Worlds On Fire

Lately I am hearing a new voice calling to me...well, not a new voice, but one that is getting stronger and stronger. It started with an Oprah episode where Bill Clinton talking about his new book "Giving...How Each of Us Can Change the World". President Clinton spoke about how private citizens and corporations - Non-Government Organizations (NGO's) - were making a difference around the world. He highlighted many stories about people who saw a need and did what they could to help, people like Oprah and her leadership school for girls in South Africa, the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity and others.

Later that same week, I caught various news program shorts that highlighted projects created by private citizens to help others:
Peace Players International, an organization whose mission is to use the game of basketball to unite and educate young people in divided communities (this short highlighted their program in Northern Ireland, but they have programs in Africa, the Middle East, and soon in New Orleans).

Helping Hand: Book Drive For Thai Children, started by a local boy from Long Island - nineteen year-old Andrew Titley, with the help of his seventeen year-old brother Trevor, collect book donations for underprivileged children, most of whom are being raised by their grandparents while their parents work in Bangkok.

Operation Smile, an organization dear to my heart because of my work with families who adopt cleft-affected children in China...

This morning I spoke to my sister who is a pilot with a corporate jet firm. She told me that today, she was flying U2's Bono from one northeastern US city to another. BONO!! This man has done so much to help the people of Africa on many levels that he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. A hero for today if there ever was one!

Then this afternoon, while looking for a particular Sarah Mclachlan video on You Tube, I found another video of hers that I haven't seen before, though I love the song. It was a belly punch. It showed how what seems to us as a little bit can go so far to help others around the world.


Here's the lyrics and a link to Sarah's website about the video and how the money saved on production was used to help people around the world:

World On Fire

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this stories pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in
Yeah I'll try to hold it in

Chorus
The worlds on fire, it's more then I can handle
I'll tap into the water, try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
I don't wanna be left alone don't wanna be alone

Chorus
The worlds on fire, it's more then I can handle
I'll tap into the water, try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able

Hearts break, hearts mend, love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash, still theres talk of
saving souls' still the cold's closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some

Chorus
The worlds on fire, it's more then I can handle
I'll tap into the water, try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able


One of my favorite quotes comes from Mohandas Gandhi:
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

How can I change the world? For the last 8 years, my mission has been to help the orphaned children in China, but I feel like there's more to be done...I feel there's more...I am prayerfully trying to find what it is...

Because of technology, the world is getting smaller and smaller. The needs of the poor and empoverished are everywhere, and we can see them easier than ever. The majority of us in the United States are SO blessed. Our family had a challenging year financially but we never had to sleep outdoors...we never missed a meal because there was no food...our children had clean clothes and shoes, and soft beds to sleep in at night...medical care when they needed it...yes, we have been blessed. We're not totally in the clear yet but we can see the light, and that light has given us the opportunity and the responsibility to help others. Luke 12:48 says,"...to whom much is given, much will be required..." I believe those words and am looking for the program or programs where our family can change the world, whether it be in the local or global community in which we live.

How about you?

"To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world."
- Anonymous

Another Journey of Love Completed

In the 6 years that I have been a dossier consultant, I have worked with over one hundred families to bring their children home. Each of these families is special to me, each of their children is "my" child. But every so often I work with a family where we have a connection that goes beyond the business of completing their dossier; something special happens and we form a bond of friendship. Some of these families are featured on my website, and one of these families just arrived home today from China with their beautiful 7 year old daughter Long Xiu Ying, now known as Sarah Ann XiuYing. Sarah had been waiting for her forever family for a long time, but there is no denying that she has found them and they have found her. The love her parents felt for her from the very beginning was so strong - their desire to get her home before her 7th birthday so she wouldn't spend another one without a family burned in their hearts as they did everything they could to hasten the homestudy and documentation process. Unfortunately, life and the USCIS kept them from being with Sarah for her birthday, but their Gotcha Day was a day of celebration, in a way their family's birthday.

Sarah's parents posted the following video with photos of their new daughter taken in China. This spirited little girl comes even more alive in front of a camera - it's hard to believe that she's only 7! Enjoy!

