I often work with organizations like Mam Non and Families with Children from China to help families who have adopted children transracially and internationally figure out strategies for raising their children with cultures and language and pride. Raising children is not easy. Adding in differences of race, country, politics, socio-economics, history, language, culture, memory, and it becomes exponentially more complicated. There is always more to learn with both the head and the heart, not just for adoptive families, but for all of us.

From the Ann Arbor District Library:

Acclaimed Documentary On International Adoption, 'Long Wait For Home' With Discussion Led By The Director, Dr. Changfu Chang

Sunday November 8, 2009: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

International adoption has increasingly become a national phenomenon in the United States. In the last two decades, many American families have gone to China to adopt children and to provide them with loving homes, but there are unanswered questions about these international adoptions. Dr. Changfu Chang's documentary, 'Long Wait For Home,' attempts to answer some of these questions. In the film, we meet birth parents who share with us the hard decisions they have made; we go to orphanages and take an intimate look at the living conditions; and we also converse with a wide range of ordinary Chinese citizens and scholars on the subject of international adoption. Dr. Changfu Chang will lead an audience discussion, following this 50 minute film.

Changfu Chang, a native of Jiangsu Province, China, is a professor at Millersville University of Pennsylvania teaching in the areas of television production and mass media.

Dr. Chang is considered, “the professor of adoption films,” and a review in Adoptive Families Magazine calls the film, “realistic, gritty, and heartbreaking.”

The downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library is located at 343 South Fifth Avenue.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a second-generation Chinese American from California who now divides her time between Ann Arbor and the Big Island of Hawaii. She is editor of IMDiversity.com Asian American Village, lead multicultural contributor for AnnArbor.com, and a contributor for New America Media's Ethnoblog. She is a popular speaker on Asian Pacific American and multicultural issues. Check out her website at franceskaihwawang.com, her blog at franceskaihwawang.blogspot.com, and she can be reached at fkwang888@gmail.com.