Dominican School

Every day I am more and more convicted about our opportunities to help others. The more places I visit, the more I experience, the more I learn about other cultures, I realize how MUCH we have here in Canada. How blessed we are, even when we think we have it "rough". We have been talking a lot about this with our children and trying to find hands-on ways to share other people. And it certainly doesn't have to always be in another country. There are lots of ways to help right here. But, I also think it's important for us to experience other cultures (especially since we are a multi-cultural family) and to keep in mind that other people do not have the luxuries we have, let alone basic necessities.

Besides keeping up-to-date on the orphanage needs in Alyssa's area, our family has also decided to help out a local school in Dominican Republic. When Chris and I decided to take a vacation to DR last year, we decided to see who we could find to show us what "real" life is like for Dominicans, not just the luxury resort life! Through various contacts we found Punta Cana Mike - he is originally from Ontario and has been living in Domincian for some time. He loves to help the children and families as much as he can.

When we met up with Mike last year, we asked him to take us to a school that could really use some help. Those of us who traveled down on the trip took suitcases filled with school supplies and medicines. Chris and I visited a village school and immediately knew we wanted to do more for them. We were able to visit the village, meet some of the students and their families and see the school first hand.

The school is non-profit - every teacher and helper is a volunteer! There is a morning school and an afternoon school so more children can attend. They have plastered the outside walls of the schools with learning materials so the adults in the community can learn too! We loved this! We loved the passion the village had for their children and for learning, even if the conditions were very, very bare! The school had just recently gotten running water but there is no electricity. There are 3 small classrooms. But the children LOVE to attend. They can go to this school even though they can't afford school uniforms. (In DR, students have to have shoes and a uniform to attend school)

When Chris and I visited the village we noticed how little there was there. Very tiny (shack size) store, some huts, rusted out buses that were made into homes, a small church and the school. There were many children around but really nothing for them to do. We thought it would be so fun for them to build a playground - not just as something to do for the school but something for the WHOLE community. A place where kids could go together and socialize, where parents could take their children and play, a place for teens to hang out....The school is right in the center of the community so if children are playing there, the adults can see them from their homes while they work.

We are heading back down to visit in April and are hoping to get things going with the playground! We are using our Annual Kids Carnival this year to raise money for this playground. I am also using part of my commission from Silpada to raise money. I can't wait to see this done for the children in this community! They are going to love it!

This is the school - I'm with Punta Cana Mike and he is telling me all about the school and how great a playground would be there!

This is the spot we want to build the playground. The community is all around the school . The locals are more than happy to build the playground themselves if we can purchase everything that is needed. I love their commitment and passion for their families!

One of the classrooms in the school.

One of the precious, amazing village kids. He was too cute! I couldn't resist a kiss!

This is a "bus village" located just beside the school - many children and their families live in these buses as they have no other home.

Slowly but surely...

Has it really been 4 months? We haven't forgetten our mission or those amazing children in Yongzhou!

Life has been incredibly busy and unpredicatable. We are still in contact with Susan in China to see how our orphanages are doing. We didn't have our Annual Kids Carnival yet as my co-planner had a new baby during our regular Carnival weekend. We are definitely planning one and this year we will hold it in the Fall.

One of my biggest goals right now is to help with medical surgeries for the children at Alyssa's orphanage. I have seen many photos of the children living there and all of them (except 1 or 2) are children with medical needs. Many children have cleft issues and I know first hand how surgery can dramatically change a child's life.

I am looking into some other ideas as well to continue raising funds. Once I know for sure what we can do to help with medical surgeries, I will know more about how much we need to raise. I'll keep updating here and spreading the word through emails and facebook.

For updates on the kiddos you can visit our family blog.

Take care!

Getting rolling again!

Things have been quiet on this site for awhile...things have been a bit quiet with our work with Two Homes One Heart. When we came home in June with Evan, my husband really stressed the importance of taking a step back from many obligations to get our family transitioned, adjusted and back to a new "normal".

I have been itching to get back at it and am happy that we are at a place where I can commit some time and energy to our orphanages again.

