Teens

The purpose of the Harambee Cultural Society is to celebrate the value of transracial families and mitigate the challenges faced by transracially adopted children. In 2020 Harambee will celebrate their 25th anniversary, so we touched base with them to find out how Harambee has grown and changed over the last quarter-century. All photos courtesy the Harambee Cultural Society, by jenniferarmstrongphotography.com

This adoptive parent shares her story of welcoming an 11-year-old daughter into her family to join herself, her husband, and their three biological teenage boys. While the journey wasn’t always easy, it was definitely worth any hardships.

My family

I am the proud parent of three birth children and an adopted daughter.

I have to be honest: the journey of adopting an older child into our family has not been easy. We adopted our wonderful daughter at age 11 into a family of five, including myself, my husband, and our three teenage boys by birth.

Focus on Adoption and AFABC have always sought to centre adoptee voices and perspectives, but the #FlipTheScript campaign (launched during Adoption Awareness Month in 2014) inspired us to launch a regular column called "Adopted Voice." The series ran from 2015 to 2016.

Adoptive parents make fantastic foster parents! There's an urgent province-wide need for foster parents right now. On Vancouver Island alone, over a thousand children with widely varied needs are in government care. In this article, a foster family recruitment worker from Nanaimo explains the basics of foster caregiving and asks you­­—yes, you!—to consider making a difference for a child in need by becoming a foster home.

Why mindfulness?

Mindfulness has become a buzzword that’s as likely to be heard in the business world as in a yoga studio, but what is it? Simply put, mindfulness is a type of meditation that focuses on being present in the moment without judgement, regardless of what is happening. Mindfulness meditation comes from Buddhist teachings but can be practiced by anyone.

How our brains grow

We’re each born with as many brain cells as the Milky Way has stars—approximately 100 billion of them. These brain cells cells, known as neurons, form connections that are called synapses. They divide and multiply like wildfire, creating new cells and and forming even more connections. In a positive, healthy environment, the brain explodes with growth until around age 3.5.This frenzy of growth slows and levels off after that, but it doesn’t stop. By mid- to late childhood, a typical brain contains twice as many synapses as it did at birth.

The government is expanding its services and supports for young adults who spent time in foster care. In this article, you’ll learn about the BC government’s expanded tuition waivers program, as well as Agreements with Young Adults (AYA), and a number of other sources of funding and support.

An interview with adult ally and youth in care advocate Violet-Rose Pharoah.

What inspires you to make art and be a part of art projects that focus on the experiences of foster care?

As someone who is naturally quiet and introverted, I find that art provides the opportunity for me to explore and express my feelings. My involvement with art projects focused on foster care stems from my own personal lived experience, as well as the belief that art is a powerful transformational tool in creating change.

Being adopted isn't easy. It can be a very scary process. That is normal for most people. I was very scared going through the whole process of adoption. It's okay to be scared because being adopted is a very big change that will affect your whole life.

I got over my fear of being adopted by talking to friends and family about my feelings. I talked to people who I knew have been adopted to help me get over the fear of adoption.

There are hundreds of teenagers in foster care who need permanent homes. In this interview Paula^*, a mom who’s adopted four youth, shares her journey.
^*all names have been changed to protect the family's privacy.

Tell me about your family.

I live in a small, coastal town. I’m a single mom. I have seven children: Naomi (27), Tessa (25), Jack (24),  Rob (23), Cameron (21), Justin (18), and Blake (17).