MOSAIC MOMENTS

This weekend has been an exciting weekend in the news since the announcement of US Republican John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin.

I have received many google alerts on Sarah Palin, but the majority of the alerts are trying to start false rumors about the Alaskan governor and her baby Trig.

Back in April Gov. Palin had Trig and he was born with Down syndrome. All the rumors are just that-rumors. And just a poor ploy for attention. The majority of the rumors are saying that Gov. Palin did not actually give birth to Trig, and instead, her teenage daughter did. This is just ridiculous and doesn’t even deserve a comment. I urge you all to not even bother making comments to the bloggers who are writing these things. It will only give them more attention and take away from the message of awareness that can be brought by Gov. Palin’s nomination.

As I stated in my previous article, I have not received enough information about either candidate to make an informed decision on whom I will vote for in this coming election. I do like that Sarah Palin could bring a great awareness to this country on Down syndrome, but I also know that that is not her main goal as Vice President and nor should it be.

I encourage each of you to take the press release from my previous article and educate your media outlets on People First Language. This is vitally important, especially since the media has already used over and over again the incorrect terms referring to Down syndrome. It truly makes me cringe when I hear someone say “the Down syndrome baby” or “suffers from Down syndrome”. The list goes on and on! This is our chance, as parents and advocates to let the world know that our children do NOT suffer AND they are People First!

My number one pet peeve in the world is hearing someone use improper language when describing a person with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome. Years ago, I wrote a paper that we include in our information packets that highlighted People First Language and why this is so important. Although it is titled Being Politically Correct the reasons for it are far more than just being politically correct. Using people first language is a matter of respect for the individual. And, as I point out in my paper, if a person had high blood pressure you wouldn’t say “the high blood pressure person”. Down syndrome and mosaic Down syndrome is a medical diagnosis for the individual. Not WHO the individual is.

Yesterday, the NDSC and NDSS put out a press release to go to all the media outlets. With Sarah Palin being named as John McCain’s running mate, we immediately were seeing the media use incorrect terms for people with Down syndrome. IMDSA knew they were already working on a statement and that is why we didn’t put one together on our own. As an organization, we have already begun forwarding this message to local media and will continue to do so to ensure that these reporters understand the importance of using people first language.

I have included the press release here. I suggest that everyone copy this information and pass it on to their local media. NOW is the time to educate the media on proper language. Don’t wait till it gets so out of hand that there is nothing we can do to stop it.

Remember, words spoken can not be taken back. Once they are out there, an image has formed in the listener’s mind.

Republican Presidential hopeful, John McCain announced his choice today for Vice President as Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin.

As an advocate for those with mosaic Down syndrome and Down syndrome, this news brings a lot of hope to those in the Down syndrome/mosaic Down syndrome world.

Alaska governor, Sarah Palin had her fifth child this year. Trig was born with Down syndrome. She is now an advocate for those with Down syndrome and if she were in the office of Vice President, it is possible that those with Down syndrome may get a fairer shake in the country. If anything, the image that she creates for those around the country is definitely a positive one. It shows that anyone can have a child with Down syndrome AND it is not the end of the world when you do!

Imagine…. if they were elected, Trig would be the first child with Down syndrome to grow up in the White House! (I can’t imagine Tim being there as a young child! He was so active and so into things that he would have brought the roof down in the first week!)

I am one of those ‘undecided’ voters. I will make a decision later on after I hear what they all have to say. Having an advocate for Down syndrome in the White House is not the only reason to vote for a person, but the idea of an advocate for Down syndrome helping run our country is definitely a plus in my house!

I know that many parents of young children with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome worry so much about what the future holds for their child. They worry about all the problems that having a child with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome will have. They worry about what will happen when their child goes to school. They worry about their relationships as teens and adults. They worry about everything! And, they think that if their child didn’t have Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome, they wouldn’t have all these problems and everything would be alright.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. No matter if your child has Down syndrome, mosaic Down syndrome or Normal syndrome, you child is going to have PROBLEMS!

My youngest son, Garrett (the “normal” one) began 7th grade this week. It is hard for me to wrap my mind around my baby boy being in 7th grade. However, he is making sure that I KNOW he IS in 7th grade and with that comes all the hormones of pre-teens and ALL the drama.

