orphans left behind. Our journey back to China changed each of us on the trip in different ways. My daughter returned with a renewed passion to learn Chinese and re-enrolled in the Joyous Chinese Cultural Center. Last Christmas, we sponsored our first Chinese child for foster care. Li MiaoMiao, 6, from the GuiYang orphanage in Guizhou province, now lives with her foster parents. If a return trip to China is stirring your heart, CCAI’s ChinaRoots invites your family to journey back to your child’s homeland with a group this summer to reconnect with her birth culture and heritage. It’s a unique chance for adoptive families to return to their child’s orphanage, possibly meet her nanny, and embrace life in her birthplace.

ChinaRoots

Save the Date

If you are thinking about journeying to China this summer, it’s not too late to join one of our ChinaRoots Heritage Group Tours! Be sure to register soon, as the tours are filling up quickly. Please log on to our website www.chinesechildren.org and click the “Heritage Tour” link for information. Contact Jeannie Doak, ChinaRoots US Coordinator, at [email protected] or 303-850-9998 ext 16 with questions or for a registration packet.

Saturday June 16, 2007, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm The Adoptive Parents Council invites you to the Annual CCAI National Reunion Picnic at City Park in Denver, Colorado. There will be plenty of entertainment, food, and fun to be had by all! This year we are excited to celebrate CCAI’s 15 successful years of changing lives and building families! Don’t forget – JCCC’s Cultural Camps for Out-of-Town Families start on June 11 and June 13, and CCAI’s annual Open House is scheduled for June 15. Come one, come all, and make a family vacation of it! Sponsorships are welcome; contact Kim Mason, APC, at 303-840-1859 or [email protected]. Registration details will be available in the next issue of the CCAI Circle.

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January/February 2007

Chinese Children Charities

CCAI News CCAI Georgia News

CCAI Florida News

Joe Zemel Goes To Washington!

New Places, New Faces

For the past year, CCAI dad Joe Zemel has been working in Washington, DC, and has taken that opportunity to lobby members of Congress and their staff, both in the Georgia delegation and other state delegations, to stress the importance of the USCIS extending approval timeframes for I-797s. Joe has spent a great deal of time working with congressional officials and helping with research. He even had a recent meeting with Congressman Tom Smith from Georgia.

On December 15, the Florida Branch Office of CCAI said goodbye to our Tallahassee location and hello to our new Orlando office! The new location is north of the greater Orlando area, at 1180 Spring Centre South Boulevard, Suite 114, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714. The new phone numbers are 407.786.8880 (phone) and 407.786.8881 (fax). A Grand Opening is planned for Saturday, February 24! Scheduled to coincide with the two-week Chinese New Year season, the Grand Opening will offer refreshments, entertainment, prizes for the little ones, and a tour of the new facilities for our CCAI families and interested guests.

The congressman and his staff are considering whether last year’s bill (HR5888), which provides legislation for the extended approval timeframe, can be reintroduced or whether the bill can be attached to another bill that will be introduced this session. The congressman is researching what can be done in Georgia to process I-797s more quickly. We are grateful to Joe for his commitment in working with our congressional leaders to help facilitate this important legislative change. Panda Naming Ceremony!

CCAI GA adoptees sing at Panda Naming Celebration

On December 15, 2006, 20 girls adopted through CCAI sang “Panda Mimi” in Chinese at the 100 Day Naming Celebration for the new baby panda at Zoo Atlanta. The new baby was named Mei Lan, “Atlanta Beauty.” CCAI was honored and excited to participate in this very special event!

With this move, the CCAI-Florida office has expanded its resources and developed a full time program staff, including our very own Dossier Department. In doing so, CCAI-Florida is now a full-service agency, and has the ability to provide quality home study services throughout the state of Florida. In effort to provide consistent, high quality services to all of our CCAI-Florida families, we will now require all new and returning families to use CCAI for home study and post adoption services. Please contact CCAI-Florida Director Thomas Cavano if you have any questions. We look forward to talking with you and hope you continue to refer CCAI to your friends and family as they explore China adoption!

CCAI Florida staff members Lara Dollar and Kat Lamons pose in the new office!

