A Reunion Revisited: Korean Adoption
Please note, this page is no longer being maintained and may contain old or inaccurate information. Visit the
home page or select a category in the navigation for more up-to-date information.
A Reunion Revisited: Korean adoptee reunites with her birthfamily in Korea and finds she has a twin sister!
The Bread of Life By Ellen Javernick When Mother Teresa was asked how she began her missionary work, she answered, "You start with one."She meant one person.Binh Rybacki went one step farther. She began with one orphanage. That was in 1993. Now she has five orphanages in Vietnam that care for more than two thousand children. Binh was a college student in the frightening days just before Saigon fell in 1975, when American supporters and their families were airlifted from their homeland and sent to refugee camps in the states. Binh was at a camp in Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas, when the Ausenhus family agreed to sponsor her entire family and relocate them to Colorado. It was not until 1993 that she returned to Vietnam. In the years since her hurried departure from Saigon, much had changed in her life. Unlike most Vietnamese refugees, she had joined a Christian church. She was now a married woman. She had borne three sons and lost one. Perhaps it was little Garrett's death, more than anything else, which led Binh to reach out to needy children half way around the world. When Garrett was just three months old, Binh and her husband Jack realized that he was not doing the things that his older brother, Preston, had been able to do. The doctor told them not to worry. Babies, they reassured the Rybackis, met developmental milestones at different ages. It was not until Garrett stopped eating and his liver became enlarged, that he was referred to Children's Hospital in Denver. Garrett's condition worsened. When it became too painful for him to sleep in a crib, Binh held him constantly, rocking him gently so his ravaged body would not have to support its own weight.Binh bargained with God: "Save my baby and I'll do anything."88 days later, despite her prayers and the valiant efforts of doctors, Garrett's suffering ended. Six years after Garrett's death, a group of doctors traveling to Vietnam asked Binh to join them as an interpreter.What she saw when she returned to her homeland shocked and saddened her.Pre-teen prostitutes plied their bodies to earn enough to eat. Younger orphans slept in the street, with the curb as their only pillow. They'd long ago stopped caring about the flies that covered their faces. These children, known as the "Dust of Life" were considered worthless in Vietnamese culture.Binh thought of her sons, Preston and Spencer. She thought of Garrett. Though Garrett's death had not been preventable, maybe, Binh thought, she could help keep these children from dying. But how could one person change anything? It seemed hopeless. Before she returned to the U.S., Binh wanted to fulfill a deathbed promise to her mother to look up her old friend Sister Tan, a Franciscan nun. This was not an easy task. Christians were not popular and no one would share information about Sister Tan's whereabouts, for fear that Binh would tell the authorities. It was divine providence that brought Binh to her mother's old friend. While visiting a beautiful wooded area by the beach, Binh got lost. Hoping to find her way back to her car, she followed children's voices to an iron gate. Inside she found Sister Tan, and 27 orphans--children who, in that culture, should have been left to die. Though the children were being loved and cared for within the meager means of the nuns, it was obvious to Binh that this little underground orphanage badly needed money for food and medicine. Binh had a hundred dollars in American money in her purse. She offered it gladly to Sister Tan. Instead of thanks, Binh received a reprimand. "How can we spend it? The authorities would know at once where we were hidden and that we were caring for unwanted children.You just want to go away from here without feeling guilty," scolded the elderly nun. Binh returned to her hotel in the city. The hundred dollars, which would buy so much for Sister Tan and the children, was worthless.But she was unwilling to ignore their plight. She exchanged the American money for Vietnamese currency, but her problems were not solved. People had seen her make the exchange. She would lead