Reece's Rainbow

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  -James 1:27

"God sets the lonely in families...." -Psalms 68:6

In some countries, most babies born with Down syndrome are given up at birth with almost no chance of being adopted within their native country. Even worse, in some Eastern European nations, these little ones are sent to mental institutions (with poor conditions) as young as age 4. Reece's Rainbow helps provide awareness of these children with Down syndrome (and other disabilities, as well as HIV infection) who are available for international adoption and helps potential adoptive families raise funds.

 

I have friends who have adopted children internationally, as well as friends who are generally against international adoption. Here's my perspective. Ideally, children should be cared for by their biological families. When their parents are unable to raise them (because the parents are no longer living or because of psychological and sociological factors), the best case scenario would be for another relative to raise the children. However, that's not always possible. In these situations, I would suggest that the third best option would be local adoption, within the children's nation. Again, for a multitude of reasons, the need for adoption in some countries far outnumbers the national parents looking to adopt. This is particularly true in countries where children with disabilities are often given up for adoption (meaning, a greater number of kids without parents) because these cultures often contain attitudes that believe children with disabilities belong in institutions, not families (meaning, fewer local parents wanting to adopt these kids).

 

Of course, working within the culture to see a change in these attitudes is important. The work of Russian non-profit, Downside Up , has resulted in a significant decrease in children with Down syndrome being given up in Moscow. More of these kids are now being raised by their biological families and provided with services to help their kids develop and flourish. This is ideal.

However, this type of change takes time, and in the meantime, there are children who are languishing in overcrowded, under-staffed institutions.  Here is a video that shows the type of conditions some of these children face.

 

I've seen similar videos about other Eastern European countries and China. Of course, not all of the institutions are that bad. Still, none are "home." These kids need families.

 

To that end, I'm going to help by "featuring" some of these children on my blog, following the schedule of the FB group Teamwork Tuesday (where all the members feature the same child on the same day). Reece's Rainbow is making an impact. In six years, over 500 of the children on the Reece's Rainbow website have made their way home to families. 

 

In addition, I've signed up for their Prayer Warriors program, which matches each volunteer with a child. My "child" is "Tyler."  He's 10, and despite his young age, has been in four different institutions. At one point, he was in a very dismal mental institution, but thankfully, he's now in a smaller group home. Tyler has Down's syndrome. He absolutely loves dogs and gets excited when he sees dogs near the group home. I'm praying that a family with a dog will adopt him.

 

Here's a picture of Tyler:

 

Isn't he a handsome little guy?