We have 3 PEI families heading to China at the end of February and they have been kind enough to agree to take 3 bundles of donations to the orphanages for us! We have some beautiful fleece blankets, hats, mitts, baby items, etc...and we will distribute them to 3 separate orphanages.

I have also contacted our "regular" orphanages - Feng, Dao and Jiangyong to see what assistance we can provide. We are trying very hard to arrange medical surgeries for children at these orphanages because we know it will mean a better chance for the orphanage to put them foward for adoption. I will keep everyone updated on what the needs are and how we can best care for these children!

My husband and I are heading back to Dominican Republic and we are arranging a visit with the local school to see how we can help care for those children as well. There are many children waiting to attend school and sometimes all it takes is a uniform and a pair of shoes to be "allowed" to attend. There are many needs at the schools such as school desks, basic school supplies, spanish reading books, educational books and learning toys. We will do our best to take as many donations as we can and then find out what the needs are when we are there.

Please keep checking back for updates and fundraising initiatives!

Thanks,
The MacKinnon Family

Jiangyong received the donation!

We sent a donation to Jiangyong Orphanage awhile back and we are happy to see they have put it to good use to buy baby food, toys and new clothes for the children. Our contact in Susan sent us these photos while we were in China adopting (in June) but I just remembered today and had a chance to look through the pictures. There are some pictures below of some Jiangyong children! Thanks to everyone who gave for this project!!!!

News on donations...

We heard from Northern Asia Compassionate Touch about the money sent for the earthquake orphans. They have been putting the $5000 + to good use to care for many children after the earthquake. We received an upate on what was purchased and were told pictures would be sent to us soon.

The money was used to purchase beds, tables, mosquito nets, shoes, clothing, fly traps, shampoos, lotions, toothpaste and other hygiene items.

******

We also sent off a donation to Jiangyong Orphange and it has been wired to the Director. She will send us the receipts and some photos so I will post those as soon as I get them.

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We are heading to China in just a couple of days but I will update when I return. We have a few events planned over the summer as we are hoping to focus on our local foster children and families with young children in PEI. Stay tuned....

Our Adoption Blog!

VISIT OUR ADOPTION BLOG by clicking HERE!

We leave in 12 days to meet our son, Evan Jun.

He is 5 years old, from the Waiting Child program in China!

Helping China's Earthquake Victims

I had the honor of helping 2 very special Chinese friends plan a Candlelight Vigil in honor and in memory of the thousands of families affected by the earthquake in China (May 12). It was a very special night where many people gathered in an emotional time of prayer, reading stories and sharing our sadness and hope for the many, many victims.

Although we didn't promote this event as a fundraiser, many people were moved to donate and $5200 was raised! Wendy, Ling and I talked about how we could use this money to directly help children who were affected by the earthquake. God certainly moves and hears our prayers because the next day I received a phone call from a friend saying there were 100 earthquake orphans being moved to Kunming Orphanage (Yunnan) and they desperately needed financial assistance to care for these children.

What joy to be able to give the $5200 to care for these children!!!!!

I have also agreed to join the Yunnan Kids International Board to help with other needs the orphans may have. I will continue to share these needs as I hear about them.

Tammy

$2000 Raised!

Our Kids Carnival was a great success with lots of families coming out for some fun! THANK YOU to everyone who came and supported this event. Thank you to Mari Lynn for all her hard work and commitment to this event and with Two Homes One Heart!! A special thank you to Gail Hodder for donating her talents again with her amazing cookies! Yum!!

THANK YOU to Wendy, Ling and all their friends who made the amazing chinese food!!! It was so delicious!

Thank you to our local business sponsors - you are all terrific!!!

Charlottetown Vision Care
Cabinet Master
Cornwall Esso
Vogue Optical
Lewis Moudlings (NS)
Split Endz
Diana's Grooming

We have changed our original plan for using the funds...originally we were going to build another outdoor playground at an orphanage but we didn't raise the full $4000. Instead, we will be providing TONS of play equipment, books, tables, etc.. for an orphanage to use INDOORS. Our son's orphanage (Liuzhou, Guangxi) has told us they desperately need some indoor toys (ride on cars, etc...) for their children. We were not able to build an outdoor playground at this orphanage as there are many special needs children and not enough nannies to properly supervise outdoor play such as this. But, we can certainly provide fun, educational, stimulating toys for the children to use indoors!!!

