Salome

I'm going to focus on another child today, one we aren't adopting.  She is at the same institution as the boys we hope to adopt.  She turns 16 in March.  16 is a "special" age for adoption.  If a family doesn't file certain paperwork with immigration before a child's 16th birthday, that child is no longer eligible to be adopted into the US. You don't need a completed homestudy.  You just need to mail in one form. Some countries have their own cut-offs as well.  In China, a child needs to be adopted before they turn 14. Turning 14 or 16 without a family can mean a lot of different things. Most of them are bad.  For the girl I'm going to tell you about, it would mean spending the rest of her life in a crib, maybe graduating to a bed eventually.

This girl is known as "Salome" on the Reece's Rainbow site.

See how she is sitting up? None of us knew she could do that! She can sit independently for at least an hour.  That's pretty impressive considering she spends most of her time laying down in a crib.

Even though she spends most of her time in that crib, she has an amazingly sunshiney personality.  Check out this video of her giggle.  I love it.

The MOST adorable giggle ever.

Did you see it? Did it make you smile?  If you didn't click the link to view the video, go back and do it.  It would make the Grinch's heart grow a few sizes. She giggles. She even chortles.

So, here is this sweet girl.  She loves attention.  Unfortunately, most of the time she doesn't get much of it.  This is where she spends most of her time.  In her crib.

There is another photo of her in her crib HERE.

This photo of her shows one of the nice treats she gets on occasion.  She is out of her crib and with some of the other children for playtime.  I say children, but the boy on the left in this picture is nearly twenty, although he looks much younger.  She is out of her crib though! LOOK!

When she has the chance to get attention from people or spend time being tickled she glows with happiness.  She laughs. She smiles.  She comes to life.  Wouldn't she have so much fun sitting with a bunch of brothers and sisters during storytime? Wouldn't she love having her back rubbed while her mama and daddy sing lullabies before bed? Wouldn't she enjoy spending time outside in the sunshine and being taken along on walks through the neighborhood?  

Yes, her need is more urgent because of her age and because she will remain bedridden if a family doesn't step forward before her birthday in March.  But she deserves a family because of her merits, not just her need.  She is a treasure, and a family would be so lucky to have this sweet girl in their home. She reminds me very much of the son of friends of my family.  He brings his family so much joy, and they love him so dearly.  He is so precious to them.  She could do the same for a family, and they could do so much for her.

She has a large grant through Reece's Rainbow, to help cover some of the costs for a family who steps forward for her. Right now her grant would cover the cost for a family already adopting from the same orphanage to adopt her as well, and it would almost cover the cost for a family adopting from a different orphanage in the same region. You can donate to her grant to help ease the financial burden if an interested family were to step forward.

Recently she has been receiving massage therapy with other children at her institution because of donations to (the AMAZING) Maya's Hope.  Check out this clip, which shows how much she loves that therapy! This therapist is a brand new development thanks to lots of work behind the scenes by incredible people who are dedicated to these kids, and it will be great to see how much the children blossom.

If a few minutes of massage or a little bit of attention can make such a difference for Salome, imagine what her life would look like with the benefit of a family and therapy. She doesn't have much time to find that family.  Without her exact birthdate, we should assume her birthday is in the beginning of March.  At best, it would take a week for her paperwork to be filed.  In order to have it in by the beginning of March, we only have about two months from today.  Her family needs to see these pictures and videos of her in the next two months.  They could have an amazing life together, but they need to find each other first. Can we make it happen?

UPDATE:

I have written another post about Salome HERE, and she stars in a video HERE. Check them both out!