Leia greeted us with the biggest smile and so much excitement. She was very sweet friendly and polite. She seemed to communicate really well and her and our translator carried on quite the conversation. She is friends with all of the children in her small orphanage, especially Mr. Personality – the two took so many selfies together!

Special Need: Mentally Delayed/Muscle tension in legs

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Luke had the cutest dimples and the biggest smile. He greeted us and we immediately started sharing toys with him and he was so excited. He would walk up to our translator and peer into her bag and then nicely ask if he could have another to share with his friends. He goes to public school and they say he is super smart. He wrote from1-7 for us but they say he can write all the way to 100!

Special Need: Hand/foot deformity

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Today was such a good day!! Kara is bonding, she hugs me, wants me to hold her (which is a little more challenging being that she isn’t that much smaller than me), haha. I made an extra effort to let her sit in my lap, tickle her, etc today.

She’s learning (and finally wanting to learn)! Today she was counting and couldn’t remember number 5 so she looked to me to help her. I jumped for joy inside, before this moment she didn’t want to learn.

Visit Kara’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Kara is being hosted in Minnesota through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

Special Need:older, epilepsy

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Nathaniel: Hosting update day 4: Nathaniel is getting more comfortable every day. This morning I bought him a dry erase letter and number practice tablet at DG. Within a few minutes of my opening it, he had copied all of the letters upper and lower case, and the numbers 1-10. He also insisted on painting a coloring book picture of sponge bob he had picked out. Every day that he is here, I am more sure that he is not delayed at all. Many children’s files contain that pejorative term ‘cognitive delay’ and it gives families who may be considering that child pause because there is no way of knowing what the ‘delay’ is due to. In Nathaniel’s case he had cataracts that went unfixed for several years. Unable to take in the world around him through his vision, his other senses picked up the slack. He is able to remember numbers and words after only seeing and hearing them once. For example, today I wasn’t fast enough to put in my password on a transaction and he punched in the (correct) last number. We have been super careful to not let him see our computer passwords or my phone password. He almost correctly punched in the key code for my van also. ( he was off by 1 number). This is one smart kid.

Special Need: Strabismus

Visit Nathanial’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Nathanial is being hosted in Oregon through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

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August is a typical twelve year old boy with lots of spunk and energy! He’s a great helper who aims to please, and jumps at the chance to have fun. August loves to joke around and has a great personality.

Like any twelve year old, this kid deserves a good home and a loving family who can give him the opportunity to grown and learn to his full potential. August has some delays, most likely due to growing up in an orphanage. August will be the perfect addition to the right family and thrive.
August was hosted in Texas over the Christmas Holiday.
Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

Special Need: older child

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“Jacob is a 5 year-old orphan from China who is currently being hosted by our family in Latrobe, PA (near Pittsburgh) until January 12. At that time, Jacob will be flying back to his orphanage. Our goal for the four weeks that Jacob is staying with us is to try to connect this awesome young boy with a forever-family.

He is such an amazing little guy, we are all so impressed by how well-adapted he is given that he just traveled half way around the world and is now in a completely new culture with new sights, sounds, tastes, and language.

Jacob has a heart condition that will likely need more surgery to correct (he has a long scar on his chest so we assume he has already had one), but it does not slow him down! He is just as active and rambunctious as our 6 year-old son. We plan to take him to a cardiologist for further evaluation while he is here in order to help give prospective families a better understanding of his heart condition and what to expect in the future.

We have already really gotten to know his personality. He is a very social, out-going little boy that plays very well with other children and adults and loves to laugh. He is very funny and enjoys making others laugh. Hewas recently at a large Christmas party and even though he knew very few of the people there, he quickly made himself at home and began playing with the other children and making them laugh!

Even though he likes to play actively by running, chasing, tickling, etc., he is also easily entertained by quiet board games and toys such as blocks and cars. I was completely blown-away the one day I came home from work and saw that he had put together a very large Lego set meant for children much older with hardly any help. He also quickly built a robot and car out of little hexagon-shaped blocks with no help at all! I thought my husband had built them since they were so well-done!