Last night, we had a dramatic hour of “I need more freedom” This began after I wouldn’t purchase a song online for him that had ‘expicit’ lyrics. Yes, he knows all those words and Yes, he uses most of them when I am not present. However, that doesn’t mean that I have to agree to it!

And, because we are in our “pre-teen stage” this turned to I want to stay up later at night, I want to dye my hair black, I want to run all around town with my friends, why can’t I hang out with the SATANIC kids, I want to stay out as much as I want and I DON’T WANT TO DO CHORES!

This all happened in the course of an hour….well, really two hours because he said all this from 8-9 and then he took a 15 minute break while I talked to his dad on the phone and then started again when I put him in bed.

Each time he said he wanted more freedom and wanted to stay up later his eyes would droop just a little bit more. Finally, at 10pm I pointed out that his eyes were closed and he opened them slightly to prove that he was not tired.

I remind Garrett that his brothers went to bed at 8:30 when they were his age. He goes to bed at 9. He asked for 9:15 and I agreed to that, but now, he is asking for 9:30 and trying to push it to 10

Every child has their own internal clock and needs different amounts of sleep. Garrett obviously needs a little bit more because I think this is his main problem and why we were having so much drama in the first place. He is tired!

Then, the conversation went back to the music with the ‘explicit’ lyrics. He wanted that song and now, because I said no, he will want that song all the more! I know that I will hear about this song for the next month only because I said no.

Gone are the days when he accepted ‘no’ at face value!

Then, the conversation turned back to “Why can’t I hang out with the Satanic kids?”

We are a Christian family. In our belief, we do not ‘hang out’ with those who worship Satan. And, I firmly believe that children and teens will be influenced by their peers no matter how many times we teach them to “Just say No”.

Garrett tried to disagree with me until I gave him this fact…

I reminded him that two years ago he was very upset by his peers and the foul language they were using. He swore he would never use these words because he knew that it did not honor God. He knew that others would look down on him if he used these words. He knew that adults would not respect him and that they would lump him in the group of “bad teens” if he used these words. He knew all these things and said that he would never use bad words.

Of course, I knew better….

So, I reminded him of that when he told me that he wouldn’t be influenced by the ’satanic kids’ and he was capable of making good choices.

He immediately got quiet when I reminded him that he did give into peer pressure on a topic he felt strongly about. He didn’t ask any more about those kids and why he couldn’t hang out with them.

I pray he makes good choices.

Sometimes, as a parent, it is hard to not give in. Kids KNOW how to pull at your heart strings. They KNOW what will make you feel guilty. And, EVERY SINGLE KID IN THE WORLD says, “Everyone else gets to do it but me!”

That makes you second guess your parenting skills most of the time. Fortunately, I have been a parent for 26 years. I have heard it all! And, I have said it all when I was a teen.

It still pulls at my heart. There is always going to be that second where my heart skips a beat and I question if I am doing right by my son. But then, I come to my senses and remember that I am the parent. I am the decision maker. He, at 12 years old, is incapable of making major decisions that will affect his welfare. And, as a parent, it is my responsibility to make sure he is safe.

Many parents feel that once their child reaches this age, they should give them more freedom. And, I do agree to a point. Children have to learn from their mistakes and they have to learn how to handle situations on their own. However, some parents find it “just easier” to let their children do whatever they want and all the sudden, at the most important moment in their life, they have no guidance from their parents and usually make bad choices that are often life-altering.

Finally, with Garrett falling asleep quickly after all his drama, Tim (the one with mosaic Down syndrome) came into the living room where I was working.

He said, “I don’t think I ever gave you that kind of drama when I was his age!”

He is right…. he didn’t!

Yes, we had problems, Yes, we had discussions on what is right and what is wrong. And, Yes, he was grounded so many times that I couldn’t even begin to count!

But, I have to say that out of FIVE boys, Tim was my easiest teenager. We didn’t have the drama that we had with the other boys. Tim is very calm (most of the time) and rarely argued for hours on end about ‘needing more freedom’.

