GirlInCircle

eNews

News & Information

of and for the HIC Ohana

July 2010

Three Easy Ways

There are three easy ways you can donate to HIC from the grocery store or at the office.

Since 1975, HIC has built families and saved lives with adoption programs in Africa, Azerbaijan, China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Georgia, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, the United States and Vietnam. We have placed more than 3,000 children with their forever families.

This fall you can help support our work by donating at the grocery store and/or at the office! You can donate through Foodland's Give Aloha matching gifts program, through the Aloha United Way (AUW), or the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) workplace charitable giving campaigns.

Foodland & Sack N Save: Throughout the month of September, you may make a donation of up to $249 to HIC at any Foodland or Sack N Save checkout through their Give Aloha program. Foodland and the Western Union Foundation will even match a portion of your gift! HIC's organization code is 78388.

Please send us a copy of your receipt so that we may acknowledge your gift.

Aloha United Way: HIC is proud to be an Aloha United Way Partner Agency. Please note that 100% of all designated funds will go directly to support HIC's work. if you choose to donate to HIC through Aloha United Way. (AUW does not deduct administrative fees from Partner Agency designated donations.) HIC's AUW designation code is 72670.

Federal Campaign: If you are a federal employee and would like to donate to HIC through your annual CFC campaign, HIC's CFC designation code is 12408.

Many thanks for thinking of HIC and for helping us meet our mission.

Volunteers & Gifts

A BIG Mahalo to Ashley Kimi for her valuable assistance in the office for the summer!

Many thanks also to the Shimizu family for the donation of "The Complete Book of International Adoption". (For other adoption book ideas see our Adoption In Print section below.)

The Stickley's kept us happy (AND healthy) this week with a delicious fruit bouquet from Edible Arrangements!

Want to learn more about donating or volunteering? Send an email to Shannon or call (808) 589-2367.

November Adoption Month Event!

November 14, 2010

Join us on November 14 at Dave & Buster's as we celebrate Adoption Month.

We'll enjoy a buffet, games, prizes, an adult adoptee panel discussion and more!

Start putting together your team of four now to enter a tournament.

Adoption in Print:

Relevant Reads

Silent Tears: Journey of Hope by K. Bratt - autobiography of a woman volunteering in a Chinese orphanage.

Lucky Girl: A Memoir by M. Hopgood - autobiography of an adopted girl from China and her reunion with her biological family.

Same Kind of different as Me: A Modern Day Slave by R. Hall and D. Moore - a black man and his "benefactor/sponsor" share their friendship via a homeless shelter.

Annual Vietnam Adoptive Families Pot Luck Picnic

The Annual Vietnam Adoptive Families Pot Luck Picnic held on June 27, 2010 at Kapiolani Park was great fun! The children laughed and played the parachute game and found new uses for all the other fantastic toys provided by organizer Lori Mozdren.

"It was my pleasure to help you organize the picnic! We all enjoy seeing the children grow up to be happy and healthy. Looking forward to next year!"

Lori Mozdren

We also welcome Alan and Nalu from Maui to our HIC Ohana. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and meet new adoptive families as well!

New HIC Playgroup Invitation

Aloha!

I'm excited to announce that Hawaii International Child is starting a playgroup for families raising African or African American children. The group is specifically geared for transracial or cross-racial families (adoptive or not).

The first play date will be on Saturday, August 14th from 9am - 10:30am. We're tentatively scheduled to meet at Kapolei Knolls which has several play structures, lots of shade and sidewalks for bike rides and strolls. Driving directions to come later.

This will be our first gathering -- we envision monthly or bi-monthly meet ups at different locations around the island of Oahu. Participating families will have final say of when, where, and how often to meet in order to best encourage each other as we work to support our children's development of healthy identity and self-esteem.

If you are interested in joining us, or it you know of a family who might be, please contact at 808-589-2367 or kcastagnaro@h-i-c.org.

