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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It was the birthday of one of my good friends last week. She’s a newscaster, and every year for the past 10 years, she’s been celebrating her birthday at the local orphanage near her home.

Its a great idea as not only does it make the kids happy, but its also a wonderful way to do something meaningful on your birthday. Last year, it was held it the orphanage itself, although some years my friend holds it it different venues. One year it was at a fun-fair at a huge mall (the escalators were fascinating to the kids who had never seen one before!), and another time it was at an animal shelter, who my friend (an ardent cat-lover) also does a lot of volunteer work for.

Although my friend foots most of the bill, she cleverly asks for sponsors to help out with various things, and they almost always agree to do it - like a fast-food place always does the food and even includes a mascot for entertainment, and this year she got a glitter-tattoo artist to come at cost.

She always sends out an email to all her friends with a list of things the children need - from necessities like medicine, milk and diapers, to more fun stuff like toys , books and art supplies.

Another thing she does is that we all get one child each for the day, and we bring a special present for them ( we get to know their age beforehand). Last time, my husband and I got a sweet little girl who was just thrilled with the simple presents we brought - slippers, “princess” school supplies etc….but was as excited to have our attention for an entire afternoon.

Since then, we’ve heard that she’s been adopted by a family in France!

Categories: Children, Fundraising, Tips, Volunteering

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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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If you are trying to raise funds for your favorite charity there are many ways that you can do it. You can go door to door and ask for help which is tiring and may not bring in a lot of money. You can have cans for donations on every counter of every store that you can convince to support your cause, but that brings in very small change.

The key to fund raising is to create events that people will want to take part of. Create an event that people will be willing to pay to be part. This means that they have to feel that it is worth their time as well as their money because as you know, we want people to give not just once, but as often as their generous hearts and pockets can allow.

A favorite event for fund raising is a golf tournament. Many people play golf. They will play no matter what the weather, no matter what the season, no matter the time of day. They will play if you put them on a good green at a reasonable price. They will play if they have decent competition. They may even play if they are competing against celebrities or masters just to test their own performance. They will pay to participate, you just need to make sure they have fun and don’t forget lunch.

You won’t be able to pull it off alone. You will be able to raise more if you have sponsors. Your sponsors can include the company that owns the golf course, the catering company and some companies to give prizes, giveaways or just cash donations.

Categories: Events, Fundraising, Volunteering

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