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Mid-Autumn Festival |
A Chinese Holiday |
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Katrina visits Ai Li and her foster mother |
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon
Festival, is one of the two most important holidays
in China. Dating back to moon worship in
China’s Shang Dynasty, the Chinese holiday is
celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar
month of the Chinese calendar. The festival
originated as a celebration of the harvest and to
worship the full moon. With the harvest complete,
food was abundant and debts had been
settled. People would bring pears, pomegranates,
melons and pomelos to the courtyard as
an offering to the moon. The tradition began of
making and eating “moon cakes”, similar to a
Western fruit cake or English plum pudding, but
made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds,
minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and
lard. |
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| According to legend, during the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1280-1368) when China was ruled by the Mongolian people, |
| the leaders from the preceding Sung Dynasty were not happy and ordered a rebellion. They requested and |
received permission to distribute moon cakes to all the people in honor of the Mongol emperor. When the villagers bit into the moon cakes, they found a piece of paper with the message, “Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the
8th Moon,” had been baked into the center of each moon cake. The rebels attacked and overthrew the government. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg has since replaced the secret message as the center of each cake; the crust is decorated with symbols of the festival.
Today Mid-Autumn Festival is a legal holiday in China, celebrated on September 15th this year. Chinese family members and friends celebrate by eating moon cakes and pomelos while admiring the mid-autumn harvest moon. Thanks to the generosity of a local business, each foster family received moon cakes for this special holiday. |
Hao Huan and her foster mother |
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Children's Home
New Additions |
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Hong Bing (boy)
Born August 2007
Cleft lip and palate
Abandoned in Jiangxi Province
Welcomed to Anji |
Hua Yi (girl)
Born April 2007
Club feet
Abandoned in Guangdong Province
Welcomed to Dongguan #1 |
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Children's Home
Birthday Celebrations |
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| In honor of the opening of our Hong Kong
fundraising office, several business owners
and corporate executives from Hong Kong accompanied
HK Fundraising Director Marie
Murphy, to True Children’s Home. The
attendees have all committed to making a
difference at True Children’s Home by
assisting with fundraising efforts. The birthday
party for Gang Zai was sponsored by one
of the executives who could not attend. |
Gang Zai celebrates his first birthday! |
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Visitors enjoy playing with the children |
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Yu Rong celebrates her first birthday! |
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Children's Home
Update on Zi Wen |
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Zi Wen sits and smiles |
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In May of this year, little Zi Wen was on the
brink of death. With underdeveloped lungs and
several other medical problems, the medical
staff at the hospital advised that the possibility
of recovery for Zi Wen was slim. Zi Wen was
on life support; the doctors recommended that
she be taken off.
This is Zi Wen 3 months later! When the
breathing tubes were removed she was somehow
able to breathe on her own—however shallow
and difficult that was. Zi Wen has been fed
a special formula with iron for the past several
months and her lungs have grown stronger. Zi
Wen is being cared for at the Anji Home and
continues to amaze us! |
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Medical Care Program
Surgeries |
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Wen Ai prepares for surgery (left); and rests after surgery (above) |
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Lin Lin after cleft lip and palate surgery (above) |
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Medical Care Program
Medical Care |
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| Hua Yi was brought to True Children’s Home on Sept. 1, and on Sept. 2 treatment for her club feet was started. She had been scooting about in a baby walker using her ankles for propulsion, which caused her feet to be rough and dry. The process of casting, which Hua Yi did not enjoy, involves applying cast materials to reshape the feet. Two assistants were required to hold Hua Yi still enough to apply the casts. The casts are left on |
 Soaking the casts |
 Removing the casts |
for one week, enough |
| time for the feet to make |
| a minor adjustment. The |
| casts are then soaked in |
| warm water and peeled |
| off. The doctor estimates |
| that Hua Yi will need 8 |
| castings—once a week for the next 2 months, and braces on her feet |
| for several years to position her feet correctly. |
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Wen Yi celebrates her first birthday! |
Hong Men and Hong Cao on their first day of school |
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Hong Men learns to count |
Breakfast time for Hong Cao |
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High Chairs and Strollers |
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| Connie Berger and Janine Chu found out about True Children’s Home through a friend. These two
ladies took it upon themselves to contact friends and family from whom they gathered a van full of
supplies for the children. They delivered strollers, a high chair, clothes, shoes, an exer-saucer and
toys to TCH Dongguan. |
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Thank You For Making a Difference!
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Where Would We Be Without Water? |
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Occasionally, water stops flowing through the pipes in the building that houses both True Children’s
Homes in Dongguan, as it did for 24 hours last month. A day without water would be devastating for
the children as water is needed for sanitary purposes, bathing, and washing clothes and cloth diapers.