When I spoke with the chaperone who flew with him, she mentioned that he was of above-average intelligence and that he attended public school. “Above-average” is an understatement. This child is exceptionally smart and seems to be particularly interested in math and science, but is also picking up language quickly. He is already starting to repeat many of the words that we say and clearly understands most of what we are telling him. He has also taught us several words in Mandarin!

Jacob has done very well adjusting to our schedule and habits for sleeping, eating, brushing teeth, getting dressed, taking a bath, etc. He does sometimes need a “time out” when he gets overly-excited and begins acting up (as all 5 year-old boys do), but overall I have been amazed by how well-behaved he is.

Please share his information with anyone who might be interested so they can meet him! I am confident that his forever-family will fall in love with him once they get to interact with him!

Visit Jacob’s Advocate Page to see more updates like this.

Jacob was hosted in Pennsylvania.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming her forever family.

Special Need: CHD

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It has been such a joy to experience “new” things with Parker as he discovers new things in America. Since he is here for “winter camp” – that is what the orphanage tells the kids when they come to America, we want to make sure we are letting him have the full experience. He has been asking about skiing, which we do not do in this house. So, we opted to take him sledding and he had a blast. Saturday we are going roller skating with the cousins and next week we are going ice skating.

Visit Parker’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

Special Need:Vision Impairment

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JJ, had the biggest smile of all of the kids. Although he doesn’t walk like everyone else his smile never fades. He loves the color orange and loves to sing. He sang a beautiful song for our team and told us he wants to be a musician when he grows up. He doesn’t know how to play any instruments but he would like to learn some.

Special Need: Hep B, Post Spina Bifida, CP

Visit JJ’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

JJ is being hosted in North Carolina through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

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“She melted these boys’ hearts the first time she kissed them on the cheek (something that happens literally 20 to 30 times a day with this sweet girl in our home). Even Superhero 1, who scores exactly 0 on the physical touch category of the Five Love Languages test, has been opening his arms for the hugs that this affectionate angel offers at every turn. And Superheroes 2 and 3, whose love languages are BOTH MOST DEFINITELY physical touch, cannot get enough. It’s been one massive hug-kiss-cuddle fest in this here house since Thursday. And as a toucher myself, three of the four of us are walking around on Cloud Nine with love tanks spilling over. (Superhero 1 will get there with a little homemade food to fill his love tank.”

Visit Joy’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming her forever family.

Special Need: Down syndrome

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Visit Jason’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Jason is being hosted in Georgia through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

Special Need:Knee Joints/Extra Fingers, Post Op CHD

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Upon his arrival, we decided we wanted to be called aunt and uncle as to not confuse Joel while here. We continue to remind him that “Dad” is ‘Shu Shu’ (uncle) but he demands to call him ‘BaBa’ (father)… right to the heart. Oh, any man would be blessed to be his BaBa

Visit Joel’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Joel is being hosted in Texas through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming his forever family.

Special Need: CHD

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“Our little Entertainer had a great day visiting our sweet friends! She ate pizza for the first time and LOVED it! Daisy was in HEAVEN with the plethora of toys in their playroom. She “cooked” great food for all of us, she doctored and fed a baby doll, she rode IN a Barbie car, slept IN a Barbie bed, but the BEST part of the day was, by far, the show she put on for us! The drama and body language while she was singing was too cute to handle!!!.”

Visit Daisy’s Advocacy Page for more updates like this!

Daisy is being hosted in Oklahoma through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming her forever family.

Special Need: Down syndrome

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“Yesterday our sweet girl had a more subdued day. She seemed to more reserved, slower to smile, sad somehow. It really isn’t surprising, considering how drastically her circumstances have changed over the last seven days. I’m sure she is grieving, homesick and longing for things familiar. I can’t imagine how her sweet five year old mind must be trying to make sense out of it all. Still I was relieved when her smile was bright and her joy was full again today. It’s only been a week and her joy has become infectious, her spunk and courage inspiring. This girl is breaking our hearts wide open and we wouldn’t have it any other way.#laneyneedsafamily #coulditbeyou“

Visit Laney’s Advocate Page to see more updates like this.

