No less than 22 babies and children have been left with the Good Shepherd Social Welfare Services in the first quarter of 2009 and they have been put up for adoption. Last year, the total number of little ones abandoned and left with the Good Shepherd was 75, said Sister Therese Thong.

Fortunately the Good Shepherd Social Welfare Services headed by Sister Therese Thong has been successful, sometimes after a long and hard search, in finally putting them in the care of wonderful adoptive parents not just in Taiwan but also abroad.

"Taiwanese couples who are considering child adoption usually prefer healthy and beautiful babies," observed Sister Therese Thong. "Foreign couples are more prepared to welcome into their homes the babies and children who are physically challenged in some ways. They are more willing to painstakingly nurse the sickly children back to good health. This is the reason why we work closely with Heartsent Adoptions in America in placing the children in loving families. The adoptive parents report to us regularly on the progress of the children in their care."

Many little lives begin with heartbreaking stories. They are born to families with a lot of problems. Often, they are babies of unwed mothers. The fathers are drug-dependent and often unemployed.

But the Good Shepherd sisters and their staff have faith in tracking down people whose hearts are full of love and generosity in giving happiness to children deprived of a normal life.

One touching documented account revolves around little Nini. Her physically challenged mother was only 16 when she gave birth to Nini. Nini's father, 30, was jobless and drug-dependent. Thus, the mother had to eke out a living, making as little as NT$10,000 a month. Nini was entrusted to the care of the 86-year-old great grandmother.

The quiet Nini had little interaction with people around her. But when brought to the hospital for check-up one day, she was found to be deaf and dumb. She was more than one year old then.

The Good Shepherd sisters finally visited her father in prison to ask permission to put her up for adoption to give her a better life. At the age of four, she left for America to begin a new life with her adoptive family. She underwent expensive surgery and was fitted with costly hearing aids. Nini, now eight years old, is leading a normal life in a well-to-do family with six siblings.

The Good Shepherd sisters also run several shelters for women who are victims of domestic violence.

They rely partly on government subsidy to carry out their mission of love and care. Visit the website www.goodshepherd.org.tw for more information. Or call tel. (02)2381-5402 ext. 223 or 221.