So…. when you worry about your child with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome and think that if only they didn’t have these extra chromosomes everything would be ok… Think again… having children, no matter what, comes with dilemmas, decisions, discussions, discipline and plenty of DRAMA!

Thank God Garrett is my last one to get through these teenage years…. I don’t think I have the strength for any more after this one! 

Today, in one of my google alerts for Down syndrome I got an article titled Waiting and Worrying. The article was about a woman who did a prenatal test that came back positive for the possibility of Down syndrome. Of course, like everyone else in this situation, there was a lot of tears and alot of worry. The mother said she had wished she had never had the test. She knew that all this test did was add to her stress. She said she hadn’t really considered the “what if’s” when taking the test. I don’t think many expect for the prenatal test to come back positive. Most never consider the chances of their baby having a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other chromosome differences. And, when they have the test they are faced with what their doctor calls “a decision”. I have always wondered why the doctor doesn’t say “you have a decision to make” when the test comes back negative.

Two parents-to-be anxiously await the day of their prenatal screening. They call all their friends and family telling them that “today is the day” and together, hand in hand, they walk into the doctor’s office ready for the blood test that will inevitably change their lives. They don’t realize the impact this simple blood test will make on their lives. After all, they aren’t expecting anything to be any different than what they envision their child to be!

After the test, they are told they must wait a few weeks for the results to come back. They don’t really think about it much. After all…they are not expecting it to come back any different than what they envision. They go about their daily lives. They go to work, have dinner with their friends, and while in the grocery store, they see a baby name book at the counter and pick it up, eager to find the “perfect” name for their “perfect” baby.

Two weeks have passed and while rushing out to make it to work the phone rings. It is the doctor.

All of the sudden panic rises up in the mother-to-be’s throat.

“Oh no! Here are the results. I know it can’t be good if the doctor is calling.” She motions to her husband to pick up the other phone extension so they can both listen at the same time.

“Hello” she answers

“Hello Mrs. X, the test results came in this morning and I wanted to deliver them to you immediately”

Her heart races. Her husband begins to feel beads of sweat forming at the top of his forehead.

“We are ready” Mr. X says

“I am sorry” says the doctor. “Your child has the typical number of chromosomes. The baby will be completely normal. Both of you need to consider what this means and make a decision by the end of next week”

Shocked the parents hang up the phone without even saying goodbye. The mother-to-be protectively puts her hand over her belly trying to connect with her baby. Without a word, the parents embrace. They will have to discuss this. It wasn’t what they expected. They were hoping so much for their child to have Down syndrome and now…. they have to make a decision.

What will the future hold for this child? How can he possibly be happy with his “normal” chromosomes? Will he marry? Will she have children? Will my baby be able to live on his own?

I know that sounds silly to you. Why would anyone abort a baby who is perfectly normal? However, what exactly is “perfectly normal”?

As president of International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association, I have spoken to many parents who have received a prenatal diagnosis and with 6 simple words their lives are completely torn apart. The six words….. You Have To Make A Decision.

It is heartbreaking to witness the anxiety thrown on these parents just because of a simple blood test that they could have said no to, but because they didn’t think anything would go any different than what they envisioned, they agreed to the testing.

Some, after talking with IMDSA and all of our members have “made the decision” to keep their baby. But some, unfortunately, can only hear those haunting words of their doctor and the negative image that the doctor and the rest of society paints.

This week, I have been talking in email to one of these parents. As president of IMDSA all I can do is provide them with information, facts, statistics, stories and hope. As a Christian, I am praying for them and hoping that God can direct them in the way He wants them to go.

Earlier in this year, a family came to me torn apart after the prenatal diagnosis of mosaic Down syndrome. They didn’t believe in abortion. It was against their religion. However, the doctor pushed for that, and before I could get all the information I had to offer to them, they aborted their baby. They were not in my country, so my only way of communicating was through email. I sent them the truth about mosaic Down syndrome, unfortunately, they didn’t check their email before making their final decision. After the abortion, they read my email and were torn apart all the more. They said if they had known the truth (opposite of what the doctor had told them) they never would have aborted their baby.