Ohana News

HIC Ohana Garrett Sullivan has been selected by the Small Business Association as this year's Small Business Person of the Year. Garrett and his wife, Janis Loo (former and present HIC Board members, respectively) are adoptive parents and inspirations to everyone for their service to the community. You can read the entire article on page 4 of the latest issue of Legal Alert here.

Open World Program Hosting Opportunity

As a part of "Open World", operating under the auspices of the U.S. State Department, Kazakh judges will be meeting with federal and state judges in Hawaii to learn how the American court systems work. They will also be given opportunities to see Hawaii and learn about its diversity.

Local host families are needed to provide breakfast, dinner and daily transportation to and from downtown Honolulu. Judges will be visiting Oahu for 7 nights including a weekend.

If you are interested in hosting a visitor from Kazakhstan, please contact Trudi Pang for further details.

Korea Search & Reunion

HIC encourages adoptive parents to nurture their children's ethnic, cultural, and genetic heritage- important parts of their identities.

Rick Chasney-known to his birth family by his Korean name Kim Yung Min (김영민)-met with them on May 27, 2010. This picture was taken in Busan at a Korean BBQ organized by the family. From Back Left: Rick, 김선주 (Kim Sun Ju-Birth Mother), 이모 (Maternal Aunt); From Back Right: 강은정 (Kang Eun Jeong-Cousin), 이모부 (Maternal Aunt's Husband-Uncle).

Program Updates

China

Dossier Processing

Through the CCAA's online system, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office through May 10, 2006. Expedited cases have been placed through at least May 24, 2007.

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office through July 31, 2009.

Travelling Families

At the moment, there are no travelling families.

If you are interested in the China program, please contact John at John@h-i-c.org or by calling (808) 589-2367 ext 202.

China Waiting Child

Clients in the China Program who have a CCAA log-in date and who have submitted a completed Parent Information and Child Preference (PICP) form to the Asia Program Director will be considered for available children on the CCAA online system special needs list and will be contacted when a potential match is found. Families will be asked to view the child's files (which will be sent by e-mail) immediately. If they are reasonably certain that, pending a pediatrician's review, they want to move forward with the adoption, the child's file will be locked for a 72 hour period. The family will have to get the pediatrician's review and submit the Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan as soon as possible in order for the program director to complete the online application in a timely way. Families are asked to submit ahead of time and by e-mail the China Adoptive Parents' Information form and three individual photos (a passport photo of each spouse and a family photo) in *.jpg format in order to be considered for the available children on the special needs list. Clients who have a CCAA log-in date and who can accept a child with more severe special needs should make an appointment with John to view the special needs list at the HIC office. Clients who complete an online application for a child on the special needs list must switch to the China Waiting Child Program. It is therefore not possible for these clients to continue with their adoptions through the standard China Intercountry Adoption Program. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact John at (808) 589-2367 ext 202 or John@h-i-c.org for more information.

Travelling Families
One family will be travelling next month to adopt a two year old girl from Guizhou Province. Another family has just been matched with a ten-month old boy from Jiangsu Province.

A Note on "Waiting Child" Programs

If you haven't had a chance to view the video on adopting children with special needs yet, it can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx-6t4vwDDA. The following links are also excellent and informative resources that may help to assuage your concerns regarding any special needs adoption program:

www.thewaitingchild.org

www.nohandsbutours.com

Hong Kong

Because the child referrals from Hong Kong have generally been for much older children with severe special needs, we are only accepting applications to the Hong Kong Program when a family wishes to move forward with adopting a specific child whose referral has been sent to us from Hong Kong. We are continuing to build this program and will keep you informed of any changes and developments. For those families who choose to adopt from Hong Kong, the wait time from the time of application until the time of travel is estimated to be 14-17 months, with travel time in Hong Kong lasting approximately 5-14 days. If you are interested in this program, please contact John at John@h-i-c.org or by calling (808) 589-2367 ext 202.

Philippines

HIC's Philippines Program is now accepting applications. The wait time from the time of application until the time of travel is estimated to be about 2½ years, with travel time in the Philippines lasting approximately 7-10 days. For families of Filipino heritage, the wait time from the time of application until the time of travel is approximately 1½-2 years. Children currently available are over the age of 2, although it is anticipated that younger children may be available in the future. If you are interested in this program, please contact John at John@h-i-c.org or by calling (808) 589-2367 ext 202.

