Looking Back and Ahead
November 6, 2023No Comments
Across Asia, as the Lunar New Year holiday draws near, in even the poorest families debts are paid, floors are swept, homes are scrubbed top to bottom and filled with flowers, fruit and candies. Children too are scrubbed clean and adorned in bright new clothes. Everyone is ready for a fresh start…ready for spring. Maybe after a difficult year like the last, it’s not so easy to sweep away our troubles and make ready for a time of renewal. But as I reflect on all the challenges we’ve faced over the years, how far we’ve come, how much there is…
How We Began
October 23, 2023No Comments
IN 1997, JENNY AND RICHARD BOWEN ADOPTED A TODDLER FROM A WELFARE INSTITUTION IN SOUTHERN CHINA. From that day, they received a harsh, first-hand education about the devastating consequences of children living neglected and without love. Their little daughter, Maya suffered from malnutrition, dysentery, parasites, severe delays and—most worrisome—she was emotionally shut down. Vacant. But after just one year of non-stop loving attention and care from her adoring new family, she was transformed. Truly… a butterfly emerged from that lonely cocoon. How easy it was to make all the difference in the life of one small child! What if you…
Jenny Bowen
October 23, 2023No Comments
A former screenwriter and independent filmmaker, Jenny founded Half the Sky in 1998 in order to give something back to China, her adopted daughters’ home country and to the many orphaned and abandoned children then languishing behind institutional walls. In 2008, Jenny received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship; she was the only American chosen by popular vote to carry the Olympic Torch on Chinese soil; and in that same year, Half the Sky became one of only a handful of foreign NGOs officially recognized and legally registered by the Chinese government. Among other awards, Jenny has been honored with…