The annual trip for our non-profit, Project Left Behind ( PLB ) is always a highlight of the year.  This year, Kevin and I both went, which is always a bit of a struggle since we’re going out of the country without our kids. This year, however, we left San Diego without a second thought because the boys were in great hands with their older sister (who’s 22) and our 10-year-old Rottweiler.   Our destination: Casa Guatemala Orphanage in the jungle of Rio Dulce.

The timing for our trip was right before Christmas, which in so many ways is a perfect end to the year while simultaneously tying in the “new” year with new goals and vigor for PLB. I know working with orphanages around the world is my true calling, and like starting my own business, I’ve found the daunting part to be honing in on how to provide the most impact. These trips are a true oxymoron of exhilarating and depressing. The raw realization that there are 10 million more children like the ones in front of me can leave me sleepless, while the prospect of actually changing the destiny of the “innocent” is invigorating.

The children were so charming and warm at Casa Guatemala. There were ample volunteers from all over the world at this orphanage. The stark reality of what these innocent souls have to endure and overcome in the world is surreal. Our world becomes nothing more than a fairytale for them. Homes with refrigerators stocked with a week’s worth of groceries; closets full of fun, colorful, clean clothes; carpeted floors; doors and windows; toys; soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush; running water; clean drinking water from the facets; a hot shower; a soft mattress; and even a piece of bubble gum to chew are more than likely just a dream for these children. The reality is they’re trying to endure their adverse circumstances of life.

A flash of clarity came to us on this trip that two things are critical (if the basics of food, clothing, and shelter are being satisfactorily met) for a feasible chance at life: love and education. It seems apparent how to provide those things, but when you’re staring into this black hole it’s very unclear.

LOVE. New research shows the devastating affects to children who are in environments for long periods of time where they’re not adequately cared for in a nurturing, “loving” way. A severe lack of caregiver responsiveness to the child’s early communication efforts between birth and the age of three manifests into a child who can’t have social relationships that are crucial for a fulfilled life. Orphanages that encourage volunteers to stay and care for the children actually are alleviating some potential critical development issue.

EDUCATION. Learning is the only stepping stone from the brutal grip of destiny into the unknown realm of optimistic possibilities for these children, most of whom will only receive a sub-par 6^th grade education.  Schooling beyond 6^th grade will cost $2,000 for education plus room and board for one year…which might as well be $2 million for these children. Every child should have the opportunity to change his fate. 

Tonight, give thanks that you were lucky enough to be born into the world of possibilities, for so many were not.

Please enjoy the video of our trip .

Danielle

It’s that time of year again for Project Left Behind to fulfill the human touch part of our mission statement.  As you’ll recall, Danielle travelled solo to Nepal last year to stay in an orphanage and to live amongst the 38 children.  It was an exciting and very moving experience for her.  This year, Danielle and I will both be travelling south of the border to Guatemala.  We’re volunteering at Case De Guatemala Orphanage , deep in the jungle.  It’s so remote that Google Earth doesn’t even show it listed as a location.  We’re flying into Guatemala City on a dreaded red-eye flight and boarding a bus for a 6 hour ride into the bush.  Can’t say I’m overly excited about that part of the trip.  However, we’re both looking forward to meeting the children and getting to know them.  Of course, we’ll post the pictures upon our return. 

We recently held our Q4 board meeting for Project Left Behind.  I’m actually very excited about our future and our ability to make a difference for some orphans in the world.  We recently decided to fund a project for “House of Hope” that will furnish an entire house in Kenya for 16 children 12 years and under.  We’re working with a contact that is ‘in country’ and is attempting to get these children off the street.  Project Left Behind will be funding beds, chairs and other essentials in an attempt to make a difference in their lives by providing some semblance of safety and comfort.  Imagine living on the streets as an 8 year old child!  In addition, we’re only approximately $800 shy of funding education, food, and nutrition for an entire month at a separate orphanage in Molo for 77 children.  If you’re able to help, please consider a tax deductible donation to Project Left Behind this year.  Checks can be mailed to:

Project Left Behind

4875 Caminito Exquisito

San Diego, CA 92130

As we did last year, Project Left Behind is funding school shoes for the Aishworya orphans in Nepal sponsored by Anytime Sitter of San Diego, CA.  Our projects page will be updated as we receive photos. 

We’re excited and blessed to be able to make a small imprint on someone’s life.  I fully realize that in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that much.  However, that doesn’t diminish the importance of the project or of our mission.  Our plans will continue to evolve and become more impactful.  We doubled our donations in 2010 from 2009.  I expect that trend to continue.  As a reminder, any and all donations go directly to support the orphans.  There is no overhead cost.  In fact, the annual human touch trip is completely funded by Danielle and I. 

