Etheopia, Cambodia…even Russia. Blame it on Hollywood, but those countries are among the most popular for adoptions. And as we all know, there are children in need of loving families all over the world. So, for my next few posts, I’ll be featuring those places which don’t get as much coverage as they should (thanks to Brangelina et al)

Adopting From The Philippines

More than 7,100 islands make up the Philippines archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. The third largest English speaking country in the world (behind the U.S. and the U.K.), the Philippines has a rich history combining Asian, European, and American influences.

Ceded by Spain to the U.S. in 1898 following the Spanish-American War, the Philippines attained their independence in 1946 after being occupied by the Japanese in World War II. Today, the population of the Philippines exceeds 76 million people.

Filipinos are a freedom-loving people, as evidenced by two recent peaceful, bloodless revolutions against what were perceived as corrupt governmental regimes.
In 2004, U.S. citizens only adopted approximately 196 children from the Philippines.

Children Available: Healthy children, between 11 and 20 months of age at the time of placement. Older and special needs children are also available for adoption from the Philippines.

Parent Requirements: Married couples, single men, and single women may adopt from the Philippines. Parents must be at least 27 years old and at least 16 years older than the child to be adopted.

Travel Requirements: One parent is required to travel, although both parents are strongly urged to make the trip. Trip length averages five to seven days.

Time Frame: From your initial application until the time your bring your child home takes an average of 18 months.

Additional Information: There are more boys available for adoption than girls in the Philippines, primarily because girls are responsible for taking care of aged parents in Filipino society. Some of the children available for adoption live in orphanages while others are in foster care.

Categories: Children, Ideas

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In this day and age, everybody knows Oprah Winfrey. She is an amazing woman. She is one of the greatest achievers of our times allowing nothing – not her beginnings, not the color of her skin, not her size, not her sex and no circumstance beyond her control – to stop her from getting to where she wanted to be. She is a phenomenal woman. She is articulate, eloquent, sharp, kind, compassionate and a warrior. She inspires people just by being who she is.

That same thought is the mission of Oprah’s Angel Network. Oprah believes that anyone can inspire others. We can all make a difference each in our own way. We just need to take our energy and find a passion in helping others by doing what we all do best.

The Angel Network aims to get everyone to make a difference by inspiring others. They work with various organizations such as Habitats for Humanity and they operative various projects in communities that are under-served that provide initiatives in education, help people meet their basic human needs and to help them regain their dignity.

How does the Angel Network help? The easiest answer is with money. Every amount donated to the network is much appreciated. No amount is too small especially when it comes from the heart. We all know that can be the difference to some of eating this day or not.

Here is the more difficult yet more rewarding answer of the network. Find out who needs your help in your area. Then find a way to meet their need. Quite a number of times it isn’t about the money. It may need your skill as an educator, as a person who can sew or maybe as a chef. There are infinite ways! You can make a difference just by doing what you do best.

Categories: Children, Fundraising, Ideas, Organizations, Tips

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The southern and western coasts of Sri Lanka was once the home of a large number of sea-turtle hatcheries, which did no end of good for the endangered species in its seas. Sadly the tsunami wiped them all out.

When it struck, conservationists were terrified that it would mean the eggs would all be wiped out as the area is a well-known nesting ground for some of the most beautiful sea-turtles in the world. Sri Lanka is home to 5 (of 7 I think) marine turtles , all of whom are endangered: the Loggerhead, Green, Oliver, Hawksbill and Leatherback.

But as luck would have it the nesting time was not in December, and so the turtles we all saved although the facilities were not. When we visited a hatchery a couple of weeks ago, the rebuilding was in progress. In addition, officials are once again engaging local communities in conservation efforts.

As many local fishermen earned their livelihood by illegally poaching turtle eggs, programmes were initiated to turn the “egg poachers” into “egg protectors”. The scheme employs local fishermen to protect natural turtle nesting sites. The project, known as in-situ conservation, gave an alternative means of livelihood to fishing folk, who made a living from tourists’ interest in turtle-watching.

Whats good is that help is greatly appreciated. Here are the details below:

Sea Turtle Conservation in Sri Lanka

Cost in US$: $2895

Cost Includes: The price you pay covers you for the duration of your stay and includes all you food, accommodation, insurance and all of your overseas support whilst you are there. Really the only major cost which is not included is your flight. It is actually quite a cheap way to see a country and to become fully immersed in the culture in a manner which even the most hardened of backpackers could never hope to do. As you have all of your bed and board taken care of you really could get by on next to nothing if you wanted to once you have arrived in your destination country.Experience Required: no
Term: Throughout the year
Length of Position: 4 weeks to 12 months
Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks

Categories: Animals, Environmental, Organizations, Wildlife

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“Everyone has the need to contribute. It is one of the six human needs. If you give from your heart, it will come back to you tenfold.” – Anthony Robbins

One of the most powerful books available is the little book called Notes From A Friend by Anthony Robbins. Don’t be fooled by its size. It packs a wallop! In fact one of the greatest ways to make a difference can be found in the first few pages of this book.

Robbins talks about how a stranger had arrived on their doorstep one gloomy thanksgiving and delivered to their impoverished family a basketful of everything they needed to celebrate the holiday. When they tried to thank him he said that he was just the delivery guy. A stranger had made what would have been a very sad moment a highpoint in a family’s life.

We too can make a difference. People don’t need to know we are the source of the gift. It is pretty easy to find out from the local community centers who are the families who truly need assistance and what they need. It is possible to drop off your gifts to them on their doorstep without their knowing you were there. Just be the delivery guy and make someone’s day.

Don’t worry that what you give them only lasts a moment. Sometimes that is all people need, help to get through or past a difficult time. Food may not last very long but when you have just lost everything in a natural disaster it is much appreciated.

If you’d like to be part of the International Basket Brigade, visit the website of the Anthony Robbins Foundation. You can help by contributing in-kind or in cash or you can help find families that need your generosity the most. You can even organize your own basket brigade or deliver the baskets yourselves.

It makes a difference in people’s lives to know that someone cares for them, even if they’ve never met. Go ahead and make a difference.

Categories: Children, Elderly, Events, Ideas, Men, Organizations, Programs, Tips, Volunteering, Women

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One of the best ways to give is to give in kind. This usually means that we can look around at the things we have and give to charity the things that we don’t need, don’t use or don’t like. Often this means we are getting rid of our old things.

Now there is nothing wrong with giving away what we don’t need. Better that someone else benefit from it, right? It’s just…why give something that we already know is damaged beyond repair? Why give shirts that are so full of holes they aren’t good for anything but rags?

You will do more good and give less work to the organization’s teams (believe that they are very busy) if you give good items, not trashy pieces. For example, go ahead and give up your old shirts but do make sure that they are still wearable. Maybe you can give the ones that you just outgrew.

Please refrain from giving clothes that are stained with grease, blood or similar stains. Even though many products are coming out in the market that claim to be able to remove any stain, we know that the charity organizations or the recipients usually can’t afford it.  Please be generous enough to give clothes that they can be proud to wear even if it isn’t brand new.

If you want to give an old grill now that you have a new one the children in the orphanages or families will surely appreciate it. It would surely be appreciated if you would take the time to clean it up and give all its parts. It would spare them the expense of having to replace the missing pieces if you still have them.

Your kindness is much appreciated but please give these charities your respect. The recipients may be in need but they do have their dignity and would appreciate  your treating them as people, not just as receptacles for the things you no longer want or need.

Categories: Ideas, Products, Tips

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