Author: yoongz

A Singaporean family living in Switzerland; sometimes loving, sometimes hating, always living the differences we see each day.
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Small Comforts…

Today i have been fighting a bug, trying to keep illness at bay. i would have like to just curl up in bed and nurse my body back to full health but there were things that needed to be done. There is a birthday next week which needs a present, the sink needs to be pumped, the chrome surfaces need cleaning. The Husband is away and the Boy needs to be fed and homework needs to be supervised. How i wish i were a little girl again and had my mummy to take care of me; to make me my comfort foods and make sure i took my meds and got enough rest, to kiss me and hug me and make me feel better.

Help Wesley grow his adoption grant. Share his story so his forever family can find him.

Then i think about Wesley – does he get to experience such small comforts as having someone love on him when he is not feeling well? Is there someone who will kiss and make it all better when he falls down? Will someone be there to help him understand when the world is cruel to him, just because of the way he looks? Does someone stand up for him when people make fun of his vision problems?

Yes, his orphanage may be one of the better ones but nothing beats having your own family, a mummy and daddy whom you can call yours and not share with a hundred other kids; parents whom you know will always be there for you and love you simply because you are you, brothers and sisters who will stand up for you and help you along.

Finding Wesley is family is the main reason for me to host the Precious One Giveaway.

Lots of funds are needed to take an adoption from beginning to end. i wish to lessen the burden of Wesley‘s future family by raising his adoption grant as much as i can.

Even though people having been reading about the Precious One Giveaway, only two contributions have been made. i was discouraged for a while but now i choose to believe that people came by and now they know about Wesley, maybe they are praying for Wesley, maybe they will share his story and somehow his forever family will hear about him and come for him.

i am comforted to have comrades in this effort and i would like to feature one of them today… Pamela from SavingHisSparrows…

She featured both Wesley and Heath on her blog as we were invited to Emmitt‘s (the child she advocates for) virtual birthday party. My favourite line from her post is:

Imagine what it would mean to him to find out that he is loved and valued for who he is…
That he will always have a home…
That his parents and siblings love to have him around…
And can’t imagine life without him in it!
He’s waiting for that love and assurance!
Waiting for a family to choose him!
Please hop over and have a read of the whole post here.
So please help Wesley grow his adoption grant, share his story so that a family might come for him. Take part in the Precious One Giveaway here.
Do continue to pray for Wesley, Heath and Emmitt. Click on their names to go to their profile pages.
syc
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An Unlikely Blessing…

That is what a special needs child can bring to a family…

Yes, a child with special needs will indeed change your life, it will change your days and how you see the rest of your life, the child’s life and it will change your perspective in life.

Change is not a bad thing. Many fear change; they are afraid of the uncertainty, they are afraid to give up their current way of living or are afraid of stepping out of their comfort zone.

Listen to how far this father has journeyed with his Down Syndrome daughter. (It’s a 15-minute video.)

ESPN airs the story of a dad who wanted to abort his Down syndrome daughter | LifeSiteNews.com.

Now take a look at Angelina.

This little angel needs a family asap. She needs medical attention.

i know that she can be such a blessing to her family. But she doesn’t have one. She could grow up and have opportunities to show off the talents which God has given her. But where she is, she will not get the chance to do so.

She has Down Syndrome and she has been cast aside. She is 4 and is now likely in an understaffed mental institution with no facilities suitable for children. She has a heart condition and needs medical care. But she will likely not get that surgery unless a family steps forward to claim her as their own.

Please help her to get the notice she deserves. Share her story so her forever family can find her. Pray for her, for her health, for her daily needs, for her family to step forward.

She is on Reece’s Rainbow Angel Tree, which means she has an Angel Tree Warrior working to raise US$1000 or more for her this holiday season so that her family can reach her faster (The costs of international adoptions are very very high.).

Visit here and here to support her fundraisers. Here’s a link to a beautiful note written by Angelina’s Christmas Warrior. Click on her picture or name to go to her profile and find out more.

Thank you.

syc

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1st Judo Competition…

This past Saturday, 10 November 2012, Tobias had his first Judo Competition/Tournament. And i think i was more nervous that he was 😉

We were there at 12.45pm to get ready. All the kids were weighed and divided by weight into the different categories. Oh, i forgot to mention this was an internal competition within his club only.

They did warm-ups for the next 45 minutes or so. Then the competition proper started. It lasted for a good 3 hours or more. There were 27 participants/competitors. By the end of it, my jaw ached from being so tensed up on behalf of the kids 😉

i learnt a lot about the different terms they used. When the referee shouts “Yuko”, it is a quarter point (not entirely accurate to say that but that’s how i got it worked out in my head). You have to watch which side he points to after he shouts to know who was given the point. “Waza Ari” is a half point. “Ippon” is a full point and you win the match. “Hajime” means to begin. “Matte” means stop and “Yoshi” means resume. “Shido” is a minor penalty. There are so many more terms but these are the basic ones which i heard most often during the tournament. Here are a couple of websites where you can learn more – JudoInfo.com and JudoChannel. And in case you are interested, here’s the website for his Dojo: Judo und Ju-Jitsu Club Solothurn.

Tobias had 5 matches all together and he won 3 of them (i am soooo proud!). He was awarded a bronze medal. Boy, was he chafed about it. It was not without tears that he won the medal. In his last match (by which time i think he was really tired out), he was pinned down and was struggling to get up. The referee didn’t realise that he was in pain and unable to breathe and when he finally broke off the pin-down, Tobias was in tears and had a big bruise on his left collarbone. He moped in a corner for a bit while the last few matches carried on. i had to go talk to him and give him some water before he would come away from the corner. He said it really hurt. Poor boy.

But by the time they were awarding the medals, he was fine. Here he is with his medal:

Right: on the podium. Notice how tired he looked. Left: close-up of medal.

Here’s the whole group of competitors together:

Here are all 27 competitors. One of them had to drop-out early because of injury. Another, like Tobias, also suffered breathing difficulties from being pinned down.

And i leave you with a video of his very first match (unedited):

syc