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Local fathers set out to make a difference
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@acnpapers.com
Larry Hansard, Bryan Harveston and Ted Wachendorfer have something in common. They are all adoptive dads who had a life-changing experience that inspired them to make a difference in the lives of children around the world.
In July 2009, the three men founded Orphan Angel International Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that specializes in orphan hosting program.
The goal of OAIF is to provide relief to older orphans around the world through a variety of programs, including “Orphan Camps” in the greater Dallas/Ft. Worth area, according to its website. Orphan Camps give children an opportunity to live with an American family and experience a new culture, often leading to adoption either by the host family or other families who meet the child during their stay.
“Through our experiences, we learned that there are adoption costs that are commonly incurred that are not necessary if you ‘know the ropes,’” he said. “So in a two-fold way, we can assist families financially and point them directly to the resources to help them in their journey and eliminate unnecessary costs.”
Harveston said he hopes the organization becomes a beacon of orphan relief by assisting families financially in the initial phase of considering adoption. He hopes OAIF can also assist in connecting families directly with the overseas facilitators and resources to reduce their adoption costs and agency fees. Lastly, he hopes the organization will assist orphanages in upgrading their facilities whereby the children who will not ever be legally available to be adopted can experience warmth, comfort and care where they are.
Frisco resident Larry Hansard said he first became aware of opportunities with orphan children when a hosting program sent an email blast three years ago. He and his wife went to an introduction meeting with the organization and through them, ended up hosting and adopting two little girls, Natasha, 8, and Kristina, who is 6.
“The same is true with Ted and Bryan,” he said. “We were all affected the same way.”
Ted Wachendorfer and his wife adopted two children from Ukraine: Natasha, who is now 10, and Artem, who is 7.
Bryan Harveston and his wife adopted four children: two from Russia; Alex, 18, and Presley, 13, and two from Ukraine; Kennedy, 12, and Hayden, who is 3.
Each father, when adopting, visited the home countries of their children. But when they visited the orphanages in Ukraine, they saw the living conditions of the children, something Hansard likened to children being “warehoused.”
Children would wear the same set of clothing for up to six days before it was laundered. They had no toilet paper, requiring them to tear pages out of magazines or books to replace the basic need.
Hansard said the children would only bathe once or twice a week in cold water, regardless of the season.
“We witnessed the kind of food they were fed, which was some awful smelling mush or soup,” he said. “They were served no fruit, and lice are common. You can always tell the new kids because the first thing the employees do is shave their heads.”
His visit made Hansard fully realize that with all the challenges and obstacles faced in America, “We are still very fortunate to have the Christian foundation our country was founded on by our forefathers,” he said.
“We have so many conveniences, necessities and opportunities available to us that are widely taken for granted that most countries do not have access to, and likely will not for generations to come,” he said.
The founders are frequently asked why they aren’t focusing their efforts on orphan children in the United States.
“To answer that question, it is because we were touched by the circumstances,” Hansard said. “There is nothing wrong with focusing on the United States, but their conditions and circumstances are considerably better. We had exposure to Eastern Europe, saw the conditions there and felt a true calling.”
That calling evolved into the desire help those children, who at age 16, are kicked out, regardless if they have another place to stay or not. Hansard said it was highly common for the girls to end up in prostitution and eventually find themselves in Western Europe in countries like Amsterdam.
The boys, Hansard said, are left to fend for themselves in the depressed streets, many of them turning to drugs and crime. This creates a vicious cycle, which has resulted in the children who grew up as orphans having children who also bear the title of orphan.
It was this scene that made the men set a long-term goal for their organization to develop some type of trade school or educational program for those older children to have a chance to find a job that doesn’t land them on the streets.
“We have talked about a vocational school or somewhere for them to go once they are kicked out of the orphanage;, if you don’t have a place to go you literally live on the street,” Hansard said. “There needs to be some way for them to have a bed, get food and learn a skill so they can learn an income, That would be a long-term goal of ours.”
Wachendorfer agreed.
“Not every kid can be adopted, but the ones that don’t we want to provide an opportunity to get them in some kind of work-skills or trade-school type of program,” he said. “That’s probably many years down the road, but that would be a nice thing to do so they can survive in the world.”
OAIF is currently in the fundraising stage and recently held its first gala, where donations reached $30,000. By 2011, the trio hopes to being hosting camps in the greater Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
At the moment, the organization currently consists of its three founders but volunteers are needed throughout the summer and anyone interested in finding about more about the organization, its services or general information about adopting can visit oaif.org.
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