Help give back to Orphanage in Riga, Latvia

To My Friends, Family, and Network,

For those of you that do not know, I was adopted from an orphanage in Latvia when I was 5 years old, and I will be traveling back to Latvia in April for the first time since my adoption nearly 25 years ago. While I am there, I will have the unique opportunity of returning to my old orphanage and volunteering my time to help out for a few days.

To make a long story short, I was born somewhere in Eastern Europe to a Romani woman. The common word for The Romani People or “Roma” is Gypsy (one of the most persecuted minority groups in Europe/Asia). There are varying accounts but presumably I was with her until I was either A) abandoned by her or another family member or B) was forcibly taken by the government when I was around 2-2.5 years old. The only constant in any of the stories is that I ended up in a hospital, and after a few weeks I was placed in an orphanage in Riga, Latvia. For the next 2.5-3 years, I lived in the orphanage while the Latvian government tried to find a local family to adopt me. Time after time, Latvian families chose to pass on me (presumably due to the negative connation that Roma children carry). After approximately 2.5 years, the Latvian government allowed me the opportunity of being adopted internationally, where I was blessed to be adopted by an American family in July, 1997. They couldn’t speak Russian or Latvian, and I couldn’t speak English but they opened their home to an “old” orphan. I started kindergarten in August, learned to read in 2nd grade, and the rest is history.

When I arrive in April, I will not show up empty handed. I will have a donation ready to give but with that being said, there is power in numbers. In order to give back to a place that has given me so much, I am reaching out to ask for additional donations, no matter the size. The US $ goes a lot further in Latvia as the average household income is under $24K USD per year. Every penny of your donations will go directly to these kids in the form of toys, clothes, and every day necessities that will go a long way in bringing some smiles, happiness, and memories. If we can raise enough money, I would like to donate some outside playground equipment (like swings) as their current equipment is old and starting to run down (A picture of one of their current swing sets is attached).

I have been blessed to live a truly extraordinary life here in the United States and none of it would be possible if it weren’t for the great care I received while I was at the orphanage in Riga, Latvia.