I think about them often. I hope they can get over their grief. I know it hurts, but hopefully the pain will subside and the thoughts of their baby will live on with them.

The problem is that some in society have this “vision” of people with disabilities of any kind. It is almost as if they see them as half a person or perhaps an alien! Then, the doctors who are still reading books from the 1960’s and 70’s see the statistics of low IQ, declined health, DEADLY heart problems, long-term survival not possible. And, in the 60’s and 70’s this was true!

The majority of babies born then were whisked away to an institution right after birth. If they had a heart problem they were allowed to die. After all…they had Down syndrome, so it was “humane” to let them die. They had low IQ’s because NO ONE  talked to them! NO ONE taught them anything. NO ONE cared about them! They had declined health because they were not checked for thyroid conditions, digestive disorders, heart problems, or respiratory problems. If they had these problems they were allowed to die, because again, it was the “humane” thing to do. They were not independent because NO ONE gave them the chance to be so! They died early because NO ONE bothered to care for them at all.

Now, things are different. People don’t die from Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome. People die from untreated medical problems associated with Down syndrome. I do realize that some still die no matter what the doctors try to do for them. They may die as babies; they may die as adults. Either way, it is always hard to lose someone you love. But, even those without Down syndrome have medical problems, learning problems and can die far beyond they time that we hoped to have them with us.

I know that many get the prenatal testing and say it is because they “want to be prepared” and for some this actually worked to their advantage. But, if you are pregnant, and you have reservations about abortion or have already fallen in love with the baby you are carrying, then don’t take the prenatal test unless you are prepared to accept the consequences of what that test might say.

After all… you may not be so lucky to get a child with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome!

On Sunday, I told you about Reece’s Rainbow and their opportunity through Amercian Express to receive a large grant to save the children in countries outside of North America who have Down syndrome and other disabilities and are orphans with no hope of survival if they stay in their countries.

I, of course, am not the only one talking about this! This message is being spread throughout the blogging world, websites, emails, texting, IM’s, and phone calls. But I would like to think some of my readers had a part in this great success!

Below is a message that I just received from the director of Reece’s Rainbow, Andrea Roberts….

All, your tremendous efforts to get the word out about this incredible opportunity with American Express have been SUCCESSFUL!!!

In one week’s time, the Save an Orphan with Down syndrome project, to be fulfilled by Reece’s Rainbow, has CATAPULTED from last on the list to # 18 out of almost 1200 submitted projects! 

We have a very real chance to win at least some of the award money!  

We still have 5 days to go in the initial nomination period…..we need to maintain our place in the top 20 with continued new votes.     Anyone can nominate at this point….just log in as a guest if you don’t have an Amex account of your own.    All new nominations must be in by the end of Monday, September 1.   I know many people may be traveling for the holiday, but don’t forget to vote!!!

Now is the time to remind all of those people you have already asked 3 times :)   Now is the time to remind those folks who said to themselves “oh yeah, I’ll do that”, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.    This opportunity is REAL, it isn’t an online scam or something completely out of reach.   We really can win this!!!  

Even if you’re not in the Down syndrome or adoption communities, your one little click of the mouse really can change the course of a child’s life, a PARTICULAR child’s life, whom you can watch and say “hey, I was part of that!”  

The link for the project is http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/H1LEJ0    You can also view it and click it on our home page at www.reecesrainbow.org   

Please add it to your blogs, your e-mail signatures, every Yahoo group you are a part of…..you have all already done it, but we are so close!   Please share this update with everyone you have already forwarded to!

God bless, next update will be Friday, although I’m sure you’re all checking the status every 5 minutes like I am

Artyom thanks you!!!  (and he is still waiting for his family to find him!)

Andrea Roberts, Executive Director
Reece’s Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministry
www.reecesrainbow.org

This is an AMAZING report! Within THREE SHORT DAYS this organization has gone from the very bottom of the list to number 18 out of the 1200 entries!

YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! YOU ARE SAVING A LIFE!

If you haven’t taken the short time it takes to make this tiny click to vote for Reece’s Rainbow, PLEASE do it now! It IS a matter of life and death! I know that in America we have a saying “It isn’t a matter of life and death” meaning that it isn’t that important. In this case, it IS a matter of life and death! One little click of a mouse could very well save Artyom’s life and all the lives of the children who are left in these orphanages.