Especially during this time of year, please keep all orphans in your prayers.  Life is hard for all of us at times, but it’s harder for them.  Imagine trying to deal with their reality as a child.  I hope you have a blessed holiday season with family and friends.  May an angel’s wing touch every orphaned child.

Kevin

 

UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund.  It is an agency of the United Nations responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries.  As such, it tracks and records statistics about a multitude of issues, including orphans throughout the world.  Although I’m not the biggest fan of the U.N., any agency that assists orphans is worthwhile in my book.  Annotated below is a list of sobering statistics produced by UNICEF regarding how the HIV/AIDS epidemic is devastating orphans across the world. 

UNICEF produced a report titled Children on the Brink in 2002.  It found that more than 13.4 million children had lost one or both parents to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the three regions studied (Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean), a number that was estimated to increase to 25 million by 2010. In addition to the millions of children orphaned by AIDS, millions more are being adversely affected by the disease.  In addition to providing statistics on orphans from 88 countries in 2002, UNICEF identified several troubling trends:

1.  Africa has the greatest proportion of children who are orphans. In 2001, 34 million children in sub-Saharan Africa were orphans, one-third of them due to AIDS. Because of AIDS, the number of orphans continues to increase dramatically. By 2010, the number of orphans was estimated to reach 42 million. Twenty million of these children - or almost 6 percent of all children in Africa -will be orphaned due to AIDS.

2.  Asia has the largest number of orphans. Due to Asia's large population, the number of orphans in Asia is much larger than in Africa. In 2001, there were 65 million orphans, with approximately 2 million of them orphaned due to AIDS.

3.  Orphan populations are concentrated, reflecting broader trends in HIV prevalence and population. In 2001, 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 70 percent of the orphans. The three countries with the largest populations also had the most orphans - Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the impact of AIDS will be felt even more acutely in countries with smaller populations, but higher HIV prevalence rates.

4.  The number of orphans throughout the world will continue to rise. Today's prevalence rates will largely determine the pattern of orphaning for the next decade. In countries where HIV/AIDS prevalence has recently escalated, the full impact on the estimated number of orphans has yet to emerge.

The difficulties of life as an orphan are brutal.  UNICEF highlights just some of the all too common problems these children face.  Children without the guidance and protection of their primary caregivers are often more vulnerable and at risk of becoming victims of violence, exploitation, trafficking, discrimination or other abuses.  In conflict situations, involuntary separation from both family and community protection, sometimes across national borders, greatly increases the child's risk of exposure to violence, physical abuse, exploitation and even death. Surviving children face malnutrition, illness, physical and psychosocial trauma, and impaired cognitive and emotional development. Unaccompanied girls are at especially high risk of sexual abuse.  Meanwhile, unaccompanied boys are at high risk of forced or 'voluntary' participation in violence and armed conflict.

The following statistics were compiled as of 2002:

1. In Central and Eastern Europe alone, almost 1.5 million children live in public care.
2. In Russia, the annual number of ‘children left without parental care’ has more than doubled over the last 10 years, despite falling birth rates.
3. Conflict has orphaned or separated 1 million children from their families in the 1990s. 
4. An estimated two to five per cent of the refugee population are unaccompanied children. 

Sleep tight.  May an angel’s wing touch every orphaned child. 

Kevin

I travel quite a bit for my day job.  I enjoy it-and it’s important.  Of course, the downside is being away from my family too often.  However, upon my return, I absolutely love walking in and greeting my family.  My 7 year old runs full bore into my legs yelling dad.  I love it.  These moments continually reinforce the fact that my family is my greatest joy.  I love them more than life itself.  They give meaning to my life and peace to my soul. 

Sometimes I reflect back on the choices I’ve made in my life.  My wife and I decided to adopt Gregory 8 years ago-admittedly her idea (that’s why I married her).  A few years after that, we adopted my other son Matthew.  Those decisions have completely altered my life in ways I could never have foreseen.  It haunts me to think where I would be in my life without having made those choices-not to mention thinking about where my boys would be had we not become a family together.  I am at peace, and I am happy. 

Why write about my family and my greatest joy in a blog about orphans?  Simply because my children were once orphans.  They set us upon this journey and made our family whole.  Thanks to some divine intervention and a very intuitive spouse, we are now a happy and thriving family.  Life is good.

Adoption is a personal choice.  It is fraught with complications, delays and some difficulties.  I’m anti-preachy and understand there are a multitude of issues involved with adoption.  However, for what it’s worth, it’s been one of the greatest blessings in my life and an integral part of me experiencing my greatest joy.  If you’ve ever entertained the idea, there are millions of orphans around the world who are yearning to be loved right now.  They probably can’t even fathom what it would be like to be part of your family.  My own experience in the process was scary, stressful, an emotional roller-coaster, and complicated.  However, it has defined my life, my family, and given peace to my soul.  They are one of my greatest joys.

