Exceptional Development Organizations

Featured in Now We Are One

It has been the focus of this book to present a happy aspect of international adoption — the families that are created and strengthened by it. But there is a long and sad list of world events that set these adoptions in motion. Quite often, when families bring home a child, they find that these faraway problems become much more immediate for them, and they begin to look for ways to become involved.

Although they are not involved in adoptions, the development organizations listed here operate in two of the most common countries for international adoption, Guatemala and China. The inspired and committed staffs of these organizations have developed far-sighted programs that deliver fundamental, lasting benefit to the populations they serve.

Cooperative for Education

Education is the most powerful tool to help people step out of poverty. Unfortunately, the state of education in Guatemala is abysmal. In many rural areas, nearly three out of four adults cannot read or write and only 9% of children continue their education past the sixth grade. In addition, rural schools in Guatemala lack the most basic educational materials; 90% of secondary schools do not even have textbooks.

Cooperative for Education, a Guatemala City- and Cincinnati-based non-profit organization, offers sustainable educational opportunities to Guatemalan children. By setting up textbook cooperatives, computer centers and libraries in impoverished schools, CoEd is helping Guatemalan schoolchildren break the cycle of poverty through education. Cooperative for Education is effectively providing the tools necessary to help these children break out of the poverty that has plagued their families for generations.

CoEd also offers the chance to see first-hand that these programs are making a difference. Twice a year, volunteers travel to Guatemala with CoEd to deliver textbooks and library materials and to inaugurate computer centers. David and Jennifer Withrow are two such volunteers who have traveled with the Co-ed on their book tours and have returned forever changed by the experience. “I was looking for a way to give back to the country where my children were born. CoEd provided me with that opportunity and so much more. This trip gave me a glimpse of what my children’s lives would have been like had they not come to us — the beauty of the culture, but also the struggles they would have endured. I would recommend it not only to adoptive parents, but to anyone who believes in the power of education to unlock doors. My last CoEd trip was particularly gripping. As I stood in the school yard of a remote highlands village and listened to those beautiful children sing their national anthem, a bitter-sweetness came over me. I thought of my own children — of the culturally rich traditions they would be missing. Yet there are so many opportunities they will enjoy in their new country. And, of course, I thought of these indigenous children wracked by poverty and hardship mostly because they are deprived of educational advantages. I love my children and thank God daily that they came to us. Still, as I stood in that dusty village square, I could not help but hope that one day no child would have to be adopted away from Guatemala because of poverty.”

If you would like more information about Cooperative for Education or how to get involved, please visit www.coeduc.org or call (513) 731-2595.

Half the Sky Foundation

"We are all one family. And families take care of each other.” Jenny Bowen, Executive Director, Half the Sky Foundation.

When Jenny and Richard Bowen adopted their daughter, Maya, a toddler from a welfare institution in southern China, “We fell in love. Within an instant we felt that this child was destined to be ours. We felt the connection to her as surely as if we had given birth to her,” says Jenny.

Like many adoptive parents, the Bowens also felt a deep connection to the tens of thousands of children still living in Chinese social welfare institutions: “Those children are the sisters and brothers of our daughters from China. We are all one family. And families take care of each other,” says Jenny.

Vowing to help take care of the children left behind, a small group of adoptive parents, including the Bowens, started Half the Sky Foundation in 1998. With the generous support of individuals, corporations and foundations, Half the Sky has grown into a global organization that offers four programs for institutionalized children in China.

Half the Sky’s programs provide nurture and stimulation for babies, innovative preschools that encourage an early love of learning, personalized learning opportunities for older children and loving and permanent foster homes for children whose special needs will keep them from being adopted.

The hugs, the smiles, the encouragement and the love offered by Half the Sky’s trained staff can fend off the often tragic legacy of institutionalized care. Withdrawn, angry children can become the happy, loving, curious explorers they were meant to be.

Half the Sky has provided one-on-one, nurturing care to thousands of children in Chinese institutions, but there are still so many more children who need help. If you want to make a difference in the lives of children still waiting in Chinese institutions you can learn more about Half the Sky at www.halfthesky.org.