If you have already made your vote…. THANK YOU!!! Please spread the word to every single person you know and even those of who you don’t know.

If you happened to miss my Sunday post, you can click here to read what it is all about.

Do you have a blog somewhere in cyberspace?

What do you blog about? Is it interesting information that helps others or is it a basic journal of your day to day life?

There are so many blogs out there and so much great information that people have to offer!

If you have an information blog that you dedicate yourself to just to get the information out to others, but do it on your own time and not get paid for it, then I have a solution for you!

My blog is written through Today.com. This site allows me to bring you information and at the same time I can make a little extra money to help with groceries, gas money, and football equipment! (Garrett just started his second season!)

Everyone around the world is feeling the crunch on high gas prices and higher grocery bills! So, every penny counts, especially when you have a family to feed, or if you are just trying to feed yourself!

Perhaps you have never written a blog, but you have been thinking about it. You know you have great information to share, but just don’t know how to start. This was me just a few months ago! I like to write, but had no experience in websites or blogging. (I have other people who do that stuff for me! lol)

The good thing about Today.comis that their web design is pretty easy to understand and if you don’t understand what you are doing, or need help with anything, they have a great forum for all their bloggers to send messages to the group of bloggers for help and suggestions. Everyone is very friendly and helpful.

I get paid once a month through a paypal account that I set up for free.

So if you have information on:

• news

• sports

• fashion

• parenting

• technology

• health

• fitness

• hobbies

• entertainment

• living

• family

• business

• web design

OR ANYTHING THAT IS INFORMATIONAL

Just click the box below and enter your information to get started in the PAID blogging world!

If you are going to blog…. you might as well get paid!

Last week  I told you about a wonderful book , blog and website called Potty Training Boot Camp.

Dr. Suzanne Riffel, author of Potty Training Boot Camp is a great mom who started out looking for the “magical” toilet training method. However, when she found that there really wasn’t a “magical” method, she combined several methods into one to find something that truly worked for her 20 month old daughter.

Last week, I was led to Dr. Riffel’s blog when she wrote an article on toilet training for a child with Down syndrome or other intellectual or developmental delays.

Last night, Suzanne wrote me concerning her book and blog to thank me for highlighting her information on my site. Then, she told me about a problem she was having concerning feedback for children with Down syndrome.

Here is what Dr. Riffel told me….

“The Potty Boot Camp has been incredibly successful to date, yet I have very little feedback from parents of children with Down Syndrome.

I would love to give free copies (limit 20) of the eBook version to parents who are willing to use it and report back. I’m curious if the program can be followed to the letter - and if not, what modifications did parents need to make? Eventually, I’d like to add a chapter to the book about training children with Down Syndrome.”

This is YOUR opportunity to help your child with potty training and help develop a method that truly works! Suzanne Riffel is one of those “go getter’s” in the world who wants to make a difference for everyone that she can help! Reading her blog and website I really can see that she did some extensive research to find the perfect potty training method.

So, this is what we are going to do…..

The first 20 people who leave a comment on this post (be sure to include your email address) will be notified on how to get this offer! Be sure that you are serious about following through with this. You will need to be able to send feedback to the author on what worked and what didn’t. This is a great opportunity to not only help your child, but also thousands of other children with developmental disabilities!

EXTRA OFFER!!!

Today on Dr. Suzanne Riffel’s site she highlights parentreviewers.com

Pocket Snails Potty Adventure Free DVD Giveaway on Parent Reviewers.com

The blog ‘Parent Reviewers.com’ is giving away the DVD ‘Pocket Snails Potty Adventure‘. Visit their site and you’ll find instructions on how to enter the giveaway:

From Parent Reviewers

Having potty trained both my children, I definitely acknowledge that it’s no easy feat. How I wished back then, I had educational DVDs like Pocket Snails Potty Adventure to help my youngins tackle the issue more smoothly.

