Volunteers Only

LWB is made up solely of volunteers who pay for their own expenses when helping in the many programmes they run for the children. "They are very hands"on,"says Warwick, "They have very low overheads and work very hard to get the most effective return for their investment. They raised almost US$1 million last year and have expanded their programmes all over rural China."

In 2005 LWB's overhead was just 1.7 percent and none of the board members or directors take a salary. The charity has no rent or utilities and does not hire professional fundraisers. They make a conscious effort to get every penny possible to the children in need. In LWB's 2006 Report to Donors it is stated, "We know our donors have placed their trust in us, and we want to be good stewards of their funds, which are given with such hope and love for the orphans in China."

"It is for this reason that I feel happy about supporting them," Warwick says.

Healing children with many different medical needs has always been one of the goals of LWB. During 2006, LWB treated over 420 children with life"changing surgeries " an increase of over 100 children from the previous year. LWB carefully chooses the surgeons they use in China, and often transports children from one province to another to make sure they get the absolutely best care possible.

Loving Foster Homes

"The success of our foster care programmes in China cannot be overstated," the Report continues. "Over and over, we see such wonderful progress and development in the children who are placed into loving foster homes. Because of this LWB made the decision to double its foster care programme in 2006.

We now have over 300 children placed in nurturing homes in 12 cities in China. Some of our happiest moments have come when children who at first were thought to be too delayed for adoption bloomed so much under the care of "Mama' and "Baba' that they were then eligible for a family of their own."

LWB's nutrition program has grown steadily for the past three years. The charity now serves 11 orphanages in six provinces with supplemental nutrition and has started a Cleft Bottle Fund. Individual nutrition sponsorships for 19 children with special nutritional needs was also established in the past year. Every three months LWB sends high quality, nutritious formula and ironfortified rice cereal to the orphanages in its nutrition programme.

Expanding Education Programmes

LWB's education programmes continued to expand in 2006. Currently there are 193 children in the programmes in eight provinces. Children range in age from 20 months to young adult college students.

LWB's newest education programme is at the Changde SWI in Hunan Province. Believe In Me II, its second school for children with special needs, opened in September. "Our new teachers travelled to Guangdong to train in Montessori methods, and already we can see so much joy in the faces of the children attending school for the first time in their lives," the Report adds.

Experiences Not to be Forgotten

In 2006, LWB sent over 100 Chinese citizens to orphanages throughout China for week-long experiences to impact the lives of children. Specialists in music, art, education, computers, English and construction visited orphanages in Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, and Guangdong to give the children a camp experience they would not soon forget. While there, the teams also helped with improvement projects such as muralling orphanage walls, building a playground and setting up computer centres for older teens.

In 2006. LWB also expanded its programmes to provide physical therapy training and treatment plans to orphanages in China. In July, three teams of therapists travelled to Lu'An, Anhui; Dingyuan, Anhui; and Fuzhou, Fujian. Children were individually assessed and treatment strategies were developed by the therapists. Physical therapists created photo therapy books for each child so that caregivers could replicate the exercises with the children. Each child was also given a therapeutic tool or toy by the therapists.

Cleft Surgery Trips

On October 29, 2006, LWB sent its third annual cleft surgery team to Hefei in Anhui province. The surgeries were performed at Anhui Children's Hospital in cooperation with their medical staff and the Ministry of Health. Eighty children were scheduled for cleft lip or cleft palate surgery.

Forty-two volunteers from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, and China participated in this mission, which consisted of six days of surgery and another day of medical information exchange with the local hospital.

The 2006 Annual Report to Donors provides a good understanding of the work the charity does, but what really captures the meaning and importance of the work the volunteers do can be seen in the many pictures of the children that are posted on LWB's website.

It is not only the children that benefit from all this activity, as Director of Operations Amy Eldridge's blog reveals. She writes, "I always know I have had a good day in Shantou when I stumble back to my hotel room covered in spit"up, potty and lots of hugs. And today was no exception!"

There are many ways to help Love Without Boundaries, from volunteering to donating funds to fostering a child. Take a look at their website and you will most likely be moved to do something.