JCCC News Registration for 2007-2008 JCCC Classes Registration begins in March for the next year of JCCC classes, beginning September 2007. JCCC students participate in Chinese language lessons and learn simple Chinese songs and games. Chinese dance classes are offered for the older students, beginning at the kindergarten level. This is a wonderful opportunity for CCAI children (and their siblings) to learn more about Chinese culture and to spend time with families that look just like their own. Classes will be held in the newly remodeled JCCC building at 6940 S. Holly Circle, adjacent to the CCAI building. Chinese Cultural Club Event: Saturday, April 21 The JCCC Chinese Cultural Club is for CCAI children who are 6 years old and above, as well as their siblings and friends. Our next Cultural Club event will be held on Saturday, April 21, from 1:00 to 3:30 pm in the new JCCC building. Children will participate in Chinese art, dance, stories, and more! Registration forms are due April 14. Chinese Cultural Camps for Out-Town-Families: June 11-15 and June 13-15, 2007 The Joyous Chinese Cultural Center will be hosting two Chinese Cultural Camps this year for out-of-town families. A three-day camp will be held from June 13-

January/February 2007

15 and a five-day camp will be held from June 11-15. Children ages 6 and above may attend. The camps are scheduled to coincide with the CCAI Open House on Friday, June 15 and with the APC (Adoptive Parents Council) Reunion Picnic at Denver’s City Park on Saturday, June 16. The camps will be held in the new JCCC building. For more information, please see “Summer Camps” in the Cultural Center section of the CCAI website. Chinese Cultural Camps for Local Families: June 25-29, and July 23-27, 2007 The Joyous Chinese Cultural Center will be hosting two Chinese Cultural Camps for local families during June and July. Camp sessions will include Chinese language lessons (spoken and written) as well as art projects, games, songs and Chinese dance classes. For more information about any of JCCC’s programs or for registration forms, please contact Yu Li at [email protected] or at 303-850-9998 ext 12.

Outstanding Kids! We'd love to hear what our CCAI children and families are doing! Please email stories and photos to [email protected]. page 7

Chinese Dumplings traditional Chinese dumplings? These delicious goodies are traditionally served at Spring Festival gatherings. The crescent-shaped dumplings are a symbol of wealth and prosperity because of their resemblance to ancient Chinese money. You will need: 2 lbs ground pork (beef, tofu, etc.) 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp sesame oil 1 cup chopped green onion 2 tsp chopped ginger 1 egg 1 whole chopped Chinese cabbage (also known as Napa cabbage) 3 packages of round dumpling wrappers (try Kwan Sang – you can find them at an Asian grocery store) • Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. • Place 1 tbsp of the mixture in the center of a round dumpling wrapper. • Dip your finger in a small bowl of water and wet the edges of the

Executive Editor: Joshua Zhong

Minuteman Press Contact Numbers Phone: 303-850-9998 Fax: 303-850-9997 email: [email protected]

Editor: Sarah Harmon Contributors: Janelle Althen, Mary Broussley, Thomas Cavano, Richard Dietz, Jeannie Doak, Linda Droeger, Sarah Harmon, Kim Mason, Gwen Qin, Jack Song, Jessie Zhang, Joshua Zhong, Xia Zhong

Website www.chinesechildren.org

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Chinese Children Charities Chinese Children Adoption International 6920 South Holly Circle Centennial, Colorado 80112 U.S.A. FORWARDING SERVICE REQUESTED

dumpling wrapper. • Fold the dumpling in a semicircle shape. Pinch the center and fold in the edges, then pinch it tightly closed. Add about 30 dumplings (or fewer, depending on the size of pot) to rapidly boiling water in a large pot over medium high heat. Once the water returns to a boil, add a cup of cold water. When the water returns to a boil, repeat this. Make sure your dumplings are well done by cutting one in half – the pork should be white with no traces of pink. If the dumplings are not done, repeat adding cold water once more. Over boiling will soften your dumplings and cause breakage. Serve on a flat plate with soy sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, etc.! They freeze beautifully raw – just take them out of the freezer and boil them as above. Experiment by adding your favorite vegetables to this basic recipe! The goal is to get as much dumpling mix into the wrapper as possible – while still being able to pinch it tightly closed! Makes about 100 dumplings.

China Trivia Which of the following was NOT invented in China? A.) Gunpowder B.) Ice cream

C.) Paper D.) Hourglass E.) Moveable Type

Answer: D. The hourglass was first created by the Romans during the first century AD.

For Chinese New Year this year, why not try your hand at making

The articles in this newsletter are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinion or philosophy of Chinese Children Charities. The content of the Circle Newsletter is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without prior consent from CCAI. NON-PROFIT US POSTAGE PAID PINE, CO PERMIT NO. 36