And congratulations to Sarah and her Mom and Dad!! May you continue to be blessed with the gift of each other.

Why I Love What I Do...

Recently, I was at a local restaurant where a bridal shower was being held. The party hostess and her sister, the bride-to-be, looked very familiar to me, but I couldn't place them. It was driving me crazy. After a while, I went over to the hostess, said hello and told her that I believed I knew her. She asked if I'd ever gone to a particular hair salon, where both she and her sister worked. That was it! "Yes!! You both used to cut my hair. I'm Teresa, I have two little girls from China." My girls were the topic of conversation whenever I was at the salon ever since they'd come in with me one day when I went for a haircut.

"Oh sure, Hi! How have you been? You know, Donna got her daughter from Korea. She's here - Donna?!? Donna?!? Wave!!" With that, a woman at the other end of the party waved to us.

I had first spoken with Donna about international adoption almost a year and a half ago. When she heard I had children from China, she asked to speak with me about the adoption process. Donna told me that she had three young sons who she adored, but her heart yearned for a daughter. She had been talking about adoption with her husband, and the China program seemed like a good one for adopting a little girl. She asked if travel was required and when I answered yes, she said that that wouldn't be good because both she and her husband did not like to fly, plus they had their sons they'd have to either bring along or arrange for care for them at home, and she couldn't be away from them for that long. I told her that the Korean program did not require travel, that the child could be escorted to the U.S., and that there were many girls available for adoption. I recommended that she contact New Beginnings, a local adoption agency with an active Korean adoption program. That was the last time I was at the salon. I called Donna a few days later and she told me that she and her husband had an appointment the following week to meet with the agency director and discuss the Korea program.

I approached the woman who waved from across the room. "Hi Donna. I don't know if you remember me...I'm Teresa. I met you at the salon a while back. We talked about adoption from China and Korea. Roseanne told me that you completed your adoption from Korea and your daughter is home."

"Teresa!! Of course I remember you. Yes, Grace came home in May - she's 9 months old, and she's perfect, perfect!" Donna gushed on about her beautiful little girl, her adoption story, and how well Grace had settled into her new family. "The boys just love her - we all do!! Teresa, you were right, it was the best thing I've ever done in my life! Thank you so much for pointing me in the direction of my daughter."

Donna asked for my email address so she could send me some pictures of Grace. That's Donna and Grace on Gotcha Day (above). Their photo captures why I love what I do. A child who had no family now has a family forever. A mother who yearned for a daughter now has a daughter to love.

Helping to make families - what could be better than that?

Hurry Up and Wait...

I-A families in New York who are waiting for background clearance from the New York State Office of Children & Family Services were dealt a blow 2 weeks ago when new legislation went into effect that affects all prospective adopting parents residing in New York State. It requires that prospective foster and adoptive parents, as well as persons over 18 years of age currently residing in their home, be screened against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal history data base in addition to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' (DCJS) data base. This added step didn't take into consideration that all prospective I-A families have to go through the FBI screening as part of their approval from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

As of right now, it will add 10 weeks to the clearance process in New York, and particularly with the pending changes for the China and Guatemala adoption programs, 10 weeks is too long. And once the approval is granted by NYS, I-A families then need to wait for USCIS to grant their approval, currently taking 8-10 weeks in New York City's USCIS office. Just one more example of the left hand not knowing whtat the right hand is doing...

Now, if adoption in the United States were governed by federal law rather than state law, perhaps this little oversight might not be putting hundreds of NY families in jeopardy of completing their adoptions from the countries where they planned to adopt. Perhaps the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute needs to look at issues like this one and develop a plan to make a national adoption law, with legislation where adopting families, either international or domestic, can be sure that they won't be sideswiped by an oversight at the state level; so they can be assured that when their child enters the USA on an IR-3 visa that there is no need for readoption (as some states require, dispite the adoption being final).

The New York Chapter of Families with Children from China is spearheading a campaign to undo the FBI fingerprinting fiasco created with the new NYS legislation. Here is what all I-A parents and their families and friends can do to help:

from David Youtz, President of FCCNY:

Dear FCC Families,
We have just learned of a serious new bureaucratic hurdle for New York State families adopting internationally, which we hope may be overturned.

