After our loss of Amanda, I found the need to help a child who lacked the love and support he/she would never receive from biological parents. Through my Grandparents of Internationally Adopted Children Yahoo Group I had heard of The Antares Foundation. It is a not-for-profit organization which strives to improve the lives of children living in orphanages in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan. I got on their web site and immediately fell in love with a sweet seven year old little girl named Nina. I showed Papa Nina's picture and he agreed. We would become her sponsors. I immediately contacted the Foundation to find out what we would do as sponsors. We could do as much or as little as we wanted to do. We would write Nina letters telling her about ourselves and our families. We would send her packages of clothes, hair accessories, sneakers, just about anything we thought Nina would love. These packages would contain the very first things Nina "owned." They would be all hers, to share or not to share with her family. Over the months, we watched Nina change from a little girl who never smiled to one who knows two Americans love and care about her. It has made all the difference in her and our lives.
All of my life I have been able to find something good to come from something bad that had happened in my life. Losing our Amanda has been the most tragic, heart wrenching loss I have ever tried to endure in my life. Having Nina in my life has not lessened this loss any, but I know that from it a little seven year old girl living halfway around the world now has someone who loves her.
Hugs and kisses,
No comments:
Post a Comment