Excerpt from Pocket Snails’ website:

Pocket Snails Potty Adventure, tackles the sometimes tricky subject of potty training from a whole new perspective! With its multi-faceted approach that uses a fun storyline, colorful animation, sing-along songs and the included Potty Steps Map that viewers can follow during the program - and then consult for themselves come potty time - this wonderful new DVD provides an engaging and effective potty training tool for youngsters everywhere.

The Pocket Snails Potty Adventure is a delightful full featured potty training program designed to encourage and motivate children to go diaperless and welcome the use of the potty. Created by Soaring Star for children of age 2 and up, this musical DVD will help parents make this trying transition period more relaxing and fun for their toddlers. Though my two children are way out of their potty training phase, they still thoroughly enjoyed the antics of Buttons, Dale and Gordon. As a mom, I like the fact that there are two characters in this potty adventure - Wendy, who is starting in her potty training adventure and Jake, another sibling who has already conquered it. But of course, our favourite as a family, were the sing along songs as well as the hilarious bloopers!

BUY IT : I’d highly recommend this DVD for parents who are about to start the potty training “adventure” with their toddlers. You can purchase this invaluable potty training tool here.

WIN IT : Thanks to Soaring Star, we are giving away not one but THREE copies of Pocket Snails Potty Adventure!!! Here’s what you need to do:

•  post
• Visit Pocket Snails and tell us which is your favourite product (besides Pocket Snails Potty Adventure)
• Giveaway is open to readers with US and Canada shipping addresses only.
• Giveaway closes on 14th September 2008 and 3 winners will be selected using the Random.Org. Results will be announced on 15th September 2008.

Thanks Suzanne for all the work you do in the toddler world of toilet training! You are a hero to many parents!

Today, August 25, is the last day to put in your entries for a chance to win the Applebee’s Gift Certificate!

The drawing is TUESDAY, AUGUST 26

Last month, I highlighted Diane and Kris’ blog “The Erin and Mary Ellen’s Excellent Adventures”

Erin has Down syndrome and Mary Ellen has mosaic Down syndrome. This site is very inspirational and quite entertaining as you read all about their “excellent adventures”.

Moms, Diane and Kris decided to thank all their blog visitors by having a drawing for those who leave a comment on their site with their email address.

Here’s how it works.

First, go to their site with the Applebees announcement.

Then, send a comment with your email address so when they choose you they can contact you to tell you that you won!

Diane and Kris say……

You can win two different ways!

1. You can win a $25.00 gift certificate to Applebee’s Restaurant.

To win this one, all you have to do is post a comment on our blog under this post telling us why you are enjoying our new pages. Don’t forget to also post your email address. If there isn’t an email address, you will not be included in the drawing. We will use this to contact you to be able to send you your gift certificate.

2. You can win $50.00 gift certificate to Applebee’s Restaurant.

On this one there is a twist, you need to send our blog to your friends. If four of your friends post on our blog under this post, that you sent them here, we will enter your name in the drawing. Each of the four need to leave their email addresses so we can confirm their post. Ask them to make sure of two things, that they tell us who sent them, and they leave their email address. If either of those conditions is not included you will not be able to be entered in this part of the drawing. They will qualify to win the $25.00 one though just for posting if they leave us a positive comment about why they enjoyed our new page.

If you heard about this contest from here, please tell them Kristy Colvin sent you!

In both instances, we will collect all of the entries, and put them in a hat and draw a name. We will be asking ME to do the drawing.

We contacted Applebee’s to ask them if they had a policy about hiring individuals with Down syndrome. You will be happy to know they assured us they would be happy to hire anyone who is qualified to do the job that they are hired to do. And that Down syndrome would not prevent them from hiring an individual if the person was qualified! We were glad to hear that they are open to this possibility! We expected to hear this, but we were glad to hear their enthusiasm when we spoke with them!

Pass this along, and we hope you have fun trying to win!

The drawing will be held on August 26. All entries must be in before this date.

GOOD LUCK

Imagine being born with Down syndrome or any other special need and because of this difference you are wisked away to an orphanage soon after birth to lay in a crib without very much physical contact at all. Your parents are home in tears for the fear of doing something wrong to cause this disability and in their society they are shunned because they have had a child who is, in their eyes, unwhole. 

