Day 24 - Unity Fund
On the night of February 27th, at 9:25pm, a father and mother pair wearing face masks approach [the baby hatch], a child in the woman’s arms, while the man carried a blue oxygen bag. “He has Pierre Robin syndrome, but what’s fatal is the softening of his cartilagines laryngis, and his posterior pharynx is closed,” said the man who was slightly calmer [than the woman]. The child was less than one year old. “The sole purpose of us sending the child here is its survival. Life is above all things. We just hope our child will be able to survive here.” FULL ARTICLE
While the primary mission of the organizations highlighted by Forty Days is to take care of orphans, there is nothing we would like better than to see every child able to grow up with their birth family. As the article referenced above so heart wrenchingly expresses, one of the major reasons that Chinese families abandon a child is due to the child's medical needs and the lack of affordable and accessible medical resources.
Love Without Boundaries established the Unity Fund in order to be able to assist families in obtaining critical medical care before making such a tragic choice. We have provided heart, spinal, and cleft surgeries to families who would otherwise face the difficult decision of how to get the medical care needed by their children. It is truly humbling to think that we have played a part in keeping families together, and it is our dream to help many more rural families with medical care in the future. Join with us in this dream by donating to our Unity Fund. Every surgery funded changes a child’s future forever.
There are no easy answers to stopping the heartache of abandoned children, but your support of the Unity Fund can make a difference for a child and a family today. Please be sure to put "Unity Fund" in the comments section of your donation. Thank you so much!
While the primary mission of the organizations highlighted by Forty Days is to take care of orphans, there is nothing we would like better than to see every child able to grow up with their birth family. As the article referenced above so heart wrenchingly expresses, one of the major reasons that Chinese families abandon a child is due to the child's medical needs and the lack of affordable and accessible medical resources.
Love Without Boundaries established the Unity Fund in order to be able to assist families in obtaining critical medical care before making such a tragic choice. We have provided heart, spinal, and cleft surgeries to families who would otherwise face the difficult decision of how to get the medical care needed by their children. It is truly humbling to think that we have played a part in keeping families together, and it is our dream to help many more rural families with medical care in the future. Join with us in this dream by donating to our Unity Fund. Every surgery funded changes a child’s future forever.
There are no easy answers to stopping the heartache of abandoned children, but your support of the Unity Fund can make a difference for a child and a family today. Please be sure to put "Unity Fund" in the comments section of your donation. Thank you so much!
My experience with the Unity fund began in 2012 when a family approached the organization where I was working. The parents were heartbroken after being told by local doctors that their newborn son had a heart defect that could not be healed, and rather than "throw him away", as they were advised to do, they came to us to ask if we would take their son and care for him as they saw us caring for other children who had no family. Of course, that wasn't possible; instead I contacted Love Without Boundaries to ask for help through the Unity Fund. Shortly afterward the baby boy was evaluated by LWB's heart doctor in Shanghai who determined that his situation was not as dire as the local doctors said, and that while he will most likely need surgery when he is bigger, that his condition was definitely operable. You CANNOT imagine the joy of these parents! They were so thankful to be able to make the decision to keep their son and for the hope that they had been given.
But wait, there's more: Until the child was ready for surgery, his family needed to take him to Shanghai every three months for monitoring. They traveled by train, 12 hours each way, and only stayed in Shanghai long enough for the appointment because they couldn't afford to spend the night. Even this expense was difficult for his family to manage, and they were uncertain whether they could continue making the trip. In 2013 this need was featured on Forty Days, and through the donations raised the Unity Fund was able to reimburse the parents for the cost of train tickets, enabling them to keep up the quarterly monitoring of their baby's heart.
No, no, more still! Last fall we received word that the latest testing showed that this little guy, now almost 2, is doing very well and that surgery is not needed at this time. His visits for monitoring are now only once every six months. His parents report that he is happy and healthy and developing just like a normal child. Their joy and appreciation is truly overwhelming. Without the Unity Fund and LWB's commitment to assist parents to keep their children, this story would not have such a happy ending. Without donations from people just like you (maybe even you!) the Unity Fund would not exist.
~ Donna
But wait, there's more: Until the child was ready for surgery, his family needed to take him to Shanghai every three months for monitoring. They traveled by train, 12 hours each way, and only stayed in Shanghai long enough for the appointment because they couldn't afford to spend the night. Even this expense was difficult for his family to manage, and they were uncertain whether they could continue making the trip. In 2013 this need was featured on Forty Days, and through the donations raised the Unity Fund was able to reimburse the parents for the cost of train tickets, enabling them to keep up the quarterly monitoring of their baby's heart.
No, no, more still! Last fall we received word that the latest testing showed that this little guy, now almost 2, is doing very well and that surgery is not needed at this time. His visits for monitoring are now only once every six months. His parents report that he is happy and healthy and developing just like a normal child. Their joy and appreciation is truly overwhelming. Without the Unity Fund and LWB's commitment to assist parents to keep their children, this story would not have such a happy ending. Without donations from people just like you (maybe even you!) the Unity Fund would not exist.
~ Donna
Remember to take a look at the previous 23 days of Lent as well!