Jack & Jenson A VERY URGENT Need!!!!!!!!! Please Share!

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A friend of mine is nearing the end of their adoption of two boys, Jack and Jenson.  They will be traveling in the next few weeks and still need quite a bit to be fully funded.  Both of the boys are older, Jensen is 14 years old, has Cerebral Palsy  and near the cut off age for adoption from his country.  Jack is 8 and has Xeroderma Pigmentosum which is fatal. 

I know we have a focus child for this month, but this is an urgent situation and I felt I needed to share it. 

This is from their mom:

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read about Jack, Jensen and our quest to bring them home. For those who haven't yet heard about our journey or don't know much about our need, I'll introduce you to our journey here. Those who already know get to read about these precious boys again. (-; While we're still waiting on our official travel dates, we have been told to expect to travel in about three weeks and could use all the supporters that we can get to come forward- not only to help us with gathering the funds we need to bring them home but to also keep the boys in their prayers.
Last August, we read about then-7 year old Jack, a sweet little boy who has lived in an orphanage in China for nearly his entire life and has been passed over time and time again for adoption. Jack has an incredibly rare medical condition called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (also known as XP) and once we knew that we could take care of his needs, we committed to Jack in October. It has been estimated that less than 1,000 people have this condition worldwide. XP is characterized by an intolerance of UV rays, meaning people with XP cannot handle any amount of UV rays from any source- whether they be natural (like from the sun) or man-made (like from lights and other sources). People with this condition need to be kept away from all sources of UV and that means they need for significant precautions to be taken in order to keep them safe. The homes and schools of XP affected individuals need to be made safe by having all windows specially treated with UV-safe tinting. Vehicles must also be tinted in this fashion. People with XP cannot go outside without being covered from head to toe in protective gear (clothing made to block rays, long sleeved shirts, UV safe gloves, layers, specialized hoods that fully cover, the head, face, ears and neck, etc...). No part of them can be exposed at all unless the sun has completely set and there are no UV sources (like lights) around. Even if such UV sources aren't present and individuals are in their protective gear, the time spent outside must be extremely limited. Families must travel with UV meters to check to levels of UV present in buildings and vehicles that have not been treated to see if they are safe. They usually aren't and, as such, XP affected individuals must remain in their protective gear in full for the duration of their stays in such structures. Highly specialized and frequent medical care is necessary and that includes, but is not limited to, regular visits to dermatologists, oncologists, ophthalmologists, audiologists, neurologists, developmental and educational specialists, occupational therapists, etc... (Not each person with XP needs each of these specialists but most folks need the majority of them at least on occasion- some more regularly than others- and some of these medical professionals are needed by all folks with XP. Some need additional specialists.) The risk of cancer is very real for these folks and most statistics say that it is somewhere around 2,000 times more likely for a person with XP to get cancer than for a non-affected person and that is under the best of circumstances. Without all the protective measures and medical care, the risk is even greater. Most people with XP get their first cancer at around 18 months to two years of age and people usually get multiple highly aggressive cancers very early on as well. Jack is now 8 years old and has never had the medical care or protections that are critical for his survival. It isn't that his caretakers don't care about or love him. It is that they don't fully understand the condition and his needs and that the proper care is not available where he is now. Most people with XP do not even live to the age that Jack is now (especially if they have never had protections or care) so it truly is a miracle that this little boy is clinging to life. Every picture we have of Jack shows progressive skin damage and it is highly likely that he already has cancerous and precancerous lesions and tumors. Looking at the damage he has already sustained, I would also assume that he has dealt with a lot of pain over the years too. From what I hear, Jack is a shy yet loving young boy who enjoys crafts, music, stories, running, jumping, puzzles (though he gets frustrated with difficult ones) and the electronics of volunteers who have spent time in his facility. (-; He has never been able to attend regular school because of his condition and currently attends a special education enrichment class at his orphanage. This sweetie needs to come home to medical care, love, hope, education, opportunity and family. We would love your help in making that happen.


Several months after committing to Jack, we learned about Jensen. We were drawn to him right away but weren't sure about committing because we were already struggling with raising the funds necessary to bring home Jack. However, it wasn't long before we knew that we had to commit and trust that, with hard work and a lot of help, we would be able to bring both boys home. Jensen is a super sweet almost 14 year old boy who has Cerebral Palsy and has also been waiting almost his entire life to get a family. In China, once a child hits the age of 14, they age out of their country's adoption program and they forever lose their chance at a family. With a special need (especially a very visible and obvious need such as Cerebral Palsy) and no family, Jensen's future would be quite grim. We do not have any sort of savior complex but we knew we could not allow him to deal with such a fate. We're not perfect but we know that we could help bring so many things to Jensen that he would never get to experience without being adopted- primarily the love, safety and security that comes from belonging to a dedicated family. (Of course, this sweet boy will be an incredible blessing to all of us as well.) Once we committed to Jensen, people began coming forward to express their happiness that he found a family. Apparently, he has quite a fan club! (-; Volunteers who have met him in the past absolutely love him. They all told us that he has the most special spirit that they have ever witnessed and that he is truly loving, perseverant (always gets up when he falls- which happens a lot because of his CP- and keeps going), inquisitive and handsome. All have mentioned that he longs for permanent connections and a sense of belonging. A couple have told me that he can be lovably stubborn sometimes and keeps his room a bit messy too but we're okay with that! He's very much a typical teenager in that regard. (-; We cannot imagine this wonderful young man missing out on what all kids deserve but he has never fully had- the love and hope that a family can bring. I am sure that all of you want that for him too.


Both boys have conditions that have required that we make significant modifications to our home to make sure that they are safe and can access all areas that they need to on a daily basis. Everything is set for them here. All the big paperwork steps have been done and we are just waiting on a few small end-of-process steps to be completed in China so we can travel. Like I have mentioned, we are still waiting on those official travel dates but have been told by our agency to expect to travel in about three weeks. We very much need help in order to make that happen and we'd be blessed if you can help us gather the last $16,000 required. This is an expensive process but is absolutely worth every single struggle. We are doing all we can to keep costs as low as possible but most are totally out of our control. For those that we can control, we have taken every step we can to be as conservative as possible with the costs. One example would be that, I will be traveling alone. A good portion of that is cost-related but it is also so my husband can be home with our other children and continue to work during the two weeks or so that I'll be traveling. Being that I'm a teacher and summer break is upon us and that my husband is in the military, it just made more sense that I be the one to travel. We have tried countless efforts to gather the required funds and are down to the last $16,000 needed. With the adoption being expedited because of Jack's extreme health needs and Jensen being on the verge of aging out, we have significantly less time than is typical to put the funds together. It is our hope that an army of supporters can rally to help us in this final push to help our boys come home. Our exact travel dates are coming soon and these sweet boys cannot afford delays. Jensen only has a few weeks before he ages out and Jack's health is such that his life can slip away at any time. I don't say any of that to be depressing or over-dramatic but, rather, to be realistic so people can truly understand the situation. If you can help by contributing (and know that no amount is "too small"), praying and spreading the word about our journey and need, we would be incredibly grateful. You will be helping transform lives in a truly beautiful way and we will forever remember and feel the blessings you have helped orchestrate.
Thank you so much for caring about Jack and Jensen and for helping us get to these loving young men on time. We appreciate that your support and your part in this journey.
Angela

Please read their blog and help if you can!  This is a really urgent situation!   You can give through their blog