Laney is being hosted in California through mid January.

Contact Meredith@gwca.org to learn more about becoming her forever family.

Special Need: Down syndrome

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Luke is a darling 6-year old boy who is currently in the United States through our Summer Hosting program! Luke has a hairy nevus on his back, but overall he is doing extremely well. Luke is an active, playful kiddo who loves to play sports! He loves playing with other kiddos and likes to do arts and crafts. His host mom says he’s doing a great job with bonding and attachment! Please reach out to Great Wall if you’d like to learn more!

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This adorable little guy is Cooper! He just turned 8 years old this past June. Cooper’s eyes appear to be underdeveloped, but he does have some vision in both eyes. Cooper was hosted in the hosting program this past summer and had an amazing time with his host family! Here’s something that his host family wrote about him:

“He is independent, unbelievably well behaved, follows direction and likes to help.  Shy at first he quickly opens up to everyone. Very inquisitive, he is constantly asking questions.  Wakes up in the morning and greets us with a cheery “Hello!”, one of the several English words he learned while with us.  He has been as low maintenance as any child I have ever met.  They way he adjusted to the drastic changes of hosting was unbelieveable, he is so ‘go with the flow’.  He doesn’t need to be constantly entertained, he will go up to the toy room and just grab whatever he is interested and plays by himself if we are busy.  He has a good sense of humor and really understood and got a kick out of his host dads gentle sarcasm.  While he was here being hosted it was clear that he knew this was only a short vacation to America but still he bonded with his host dad.  As we did the countdown to departure day he was excited to go back to China saying he liked China and America equally.  But speaking to the chaperone the night before he told heels he was not willing to go back to China.  Once we arrived at the airport it all seemed to settle in and he was clearly devastated to be leaving America and said he wanted to stay.  I think a family with a brother for him would be great but he did enjoy playing with the girls.  Sounds too good to be true but he didn’t misbehave for a second while he was here.  I really don’t have any negatives to say about him.

His special need is blindness in one eye and nearsightedness in the other, which glasses helped immensely.  Also his eyes wiggle a bit (nystagmus) as he is refocusing but that seemed to be greatly reduced with the glasses.  We honestly forgot that he had any vision issues at all. He rides a bike, power wheels, scooter, runs races, all no problem.”

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This incredible kiddo’s name is Jeremy and he just turned 12 years old! He was born with a meningocele on his spine, but after having surgery he’s been doing great! He does not have any mobility delays and is an active, physically healthy kiddo. Jeremy was in our Summer Hosting program, and his host family shared some wonderful information about him!

Jeremy is a very sweet 11-year old boy.  A kind and thoughtful little guy, he was always wanting to share.  My husband and I enjoyed hosting him a few weeks ago.  He is a smart boy, who caught on quickly, and actually learned several words and phrases in English over his four-week stay.  Whatever he was not able to communicate in Mandarin or Chinese, and not being shy, he was usually able to cleverly figure out a way to communicate his desires to us.  He loved technology and computers and was very adept at figuring them out, always finding buttons and keypads interesting.  During our visit to the Optometrist, he became fascinated with the equipment being used for testing his eyes, touching buttons and turning dials until the doctor had to ask him to stop.  Being a very obedient boy, he complied with no argument.  Even at the dentist he found the equipment interesting so he breezed through his check-up, and the dentist was impressed at how much he was smiling at the end!  He loved the ATM machine, elevator buttons, hotel room key pads, and anything that had controls.  Jeremey had a great appetite, and it was a pleasure to watch him enjoy eating, always willing to try new foods, never shy to have second helpings, but his favorite food while in America was a hamburger with French fries!  He seemed quite smart, but may have some developmental issues possibly just due to not being challenged educationally in his environment, however I believe that he would overcome that once he was able to learn English, begin school and interact with other children.  We discovered one of the outings Jeremy most enjoyed was going grocery shopping!  That was fun for him, methodically going down the aisles, counting out the produce, and demonstrating his organizational skills by neatly arranging the groceries in the shopping cart.  He even enjoyed putting the bags into the trunk and unpacking them at  home.  He was not a lover of the outdoors, and especially not the heat, but inside ChuckECheese boy did he have fun!   I think he would do well in a family with other children

