From HTS website:
In 1997, Jenny and Richard Bowen adopted a toddler from a welfare institution in southern China. From that day, they received a harsh, first-hand education about the harmful effects of institutionalizing small children: their little girl suffered from severe delays and, most worrisome, she was emotionally shut down. Vacant. But after just one year of non-stop loving attention and care from her new family, she was transformed. Truly… a butterfly emerged from that lonely cocoon.
How easy it was to make all the difference in the life of one small child!
What if you could do the same for the many children in China who wait for families – and for those who will never be adopted? It was a simple idea. Why not?
And so, in 1998, Half the Sky, named for the Chinese adage, "Women hold up half the sky,"* was born.
*Although, even today, 95% of healthy abandoned infants are girls, the issue of child abandonment and the reasons behind it grow increasingly complex as China develops. Half the Sky serves all children residing in China's welfare institutions, regardless of gender or the circumstances that brought them there.
They have done phenomenal work in China. HTS states that it has trained 8758 child care workers and helped 63 959 children, yet, there are still 989 541 children still waiting...in one country. There are between 143 and 210 MILLION orphans world wide at this time. When you sit down and read the statistics, they are mind boggling!
We are very grateful to them for taking such good care of Sofie, Lu Jing Jing as she is known to them. She had one main nanny who cared for her and she grew up with the same children. I have pictures of her as a baby and growing up with her friends. I have her life book which documents the first 2 1/2 years of her life. You don't normally get this at all. We are so fortunate and blessed to have all of this information....it is priceless. More importantly, Sofie has a past and it is documented in words and in pictures :)
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