Author: yoongz

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

A week or so ago, i was wondering if i should carry on with my posts for special needs orphans. i wasn’t really considering stopping, it was just a stray thought which entered my brains, making me wonder…

God set me straight – i opened my email that morning and this was the first thing i read:

Light your candle again, and thank God that his light can reach into the darkest places. Pray for children who are abused or neglected and do not know love.

God is good. All the time. Amen.

1 John 3:21 – 23 says:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.  And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

That day’s Bible reading goes on to talk about how the Christian Faith is Love! To love because God first loved us and gave His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins that we might have live and a personal relationship with Him.

So with renewed assurance that God will shine His Light and with God’s love in my heart, i would like you to get to know little Benji.

Sweet Benji is waiting for his forever family.

Benji is 2 years old and has Down Syndrome. He does not have a family who will care for him and provide him the opportunity to thrive. He lives in an orphanage at the moment. However, in his home country, because of his Down Syndrome, he will be transferred to an adult mental institution at the age of 4; in 2 years time!

Benji does not belong in an institution. He belongs with a mummy and a daddy who loves him and can help him live a fulfilling life. He is so full of potential. His file says he is kind, affectionate and curious, just like any other little boy. He can roll over and has started to crawl. He can focus on a moving toy and grab it and hold on for some time. And he is also making sounds.

There are so many things he can do. But it seems that he has been judged by the things he can not do. That’s just not a fair or complete way of seeing a child.

He needs a caring family who would see his good points and help him work on where he might be lacking. Could you be that family? If your heart is saying yes, then do consider making him part of your family. This is a great age to include him into a family. Please contact Reece’s Rainbow for details.

If you are not called to adopt (not everyone is), then there are other ways to help Benji. Please share his story so that his forever family can find him. Please do pray for him; pray for his daily needs and most of all, pray for a family to bring him home.

You can also donate to his adoption grant so that his forever family can reach him faster. Click on his name or picture to go to his profile page to donate.

Thank you for your kind attention and every effort to help Benji is greatly appreciated.

syc

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Book Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

i had finished reading Inkheart quite a few weeks ago but have put off writing this review. At one point, i even thought i would not review it because it has been reviewed and reviewed. A Google search for “Book Review Inkheart” returned 18,400 results in 0.27 seconds – see what i mean.

Then i thought maybe i will wait till i finish the whole series of 3 books but that may take me a fair while (talking months here) as i don’t like reading the same author consecutively (yes, it’s a quirk). So here it is – my book review of Inkheart.

i had watched the movie quite a few years back and have been waiting to read this book so there was a level expectation already. And i’m happy to say the book does not disappoint. Even though this was marketed as a middle-grade book, i believe any adult who enjoys a good fantasy will enjoy reading it.

Inkheart
Inkheart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The characters of Mo and Meggie captured my heart from the first pages. i kept wanting to know what would happen to them. i kept following their journey, hoping and wishing them well. Dustfinger started out (for me) as a rather mysterious and untrustworthy character. i was screaming in my head for Mo not to trust him and was very curious as to why Mo did and why Mo felt indebted towards him. But as the story moved on, i came to pity Dustfinger, to feel for his situation. And i can say that in the end i was even rooting for him to get his wish.

The antagonist in the book, Capricorn, along with his henchmen, Basta and Flatnose, did not lose in the battle for the reader’s emotions. But they were very different emotions indeed. Through their actions you could tell where their heart laid and i hated them and their dark hearts. Their hearts weren’t all necessarily dark in the sense of evil, some were dark in the sense of lost. The cruelty Capricorn displayed made me pity the men under him even more, made me realise how desperate they must have been to decide to serve under such a horrible (that’s putting it mildly) person.

The supporting characters of Elinor and Fenoglio were not just flat characters either, although they remained pretty much steadfast in their beliefs, their actions showed how their eyes were opened as they were drawn into the story. Elinor moved from a stubborn woman who loved books above all else to a woman who would welcome a family to live with her. Fenoglio was a forgotten writer who got to meet his creations and went on to live in his created world.

