To all our faithful donors and supporters,
It is with deep sadness that the Board of Directors of An Orphan’s Wish announces the termination of our work in Guilin, Guangxi, China effective August 31, 2013.
AOW was established 5 years ago to support orphans with special needs. In fulfillment of that mission, AOW developed a relationship with the House of Love, an established medical and residential care home for special needs orphans in Guilin and agreed to financially support their work. For the past 5 years, the children residing at the House of Love have been the recipients of our fundraising efforts and the beneficiaries of your generosity.
The Chinese Board and staff in China, which oversee all China operations at the House of Love, informed An Orphans Wish on May 15, 2013, that they had made the very difficult decision to close the House of Love. The directors of the House of Love believe that changes in the political, social and legal environment in Guilin have made it impossible for them to continue to operate the House of Love as a foreign-run organization with the standard of care and safety that they wish to provide for the children. They felt that they were left with no other option than to terminate the activities at the House of Love in Guilin. As a result of that termination, AOW's involvement in Guilin will end as well.
The entire team of An Orphan’s Wish is determined to do what is best for the children in these very difficult times, while honoring our obligations to our donors and supporters.
The closing of the House of Love will be a gradual process over the next several months to seek alternative placement solutions for the current children in our care. This will include foster care arrangements, transfer to other foreign organizations with treatment facilities in China and advocating with the orphanages for the adoption paperwork of all the children who can be eligible for adoption.
During that winding down period, AOW will continue to financially support the children who are still at the House of Love. We hope that you will continue to support the needs of your sponsored child until he or she can be transitioned in their new situation.
AOW will attempt to maintain many of the volunteer functions provided to our adoptive families, supporters and our donors. We will continue to share information on all of our children until alternative placements are made for all of our children. We will maintain our advocacy function to increase our efforts to find families for the children available for adoption. We will also continue to maintain our records so that adoptive families will receive all of the information we have on their child after they return home.
We have loved every minute of our work in Guilin and have loved each and every child who has come to the House of Love. We are so grateful to all of you for changing lives, one child at a time, for the past 5 years.
At this time, the Board of Directors of AOW is exploring other opportunities to continue our mission of helping special needs orphans. We have been blessed beyond our dreams by a community of people who truly care and who give from their hearts and who have supported us these past 5 years. We hope and pray that each and every one of you will follow AOW on its continuing journey to serve the orphans. We will continue to keep you updated as we move into AOW’s next phase and look forward to the hope and possibilities of the future.
Any questions regarding this announcement can be directed to info@anorphanswish.org .
Sincerely,
Karen Maunu
1 comment:
I was so saddened by this. We want to adopt one of the older girls so badly and hope that they can at least persuade the orphanages to put together the paperwork for ALL the children at the House of Love so that they can receive forever families just like your precious girl!
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