The orphanage in which houses your crib is an old rundown building with leaky roofs and drafty windows. The workers, although most have begun with a compasionate heart, are overworked and underpaid, and they too live in the same society that believes your birth was a complete mistake and so you are hastely proped with a bottle each time you cry, even if you are only crying because you feel so alone and just want to be touched and hugged and smiled at and loved. 

In Central and Eastern European countries alone (this would include Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania, etc, but NOT Russia), there are more than 1.5 MILLION CHILDREN who have been abandoned by their families for one reason or another and are living in “public care” (that’s the nice way to put it).  If statistically, 1 out of every 733 live births results in a child with Down syndrome, that means at any given time there are 2,046 children with Down syndrome who need families.  THAT’S JUST IN EUROPE!!  Some do not survive because of serious medical complications…some do not survive because of lack of medical attention, lack of food, lack of LOVE. 

In Russia, there are over 700,000 children waiting for families, meaning at least 955 children with Down syndrome wait, languishing.  In ASIA (China, Hong Kong, Korea, India), there are 3,572,000 orphans, with nearly 5000 children with Down syndrome who are unwanted.  Many of those children are killed at birth.    The “lucky” ones end up in orphanages and foster care situations.

In the United States alone, 137 million people claim to be Christians of some denomination.  If only 1% of the Christians in this country adopted just ONE CHILD, 1.37 MILLION CHILDREN from abroad would have loving, Christian families to grow up in.  Of those 1.37 million, 1,869 of those children have DOWN SYNDROME.

Last month, I told you about the organization Reece’s Rainbow. Reece’s Rainbow is an organization to help families adopt children in other countries who have Down syndrome. Not only are they helping these families to get the child they so much want to love in their own home, they are literally saving these children’s lives, who otherwise would live in an instititution with out ever being touched or talked to.

I can not imagine what it would be to grow up strapped to a bed and never have physical human contact. Never be told that I was loved. Never be cuddled when I didn’t feel well. And, I can’t imagine my children ever growing up that way either. Thankfully, they didn’t. However, there are thousands of children throughout the world who at this very moment are strapped to a bed and not being loved or talked to.

Reece’s Rainbow is doing their part to change that.

Adoption is expensive. Adopting a child from another country is VERY expensive. There are parents throughout the US and other countries who very much want to adopt these children, however, the expense of it is astronomical! So, Reece’s Rainbow tries to raise funds to help these families afford to get their children and in turn, save these children’s lives.

Reece’s Rainbow has many opportunities for you to help these children. Maybe you are not in the position to adopt a child. That is ok! You could sponsor one to help that child come home to their family! Maybe you don’t have any money to give. You can pray! I am a firm believer in prayer!

Today, there is a way that YOU CAN HELP and it WON’T COST YOU A PENNY!

American Express has a program that is offering money to organizations and it depends all on the amount of votes that the cause gets in this program.

1st place gets: $1,500,000

2nd place gets: $500,000

3rd place gets: $300,000

4th place gets: $100,000

Imagine what that kind of money could do in the lives of these children! It cost $20k+ for a family to adopt a child overseas. One of Reece’s Rainbow’s goals is to give full scholarships to these families so they can save these children and give them the life they deserve.

The other goal of Reece’s Rainbow is to educate these countries on these special needs.

Andrea Roberts, Director of Reece’s Rainbow says, “The more children with Down syndrome and other special needs who are adopted by American families, the more these foreign countries will begin to see them with a greater value and potential. Birth families will have the courage to raise their own children with Down syndrome, know they are not alone, and advocate for their rights in their own societies. The goal for this ministry is to eliminate the NEED for this ministry.”

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Just go to the American Express site here and nominate Reece’s Rainbow to receive this gift from American Express. You do NOT have to have an American Express card to do this. Just register as a guest and nominate.

Then, after you make your vote, please leave a comment on that page. Even if Reece’s Rainbow makes it to the top 25 organizations, the American Express Advisory Board makes all the final decisions. So, it is important that you tell them why you think Reece’s Rainbow deserves this money.

The voting only lasts until September 1st, so please vote today! And pass the news along through all your internet connections!