The NY State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) informed agencies this month that all prospective adoptive parents will need to undergo FBI clearance to qualify in NY for a positive home study - and the estimated clearance time is 10 weeks! OCFS is apparently unaware that families adopting internationally are ALREADY required to undergo FBI clearance as part of their USCIS application. A duplicative requirement would be annoying at any time, but with a large number of families currently rushing to have their paperwork prepared in time to meet the May 1st cut-off date before China's new restrictions begin, an added 10-week delay will be a crisis for some families.

We hear that OCFS may consider waiving the requirement for these particular families, or better yet, amend the process for all families. A conversation is underway with USCIS officials to see if USCIS might share the results of the clearances before placement instead. Meanwhile, the OCFS criminal clearance office is sending back already submitted regular fingerprint cards because they have received a directive not to process them without the new FBI cards - so, clearances are at a standstill. Given the intensely short time involved, some urgent citizen lobbying may be required to focus official attention on the need to change or roll back this new requirement.

We are asking FCC families to contact the OCFS Commission, or the office of Senator Hilary Clinton to register their concern and their strong wish to see fast action on behalf of adopting families caught in the middle. Contact telephone numbers are below, as is a sample letter to Senator Clinton for your use!

If anyone has a good contact with local television, this might be a good story for the media to look at, as well.

Thank you for your help!

-- David Youtz for FCCNY

WHO TO CONTACT:

OCFS Acting Commissioner, Gladys Carrion
Tel: 518-473-8437

New York State Office of Children & Family Services
Capital View Office Park
52 Washington Street
Rensselaer, New York 12144-2796
Phone: (518) 473-7793
Fax: (518) 486-7550
E-Mail via the web site: http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/contact/contact.asp

Governor Eliot Spitzer
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Phone: 518-474-8390
E-Mail from the Governor's web site: http://161.11.121.121/govemail

Senator Hilary Clinton
web site: www.clinton.senate.gov
New York City Office: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
780 Third Ave, Suite 2601
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 688-6262 Fax: (212) 688-7444
OR: Albany/Hudson Valley Office
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Leo W. O'Brien Federal Office Building
1 Clinton Square, Room 821
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: (518) 431-0120 Fax: (518) 431-0128
E-Mail from the Senator's web site: http://www.clinton.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

---------------SAMPLE TEMPLATE LETTER:-------------------

Dear Senator Clinton,

I am writing to ask for your immediate attention to a newly imposed New York State requirement announced by the Office of Children and Family Services which will have the unintended consequence of preventing a number of New York Families from adopting children from China.

China has just recently announced that it will impose stricter eligibility guidelines for prospective parents, beginning May 1, 2007. Those whose dossiers are received prior to that date will be "grandfathered" in. Those applicants who cannot make the deadline and who now fall outside the papameters of eligibility because of their single status, length of marriage, age, health issues and a variety of other factors, will not be able to adopt.

New York's OCFS notified adoption agencies on January 11, 2007, that all prospective adoptive parents must now undergo an FBI fingerprint clearance before their home study can be completed. This will add up to ten weeks to the home study process and duplicate services, since OCFS did not consider that all parents adopting internationally already undergo FBI clearance as part of their USCIS application process. Families who were close to completing their home study requirements and who are about to submit their home studies to USCIS will now be delayed past the deadline imposed by China if they must submit to an additional FBI clearance before the USCIS FBI clearance.

We need your help in two areas, the first critical:

1. The OCFS FBI fingerprint clearance requirement must be waived for families attempting to adopt from China if they are to submit dossiers by May 1, 2007.

2. Families pursuing international adoption should not be subjected to a duplication of services. Since all families pursuing international adoption undergo FBI fingerprint clearance through USCIS, it should be unecessary for the State of New York to add an unecessary layer to their already lengthy and complex process. Immediate action is needed to obtain a waiver for those prospective parents, all over New York State, who are racing against the clock in order to bring home their children from China.

You have always shown great support for adoptive families. We are counting on your immediate attention to solve this problem.

Sincerely,