If children live with criticism
they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility
they learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule
they learn to be shy.
If children live with jealousy
they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance
they learn to be patient.
If children live with praise
they learn to appreciate.
If children are encouraged
they learn confidence.
If children live with fairness
they learn justice.
If children live with approval
they learn to like themselves.
If children live with both
acceptance and friendship
they learn to find love in the world.
(citation needed)
Life Happened :)
Beamlak & I January 27, 2007
About Me
- Bettina
- It's difficult to write this section now that Beamlak is finally home! How amazing! Well to summarize... I turned 26 years old on April 15, 2009 the day my daughter, Beamlak became a U.S. Citizen - exactly one year after I was able to "officially" begin the process to bring her home. I met her January 27, 2007 and I can say that without a doubt, my life has never been the same. My life now is amazing, beautiful, difficult, exhausting, lovely, precious, adventuresome, routine, surprising, and about a million other adjectives. We're just settling in and I'm trying to soak it all up!
The Waiting Child
The Waiting Child
I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plea as you go by
'Does no one want a child of three?
I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no one want a child of four?
I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
And then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.
-Debbie Boddie
I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plea as you go by
'Does no one want a child of three?
I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no one want a child of four?
I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
And then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.
-Debbie Boddie
Starfish Poem
As I walked along the seashore
This young boy greeted me.
He was tossing stranded starfish
Back to the deep blue sea.
I said, 'Tell me why you bother,
Why you waste your time this way.
There's a million stranded starfish
Does it matter, anyway?'
And he said, 'It matters to this one.
It deserves a chance to grow.
It matters to this one.
I can't save them all I know.
But it matters to this one,
I'll return it to the sea.
It matters to this one,
And it matters to me.'
-- Anonymous
*There are more than 6 million orphans in Ethiopia. Orphaned due to malaria, TB, AIDS, drought, flooding, war, migration and lack of basic health care. Anything and everything you do to support even just one makes a huge difference - don't undermine your contribution.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
~Mahatma Ghandhi
This young boy greeted me.
He was tossing stranded starfish
Back to the deep blue sea.
I said, 'Tell me why you bother,
Why you waste your time this way.
There's a million stranded starfish
Does it matter, anyway?'
And he said, 'It matters to this one.
It deserves a chance to grow.
It matters to this one.
I can't save them all I know.
But it matters to this one,
I'll return it to the sea.
It matters to this one,
And it matters to me.'
-- Anonymous
*There are more than 6 million orphans in Ethiopia. Orphaned due to malaria, TB, AIDS, drought, flooding, war, migration and lack of basic health care. Anything and everything you do to support even just one makes a huge difference - don't undermine your contribution.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
~Mahatma Ghandhi
Blogs I Read
Ethiopian Resources
Organizations Assisting Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Ethiopia
- 121Ethiopia (assists Kechene Children's Home)
- Adoption Adovcates International (humanitarian aid)
- African Child Policy Forum (advocates for change through policy)
- African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace
- Gladney's Bright Future Camp
- Mary Joy (Child Sponsorship with Birth Families)
- Selamta (Child Sponsorship - Foster Care)
Organizations Assisting Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa
Schools of Interest
- Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship
- Center on Philanthropy
- Heller School for Social Policy and Management
- Institute of Public Affairs (U of MN)
- Institute for Social Studies (The Hague)
- School for International Training Graduate Institute
- University of Denver
- University for Peace
- World Learning
"Fear grows out of the things we think; it lives in our minds. Compassion grows out of the things we are, and lives in our hearts."
~Barbara Garrison
~Barbara Garrison
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