By Cailean Cooke
Town Crier Editorial Intern
Susan and Keith Lobo of Los Altos had shared a comfortable life for 17 years. When the couple sat down to watch television one evening after work neither expected that the program they would view - a one-hour documentary on Kosovo’s orphanages - would change their lives forever.
“When I saw the orphans and the conditions they were living in, I became hysterical and started crying,” Susan said. “At that point, I knew I wanted to bring one of those children home.”
Though she had never considered adoption before, Susan devoted the next week to researching overseas adoption policies. She found that, because Kosovo was a war zone, adoption policies in that region were staggeringly complex. It could take several years before she would be able to adopt a child legally.
Not allowing herself to become discouraged, Susan continued her research and became even more determined when she learned that of the 400,000 orphans in Russia, 30 percent eventually become homeless and often succumb to drugs, 10 percent commit suicide and many join the military because they have limited choices.
During her research, she stumbled upon an international adoption agency in Russia in need of adoptive families. Susan, who had studied Russian history and language in college, and is part Lithuanian, put in a request with the agency to adopt a one-year-old Russian girl. One year later in April 2000, seven-month-old Natalie Katerina became the third member of the Lobo household.
After adopting Natalie, Susan quit her job and became a full-time mom. She became a part-time host families coordinator for Project Hope, a non-profit agency that organizes three-week “American Culture Camps” for orphans from around the world. The program is meant to allow families to know a child before making an adoption commitment. An impressive 95 percent of the children who come to the United States with Project Hope return later as permanent members of American families. Susan prescreens families interested in adopting and serves as a point of contact throughout the entire process.
David Avilla, a program coordinator, has three grown children of his own but adopted five Russian siblings, 7 to 15.
“It has been an incredible adventure and an opportunity to represent God’s love with tremendous personal benefit in the form of family,” Avilla said.
This summer will be the first time Project Hope will be held in the Bay Area. Aug. 4-24, 60 Russian orphans ages 4 to 12 will be hosted by American families.
During the day, orphans will be introduced to American culture through camp activities, crafts, field trips picnics and group weekend activities. The host family can stay at the camp with the child as much or as little as they want to.
None of the orphans who will come this summer can read, write or speak English, though Susan believes it does not put prospective parents at a disadvantage.
“It is amazing how much you can communicate with gestures and movements,” she said.
For additional aid, host families are given a 70-page manual that contains common Russian terms and English translations.
Project Hope is still in need of volunteers to aid with lunch and activities at the day camps which will take place at Crossroads Church in San Jose, St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church in Mountain View and a church in the Silver Creek/Evergreen area of South San Jose. They also are in need of more Russian translators and families interested in hosting a child. Those interested can contact Susan Lobo at 941-9497 or David Avilla at (408) 569-4044.
“The children that come are ecstatic; for them this is the chance of a lifetime,” Lobo said. “By adopting a child you will change your life and the child’s life forever.”