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Trey is an older healthy boy that was hosted in the United States this summer! Here is what his host family had to say about him: Trey was truly an awesome boy and would fit in to anyone’s family. He tried ALL foods, joined in all activities, and LOVED to help do everything…especially make (and drink) kool-aid. Even when we were doing summer schoolwork (math problems), Trey wanted to join in and indeed, worked out problems in my son’s math book! He tried hard to communicate with us, and used google translate well to ask questions and to tell us what he would like to do. He learned many English words while he was here, and taught us quite a few Chinese phrases. Trey is pretty athletic and loved to play baseball! He also loved board games and readily joined in. He got along very well with all members in our family, extended family, and church family.

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Leo is a 12 year old orphan from China residing in Wisconsin until July 10.   At that time he will return to his orphanage in China.  It is our family’s intention to connect this sweet boy with his forever family so that he can return to the US as quickly as possible.

Leo is full of joy and smiles, and loves music.  He has taken a liking to American music and sings along often and also has been singing in Chinese.  He also plays the piano in our home nearly every day.  Though he doesn’t play a familiar tune, he plays it appropriately and even looks at the song books as he is playing.  He also likes to push buttons and play with toys that make noise or move.  Therefore, he has been drawn to toys that typically get played with by toddlers.

He didn’t know any English when he arrived, but he has quickly learned some words and is very good at mimicking words and phrases that are spoken to him.  We have also developed some hand motions to communicate.  He can let us know when he is hungry, thirsty, finished, or needs to use the restroom.  He also understands some of our hand motions which has helped with our communication.

He is a very affectionate boy that loves to hug, hold hands, and snuggle on your lap.  He is also very silly.  He often does things to make the family laugh like wearing silly hats, and dancing around and laughing.  Leo also loves to be in motion.  He really enjoys riding in a car and giggles as we go up and down hills every single time.  Swinging is his favorite activity at the park and he screamed and laughed with amazement as we went down waterslides.

Leo has a diagnosis of PKU (Phenylketonuria) which is a genetic metabolic disorder that means he does not digest protein like most people.  Leo will need to be on a special diet to address his PKU diagnosis.  While here he has been an incredible eater!  He is open to almost all foods including fruits and vegetables and he ate all of the special low protein foods that are manufactured for those with PKU that we offered him.

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Kai told us his foster parents made his clothes! They aren’t fashionable but they are warm – well we think he looks great! He follows directions well and goes to the orphanage school although he lives in a rural area with his foster family. He likes to play outside and is an all around outgoing kiddo. He had a great time with his host family and he was even reunited with his foster brother, see what his host family has to say about their time with Kai.

Kai holds a special place in our hearts because he was our son’s foster brother while in China. We had the opportunity to host Kai this summer and we were glad to get to know Kai better. Kaieasily gets along with new people and will readily smile and say hi to those he meets. Kai is delayed in a few areas of development, but we also believe that he is a quick learner; he can sometimes watch the steps to do something once (like using a microwave), and will be able to copy those steps accurately on his first try. He is also an excellent problem solver. It should also be noted that Kai has strabismus, a treatable eye condition in which his eyes turn inward. During Kai‘s time with us, he made strides in trust and we feel that he could reach further potential in many areas of development if he was part of a forever family.  Kai would best succeed in a family as the youngest or only child where he can receive more attention.  We would be more than happy to talk more with those interested in Kai. 

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