Post 23 - The Chinese Orphanage

On April 6th, the fourth day of our trip in 2005, we traveled with our travel group 2 hours bus ride South West into the interior of Jiang Xi province to Shang Gao county where our daughter's last orphanage was located. We drove passed many places that looked like the poorest parts of Mexico, and we drove passed areas that rivaled the newest parts of a beautiful U.S. city. We also drove passed some enticingly beautiful mountains with roads going up into them ... so much to explore in life, so little time.

Our Travel Group on the Bus with Henry, Our Guide, Up Front

There are still some images that are vivid in my mind to this day that I was not able to capture with the camera. The most vivid image during the road trip was of a man in a muddy field with what looked like a water buffalo plowing a field with a wooden plow. It was as though I had been transported back in time 300 years as I watched him for that brief moment speeding by in the bus. We also had to go through a checkpoint, and I cannot remember why now.

Lyle, Our Marine Buddy Stationed in Japan, Telling a Story to Pass the Time

Our group had a wide variety of people in it. Most communicated a devotion to Christ for which our family was very grateful. The big guy in the white shirt with the microphone is a Marine named Lyle. He is safe as long as you do not set off fire crackers. I loved Lyle. He is stationed with his family in Japan, and they traveled to China from Japan to pick up their daughter (an older daughter). 

The video below details more of our trip.

Note Lyle at the left side of the gate with his Camera. When babies are left at the orphanage gate, they would typically be left at the side of the gate where Lyle is standing. However, we knew from pictures that our daughter had originally come from a different orphanage. We believe government officials move the girls around as necessary to give them a chance at the best home possible.

The Orphanage Gate. Babies are Usually Left at the Left Side where Lyle is Standing.

Playground on the Grounds out Front of the Orphanage Building

(Note the Red Headed Asian Kid - Very Rare)

A rare red-headed Asian child was on the playground as I took the picture above. This child was extremely rare, because he also had fair skin, freckles, and annoying habits and behaviors similar to mine, so we brought him back with us too. 

When we arrived at the orphanage, we went to a large meeting room at the top floor of the orphanage and met with the director, the aunties and the foster parents. Each parent got ask questions about their child and to tour the orphanage. We were treated to a lunch there as family members of the orphanage. They thanked us for devoting ourselves to the care of these daughters of China.

 

The Orphanage Director (right) and Sue, Sarah, and Gabe Listening to the Director Speak (left)

(Eldest was Enthralled with the Speech)

Our Daughter with her Auntie (Nanny)

We met with our daughter's auntie (nanny). It was clear that she loved our daughter, but it was also clear that she had not been with her as long as some of the other babies, which was further affirmation that she had come from a different orphanage originally. This had not occurred to us until we got back home and compared pictures that we had received of her while she was still at another orphanage. The nanny still held her quite a while. She told us that she liked her, and that she never fused much. This may sound good, but with a room full of babies, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And she did have a pretty strong diaper rash when we got her. Ooops! Did any of you want to hear that?

Ives Family Version 5.0 with Our New Daughter's Last Auntie

Our daughter cried when her old Nanny first took her, and then she settled down when I stayed near and tried to talk in Mandarin with the Nanny. (We know now that she was afraid that she might lose us. She would cry at other times after coming home if she saw a Chinese person or someone that looked Chinese. We're pretty sure that she may have thought that someone had come to take her back! She is way past that now at nearly 6 years old). 

One of the Many Care Rooms at the Orphanage

The orphanage is a nice building with very nice grounds and adequate facilities and staff for caring for the children. However, as we have learned after 5 adoptions now, nothing but a family is adequate for a child, and every child on this planet should have one. 

Our Wonderful Travel Group

We've stayed close to one of the friends we made from our travel group. She is a single mom that was here for her 3rd Chinese daughter. We still trade pictures with her to this day. In the picture above, we are only missing two families from our travel group.

Elderly being Cared for at the Facility

Clearly this was more than an orphanage. It is what we might call a social care facility. Here, these elderly people are staying together at what would be equivalent to an assisted living home.

A Worn Out Girl on Sleeping on Her New Momma

Once found at the orphanage gate, it is a procedure for the staff to run an add in the paper for 2 months, stating that a child was found, and where it was found, in hopes that the parents will come forward. They take every precaution to make sure that the child was not stolen / abducted against the parents wishes. Seeing Sarah, it's hard to comprehend how anyone could leave her at an orphanage gate. This country has gone through some very strong changes over the last 60 years. They are still very much recovering from much of that rapid change and turmoil. I could just begin to explain the changes in economic philosophy in the middle of this trip. I couldn't tell you if they are still the same now in February of 2010. The width of the economic spectrum was, and probably still is, very broad in China, especially Jiang Xi, due to the latest economic reforms, which most people are very happy with. Sarah's province has the most agriculture, and it is likely that Sarah's parents are farmers who are “Wanting a Daughter and Needing a Son,” which is the name of a book about adandoned daughters in China. The pressures felt by this culture are best explained in those books. It is a tough book to get through. We also recommend “The Lost Daughters of China” and “Wild Swans.”

The Classic Ives Shot of Baby Sleeping on Mom's Chest
(Normally, we try to get this at about 1 week old.
1 year old was the best we could do with our new daughter.)

In our bedroom, Sue and I have 4 pictures of our biological children sleeping against Mom's chest when they were one week old. Our new daughter was a year old in the picture above – the best we could do. Appropriately, we took this picture while driving home from the orphanage as if to say, “We will take you into our hearts and home little Yi Pu (her orphanage name). We love you and want you very much. We are sorry to take you from your home country, but it is the best we can do for you right now.”