The 1+1 program was developed by the Alliance for Children, with permission and support from relevant Chinese provincial governments. This program was first designed by Xiaozeng Wu and Weihang Chen when they visited China in the fall of 1998. Their efforts were supported by the Hubei Provincial Department of Civil Affairs. Xiaozeng Wu, a long time China-US adoption volunteer, was the administrator of this project from the start. Weihang Chen, her spouse and the director of the China program at the Alliance for Children, was the project adviser and her assistant.

The 1+1 project started at the Huanggang Social Welfare Institute. Huanggang is a medium sized city in the eastern part of Hubei Province. It is about 80 miles to the southeast of Wuhan. The first connection between an American family and a Chinese orphanage teenager was made in November 1998. Xiaozeng started this program with her own family: her daughter-in-law and her son became the first 1+1 family, connected with Huang Yan, a special needs teenager orphan at Huanggang orphanage. Before the summer of 1999, all eight waiting teenagers at Huanggang were connected with American families.

The overwhelming positive response from the participating families gave the Alliance for Children sufficient confidence to further develop the 1+1 project. In the summer of 1999 with Alliance and its staff's full support, Xiaozeng started to expand the 1+1 program to the second orphanage, Jingmen Children's Welfare Institute. Jingmen, another medium sized city in central Hubei, is about 150 miles to the west of Wuhan. In response to many enthusiastic requests from adoptive families in the United Kingdom, this second group of the 1+1 program is composed of British adoptive families.

Finally, Xiaozeng and Weihang worked to organize more American adoptive families into the third and forth 1+1 groups, and to connect them with teenagers, including some special needs teenagers and young adults, in Hubei and Anhui provinces.

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Xiaozeng and Weihang are both believers of the principle of mutual interests. They believe all sound relationships are based on mutual interests. The 1+1 relationship is no exception. It was not designed only for the interest of the adoptive families, nor it was designed only for the benefit of orphan teenagers. It was designed to serve the interests of both sides.

The idea of the 1+1 relationship came from the realization of what is fundamentally lacking in an adoptive family as well as what is fundamentally lacking in an orphanage. It is clear to everybody that for orphan teenagers the most fundamental loss is the physical existence of their parents. It might not be as clear to adoptive parents, but as their adopted children grow, the family begins to feel more strongly the lack of connection with the cultural and social background of their childrens' origin. This thirst for one's origin will not be easily quenched by any means other than personal connections, especially when one's heritage has to do with a culture so rich and a society so dramatically transforming as China. The 1+1 relationship could be a perfect solution for both sides, each side in the 1+1 connection having plenty of what the other lacks.

This realization provided the foundation for the 1+1 project. The first goal of the project was to find a suitable match and to make the connection. After a suitable connection was made, it was hoped that the development of the relationship would become natural and autonomous, based on the principle of mutual interests. In the organizers' words, it became a family matter between the two parties -- now family members -- to satisfy their needs through their mutual efforts.

To find suitable matches, the orphanage administration provided basic information about all waiting teenagers, including their background, disposition, dreams, likes and dislikes, medical and educational needs, and school performance. The family applicants provided information regarding their family background, financial situation, level of commitment and wishes and preferences for the 1+1 child. All matches had to be accepted willingly by both sides. If there was any doubt on either side about a suggested match, a rematch was made.

Much emphasis was put on the matching process, which took as long as six months to complete. Xiaozeng believed that the success of the program depended largely on the appropriateness of the match. The applicants were welcome to participate fully in this important process to find their own match.

To help individual families step across the boundary of cultures and overcome the difficulties caused by distance and language, the 1+1 program organized families into groups that would work together, help each other, and organize group activities for their 1+1 children in China. The program also used Chinese helpers for each group, and encouraged volunteers in China, including officials, adoption workers, and academics, to act as coordinators for the different groups.

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The 1+1 program connected a teenager living in a Chinese orphanage with one or two Western families. The program allowed three kinds of connections with different levels of commitment.

The family connection: This is a life long connection between a Western adoptive family and a teenager living in a participating Chinese orphanage. Both sides accept and acknowledge the other side as their family members. It is similar to the adoption relationship without legal status. Therefore, no legal rights and obligations but only ethical and emotional considerations are involved. If the Western family is not able to provide full support for the financial needs of the teenager, the program may seek to connect another family as the sponsor of this child.