Taiwan

Travelling Families

One family has been matched with a sibling pair, and is hoping to receive the court ruling and notice to travel shortly. Another family has just submitted an application for a healthy 13-year old boy and is in the process of completing their home study and dossier.

HIC is continuing to work with a number of highly respected social welfare organizations in Taiwan. Referrals from Taiwan have been steady and we have placed a number of children with families. In order to control the flow of cases, HIC and its partner organizations maintain a quota and accept client applications only if and when there are openings in the program. Overall, HIC maintains an active Taiwan client load of three (3) spaces in the 0-2 range, three (3) spaces in the 2-5 age range, and six (6) spaces in the 5 and over age range. If all of the spaces in any of these age ranges are filled, we are unable to accept clients on a wait list for that age group on account of the uncertain timing of this program. From time to time we will release information about available spaces at which point active HIC clients or others may apply. At this point, we have six (6)available spaces for families requesting a child over the age of five (5).

There are some upcoming changes expected in the Taiwan Program. A new law in Taiwan will require that all children be more strongly considered by local families before being considered for intercountry adoption. For this reason, we should expect referrals for older children in the future. As this law goes into effect, we will expect referrals only for children over the age of 2 and referrals for children over the age of 3 will likely become the norm. In addition, going forward, families must be open to a child of either gender as there are more boys than girls available for intercountry adoption from Taiwan. If you are interested in this program, please contact John at John@h-i-c.org or by calling (808) 589-2367 ext 202.

Classes & Informational Sessions

Personalized Information Sessions

In order to provide better service to prospective adoptive families, effective immediately, HIC offers personalized information sessions for Oahu families interested in learning more about our international adoption programs (currently: Africa, China, China Waiting Child, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines). Call (808) 589-2367 for more information or to request an appointment with a Program Director.

Please note that these personalized information sessions replace HIC's monthly general information sessions.

Program Update Sessions

Throughout the year, HIC will be hosting a series of Program Update Sessions. These sessions will allow program clients to ask questions about the current status of their program, to commune with other prospective adoptive parents in the same program, and to provide feedback on their experiences with HIC. Sessions will generally be scheduled at 4:30 PM once a year for each program unless otherwise noted. We ask that program clients RSVP in advance. (Please be punctual as we reserve the right to cancel the session if no one has arrived within half an hour after its start time.)

The final Program Update Session of 2010 will be for the Philippines on Monday, October 24, 2010 (subject to change).

Infant and Child CPR Classes-
Last Day to Register - July 19!

In an emergency, infants and children have a much better chance of survival if CPR is performed immediately. HIC sponsors a free (non-certifying) class taught by the Honolulu Fire Department. (Many thank to Capt. Takizawa for his patient and humorous teaching style!)

Reservations are required and enrollment is limited. The next class is on Saturday, August 14, 2010 from 9:00 am - 11:30 am. Call HIC now to reserve your space.

Children in Need of a Home

Note about available children:

Clients who are interested in available children must have a completed, valid and approved home study in order to receive child information. If you would like to receive waiting child information, please complete the Intent to Review Child Information agreement and email it to John@h-i-c.org. Please be sure to list the names of all the children whose files you wish to view. In the interest of fairness, HIC will release the child information to the first client who submits the agreement and only to one client at a time. Clients will have five working days to inform HIC of a decision. At that time the child will be released to the next waiting family, or will be tentatively assigned.

Syuan & Yun

Child: Siblings, Syuan (boy DOB September 2002) and Yun (girl DOB June 2003). Syuan likes watching cartoons, playing basketball, table tennis, hula hoop, and jogging. He takes initiative to help with housework. He has been diagnosed with hyperactivity and mild mental delay, and amblyopia of the left eye, and dental cavities. Yun likes drawing, playing house, running, and playing with bamboo fireflies. She is very caring and outgoing. Like her brother, she suffers some cognitive delay, possible hyperactivity, and has amblyopia of her left eye.

