In today's interview we talk about how the Eicher family decided to enter into down syndrome adoption, how their family of 6 was affected by Hurricane Harvey and how feelings of love and attachment don't always come so automatically in adoption.
Lisa opens up about the hardships of bonding with her older daughter and how the loving emotions did just happen automatically and you guys she gives great advice if you're experiencing that in your own adoption and she talks about how important community is to their journey in life.
Welcome to our 6 year anniversary of the very first adoption we documented! 6 years ago today we photographed an adoption in a Bulgarian orphanage where the photos inspired another family to adopt. It was then that we saw the power of storytelling and realized that we could use our gifts to advocate for vulnerable children all over the world!
In today's episode of Around the World with The Archibald Project we get up close and personal while Whitney and Nick interview each other. We love interviewing outside guests but thought it would be special to interview one another about the past 6 years. We look back, laugh and share memories that you've never heard! We also share an exciting new project that we've been working hard on toward the end of the interview!
You'll hear Nick embarrass Whitney as he confesses what our organization was originally named, you'll find out what the Runyon's future hopes for The Archibald Project are, you'll laugh as the couple bickers about accuracy of memories and you'll be impassioned by their passion to see the orphan crisis eliminated!
Thank you guys so much for tuning in! YOU are apart of our movement and together we can all work towards ending this crisis!!!
In today's interview we hear about the Lee's lives before marriage and before taking Justice Rising full time, we hear about their passion to not just put a bandaid on conflict but how they are working towards bringing lasting peace in war torn areas, we hear how education directly impacts the orphan crisis and how education can literally keep children in their families and off the streets and we share bits of wisdom and advice about how YOU can get involved in changing the world without even leaving your home.
Welcome to The Archibald Project’s very first Blogcast! We've been toying around with the idea of recording our blogs for a while so that everyone who would like to participate in our stories would have an easy way to do so. We’ve found that people love blogs but often do not have the time to fully read a post. However, podcasts are on the rise and are an easy way to consume information. We won't be recording every blog post from here on out, as we don’t want to fill up you iTunes or blast your subscription notifications, but we are planning on featuring blogcasts as a way to introduce a new series or an important story that we believe needs more attention than a traditional blog post.
That being said, you can either download this blogcast and listen to it at a later date... such as while you’re driving, working out, cleaning etc, or you can opt out of listening and read the entry below. We’d love to hear your feedback on our new idea, so please comment below or on our social media and let us know if you like TAP incorporating blogcasts!
Thanks!
Welcome back to Around the World with The Archibald Project! In today's episode we bring you with us into Chinese foster home on the outskirts of Beijing, China!
Bethel China is a home for visually impaired orphaned and vulnerable children and they are doing wonderful work towards educating and equipping the up and coming generation. A few weeks ago we traveled to China to document the adoption of a 13-year-old boy who is blind and also grew up at Bethel.
While we were documenting the adoption we were able to sit down with two of the employees of Bethel, Anna and Tabitha and interview them!
In this podcast, we learn why children are abandoned in China, how Bethel's education for visually impaired children is working to keep families together, we help break down some of the fears and preconceived ideas around adopting special needs and/or boys and much more!
You will be so inspired listening to this podcast, and be sure to stay tuned until the end because Anna and Tabitha give you all ways to get involved with the incredible organization that is Bethel.
We have continued on from May's National Foster Care month to share even more inspiring foster stories. One huge part of the system are the children who age out without ever finding a forever home. Today we get to talk with one of those children, Carlina Shotwell.
During our time with Carlina we talk about the day when she and her four siblings were separated, the different homes she was placed, the raw emotions she felt and still feels today, her current relationship with her biological mother, and the book she wrote to inform and inspire people about the desire foster youth have for a family!
Carlina is honest and inspiring; she knows the system was created as a good thing to help children but also wants to shed light on the problems it holds within. This podcast will make you laugh while still informing you of how some youth deal with being placed and passed through foster care.
Definitely stay through until the end to hear about one of Carlina's recent accomplishments! Sit back, relax, and enjoy our interview with Carlina!
May is National Foster Care Month in the states and we’ve been bringing you first hand stories about the system all month long. On our blog we’ve had foster parents, siblings and volunteers share their wisdom and experience and on our podcast we’ve interviewed an adult who aged out of the foster care system and a single foster mom.
In today’s interview we hear how one successful couple opened their home to vulnerable children only to be changed for the better.
Today we hear Cara’s passion about giving her entire heart to her children, we hear the couple’s desire for more people to get involved in foster care, we discuss how foster care has changed their biological children for the better, we hear about what it was like bringing a 14 year old into their home and how they have fallen head over heels for her!
