Holding Up Half the Sky

Holding up Half the Sky

One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying on its back with its tiny feet up in the air. "What are you doing?" asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied, "I heard that the sky might fall today, and so I am ready to help hold it up, should it fall."

The elephant laughed cruelly. "Do you really think," he said, "that those tiny feet could help hold up the sky?"

The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air, intent on his purpose, as he replied, "Not alone. But each must do what he can. And this is what I can do."

~A Chinese Folktale

I want to introduce to many of you a wonderful organization called Half the Sky. After adopting their daughter in 1997, Jenny and Richard Bowen saw first hand the effects of institutionalization on their child and many others. Their daughter suffered from both physical and cognitive developmental delays. But after one year of individual attention, love and nurture, their daughter was transformed!
From this amazing experience, the following was born:

"How easy it was to make a tremendous difference in the life of one young child! What if you could do the same for the many children in China who languish waiting for families — or those who will never be adopted? That's how Half the Sky Foundation — named for the Chinese adage, "Women hold up half the sky" — was born in 1998." - The Bowens

Half the Sky's mission is to provide family-like nurturing care in the lives of orphaned children.

Since Half the Sky first launched its determined effort to help “hold up the sky”, thousands of children living in Chinese institutions have received the gift of love and nurture. And that number grows each year. Half the Sky centers now dot the map of China, each one a sign of hope and care for orphaned children.

Half the Sky has accomplished so much because so many have joined in to help. Today Half the Sky’s global community is made up of tens of thousands of generous individuals, corporations, and foundations, each doing their part to hold up the sky.

It is a community of doggedly optimistic hummingbirds who believe that coming together as a community can eventually bring a family’s loving care to all of China’s orphaned children.

To find out more visit their website! Half the Sky

Here are a few of their outstanding programs:

Baby Sisters infant Nurture Centers
Big Sisters Program
Family Villages
For the Children



"All the children who are held and loved will know how to love others.... Spread these virtues in the world. Nothing more need be done." ~Meng Zi c.300bc