Fortunately, Ma Ting, the husband of TCH caregiver Li Shu Lan, volunteered to bring water to True
Children’s Homes in Dongguan. Ma Ting brought buckets of water from his home—on his bicycle.
He and the caregivers worked together to unload and distribute the water. |
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| There are many people working together to make a difference in the lives of children that come to TCH. Each
month we will spotlight one of those individuals as our True Hero. |
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| Tang Xiao Hai is the owner of Zhejiang Uniform Shop and has been a tailor for more than 10 years.
“Being a tailor runs in my family; my sister is also a tailor and has her own shop. Sewing/making
the uniform tops for the staff at TCH was an easy way for me to help orphans,” said Tang Xiao Hai.
TCH provides the fabric and Tang Xiao Hai provides his sewing services at no charge. Mr. Hai, you
are a True Hero! |
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Hao Zhou (Samm) is welcomed by his new family from
the U.S. |
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Matthan (Ping)
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It is so hard to believe that one year ago this month Matthan
(Ping) became a part of our family. He has done so well in
adjusting to a new home, family and language. In this year,
he has gained 4 lbs., now weighing 28 lbs., grown about 3
inches, making him 37 inches tall, and has all of his teeth.
He had one surgery in February to close some fistulas. The
recovery was a little difficult but once we got home things settled
down. He is still a good eater. He has started speech
therapy and is doing really well. His vocabulary is on target
and the only issue is articulation, which is normal with cleft
palate. Tomatoes are the only food that he consistently says
he doesn’t like. I keep slipping them in dishes and without fail
he picks them out. Other than that, he is a brave one and will
try anything at least once—I’m so proud. |
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Ella (Mao Ai He)
We cannot express our gratitude
enough for the chance at life you
gave Ella. Without your kindness
and caring we wouldn’t be
in such a wonderful place with
our family right now. I cannot
express in words how Ella has
filled the void in our family. We
cherish her everyday. She has
adjusted so well it is like she
was always a part of our family. |
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Ansel (Ming)
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The photo book arrived this afternoon and I was glued to its
pages, looking at how Ansel has grown, changed, etc. Amazing
to see pictures of him nearly every month of his life—and
so hard to believe that our healthy guy was once a preemie!
The photo album is priceless —thank you to all that helped put
it together and to show us the milestones in his life. We will
cherish this.
Ansel is sleeping through most nights, or waking only slightly
and then going back to sleep pretty easily. Eating well, a variety
of new foods—he and I shared a haddock sandwich last
night...he can take his own bites off some sandwiches (soft
ones). Rides well in the car, sleeps most trips. Loves to imitate
his dad—I think he knows when he’s being very funny.
Loves to wake up, but hates to go to bed!
In addition to ourselves, friends and relatives are amazed at
how well adjusted and adaptable he seems to be—- not fussy,
loves to share, engaging—happy little guy. |
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| The Tree of Life, the new logo for TCH, symbolizes a better life given to the children. Thank you for
your continued support and making a difference in the lives of these children. |
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| http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apatchina |
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| Adoptive Parents of Alumni of True Children’s Home-China, an online group exclusive to families
who have adopted, or have a referral for, a child who spent time at TCH. We hope to grow into a
positive, supportive community that will foster relationships with the families of TCH’s “brothers and
sisters,” while discussing travel, continuing medical care at home and general China adoption topics.
We would also like to find ways to help TCH with fundraising. If you have a picture of your child on a
“boppy pillow”, your child might be a TCH alumni! |
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| Children who received care—86 |
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| Surgeries performed—94 |
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| Children transitioned to foster care—49 |
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| Children adopted—27* |
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| *Children have been adopted into families in China, Holland, Spain and the U.S. |
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True Children’s Home relies on donations from individuals, organizations and corporations. One hundred
percent of donated funds goes into one of our four programs: children’s home, medical care, foster care or
community outreach. |
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True Children’s Home is affiliated with China Care foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization. Donations to
TCH are completely tax deductible. All administrative expenses are underwritten by Alan and Twila True. |
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If you would like more information on how you can help, contact us at info@truechildrenshome.org or visit our
website at www.truechildrenshome.org. |
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For monetary donations, please make the check payable to China Care Foundation. In the Memo/For section
of the check write “True Children’s Home.” All checks must be drawn on a U.S. bank. Send your check to
True Children’s Home, 2052 Alton Parkway, Irvine, CA 92606. |
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Working together we can make a difference in the lives of children…
one child at a time! |
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