Parent Requirements: Parents must be: between 25 and 55 years old, be in good physical and mental health; be married for over two (2) years; be reasonably educated; and have no more than three (3) children.

Qi & Yu

Child: Siblings, Qi (girl DOB January 2000) and Yu (girl, DOB October 2001). Qi is sensitive, detail-oriented, observant, and shy. She loves sports, reading, drawing, and watching TV. Other than a proneness to nose bleeds, the child is healthy. Yu is a lively, interactive, and adaptable child who gets along well with others. She has been diagnosed with hyperactivity and has had some difficulties with her school work and expressing her own views. She has also been diagnosed with serious sinusitis.

Siang

Child: Siang (girl, DOB November 1998) is a gentle and intelligent girl, who likes arts and crafts, computers, and sports. She enjoys studying natural science and social studies, and likes outdoor activities such as cycling and skipping rope. Sometimes, she is lacking in concentration and becomes angry when she is in need of attention from adults.

Ting Ting

Child: Ting-Ting (girl, DOB January 2001) is an easy going and considerate girl who enjoys singing, listening to music, and watching TV. She likes playing house and is attracted to beautiful things. She is a victim of past sexual abuse but has responded well to weekly counseling.

Hao

Child: : Hao (boy, DOB September 2004) is an outgoing, curious, and adaptable boy who likes watching cartoons and other children's programs while singing and dancing to the music. He was born prematurely and has been diagnosed with cognitive, language, motor, and social developmental delays, although has shown much progress through early intervention training.

Wei

Child: : Wei (boy, DOB April 2003) is a healthy boy who likes to watch cartoons and play with toys, ride a bike, and play ball. He has a good attitude and does well at school, and he turns assignments in on time. He has had a number of institutional placements and still wets the bed regularly.

Jia-Ming

Child: Jia-Ming (boy, DOB October 2002) is a healthy boy who likes to draw pictures, play with playdough, read books, watch cartoons, ride a bike, and play basketball. He is polite, thoughtful, and bright. Jia-Ming is prone to allergic reactions of different kinds and takes Ritalin to assist with some difficulties he was having with concentration and getting along with others.

Yuan

Child: : Yuan (girl, DOB July 2006) is a gentle girl who easily builds relationships with others. She enjoys watching cartoons and playing with number puzzles and blocks. She has been diagnosed with hepatitis C and high platelet counts as well as language, cognitive, and motor delay. She has benefitted from early intervention therapy.

Sing

Child:

Sing (boy, DOB July 2003) is a gentle boy who likes to sculpt with clay, play house, and ride a bicycle and takes good care of his siblings. He has a surgically repaired cleft lip and flat feet, and has been diagnosed with moderate developmental and mental delays, although has shown much improvement.

Fan

Child:

Fan (boy, DOB April 2003) likes to eat ice cream, watch cartoons, and play basketball. He likes water play, cars, and dinosaurs. He has been diagnosed with cognitive, speech, and motor skill developmental delays but has shown much improvement in these areas since working with his caregiver.

Jheng

Child: Jheng (boy, DOB June 2003) is a lively and cheerful boy who enjoys playing with blocks, clay, and jigsaw puzzles. He also likes playing basketball, Frisbee, running, and biking and is helpful with household chores. His favorite subjects in school are life science, art, and physical education. He has recovered from a history of serious physical abuse, and currently has a minor problem with speech articulation. He also takes medication to regulate his hyperactivity.

Pin

Child: Pin (boy, DOB June 2001) is an open-minded boy who likes physical education, art, singing, dancing, and laughing out loud. A victim of neglect, he is otherwise quite healthy.

Min

Child: Min (boy, DOB August 2003) is an agile boy who likes physical activities such as running, jumping, and playing ball. He has been diagnosed with dental caries and was a victim of abuse.

Han

Child: Han (boy, DOB May 2002) is a boy who likes playing with toy cars and riding a bicycle. He has been diagnosed with asthma and has mild cognitive delay.

