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NewsSeptember 2004Dear Friends and Supporters, This month has been an extremely busy one. Christina, Rob, and I are hanging in there by the skin of our teeth. We were just thinking that this year to date we have:
We are all hoping that the pace will now slow down a little.
Neurosurgeries in ChangchunWe are disappointed that one of our children, Jesher, was not operated on – the surgeons decided that his spinal deformities were too complicated to do here without the right equipment. We will keep trying to get him a passport and see if any other doors will open for him. The surgeries for the other children went well and they are now home. Teresa’s wound was infected and she was admitted toBeijing United Family Hospitaland started on high dose intravenous antibiotics. So far she is stable. When we asked for donations of funds for the surgeries for our six children, we were so abundantly blessed by so many of you. With the excess funds, which we offered to The Shepherd’s Crook Foster Home Shun Yi, Beijing, we were able to cover the costs of three more children, Lydia Zhao Si Ling and Abigail Zhao Si Na from Hohot, Mongolia and Adam Fu Wen Bo from Jiaozuo, Henan Province. Without these funds, these kids would not been able to have surgery. Thank you for giving them new life. You can see pictures of the children and the surgeries here.
The babiesThis month we took in another premie, Fu Xiao Meng (Henan Province). She weighs only 2.2 kg but is feeding well. Shi Dong Sheng (Xinjiang Province) who is very malnourished and also has Down’s syndrome and Kui Xin Dong (also from Xinjiang) is in hospital awaiting heart surgery. Dang Kang (from Shanxi Province) was a conjoined twin. He had successful surgery to remove his non-viable twin and he is doing well. We thankBeijing United Family Hospitalfor covering the cost of the surgery and also Dr Yih who did the surgery. Hayley is on a flight home from the US as I write. Charmaine has been adopted by a family in Holland, so she, the twins, and Adam will be leaving us soon. Rebekah (exposed bladder) will have surgery in Sydney, Australia on November 3. She and I will leave Beijing on October 23.
VolunteersMarsha P and her team of four were with us and helped greatly with all that was going on. Lorrie O and her daughter were with us for a few days and were very helpful with the babies who just had surgery. Jade L and her group of young friends were very helpful sorting donations in our storeroom.
Shun Yi Outreach Foster ProgramAs most of our new babies are in need of intensive care, we are not yet able to put any more babies out this month but we have had several new families apply and they have met our criteria and had medical clearance and will be ready to receive a baby anytime. We will be able to meet our goal of 10 babies out in our village by the end of this year.
Foster Home Sai Qi, Fujian ProvinceMarsha, our project coordinator, visited Sai Qi recently and brought back their needs and updates on the children. The individual children’s sponsors will be receiving the updates soon. There are some problems with the new site they want to purchase and they have asked for help from our lawyers.
NHF Special Care Unit, Henan ProvinceRenovation work has begun in this Unit. Rob has been traveling there frequently to supervise the progress. Everything is going smoothly.
Our needsWe would like to express our gratitude to Tami Fagerland who will handle our Baby Sponsorship program from the beginning of November 2004. If you are interested in sponsoring and naming a baby, please contact her at tami@hopefosterhome.com. We have many new babies whom you could sponsor if you wish to help in this way. For those of you who are already sponsoring our children, Tami will be in touch with you when necessary to send you updates on your children etc. Please feel free to contact her if you have any concerns. Our new Special Care Unit has eight more rooms up for sponsorship (and naming too). Please email us or look on our website for details if this interests you.
Our thanksOur special thanks and heartiest congratulations to May Cheng fromGE. May won an award – the first ever won by aGEemployee in Asia – for her dedicated volunteer work which has benefit so many organizations and underprivileged individuals in China. May chose to donate her award to New Hope Foundation and Rob and I were invited, with May, to a special ceremony in Shanghai to receive this. We thank theBeijing International Christian Fellowshipfor sponsoring the medical treatment room in our Special Care unit. We thank all of you who have responded to our need for winter clothes and toys for the pre-school. We continue to receive medical supplies from many of you and we are very grateful. This month, we have been able to be a blessing to another foster home in Gongyi, Henan Province called the House of Hope (unrelated to New Hope Foundation) by supplying some of their medical needs so we would like you all to know that nothing you send us is wasted. It all goes to children in need and it is wonderful for us to be able pass your abundant blessings on to others.
God’s special blessings on you all. Robin and Joyce Hill.
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