Cara and Nick are so honest and share their initial fears about foster care. If you or anyone you know has ever thought about fostering then this is the podcast for you!
In today's episode of Around the World with The Archibald Project we are so excited to introduce you to single Foster and Adoptive mom, Millie Holloman! Millie started her foster journey 3 years ago as a single 33 year old photographer living in North Carolina.
Through out 8 placements she found 2 of her children, a little girl who was adopted this past March and her son whom she will adopt soon!
During our interview with Millie we find out what prompted her to enter foster care initially, we find out what emotions and experiences she's had with children entering her home aging from 5 weeks to 20 years old and we hear her heartfelt wisdom about consistently showing and extending love to vulnerable children.
If you’ve ever considered getting involved in Foster Care, even as a volunteer and not a parent, this podcast is for you!
Oh, and yes, this sweet girl above might look familiar, as you've probably seen her on Good Morning America or a famous blog circulating your social media feeds :)
Below are the photos Millie talks about in the podcast that ultimately took her adoption viral and landed her and sweet Wren on Good Morning America and other news shows around the nation.
May in National Foster Care Awareness month and we are so honored to start the month off with our guest today, Meaghan Martin, who is a former foster youth. Megan shares with us today what led to her entering the foster care system on her 15th birthday, what it was like entering new homes and how she over came the odds and is a strong and successful woman today.
Certain websites claim that Burkina Faso, a small country in Western Africa, is the 4th poorest country in the world. And where you have extreme poverty, you have vulnerable families and orphaned children, often in excessive numbers.
This past April we spent 8 days in this desert country, sweating in the 107 degree weather, and learning as much as we could about it's orphan crisis. Now, 8 days may not seem like a lot of time to the average person, but we've spent the last 5 years developing a keen sense and particular knowledge in the world of ethical orphan care. We know the questions to ask and the signs of dishonesty or corruption. So let me say this: The people and organizations we met in Burkina Faso are honest, ethical and incredibly needed. Not they type of "need" that pushes its way into a community, unwelcomed and shouting how to "change", rather these organizations are coming alongside the government, local Burkina Bay leaders and communities and partnering together, hand in hand, and they are doing their best. Because let's be honest, there's not a lot of aid in this country and people are struggling.
However, Streams of Burkina Faso has an orphan care portion of their organization and they are raising up the local villagers to foster and care for orphans. They are not an orphanage, rather they find families willing to care for vulnerable children until that child can be safely resettled back with it's biological family!
We got an email months ago about an inquiry for what we thought was an orphanage in Ethiopia. However, the further we read on about Selamta Family Project, the more we came to realize that Selamta was not an orphanage at all.
Selamta Family Project is a holistic orphan care organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capitol, working to ensure that orphaned children have forever families.
This means that instead of having an orphanage, Selamta employees marginalized women to be full time mothers and aunties to 8-10 children per household. Each mom becomes a real mom. They don't clock in or out, they don't leave after a few years. Selamta makes new families out of broken people so that they might find love, community and safety amongst each other.
Once we realized this was the model Selamta employed we knew we had to get to Ethiopia as soon as possible!
Enjoy our podcast interview with Executive Director, Marisa Stam, on the balcony of the community center in Addis! Lots of street noise will help you feel like you're right there with us!
To follow more of Selamta's journey, visit:
Selamta's Website: www.selamtafamilyproject.org
Selamta's Instagram: @selamtaproject
Selamta's Facebook: facebook.com/selamtafamilyproject
When I first received Wellon Bridgers' email about documenting their adoption, I was skeptical. We were living in Uganda and were in the middle of seeing so many hard and real situations of unethical orphan care. So we straight up asked Wellon why the children she was adopting needed to be adopted and how could she ensure they were truly operating inside an ethical adoption.
Her answers blew us away. She shared about how they came to find Mwana Villages, the organization in the Republic of the Congo where their children lived and how only after a broken adoption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo did they come to learn that many children living in orphanages and up for adoption had birth families who loved and wanted their children. Her love and admiration for Mwana was not centered around her adoption but how Mwana cares passionately for vulnerable women and works to keep families together.
Since we traveled with the Bridgers to the Congo, which you can see their adoption journey in photos here and in video here, Wellon has gone to work, stateside, for Mwana, advocating for vulnerable women and children and working to ensure that families can stay together!
In our podcast today with Wellon we hear why caring for birth families is a must, how Mwana ensures that they are operating ethically (they turned down an offer from an adoption agency for $10,000 a kid!!!), and how Mwana is making a lasting difference in the Congo!