Starfish Update



October 26, 2013


Starfish Foster Home
Starfish Foster Home

Henk Tjarks
Chief Operating Officer

Jet Tjarks
Executive Director


Board Members 

President
Patrick McLaughlin

Marketing and Fundraising 
 Cynthia
Klaja-McLaughlin

Secretary and Child Advocate
Anne Little

Communication and Volunteer Coordinator
Deborah Coffey 

International Relationships
Michael Bosmann


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In March of last year, when Amanda de Lange was so sick and Starfish needed someone to keep moving things forward, Naomi Kerwin was appointed to serve as the Executive Director for Starfish.  It was no easy task - coming in with insur-

Cuddle time with Naomi 
mountable challenges and trying to step into shoes that no one will ever be able to fill.  But Naomi tackled it with head-on determination, tenacity, fortitude, and "stick-to-itiveness".  When most people would have turned and run from the overwhelming responsibilities she faced, Naomi never backed down.  We thank her for keeping Starfish afloat during such an extremely challenging time. Thank you Naomi!

 

With the changes that Starfish has endured in recent years, we now are turning the corner to a new horizon that includes Starfish as part of its vision for the orphans of China.  We have identified a location in Southeast China that is welcoming us with open arms - part of a network of foster homes that has proven its success over the years by the sheer number of children it has helped.  We are grateful to be joining this network as we continue Starfish's mission to make a positive difference in children's lives.

 

Henk, Jet, and children
 Norah and Robin

After much searching and consideration, we are happy to share with our Starfish family the appointment of Henk and Jet Tjarks to head our new Starfish Foster Home, Henk as Chief Operating Officer and Jet as Executive Director. 

 

This husband-wife team has been closely 
connected with Starfish for many years. Parents of two adopted children from China, including a Starfish baby, the Tjarks are powerful and loving advocates for the Starfish mission and success.

We welcome the Tjarks and wish them great success in their new role as guardians of our Starfish babies! 

 

 

 
 
Meet the Tjarks

The Tjarks family with
 Amanda, 2008

We are Henk and Jet Tjarks from the Netherlands. We have a 9 year old son, Robin, and a 7 year old daughter, Norah. They were both adopted from China. We traveled a lot before we adopted our children, and we enjoyed experiencing other cultures and meeting different people.

 

Our first time traveling to China was in 2001. We totally loved it! In 2006 we went to China again to adopt our son Robin from Guangxi province. We found out about Starfish Foster Home in 2008, while we were waiting for our daughter Norah.  

 

Searching the internet for information about the Xi'an SWI we accidentally found Norah's photo on the Starfish weblog. Her name at Starfish was Rachel. We were so excited she was being loved so much and got such excellent care!! Norah's adoption was the beginning of our friendship with Amanda de Lange.

 
Amanda visited The Netherlands a year and a half after Norah's adoption and spent a few days at our house. She still had this amazing bond with our little girl. That was proof of the love that was there between them. In 2011, we actually visited Starfish Foster Home in Xi'an and stayed there for ten days. It was an experience we will never forget. We promised Amanda we would visit again, but sadly that was not to be.... we still miss her dearly....

 

When this opportunity to continue Amanda's work came along we knew this was our chance to make Amanda's wish come true - to make sure Starfish Foster Home continues to "make a difference" for the children in need in China!!!

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What is Next for Starfish?

Michael Bosmann and Cindy Klaja-McLaughlin on Discovery Trip to Southeast China
The path for re-establishing Starfish on new soil is moving forward with increasing pace.  The Tjarks family have sold their home in the Netherlands and will be soon relocating to Starfish in China.  First steps will be to quickly set up the foster home and start receiving babies.  The foster home network which we belong to already has a lineup of babies waiting for us!  How exciting is that?!

 

The layout of Starfish will be much like Amanda's original set up - babies in apartment-style foster homes who are able to receive close individualized attention and care.  One apartment will serve as the Starfish office, with neighboring apartments serving as the babies' homes.  The nanny-baby ratio will remain high as these babies often come to us very medically fragile.   

 

The Tjarks bring passion, experience, hands-on skills, and a love for Amanda and the Starfish legacy.  We are SO excited to have them on board!!!

 
 
Starfish Baby Joins Family
Bella and Mom share warm hug and contagious smiles!

Bella Gets Her Forever Family

 

On October 13th, Little Starfish "Bella"  

was wrapped in forever love as she joined 5 siblings and two adoring parents in the United States.  We love you Bella!  

 

Over 100 babies from Starfish have been adopted into loving homes!    

 

 
Last newsletter update - in case you missed it!

 

We are excited to bring you an update on the progress made with regards to our Starfish Foster Home.  As a recap, it has become necessary to move Starfish out of Xi'an and set up in a new location within China. 
Michael Bosmann and Cindy Klaja-McLaughlin, two of our Board Members, have spent an exhaustive several months of due diligence in this regard, both in multiple "location scouting" trips to China and in countless international phone calls. As a result of extensive information finding on their parts as well as consultation with professionals and the full Starfish Board, we are happy to share the following:

 

 

  • We have selected a new location in Southeast China as the location to re-establish Starfish. This location was chosen primarily because of the severe need for quality medical services and resources for its' fragile orphans. We feel Starfish specializes in providing these kinds of services and will be partnering with a wonderful team of dedicated individuals who share our passion for making a difference in orphans' lives.

 

  • We will belong to a Health Advisory Centre, partnering with a devoted Chinese couple who have been fostering children since 1999.  Mr. Han and his wife, as part of their foster care network, have helped foster 1,200 children with over 900 of them being adopted internationally. We are honored to be part of this amazing work, and look forward to setting up the Starfish Foster Home and begin helping orphans in need once again.

 

  • We will follow the same model as organized by Founder Amanda de Lange - which is to receive medically fragile children from orphanages, nurse them back to health with the required medical attention, and have them prepared for adoption.  The mission, vision and values of Starfish will continue to guide us in the implementation of this work.

 

  • Michael Bosmann and Cindy Klaja-McLaughlin returned in September with Jet Tjarks to develop the next steps in the set up of Starfish, including discussions with local partners and medical teams.  During that time they selected a location and began the steps in facilitating our new home.  

 

Thank you for your sustaining support, faith, compassion, and service to these precious babies.  As shared by the President of the Board at the time of Amanda's passing,

 

"How do we say 'thank you' to Amanda? It's simple: we make a personal commitment to ensure Amanda's legacy continues. Everyone needs to know that Starfish foster home is here to stay and poised to enhance Amanda's legacy by expanding our impact on the orphans of China."  

   

 

Patrick McLaughlin, Starfish Board President  

 


 
     
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