Other Angels Girls, 10+

Girl, Born March 5, 2005

Listed: prior to 2010

Cleft palate, possible FAS

From a volunteer who visited with her in August 2016:  Irina’s update from last year is still very accurate. Her introvert and shy behaviors got more though. She prefers not to interact at all. It took me half of our trip to get her to trust me enough to walk around the building with us and she would still not look at me. She avoids any eye contact. She did enjoy the attention though. She still loves to sit on someones lap. She has grown even more than last year. This year she had become too heavy for me to carry her.

I think Irina wants to get out of the facility. She was transferred to this facility a couple years ago. Before she lived here, she lived in a ‘normal orphanage’ with a special needs group. When they lost their funding she was transferred here. When we take her for a walk she walks to the gate and she just stares at the world outside of those gates. She realizes there is an entire world out there. One day the nurses saw us at the gate though and they yelled at us for minutes. We were not allowed to take Irina there, she could walk away. The gate is closed and locked and we were there with her, so there was no way she’d walk away, but from that day on Irina was even more closed and she lost most of the initiative while walking. She even lost her interest in the swing. She needs someone she can trust, someone who she’ll know will stay and will love her. She has already been listed for so long! She needs a family!

From a volunteer who visited with her in July 2015:  ” Irina is a beautiful girl with dark hair and big dark eyes. She has a cleft palate. She is a precious and happy little girl. She loves personal attention. She is craving attention and physical touch. If it was up to her she’d be held and hugged all day. She can react really shy to people who talk to her and especially when yelled at, she will become really introvert. She is a really sweet girl. Irina is a physically quite healthy girl. She is well nourished, she can walk, run, swing, etc. Her physical development is good, compared with the other children in the same facility. She seems to have a strong body. She knows how to use a swing properly and can swing by herself. She enjoys it a lot. She can play accurate with toys, like dolls, or pretend play with kitchen tools. She knows how to walk stairs. She can dress and undress herself. She can drink from a cup and eat by herself. She is potty trained and will tell if she has to use the bathroom. She doesn’t talk, most likely because of her cleft palate. She doesn’t make noises, but her eyes express a lot about how she feels. And her smile will tell you when she enjoys something. She understands what is being said to her and she can follow orders. When Irina is in the group, she’ll try to stay away from the others. She prefers to play by herself, but she is also capable of interacting with other children or adults. She prefers to play with children who are smaller or younger than her, probably because they are no threat to her. Last year I saw how she was being bullied by other (bigger) children. She tries to flee from bullies (and from yelling), but there is nowhere to go. This year she is doing much better. She has grown physically, which made her less of a target for the bigger children. Maybe also because new smaller children are in the group now. Sometimes she’s still the target of bullying and harming behaviour, but at other moments she will show these behaviours herself. She can be a bully to the smaller children herself. I think this is her way of showing that she is stronger now, but this is no good development. The longer children are in this facility, the more harming behaviour they show. Irina is still able to receive love, but time is ticking away. She needs a family. She would thrive in a family where she could be ‘the baby’.”

If you are unfamiliar with FAS, please spend some time researching this condition. Just as with Down syndrome, FAS and FAE have a wide variation of effects on each child, both medically, physically, and cognitively. This is typically dependent on how long during the pregnancy the mother consumed alcohol, and of course, how much. There is no way to know this ahead of time.

Irina has been transferred to the older child internat now.   Elinor, Devora, Julia,  Sullivan, Artemur, Duane, Abner and Irina may all be in the same region.

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, Born April 2006
Cerebral palsy / TBI

Listed: August 6, 2010

SIGNIFICANT RISK, PLEASE ADOPT ME SOON!! Eugene is really a GIRL! After all this time, we have learned he is a SHE. Dark brown hair and blue-green eyes.  She has severe CP, but has recently started walking! Jewell is the victim of parental physical abuse, and suffers from post-traumatic brain injury, which has further complicated her delays and struggles.

Updated medical and pictures 8/2015:

She has after-effects of severe brain injury (brain bones fracture), subarachnoidal influence in the form of irreversable damage, hemiplegia with microcephaly.

Dark brown hair and blue-green eyes. She has severe CP, but has recently started walking!

Jewell is the victim of parental physical abuse, and suffers from post-traumatic brain injury, which has further complicated her delays and struggles.

She does have a sister with mild delays whom she can be adopted with or by herself

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, Born April 25, 2006

Daphne was born with CP.  She is not able to walk and is significantly cognitively delayed.  She is described as an affectionate and responsive child, and she would so benefit from having a loving family of her own.

She is facing transfer very soon, and will remain bedridden if she is not adopted.

More photos available

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, Born March 2006

Poor Haven……sweet little girl.   Such a pretty girl burdened with such medical and cognitive difficulties….and no mama to love her through them.

From her medical records:  celiac disease, CP, toxic Hepatitis, hypotrophy of III stage

Listed: February 22, 2011

From our team who visited there: Haven is afraid of strangers and would not interact with us.

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, born 2006
Diagnoses:  depression, impulsive, attention deficit disorder
It is suspected she has FAS; she suffered meningitis in past.

Listed: January 31, 2013
 

Look at sweet Edith, all dolled up for the New Year’s party at her orphanage!

She has had a broken nose because when she lived in the family her mother’s boyfriend pushed her and she fell and broke the nose. Two foreign families have visited her but did not end up adopting her.

