This summer has been an eventful one for my family. My brother and sister-in-law welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family and my younger sister got married to a wonderful man. My husband and I traveled back to the states this summer to be a part of all of these amazing life events for my siblings. While enjoying cuddles and kisses with my new niece and her 2-year-old big brother, I have had a startling realization. One that I knew before, but did not fully understand till this summer. My niece is now 3 months, and from the minute of her birth she has been surrounded by non-stop love from her family. My parents flew in for the birth and my sister-in-law’s twin was able to be with her sister for a little more than a month of our niece’s life. My other family members have been visiting and helping out as well. This little girl constantly has had someone holding her, playing with her, cuddling her, and talking directly to her every waking moment of her life. She is a happy vibrant little girl. At 3 months, she can hold her head up, enjoys belly time, cooing, and can make direct eye contact with anyone willing to interact with her. The startling realization that I faced came when I was holding my little niece. I began thinking about the little ones that I interact with in the orphanage we serve. Last month, I shared Norah’s story. At 6 months old, she still struggled to hold up her head, did not enjoy belly time, few noises came from her lips, and eye contact was minimal. During the first 2 months of her life, Norah was barely held. We attempted to hold her as soon as possible, but without a caregiver there to give her the constant love and attention she needed, she has had many delays in development. There’s also Lincoln, who just this past May was adopted by a wonderful local family. My husband has been able to stay in communication with this family and we have been able to see amazing progress in his development. At just over a year, while in the orphanage, Lincoln had just begun to crawl and was at an early stage of babbling. Within a month of being adopted, Lincoln was already walking and had made it to a more age appropriate stage of babbling. His parents sent us a video of him dancing and trying to sing just a few weeks ago. When he was at the orphanage he was a very serious little man. In this video, we saw him giggling and smiling as he danced and sang. The transformation is astounding! Reflecting on all three children’s experiences and development, I am even more heart broken for the children that spend their entire lives in an orphanage. It is amazing the power a loving family can have on a child. Every child deserves a champion of their very own. I pray that each of the children we serve will find forever families, and that while they are waiting their caregivers can give them the love they need to thrive not just survive. Hope Station works hard to provide the support needed for nannies to be these champions for the children in their care. If you would like to partner with me you can go to https://www.mightycause.com/story/Stephanieli-Hopestation
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Stephanie (Rommen) Li"Every child needs to be loved in gigantic quantities and with unbelievable quality." Archives
December 2018
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