authorities to Sister Tan if she tried to go there herself. How, Binh wondered, could she get the bundle of money back to Sister Tan? As she was praying for a solution, a boy rode past the hotel.He was selling french bread from a basket on his bike. Suddenly, Binh had an idea. She called to the boy, "Come up to my room so I can pay you."Once they were inside the room, Binh sliced open a loaf of bread, pulled out the soft insides, and stuffed the bread with Vietnamese bills. She hid the loaf beneath the others in the basket, gave the boy some money and sent him off to deliver the doctored bread to the nuns. It arrived safely.Binh faxed Jack 16 times for additional money.She used it to transport Sister Tan and her children to Saigon in two vegetable trucks. They would be safe in the city. Binh's support did not stop there.She convinced the government to let her start the Good Shepherd Home.Abandoned children were given food and a place to sleep. Since they were restricted from attending public schools, Binh began the Compassionate School for them in the orphanage. She provided them with uniforms so they would look the same as children who went to government supported schools. There were so many homeless children that Binh's "family" was forever growing. One day a priest from Nha Trang came begging.He had a building, Sunflower House, that had been donated by an oil company and he had 25 orphans. Could Binh please help? Would she fund the orphanage operation? Of course, Binh could not refuse. The organization Binh founded, Children of Peace International, allows others to share in the support of her projects, which now include five orphanages, an infant and toddler home, a burn unit in a children's hospital, and a day school for ethnic minorities and children of lepers who would not otherwise be allowed to attend school. Children of Peace pays for the shipping of donated medical equipment and supplies. For 20 dollars a month, families may sponsor children in the orphanages. And since 1997, Children of Peace has been facilitating adoptions in the United States and Europe. Ellen Javernick is a first grade teacher in Loveland, Colorado. Two of her five grown children are adopted. She is the author of numerous magazine articles and ten books for children. She first met Binh when her son, Spencer, was a student in her class.
Click Here to Subscribe and Read These Great Stories too:
Cover Stories:
September 2000 - Volume 3 Number 1
Talking to Teachers About Adoption
Kathryn Kaatz
Second Chance Dad
Richard Fischer
Reflections: Searching for Birthfamily
Adult Adoptee Panel
Spotlight on Guatemala Adoptions:
Adoption in Guatemala
The Evolution of a Country and its Laws
Hannah Wallace
A Blessing in Disguise
A Single Parent Family
Lisa Karlin
Birthfather? Did You Say Birthfather?
Leceta Chisholm Guibault
A Joyous Endeavor
Diane Pearson, Jean Mikhail, Laura Borgess, Billy Renkl & Susan Bryant, Gabrielle Dane, Jill Takacs, Susan Fry, Steve Poe, Chester Smith, Teri DiTommaso
Adoption Agency Profiles
Various Agencies
Resources
Resources for Families Touched by Guatemala Adoption
Feature Stories:
The Bread of Life
Ellen Javernick
Why Korea?
Teresa R. Funke
Three Myths You Might Believe
Rev. John Connor
Perspectives on Waiting
Debi Strong
Stand Up and Be Heard!
A Guide to Promoting Adoption Through Television and Print Media
Myrna L. McNitt, MSW
Shoes for Orphan Souls
Russ Dilday
Brain Development & the Post-Institutionalized Child:
Part I
Megan R. Gunnar
Why Did You Adopt From Colombia?
Monica Paoli
Art is Their Natural Voice
Judith Costello, MA, ATR-BC
The Greatest Journey of My Life
Joseph Dickey
I Am a Foster Child
One Woman's Journey Through Foster Care
Erica Swilley
Be an Informed Participant
Get the Most Out of Foster Care & Adoption Training Programs
Heather Craig-Oldsen, MSW
A Child Waits Foundation
Cynthia Nelson
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
A Marriage Grows Through Adopting and Fostering Children
Jodee & Karl Kulp
W.I.S.E. Up!
Marilyn Schoettle, MA
Your Guide to the Issues
and Answers Surrounding
International & Domestic Adoption!
Written by Adoptive Parents, Adoptees and Professionals in the Fields of Medicine, Education, Law, Social Work, Child Development and International and Domestic Adoption.
Six Informative Issues at the
Low Introductory Price of $21
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
© 2000 Community Internet Services. All rights reserved.
Home