One of our adoptive families has met her, and has video of her for inquiring families. “Edith was was much in need of one on one attention but did not even know how to be held. She was whiney, but very willing to share her chocolate with anyone and everyone.  Edith played with the other girls and was sociable. You could tell, however, that she was emotionally somewhat fragile. She would do really well, in my opinion, as the youngest or only child (or in a family where the other children are grown).   She really needs an experienced adoptive family who can give her lots of one on one attention and help build her trust in humanity back”.

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, Born May 2006

Listed: August 6, 2010

Carolina is such a beautiful girl; beautiful brown hair with olive skin.  She has cerebral palsy, and does wear AFO’s on both feet.

From her medical records: Cerebral palsy, convergent squint, mental delay.   She can walk by supporter or holding one hand.  She says separate words, understands simple speech, is affectionate and friendly.   Physical therapy and a loving family will bring MIRACLES for this little girl!

Carolina was transferred in 2011 to a boarding school (not an institution).

New pic January 2017!  

UPDATE August 2013:

Carolina is a beautiful girl! She is about 4ft tall and about 50lbs. Her CP affects her mostly from the knees down. She does have cytomegalovirus. This was reconfirmed last year, but we were not able to find out if it is active, or if she merely was exposed while her mother was pregnant with her. CMV does cause brain damage if a baby is exposed in utero, so a family needs to be prepared for that, or for the fact that is IS transmissible when it flares. She is very strong and she does make her likes and dislikes known. Her biggest love is candy…but not chocolate! She likes white chocolate a lot though. She likes dolls, and can undress them herself. She has good use of her hands. She gets around by crawling or knee walking, which is great. Knee walking shows her hips are nice and strong. She loves to “dance.” Dancing, to her, is an adult bouncing her up and down for as long as you can stand to do it. She gets quite unhappy when you stop to take a break. The nannies make her walk a bit while holding onto hands, but her legs and feet are just not able to line up with her being so tight. She is very strong. She loves cell phones and will try to snatch them at any opportunity. A toy cell phone that plays music would be nice for her. She speaks, though it is like a toddler. She repeats the same few things over and over, but she does say a couple other words and used them correctly. She understands much more though and the caretakers speak to her in complete sentences. She just loves to move and bounce and be twirled around. She likes BIG movements. She was very briefly startled by my husband, but quickly discovered he could bounce her around longer and higher than I could…and so she quickly preferred him!

Carolina does have some institutional behaviors that a family needs to be prepared for. Her moods change quickly, and when she gets upset, she can throw herself to the floor, even injuring herself. She will hit, pull hair,etc if she is upset. She will throw large toys as well. The caretakers love her, but did express that she would likely not engage or interact with kids bigger than her, and would be likely to assert herself over anyone smaller. That is just how life in these places is. Families without small children would be best for her. An involved, hands-on Papa would be ideal, and a trampoline would be out of this world for her.

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, born November 2005
slight mental delay, flat feet, convergent squint, vision impairment

Listed October 9, 2013

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, born 2004
Mild to moderate mental delays

Listed: October 29, 2012

New pic January 2017.  Coralina has been listed with us for 4+ YEARS.  The wait is endless for these children.  They deserve to be in families.

Isn’t she just the sweetest?  Some facial features of #FAS.  Please research this condition so you are prepared for her emotional and academic needs!

Update June 2013:
Coralina is also such a sweet girl! She loved the beach balls and was running around the room making sure they all stayed in one place. She is very small especially considering she is almost 9.  She is in a video, available to interested families.

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, born 2004
Diagnoses: deep mental delay. Cerebral paralysis- double spastic form, microcephaly. Strabismus, divergent squint, and Optic atrophy. First degree anemia.

Listed: October 4, 2012

Sweet little Shayla could tremendously use a family and medical attention to help her thrive. She has already been living in this orphanage for 3 years and risks soon having to be transferred to a place where adoption will be next to impossible.

Her speech is not well developed, she holds toys in her hands for brief periods of time (but she sure does love to hold stuffed animals!), she has a reaction when you say her name but she is not able to communicate back but she smiles. She walks with support- can”t walk independently. Children in this orphanage need families! They do not receive enough interaction/therapy to help them thrive. They are seen as hopeless but we know that is not true!

Update June 2013:
This is not a great picture [on the right] but she would NOT sit still. She was wanting to move!! She thought it was so funny and would not stop laughing and rocking back and forth about the camera. The nannys also were laughing with her- her laugh and happiness is very infectious.

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, Born January 16, 2005
FAS

Listed December 23, 2010

New pic January 2017!  Tressa is a beautiful little girl! She just turned 12 and needs a family of her own.

Shareable video link: https://youtu.be/cse6UVe-730

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***

Girl, Born August 25, 2004
Cerebral Palsy

Listed: June 20, 2010

FINALLY, an update for Miranda.  January 2017.  This is the miserable life of a child stuck in an institution.  She needs a FAMILY.

What a beautiful little girl!    Wispy blonde hair and bright blue eyes!  Miranda is healthy and developing well out side of her CP.    She is an orphanage favorite.   Waiting for more info on her ability to walk/speak, etc.

She has two younger siblings, their status is not known.

She was transferred from her baby home, and still waits for her family.  She has been listed for SO long!!

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***