We (Chris, Caleb, Evan and I) are making arrangements to buy the toys while we are in China (in June) and then deliver them to the orphange so we will be sure to take lots of pictures and post them when we return!!

THANK YOU!!!

Our wonderful friends setting up the Chinese table...they spent hours making spring rolls, dumplings and a noodle dish. So good!

People ready to purchase their tickets...let the fun begin!

Families enjoying the Carnival!

KIDS CARNIVAL

Two Homes One Heart is hosting its 2nd Annual KIDS CARNIVAL on Sunday, May 25th! It will be held at Confederation Landing (Peake's Quay) in Charlottetown from 2:00-5:00 pm.

Last year we were able to build an outdoor playground at Alyssa's orphanage with the money we raised! The children and nannies are loving the new playground and getting outside to play and interact with each other. We also bought some indoor school desks, toys and meal tables & chairs. We have chosen another orphanage to build a playground at this year so we are very excited!!!

This year, part of our proceeds will also be going to Child Find PEI (read below)

Enjoy a family day full of fun carnival games (Knock the Cans, PLINKO, Spinning Wheel, Sucker Tree, Hockey Shoot-out, Bean Bag Toss, Ping Pong Toss, Dart Throw, Human Bingo, Cake Walk...), a BBQ, canteen with amazing treats (caramel popcorn, candied apples, carnival popcorn, slushie drinks, ice cream treats, etc...), clowns, face painting, CHINESE FOOD BOOTH and so much more!This year we have invited Child Find PEI to join us to honor National Missing Children's Day which is also on May 25. Child Find will be doing "All About Me" fingerprinting kits for the kids, "Kids in the Know", safety demonstrations, and "Street Smarts" with puppets and stories!

Bracelets are $12 for unlimited fun and access to all our carnival games!
Tickets are $5/20 tickets

We hope you will help us by spreading the word - sure, put in on your blog, facebook and email it to all your friends and family!!!

See you on Sunday!

Candlelight Vigil

Candlelight Vigil for Earthquake Victims in China

There will be a candlelight vigil THIS Sunday, May 18 at Confederation Landing. It starts at 8:30 pm and there will be quiet music, candlelight and a photo show. We want to honor the many thousands of victims and their families and pray for healing and comfort.Please come out and support this event.

There will be donation boxes set up if people feel led to donate. All money will be given to Hong Kong Red Cross so they can assist more and more families in the earthquake area.

Liuzhou Orphanage

Our son, Evan Jun, is from Liuzhou City, Guangxi. We have contacted his orphanage and they have expressed a very real need for their children. Most of the children living at this orphanage have medical issues and need some kind of medical intervention; surgeries and/or therapy. We have decided we will do all we can to help this orphanage as well -raising funds for medical needs for the children. It is our hope and prayer than many children will be placed for adoption once their medical needs are taken care of.

We are in the beginning stages of working on this so stay tuned for more information.

We have been told the orphanage is in need of some large toy items (ride on cars, etc...) and so we are raising $500 to purchase these for the orphanage. Our kids will be doing most of the fundraising for this as it is a fun way for them to give back to the beautiful children still living at Liuzhou SWI. As always, you can help by clicking on the donate button and specifying it's for the toy fund.

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KIDS CARNIVAL is BOOKED!

Our 2nd annual KIDS CARNIVAL is scheduled for Sunday, May 25th (Raindate: June 1).
This year we will once again be raising funds to build an outdoor playground at an orphanage. We haven't finalized our decision on which orphanage but we think it will be one in the city where Alyssa is from .

BOOK THIS DAY FOR YOUR FAMILY - Sunday, May 25 from 2:00-5:00 at Confederation Landing (waterfront in Charlottetown).

