Winter News, 2007

In This Issue: A Letter from Adoption ARK Director, Elina Filippova New Blog Pictures from Texas Family Picnic Urgent Request for Help this Christmas Season Skivvies Update Country Programs Poem by Adoption ARK Consultant, Jill Underhill

 November is National Adoption Month

November is a very special month, National Adoption Month. This is a time for us, as adoption professionals, to reflect on the mission we hope to accomplish.  For others, this month helps to make people aware of the ever growing need of orphaned children, both in America and across the World.

This year, Adoption ARK has seen over 100 children come home to their forever families.  We are very grateful to our families for sharing their experience with us.  Our Mission at Adoption ARK, Aiding and Rescuing Kids, is renewed and strengthen every time a precious child finds what every child deserves, a family to call their own.

I visited Russia two times this summer. The first trip was for Adoption ARK's annual summer camp.  At camp, every child receives a new set of clothes to begin school along with "goodie bags" to help them remember their experience.  They have so little and although happy with their gifts, what delights them the most is the love and attention from the volunteers.  I brought my two daughters who are 16 and 14 to volunteer in the camp and it was a life challenging experience for them. Growing up in America they never thought that a pair of socks had so much value for any child in the world. They cried listening to stories of kids who had to look for food since they were 4 years old, hide from their parents to avoid abuse and to see their life in the orphanage as a paradise compare to the life they had before. A special moment stood out as my 14 years old daughter was caring for a little boy and comforting him as he cried. A day later I discovered that he was just a year younger than she was. He was so tiny and pale and needed so much love.

My next trip to Russia was just a few month ago. I accompanied my sister on a journey to find my nephew. I have waited so long to experience adoption in my own family.  We were sitting in the orphanage director’s office and the caretaker brought in a very pale, tiny boy with the most beautiful blue eyes. He was so scared and immediately began to recite a poem, as he was instructed to do by his caretaker, who wanted him to show off to win our heart. Well, my heart was won the moment I saw his eyes looking at me with such fear and hope. The next day he was glued to the orphanage window saying goodbye to his future parents and repeating over and over "My mommy came, my mommy came..."

Both experiences have reaffirmed my mission in life; to help children in need.  Weather through adoption or through humanitarian aid, Adoption ARK wants to help as many children as possible.  Want you please help?  This month, for National Adoption Month, please consider ways in which you can make a difference in the life of a child.  In every country, both here and abroad, a child needs you.

Sincerely,
Elina Filippova
Director of Adoption Ark