-Kevin

It’s a quiet Monday evening at my house after a long, enjoyable weekend.  I spent time with my family and friends and simply enjoyed some down time.  As is usually the case, I find my thoughts drifting to the many children that are currently growing up in orphanages.  I wanted to introduce you to a little 1 ½ year old boy named Sasha.

Nine years ago my wife and I were in a small farming village in the Ukraine called Mykolaiv , adopting our son Gregory.  As part of the process, we visited the orphanage daily to spend time with him and to visit all the kids.  It was definitely a unique experience that forever changed our lives.  We would walk with Gregory around the perimeter of the building just getting to know each other and enjoying the fresh air.  Gregory was 3 ½ years old, very intelligent, and eager to see everything around us.  Every time we showed up to take Gregory outside for a walk, a little boy named Sasha would latch on to my wife Danielle.  He would wrap his little arms around Danielle’s neck and hold on for dear life, never wanting to let go.  He simply wanted to be loved.  Of course we had to take him with us on our walks with Gregory.  We didn’t speak the same language, had never met each other before, and had no real way to communicate.  However, we communicated through love.  He was an adorable child and we grew very attached to both he and Gregory. 

Knowing our time to depart was fast approaching, we inquired into whether we might adopt both Gregory and Sasha together.  For a myriad of reasons, mostly political, we were told that was not an option.  When our day of departure finally came, it was one of very mixed emotions.  Of course we were thrilled to be leaving with our new son Gregory.  However, we were distraught at the thought of leaving little Sasha in the orphanage.  Many tears were shed that day.  Although he couldn’t possibly understand, we vowed to come back for him. 

As life happens, we eventually flew home and welcomed Gregory into our family.  It has been an incredible journey from the very first day.  Approximately six months after we returned home, we inquired into the process of going back to Mykolaiv to adopt Sasha, as promised.  At that time we were told it was again not an option.  However, this time, the reason was because a family had decided to adopt him.  Although we were happy that he would be leaving the orphanage, we were definitely upset over the fact that he would not be a part of our family. 

As I fast forward back to tonight, I am of the opinion that this is all God’s plan.  I am blessed to be a father and a husband.  I am both proud and humbled by my children.  My wife is the only person in my life that I could possibly imagine going through this journey with.  I hope and pray that Sasha is growing up and thriving somewhere in the world with a family that loves him more than life itself.  I think about how he must have felt when we left and Danielle didn’t show up the next day to take him on a walk.  I wonder what he looks like and what his life must be like today.  I think maybe we were just supposed to be there at that time in his life.  He was just one of many children in the orphanage.  He simply needed a little more love at the time.  I know unequivocally, for a very brief time in his life in a very small town in the Ukraine, Sasha was loved.  I pray that you are happy, healthy, and loved. 

-Kevin

MAY 2010:

It’s been awhile since my last blog at Project Left Behind.  However, we’ve been keeping very busy.  The most important accomplishment over the past few months is our attainment of 501C3 status.  It’s official-Project Left Behind is now a tax exempt charity per the IRS.  Donations to Project Left Behind are now eligible for tax exempt status.  As a reminder, according to our bylaws, your donations are prohibited from being used for any overhead.  100% of all donations will be used to support our ongoing projects for orphans around the world.  For an updated status on current projects, please visit our ‘projects’ page on the website, www.projectleftbehind.org. 

You’ll also be seeing my blogs a little more frequently.  After much thought, I’ve decided to write about different countries, orphanages and plights of orphans around the world.  It’s my intention to make my blogs informational while focusing on different countries around the globe.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in our day to day lives and to forget about them.  For me, nighttime is when I sit back and contemplate the daily hardships many of these children have to overcome.  I know far too many went to bed tonight hungry, lonely, sick and unloved.  It’s so tragic that it’s hard to really focus on their pain for too long.  I get so impatient wanting to help them that I usually just end up frustrated trying to think of some grand plan to fix all of their problems. 

I appreciate you being part of my journey and thank you in advance for your support.  Please keep all orphans around the world in your thoughts and prayers.  Thank you.

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to the board members of project left behind.  Although we are currently a small organization, I believe that we have the right people in place to effectively manifest the change that we seek to create. Annotated below is a brief introduction to the four members of the board, whose task is to fulfill the ambitious mission statement of Project Left Behind. 

I’ll begin with an introduction to myself.  My wife Danielle and I co-founded project left behind.  It’s been a dream of ours since we adopted our first son Gregory from the Ukraine in 2002.  I am the proud father of two adopted boys from the Ukraine.  Although the process was scary, uncertain,and emotional, it has proven to be the most impactful part of my life.  I cannot imagine how empty my life would be had we not adopted our two boys.  I have a B.A. in Political Economy and an M.A. in Economics from Fordham University in New York.  I’m a huge Fordham fan-very proud to be an alumnus.  Fordham reinforced the value system that my parents taught me growing up and was a stabilizing and challenging force in my life.  I am a Naval Officer, currently in the Naval Reserves. Although not exactly conducive to family life, I am honored to serve my country and to be a Naval Aviator.  My day job is selling medical devices for Amplatzer Medical Corporation.  It is the best job I’ve had since leaving the Navy, permitting me to directly and positively impact patients lives.  I am serving as the executive director and  treasurer of Project Left Behind. Creating project left behind is a fulfillment of a dream for my wife and I. Thank you for being a part of it.

