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 Infants
and Toddlers Thrive in Open Arms
In the last two years over 100 children, from infancy
through toddlerhood, have been strengthened by this innovative and
lovingly designed program.
Every day they spend hours playing--and for children
play is work--on
the floor with aunties specially trained to teach them the world around
them is theirs to experience.
 The
Tangible Results of Loving Attention
The children learn tangible skills, such as how to
walk or how to hold a cup. The aunties work to keep them on
target for their age group.
Progress reports on the children are kept daily and
filed quarterly. Every child is tracked, and the
interactions are adjusted to help that individual child's needs.
In this way we know Open Arms has been an unqualified success.
 And
the Intangibles That Change Lives
What
is harder to track but perhaps even more crucial is how the consistency
of care the aunties gives the children convinces them they are valued
and that they can trust someone will be there to care for them.
This most basic right and expectation may be the most
important building blocks we can offer these children as they wait for families.
It will be key to their happiness as they grow.
All of the Children Are Special
Over half of the children in the Open Arms program
have special needs. The extra attention they receive at this
crucial point can make possible a functional life and
in some cases the potential to be adopted. All of the
children, with or without special needs, are tended equally by their
aunties.
 A
Noisy, Happy Place
The Open Arms room can be a
noisy happy place, full of music, children learning to talk, being
comforted by aunties, or receiving applause for learning to roll
over or stand for the first time.
Newborns may be rocked by
their aunties while the auntie's toddlers are napping, and
another child may be strengthening her motor skills with new
toys kindly sent by adoptive families.
Your
donation goes very far in giving these deserving children a
great start and a sense of their importance in this world.
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