Enjoy many carnival games, bouncy tents, clowns, magic, BBQ, canteen and much more! This year, we have invited Child Find PEI in honor of National Missing Children's Day (May 25) and there will be tons of fun events and booths to bring awareness to child safety and issues facing children both globally and locally. ("All About Me I.D" fingerprinting, "Kids in the Know" and "Street Smarts" with puppets and stories)

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Wii Tickets are still available and the draw date is MAY 14th! You can visit our family adoption site and purchase tickets with the donate button or you can email me and I'll set you up another way! Thanks so much.

More Events!

We have several things on the go right now...

1. We have officially started the process of obtaining our charity status! YAY! I am so excited about this as it will really allow us to expand our fundraising and our money coming in which means we can expand our projects and reach more children!

2. I will be sending a donation of $900 to Jiangyong Orphanage on Monday morning. If anyone would like to donate to this orphanage please click on the "Donate Button". The money will be used for formula, clothing, new toys and educational items and a few other items the orphanage would like.

3. We are preparing for our 2nd Annual Kids Carnival - all money raised will be used to build a playground at an orphanage. We are open to suggestions about which orphanage could really benefit from a new, bright, colorful outdoor playground. In September we built a new playground at Fenghuangyuan Orphanage and the children and nannies are enjoying the play time and the fun interaction with each other!

4. We are getting closer to traveling to China to adopt our 4th child - our 2nd child from China. We are hoping to travel in June to bring home our little Evan Jun who is 5 years old. He is from the Liuzhou Orphanage in Guangxi.

Our 11 year old son wanted to do something to raise money for his new brother's orphanage so he is having a Wii Raffle! Ticket donations are $5/each or 3 tickets for $10. If you would like to purchase tickets for a chance to win a brand new Wii System, you can click on the "Donate" button and specify it's for the Wii. We will send you a ticket # and the draw will be videotaped and posted on the blog. (We will ship the Wii to the winner)

Most importantly, 100% of the proceeds will go to care for the many children still living at the Child Welfare Institute of Liuzhou!!!

UpComing Fundraising Events

$$ TOONIE SALE $$

Children's pre-snuggled, name brand clothing for only $2 each!

Enjoy a day of GREAT deals while you treat yourself to delicious snacks from our children's "LemonAID for Hope" stand.

Children can enjoy face painting, coloring, movies and a play area while you shop!

Date: April 19, 2008

Time: 11-4

Place - TBA very soon!

Sponsored by Snugglebugs

KIDS CARNIVAL

Sunday, May 25

Time: 2-5 pm

Location: Confederation Landing, Charlottetown

Enjoy carnival games, bouncy tents, magic shows, face painting, tatoos, BBQ and Canteen

Bracelets are $12 and can be used for all the activities as many times as you want! Lots of prizes...everyone will go home with tons of prizes.

We have pictures!

I received pictures from Dao Orphanage today! Our family loves to see the photos of children, the orphanage and items that were purchased with donations sent in!!

Enjoy!

A few of the babies sporting their new layers of warm clothing!

Lots of baby formula and cereal for the children!


Look at all those shoes - one pair for each child!

Socks for the children...

New, warm sweaters for everyone!

Brand new PJs!!

Warm outfits for the children...

Even more outfits for the kids...

And still more...

-WOW, I love how much they are able to buy for those adorable children!! I have asked our contact to find out if they are still needing a heater and/or washer. This may be something they are getting through Half the Sky Foundation so I will wait to hear back from our contact to see if there is anything else we can help them with!

Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed to this amazing event - keeping these special children warm and fed!

Tammy

Helping Jiangyong Orphanage

I received an email today in regards to Jiangyong Orphanage. They have asked us to provide clothes for their children and baby formula. They estimated it would cost $500 to cover these items. We are thrilled to have raised over $900 to send them so now they can buy some "extras" whether it be more formula, toys for the children or some other things they have wanted but couldn't purchase. We will be getting photos of the items they purchase in the next couple of weeks and I'll post them here.

There are only 7 children living in Jiangyong Orphanage right now. Even though it is a tiny orphanage, they still do not have adequate means to care for the children - we are thrilled to help them out and to give them the surprise of more funds! They care for 5 children under the age of 1, 1 child who is 4 and 1 child between the ages of 7-9.