Danielle LiVolsi is my wife and the co-founder of Project Left Behind.  She is serving as the secretary.  Danielle is an entrepreneur, the founder of JagRma LLC. Her initial product launch is NuttZo, an organic omega-3 multi-nut butter.  She is the best chef I know,creating incredibly nutritious and delicious meals on a daily basis.  NuttZo is one of her many popular creations.  NuttZo is a proud supporter of Project Left Behind.  In her prior life, she was a very successful Sales Executive at a radio station in San Diego, CA.  She is also a graduate of Fordham University in New York, receiving her B.S. degree in marketing.  I credit Danielle with being the driver for adopting our children from the Ukraine.  She is a leader who stands up for what is right and in defense of those who cannot help themselves.  I am proud to call her my wife.

Sue Farinacci is Danielle’s bestfriend and former co-worker.  She will serve as an officer and voting member on Project Left Behind.  Sue has a B.A. degree from Stephen F. Austin University and is the proud mother of 3 great children. In her prior life, Sue was the National Sales Manager at the same radio station in San Diego that Danielle worked for. One of Sue’s greatest strengths is collaborating with Danielle on ‘out of the box’ solutions to whatever problems we’re currently facing.  She is as much of a driver as Danielle, and is a trusted advisor and true friend.  I trust her implicitly and greatly value her input.  She is an essential member of the team that will help Project Left Behind fulfill its mission statement.

Teresa Poulos is my sister and one of the most caring people that I know. She will serve as an officer and voting member on Project Left Behind.  Teresa has a B.A. degree from Western Connecticut State University and currently resides in Orlando, FL.  She is a Human Resources Executive who also serves on the board of another 501c3 non-profit organization.  Teresa was sought out to serve on the board because she brings to the team creative solutions for accomplishing our mission statement.  Like the other three members,she is passionate about helping orphans and maximizing Project Left Behinds’ ability to assist orphans throughout the world. 

You can be assured that the four of us will work diligently to assist orphans around the globe.  This is our passion.  We are all non-paid volunteers with a strong desire to help those orphans who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in very difficult circumstances.  I am profoundly humbled by your interest and trust in us to carry out our mission statement.  Welcome to the journey of our lives.   

 --Kevin

7/4/09-7/12/09
Kathmandu, Nepal

 I was a volunteer working at www.aishworya.org .

38 children touched my heart forever!

Do you have 5 minutes to allow them to touch your heart too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zoh8PN6AOg
 

-Danielle LiVolsi
Founder/President JagRma LLC (NuttZo brand)

Ok, less than a week away and a lot of people have been asking me about Nepal and what I'll be doing there!  So here it is!  PS. Thanks for following me on this journey.
 

I'm volunteering through the RCDP (Rural Community Development Program).



Poverty and past conflicts in Nepal have seriously affected the people living there. This situation has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and turned many children into orphans. The situation is even worse in the villages so thousands of children arrive in urban centers like Kathmandu and Chitwan in search of jobs and a prosperous future.Unfortunately, the reality of city life is very different from the charmed life they’ve imagined. The children face danger and exploitation. Many of them work over 14-hours a day in industries,hotels, and restaurants and many of them sleep on the streets.  There is no government initiative to protect a child's fundamental rights and privileges. In response to this crisis, concerned citizens have opened orphanages and tried to house, care and educate the children. RCDP Nepal has also recognized this reality and established Child Welfare Centers in Chitwan and Kathmandu. In addition, RCDP Nepal has also been working with more than 15 local organizations to rescue these children from a life of poverty and degradation.

Asa volunteer in the RCDP orphanage placement position, I will work tobetter the lives of these children by caring for them and teaching them life skills.  Although this is not an RCDP English teaching placement position, I will be tutoring English (me teaching English, ha!), sewing (does sewing on a button count?), painting (right up my alley), tailoring (not so much), crafting (ok I’m in), typing (sure), and computing (definitely). Also during my stay, I’ll be providing basic care for them which will include a focus on health, nutrition, and hygiene.

My set intentions for this trip:  to leave these children with a feeling of being loved, respected, and the unwavering assurance that someone truly cares-- May an angel's wing touch every orphaned child-- these are the most innocent of innocent! 

My hair will be huge and my heart will be wide-open!  

I’m bringing peace, joy, and love!

--Danielle LiVolsi

Go NuttZo!