It’s time to apply!
It’s time to apply!
Who we are looking for?
We hope the families who we recruit will not only have love but also serve as advocates for our China Waiting Children. The families will have a chance to meet the children and spend time with them to learn about their special needs and personality characteristics. Families will be assigned/paired to our JOY children before the trip in order to learn more about our JOY kiddos.
About:
Our Journey for Orphaned Youth is an amazing experience and mission for advocates, potential adoptive families, and individuals with an open heart and open mind. Great Wall China Adoption is excited to offer this new opportunity for advocates and families to experience China first hand and to witness what life is like for children in the orphanages. We believe this knowledge will make strong voices for the children, which will create more forever families and fewer orphans. JOY is intended to serve a population of children commonly left behind. JOY targets younger children with significant needs and older children whose needs prevent them from travel. This group of children, in no less need of a family than any other child, is often over-looked on photo listings because their needs and/or age seem scary. JOY allows advocates and families to meet these children before they are adopted, see the wonder and the need in the children’s eyes, and share their stories first hand of the experience of China, its orphanages, and the children waiting.
During this 9 day trip we hope the families can record all aspects of the children through games and activities. Some of the games in which we interact with the kids can be tossing a ball, blowing bubbles, painting, eating together, and having FUN. During this quality time with your JOY children you will document your experiences and advocate for the kids by sending out their information daily via social media. We would specifically target well known, popular and successful media sites that adoptive families and potential adoptive families visit most often.
Previous Success!
In 2016, we successfully held a similar program with Dongguan Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong Province. At that time, three families were in attendance. The Dongguan orphanage specifically wanted our families to pay attention to five children. After the program two children were adopted by GWCA families, one child with severe heart disease is now with God, and another child with complex heart disease was unable to travel long distances. Dongguan was very satisfied with the outcome of our program at the time and believed the program made a difference in the kid’s lives.
The reason why the Chinese Welfare Institute wishes to organize such activities with adoption agencies is because they hope the kids who are older or severely disabled get more attention and eventually get adopted. The majority of waiting children have been treated and are in post-recovery or post-operative stages. Most of these children’s files have been prepared for a long time. However, due to the lack of resources or interest from prospective adoptive families the orphanages rarely update the kid’s files. The children’s information on China’s database ls relatively old/out dated and these kids need an advocate who will share current information about these kids who are desperately waiting for families. The JOY participants will be able to give potential adoptive families current information, present conditions/capabilities and describe the personalities and uniqueness of these children. It is our job to show the world just how special our JOY kids are.
Please fill out our Hosting Application if you are interested!
Contact Information:
morgan@childrenofallnations.com
512-323-9595 ext. 3033