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I heard from Dao Orphanage today! The Director was shopping for items for the children and their facility with the donation we sent them. So many people around the world contributed to this donation and I can't wait to hear (and see) what they were able to purchase with the money. I will post pictures here when I receive them!

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Stay tuned....

Valentine's Dinner a Huge Success!

Two Homes One Heart Display

Art Auction

Set up and ready for our guests!

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Our Valentine's Dinner Event was a GREAT success! We had a great turnout and such a beautiful night. The food was fabulous!!! Thank you to Mari Lynn - you are amazing!!!

We raised just over $2000 and can't wait to share this money with many, many children! We will be giving $700 from last night's proceeds to Jiangyong Orphanage and we have an additional $250 set aside for them as well. This should cover all the items on the "needs" list!

We will also be giving $650 to Faith Village and another $650 to our "Heart to Heart" Project (care packages for Foster Children) and our local Food Bank for baby formula, rice cereal and diapers.

THANK YOU to the many wonderful people who came out and "shared their love"!

PLEASE HELP!!

In 24 hours we all raised $2910.00 for Dao orphanage plus $150 for Jiangyong Orphanage! How fantastic is that!!!
THANK YOU to all of you for your kindess and generosity!!!

Inside Dao orphanage

We need 100 people to donate $10 in the next 24 hours to help these children!!! Please click on the "Donate" button to the left! If we raise more than the $1000, it will still go to the many needs of the orphanages. Please post this on your blogs so we can get the money raised in the next 24 hours!!!!!

UPDATES:
**Time of original post: 9:44 pm
**10:15 pm - $100 has been donated so far!
**10:36 pm - $192 (off to bed...)
next morning...
**9:36 am - $525 donated already! Keep it up - we are 1/2 way there!!!

**10:56 am - $710.00!!!

**11:39 am - $955.oo - WooHoo!

**2:29 pm - $1640.00 - Incredible!!!

**6:00 pm - $2041 - 4 hours to go!

**10:00 pm - $2660.00 WOW

I emailed our contact in China to see if the orphanages we are supporting in Hunan were hurt by the terrible storms and weather affecting China right now. We have heard that 2 of our orphanges were without power for several days but now have it back and are doing okay.

One of our orphanages is in desperate need and they have asked us to PLEASE help them with warm clothing and food for their children. Due to the storm and the huge need, food is hard to buy so the prices are much higher now. We are trying to raise $1000 in the next 24 hours so I can wire it to our contact in China. She will make sure the orphanage is supplied with baby formula, food for the older children and WARM clothing. Weather reports say this is going to continue for several more days so it's very important that we move quickly to help these vulnerable children and the wonderful nannies who care for them!!!

I know we can do this - let's show them how much we care!!

I will keep you updated on how much we are raising as time goes on!

Thank you,
Tammy

Below is the letter we received...

Tammy ,

I just called director Lei of Leng Shui Tan orphanage, Director Zhao of Dao County orphanage and Director Zhang of Jiang Yong orphanage. Below is details the directors told me.

1)Leng Shui Tan orphanage :Director Lei said they had lost electricity power and tap water for some days and it has come back two days ago.The orphanage is doing good now .She let me say thanks to you as well as other families who concerned about the orphanage .

2)Dao County orphanage :Director Zhao said they lost electricity power and tap water for about ten days . Now, they borrowed a small generator to make electricity that just can run lights but can't run heater appliance or air-condition. Now, they use coal to cook and carry water by hands now. Zhao said they got a help from the foundation a few days ago and bought some clothes for children already but that is not enough. Director Zhao said their situation is severe and need money to buy more warm clothes and food for children at orphanage. I asked her how much amount she needs, she said because everything is getting expensive now, the shortage is about 1000USD. She also said even a small amount donation will help children at the orphanage more or less .

3)Jiang Yong orphanage :Director Zhang said they lost electricity power for about a week .They use coal to make heat .She said they should have enough clothes for children at the orphanage .She said, general speaking, they are doing good so far. She let me say thanks to you as well as other families who concerned about the orphanage.