Jia

Child: Jia (boy, DOB May 2001) is a physically healthy boy who is kind and loving. He has a good appetite and enjoys playing games. Because he has been under-stimulated and has not received a pre-school education, his cognition, verbal expression, and self-confidence are somewhat delayed. He is often sad and has conflicts with his classmates, but is adjusting well to his placement in a foster family.

Chun

Child: Chun (girl, DOB December 2000) is an outgoing and optimistic girl who likes listening to music, stringing beads, playing with puzzles, and building with blocks. She has been diagnosed with ADHD and mild cognitive delay.

Child: En (boy, DOB August 2000) is an older child who likes watching cartoons, works well with other children, and responds happily to praise. He was a victim of physical abuse.

Zih

Child: Zih (boy, DOB January 2004) is a curious and energetic boy who likes outdoor activities. He was a victim of physical abuse and has some minor cognitive delay.

Shu

Child: Shu (boy, DOB January 2001) is very active. He has been diagnosed with ADHD, and can follow rules well. Shu, age 8, is happy when he has free time to play, when he receives praise, and when he gets his allowance.

Yi-cheng

Child: Yi-cheng (boy, DOB November 1995) likes drawing and listening to music. Although his development is unimpaired, his academic performance is poor compared to others his age.

Shih

Child: Shih (boy, DOB August 2004) loves to meet new people and is curious about his environment. He has some mild to moderate delay in speech, cognition, and fine motor skills.

Jian & Ming

Children: Siblings, Jian (boy, DOB December 2003) and Ming (boy, DOB May 2005). Jian and Ming are both developmentally delayed and are probably victims of sexual abuse.

Ariel eNews Logo Child: Yi (boy, DOB December 1997) likes reading, drawing, swimming, and sports. With a history of ADHD and domestic abuse, Yi, age 11, now lives in a foster home.

Yun, Jin, & Cheng

Ariel eNews Logo

Children: (3 out of 6) siblings, Yun (boy, DOB August, 1996), Jin (girl, DOB: July, 2000), and Cheng (boy, DOB December, 2001). Yun, age 12, is a sweet and creative boy who likes reading, sports (especially basketball), and art. He was a victim of domestic abuse and neglect. Jin, age 8, is an active girl who enjoys playing with Barbie, swimming, and other outdoor activities. She has Hepatitis B and is also a victim of abuse. Cheng, age 7, is friendly and enjoys running and drawing. His cognition, speech, and motor skills are delayed, and he has been diagnosed with ADHD. The children can either be adopted together or individually, but Cheng hopes to be adopted together with a fifth sibling not listed here.

Yong

Ariel eNews Logo Child: Yong (boy, DOB January 2003) always smiles at people. He loves small animals and interacts well with peers. With some cognitive delay and a history of domestic abuse, Yong, age 6, was born with an extra thumb on his right hand that has been surgically removed.

Sheng

Ariel eNews Logo Child: Sheng (boy, DOB January 2001) likes to play and build with blocks. He is agile and curious about new things. Sheng, age 8, has been diagnosed with ADHD and his cognitive development is mildly delayed. He was also a victim of abuse and neglect.

Tian

Child: Tian (boy, DOB December 1999) likes to play with cars and balls. He enjoys nature class at school because he likes to do experiments. Tian, age 9, has been diagnosed with ADHD and emotional problems, and his cognitive development is mildly delayed. However, his condition has stabilized with medication.

Wun

Ariel eNews Logo Child: Wun (girl, DOB September 1997) is a sweet, energetic, and healthy child who was neglected and possibly abused. The palm of her right hand was badly burned so that her fingers could not be fully extended. Wun, age 11, has had plastic surgery, but a further surgery is planned to restore the function of her hand.

You

Ariel eNews Logo Child: You (boy, DOB July 2003) is energetic, open-minded, and active. You, age 6, has been diagnosed with ADHD and his cognitive development and verbal acuity are somewhat delayed, but he takes good care of himself and his hygiene is good.

Ariel eNews Logo