Program Gives Older Orphans A Five-Week Taste of Family

Program Gives Older Orphans A Five-Week Taste of Family

By Joshua Garner

Gazette Staff Writer

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Kelly and Stacey O'Donnell had always dreamed of being parents.

The couple spent years trying to have children, with no success. And after researching international adoption, the Fort Washington couple decided to enroll in a summer program to host two Colombian orphans in their home for five weeks via Kidsave, a District-based organization that advocates orphan adoption.

"Any child without parents just shouldn't be," said Stacey O'Donnell, 37. "There is a group of older children who have been forgotten about."

The couple has been married for four years. Kelly O'Donnell, 36, works as an engineer in Virginia, and Stacey O'Donnell works as a sales associate. Their home had increasingly felt empty, Kelly O'Donnell said.

When Sandra Torres Preciado, 10, and her brother, Adrian, 8, came to live with the couple early last month, the O'Donnells found themselves living a family lifestyle. Their days were filled with trips to the zoo and the Smithsonian museums. Stacey O'Donnell said she fell into a pattern of waking up early, preparing breakfast, dropping the children off at camp and going to work, only to come home and prepare dinner, something she said she thought would leave her exhausted.

"When you actually do it, you learn so much about yourself. I can do this," she said.

And in the process of showing the children their life, the O'Donnells said they, too, felt young again.

"There is this excitement of showing a kid something for the first time. You become a kid again," Stacey O'Donnell said. "The joy is there."

The couple said they had to overcome a language barrier: The O'Donnells didn't speak Spanish, and the children didn't speak English.

In the beginning, Kelly O'Donnell was so nervous that he could barely say hello in Spanish to the children. But they soon found their stride using flashcards, bilingual dictionaries and friends and relatives who were fluent in Spanish.

The children said their time in the United States was well spent.

"I've really been enjoying my time here," Sandra, a shy girl with long hair and freckles, said through an interpreter. "I really like the pools over here."

Adrian, also using an interpreter, said he came to enjoy listening to Latin rapper Daddy Yankee, watching the Disney Channel television series "Hannah Montana" and playing golf.

"I like listening to music and riding in the car," he said. "I will miss my godparents [Kelly and Stacey] the most."

Terry Baugh, co-founder of Kidsave, said the program was meant to give older orphans hope that adoption is possible.

And Kelly O'Donnell, who said the couple has yet to make a final decision on adopting, said he hopes the children walk away from the experience with an important message:

"There's hope. I think that's the key word here for these children."