Granting wishes, one child at a time
By Dianna Love Snell

Wet Noodle Posse | Diana Love Snell

Amy Williams is not a fairy godmother, but the children living in a Ukrainian orphanage halfway around the world think she has a magic wand and angel wings.

I met with Amy in Peachtree City, Georgia - where we both live - to ask her about these children and how she came to be their champion. The attractive blonde has a welcoming smile and approachable manner, but when the subject of her "kids" comes up

her face glows with warmth and longing. You know the minute she starts discussing these children she sincerely wants to find a home for every one of them.

If she only had that magic wand.

Instead, she uses her sharp mind and creative ability to bring attention to this small corner of the world. After all, this is a woman who produced Emmy Award-winning television documentaries and finagled a job with Jenny Jones after two years of persistent contacts. The word "no" isn't in Amy's vocabulary.

So why orphanages in the Ukraine?

"I grew up in a military family, so we traveled all over the world. We lived in Russia during the Cold War. It was my favorite place we visited. I found that area and culture fascinating. Where we have foster parenting in the United States, they have an orphanage system." Amy's work in television is what eventually brought her back to the Ukraine. After having worked with another talk show and the 1996 Olympics, she accepted a position in Seattle to produce a live show for an ABC affiliate. No stranger to moving by this point in her life, she eventually moved again to Chicago to work with PBS. She received four nominations for Emmys, but it was her edgy investigative reporting on nursing home abuse that earned her the win.

Life was rocking along pretty good with a penthouse in Chicago and a celebrated career. "I wanted something else, something more fulfilling." So she found a volunteer program that took people to orphanages in the Ukraine. She bought a very expensive camera she couldn't operate, then paid to be a volunteer (this is standard). "I hadn't figured out my angle for this piece yet, just decided I would do a documentary on the orphanages."

The plan was to stay three weeks. She stayed five.

What she found amazed her. These weren't the pitiful children living in filth you see in the background of a commercial asking for pennies a day to help. They were well cared for everyday kids. In a world of 400 orphans, each child had 399 friends.

"I interviewed Christina first. She is thirteen and sweet. When I moved through the orphanage interviewing children, teachers and others who cared for them, she would follow me, hiding behind doors...with a big smile." Amy and her fiancé are currently in the process of adopting Christina. Amy admits she'd never been particularly interested in children, having been exposed to so many spoiled brats.

"These children aren't interested in the next Barbie or hottest computer game. They crave hugs and love. In five weeks, the only time I heard one of them cry was over a toothache."

When we discussed Christina, I asked about her birthday - August - and what Amy's soon-to-be daughter wants. "She knows I can buy her something expensive, but when I asked what she wanted Christina said 'notebook paper.' How many children in this country would say that?" Amy shakes her head in wonder. "I can't wait to bring her here and just watch her as she takes in everything."

Amy explained the adoption process, and the specifics can be found on her website (listed at the end) where you will see photos of the children. It's not as difficult to adopt as some people think, and she's appalled at the exorbitant money these agencies charge. "Some agencies charge huge sums to do nothing but hand over the forms for you to fill out. We can walk a person through each step, hold their hand. People think they have to be wealthy to adopt a child. They don't and they do not need an agency." That's why she's developing teams to help potential parents.

The normal adoption process is not bad, but the parents have a very short time to meet their prospective child and make a decision. Amy advises going over to spend time at the orphanage first. She organizes volunteer trips during the year.

"I always heard how you don't want to adopt older children. Too many problems." Amy rolls her eyes. "That's not the case with these children. They are sweet, happy kids who are thrilled when anyone visits. No one visited in five weeks. I want people to go over there and spend time around the children, get to know them and find the one, or more, that they bond with. That gives a person plenty of time to see a child's personality."

The sad thing is that some of these children are not "registered" in the system, so they stay in the orphanage until reaching the age of seventeen, when they must leave. Those will never be adopted unless they make it into the system, which costs a mere ten dollars per child to do. As Amy explains, that's the cost of a martini. In addition to finding homes for these children, she's dedicated to getting them all registered.

"These kids are cared for, but there are only 20 teachers for 400 children." Amy searches for ways to send the older children to college and train them for a career. "They need parents and love. They need to be protected. There's a high suicide rate for the older children. Predators wait for the teens as they come of age and have to leave the orphanage. With no skills, they are hit with offers for prostitution and pornography to survive."
 

Amy has found her life's mission, and someday down the road we'll see her documentary on the family of children in this orphanage. In the meantime, she spends every waking minute advocating for their future.

We may not believe Amy is a fairy godmother, but you won't convince 400 hearts in the Ukraine otherwise.

For more information on Amy Williams and the Angel Network, call 770-486-0919, e-mail her at amy@ptcangelsnetwork.org or visit www.ptcangelsnetwork.org. Her snail mail is P.O. Box 3154, Peachtree City, GA 30269.
 

To read last month's SuperHeroine article, click here

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