This has been a year like no other.
A year when we’ve had to struggle on every front to keep our programs going.
But OneSky is no stranger to struggle. From our earliest days in China, when babies were given up so they may have a better life, we have faced and overcome all number of obstacles.
Thanks to you.
Through snowstorms, earthquakes, typhoons and pandemics, OneSky has remained committed to the children — because you have stood by us, refusing to allow precious young lives to be thrown away.
Despite the obstacles, you have helped us build a better world for children previously without hope; first in China, and now, because poverty and misfortune know no borders, in Mongolia and Vietnam.
And we will not stop.
Not until all abandoned, left-behind or neglected young children have the loving care and attention they need to thrive and reach their potential.
Like Ruhai. Abandoned before he was a year old, he would not have thrived if not for people like you.
Ruhai was brought to an orphanage served by OneSky-trained caregiver and teachers as a tiny baby.
“He was like an empty shell when he came to us,” said his new caregiver, Zhang Yanfen. “He didn’t smile or make eye contact. He didn’t even cry.”
“That is always most frightening,” she said, “when a child doesn’t know to cry for help.”
Yet, over time, with his caregivers’s consistent loving care, Ruhai began to come alive. “And in a few months,” she said, “when I walked into the nursery, he reached for me with a smile on his face.”
It was a happy day for Zhang when Ruhai was moved into a foster home near the orphanage as part of OneSky’s Loving Family Program. Now, although he would attend our programs during the day, Ruhai had siblings and two parents who adored him. A real family!
During the pandemic, the orphanage’s activity room was closed for a time and Ruhai was unable to see his beloved caregiver Zhang. He began to withdraw a little, back into his old shell.
“When his foster mama told me, I arranged a video chat with him every day by cellphone. When our activity room opened again, Ruhai ran joyfully into my arms. What a happy little boy he has become!”