Our next Event...

Our next fundraiser is coming up quickly - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16th!!!

It's going to be an amazing event - candlelight atmostphere, soft music, the most delicious food and desserts, special time with your loved one(s), being part of an event that will spread hope and love to many, many children. Who could ask for more than this as a night out for Valentine's Day???

Mark your calendars for our:

"Sharing Our Love" Valentine's Dinner

Saturday, Feb 16

7:00 pm

Maritime Christian College

(503 University Ave, Charlottetown)

Tickets: $30/each or $50/couple!

Email me for tickets!

As always 100% of the proceeds from this night will be used for our projects in China, Ethiopi and right here in PEI!

You'll Never Guess What??!!!

Chris and I just found out that we are going to be adopting a 5 year old boy from China!!! Yes, we are going back to China! YAY! We have been in the process to adopt a littel girl from Ethiopia for the last 4 1/2 months but God had other plans for us. Through God's leading we found out about a little boy in China who needed a family. God led us to this precious little one and we couldn't be more excited about adopting from China again!!!

PS. Our Ethiopian adoption is currently on hold.

So excited...

Tammy

Moving forward...

Although we were very disappointed to have to cancel our Christmas Gala we are already underway planning another Gala event for February! Unfortunate circumstances meant we had to cancel our event for December but we are excited to move forward and get another fundraiser underway!

We also have a package ready to go to the Fenghuangyuan orphanage. We are hoping a family in the US can take it for us to Changsha where it will be picked up and delivered to the orphanage. There are several beautiful, handmade fleece blankets in the package. These were lovingly made by a lady named Bev and her sisters. Bev has since passed away but her passion for these children was amazing and we are so happy to send these blankets to the children she cared so much about!

There are lots of other great items in the package as well so the children and nannies will have fun with it! Thank you to the many people who donated items or made these beautiful blankets!!! What a gift of love!

We are still collecting monetary donations for the Dao orphanage and Jiangyong orphanage. Please click on the "Donate" button to help these precious children!

Thank you...

The beautiful blankets made by Bev and her sisters...

Some other goodies for the package...

New orphanage - DAO Facility

We've heard from another orphanage!! This one is also in Yongzhou City and it's known as Dao orphanage. There are currently 43 children living at this orphanage. 11 of the children are special needs - we've been told some are physically challenged and some are mentally challenged.

We would love to have families from this orphanage (or any famliy interested) help us supply this orphanage with their much needed items!!! Here is the list from their orphanage director:

86 cotton clothes - I'm not sure if this is pants or snowsuits...I will find out and clarify

86 sweaters

86 pairs of shoes

86 pairs of socks

The Director also said the orphanage needs help with food, toys and more. We would love to supply money for other items so if we raise more than what it will cost for food and clothing we will be able to buy extra toys for the children and other things like bedding, blankets, school desks, etc...

The total amount for the above items is about $1300. It looks as though the orphanage would like 2 sets of items for each child - that's certainly understandable since they have to wash items and still have clothes for the children to put on! I will be talking with our contact this week to find out what the orphanage needs in terms of food - do they need baby formula or do they need more food all around for the children.

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**Please note: we only accept monetary donations. We wire our full donation to our contact in China. She then makes sure the orphanage purchases the items specified and translates receipts for us. Purchasing these items is much cheaper in China and it saves us having to pay for shipping (which is astronomical!!!)

Here are some photos of Dao oprhanage...please pray for all the children and nannies living here.

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The front gate of the Dao Orphanage

The orphanage...

The sleeping room for babies...

Two Homes One Heart is now helping with the needs at the Fenghuangyuan Orphanage, Jiangyong Orphanage and now Dao orphanage. We seriously ask you to consider donating to help the precious children who live at these orphanages.

I will be adding a "Donate" button in the next couple of days so people can donate via paypal but in the meantime, please email me at tammymackinnon@pei.sympatico.ca or you can mail cheques to Two Homes One Heart, Box 7222, 17 Allison Avenue, Cornwall, PEI C0A 1H0