The sponsor connection: This is a connection between a Western family and one or more designated children of a participating Chinese orphanage. The family is willing to sponsor this child or children for their daily needs, educational needs, or special medical needs. The program administrator, the administration of the orphanage, and the children themselves together supervise the use of the money. The sponsor receives feedback directly from the child, from the orphanage administration, and from the child's 1+1 parent, if any.

Financial support is a concrete expression of care and love. The sponsor connection was designed for those parents who wanted the 1+1 relationship but did not have the time and energy to keep frequent communication and to respond directly to the emotional needs of an orphan in China.

The support team connection: This is a connection between a number of families and an orphanage. None of the families are connected to any individual orphan, but rather, they are organized into a support team, which is affiliated with the 1+1 family group of that particular orphanage. Member families of this team will be able to keep the connection with this particular orphanage for their adopted children. Therefore it is most suitable for families who have children adopted from that orphanage. With this connection, families can be involved as much as they like in supporting the needs of the orphanage and thereby improving its conditions and operations.

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For the support team connection, the team member families have no financial obligation at all.

For the sponsor connection, financial support is within a set limit. The sponsor sets the limit and is free to change it and this financial support is the only commitment of the sponsor for this connection. Financial support will only be asked at the time when a need actually arises. Some communication between the sponsor and the child (or the 1+1 parent of this child) is recommended but not stipulated.

For the family connection, a long-term full-scale commitment is required. It involves time, energy, money, care, and love. The adoptive parents should be committed to keeping frequent communications with the child, to developing a mutual understanding and mutual attachment with the child, and to knowing and caring about the child's spiritual and material needs. In other words, they are committed to acting like real parents.

The 1+1 program did not stipulate a certain sum of financial commitment from the connected family, because the developers firmly believe that love instead of money is the core of the relationship they are helping to establish. However, a certain sum of money is necessary for starting everything and for keeping things going, and the need of spending more money for the child might well be the natural urge of all loving parents. Therefore, applicants were advised as to the to possible financial needs that might arise from the relationship.

To start the relationship, postage was the first necessary expense. A regular letter from China to the US costs $0.80 to $1.50, a package of photos, cards, or small gifts may cost $5 to $10. Orphans living in Chinese orphanages do not have private property, and it is impossible to expect them to use the orphanage money for postage frequently. The only way to make them feel free to write often is for their own 1+1 families provide the postage for them. This program asked $50 for the first two years' postage from each 1+1 family.

According to Chinese custom, the first time when an important relative meets a child, s/he is supposed to give some gifts with value as a token of the relationship. It is a symbol of the establishment of the relationship. $100 was recommended for this purpose.

In many Chinese families, as a common custom, parents will give gifts to their children at many yearly festivals. These are occasions when Chinese parents provide for their children new clothes, useful items, special food, study aids, or items for sports or hobbies. Orphans are strangers to these experiences. When receiving gifts from their 1+1 parents, they could become very emotional and have feelings much deeper than what the gifts themselves are worth. During the first two years, the 1+1 program organized group activities for all the 1+1 children four times a year: Children's Day (June 1), National Day (October 1), Christmas and New Year celebration, and the Chinese New Year celebration. The 1+1 families were expected to sponsor these activities up to a limit of $100 each time. It is $400 or less for each year.

The celebration of the birthday of the child is even more emotional. It was left for the connected family to make its own individual choice of celebration.

The needs of the 1+1 child could include the following items. Please note that costs are estimated and specific needs vary from child to child.

Daily needs:
Alarm clock		$10
Wrist watch		$20
School bag		$20
Books and tapes		$30 each year
Cassette recorder		$30
Glasses		$30
Bicycle		$100
Winter clothing and shoes		$50 each year
Sports clothing and shoes		$50 each year
Communications: (total cost will be divided among the group member families)
Fax machine		$350
One or more computers for email and translation		$750 per computer
Educational needs:
High school		$300 each year
Vocational school		$400 each year
Pre-college		$500 each year
Higher degree		$800 - $1500 each year
Summer camps or summer training program		$200 - $400 each year
Study abroad		varies
Medical needs:
Care for special needs children only		varies