The pace of the book was fast, yet not so fast that you are fighting to catch your breath and understand what just happened. i love how somewhere past the middle of the book it all seemed resolved and there was just one more thing Mo had wanted to do and then suddenly they were back in the thick of it.

i also liked how at the beginning of each chapter is a quote from fairly well-known books which Funke had read and liked. i enjoyed trying to guess which book each quote came from. It has also added to my to-read list.

So if you are looking for adventure with passion, along with good action and fantasy thrown in, Inkheart is your book. It is not as heavy going as an adult fantasy book but it certainly does not lack depth and action.

If you have already read Inkheart, let me know what you think.

syc

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Please Allow Me to Introduce…

… Wesley to you. My son and i are praying for him.

12-year-old Wesley needs a family to help him live life to the fullest.

Wesley is an orphan. He wasn’t always one. He spent the first 6 years of his life with his family. And then according to his records, he was abandoned. i can not imagine what that feels like for a little boy of 6. i can not imagine what went through his head when he finally figured out that he wasn’t going home. My heart just breaks.

i have a vague idea why he was abandoned. i believe that he was left because of his special need, which in my opinion isn’t much of a special need. He has albinism and vision issues as a result of his albinism.

However, i think that in his country his condition is not accepted and could likely have been a cause for ridicule and bullying and even family shame. So he had to go. Sad, but that’s how cruel society can be sometimes.

Most people know or have an idea of what albinism is. It is a condition where there is a lack of pigmentation in skin, eyes and hair. So most people with this condition have milky white or very light colour skin (or lighter than other family members), usually blond or very light coloured hair (sometimes it can be brown, depending on the type of albinism) and their eye colour can vary from blue to pinkish or red, sometimes white.

There are associated health issues with albinism. Vision problems is the big one. Because of the lack of pigmentation, the iris in the eye can not protect the retina and this makes them sensitive to light and can cause squinting. It can also cause reading problems. Sometimes the eyes also develop addition conditions such as nystagmus.

Wesley has albinism but he is also a little boy who needs a family to love him, to let him that he is loved even though he may look different. He needs a mum and dad who will support him and encourage him to be everything he can be.

i like what it says on the kidshealth.org page about albinism:

Except for eye problems, most people with albinism are just as healthy as anyone else.

Wesley has nystagmus but that does not mean he has to lead less of a life. This is what allaboutvision.com website says:

  • Don’t lower your expectations for your child. Most people with nystagmus can see, learn and interact well enough to lead very normal lives.
  • Be positive. Nystagmus, while a visible “disability,” is not the end of the world. As they grow up, children with nystagmus need help in understanding why their eyes are different. Reassure children that nystagmus won’t stop them from being normal kids and normal adults.
See how positive he seems, even though he has waited so long. i just know he is a sweet child and can be a wonderful addition to a family.

So can you see that Wesley is as healthy as the next child, except that his skin, hair and eye colour are different and his eyesight isn’t great?

Please pray for Wesley – i’m amazed that with what he has been through that he still has a gentle temperament, is polite and sensible, and gets along well with others. Pray that his forever family comes for him so that he can have the opportunity to lead a full life. His albinism shouldn’t be a factor that he misses out in life, his vision problems can be helped, if not corrected.

His file says that he likes watching cartoons, listening to stories with peers, playing games with kids outdoors, likes playing balls and toy cars best. Just like any other little boy. Could he be your little boy? He has been waiting 6 long years for a family to love him, just as he is. Please step up if God is leading to be part of this boy’s life. Contact Reece’s Rainbow for more details.

In his country, there is little chance that he will be chosen for adoption because he stands out so much in appearance. However, in a society that might be more accepting of his condition, he could thrive. That would likely mean international adoption, which would costs an arm and a leg (almost literally); anywhere from US$25,000 to US$45,000.

Please do not let a lack of funds stop Wesley from having a family. He has a very small adoption grant at the moment. You can help by contributing to that grant and help lessen the burden of his forever family reaching him. Click on his name or picture to donate.

Thank you so much for your kind attention. And if you do make a contribution to Wesley‘s grant, please leave a comment below. i would like to send you a thank you gift.

syc