Visiting Caroline's Orphanage

Thursday, June 20th (Day 5 in China)

 

Starting our day at the breakfast buffet!

Today was a day I had mixed emotions about.  This was the day we would be visiting Caroline's orphanage in Huazhou.  Her orphanage is located in the same province as our hotel in Guangzhou (the province is Guangdong), but it's a five hour drive there, one way!  We honestly weren't sure what the best thing to do was; was it going to be too confusing for our daughter to go back there, where her nannies and friends were? Was it going to be too difficult for us to see how she's been living for the first 14 months of her life? Was the drive going to be too hard for her? After a lot of thought and prayer, we decided it was something we needed to see.

We met Lily in the hotel lobby at 8:30 am.  Thankfully we had a different driver for this trip, because the other driver's van has AC, but it doesn't work all that well.  We knew this was going to be a long trip, and it was HOT outside.

The drive was long, but Caroline seems to be a good traveler.  She loves to be held (there are no carseats in China), so we took turns holding her throughout the trip.  We stopped when we got to Huazhou and ate lunch at a KFC.  It was very similar to KFC back home....except there were no biscuits (my favorite!).  We were definitely the minorities! The people there seemed very curious about these Caucasians with an Asian baby.  One couple even wanted to take a photo of their baby with ours!

 

 

Lily and Daddy making sure Caroline's bottle is just the right temperature.

 

 

Yes...This is the toilet in the ladies' restroom. Yikes!

 

There were some interesting sights on the street.  This was a working class area, and everywhere you turned someone was trying to sell something.  I was curious about this red fruit.  They were about the size of a plum.  Lily is so proud of her heritage, and she loves that we're so interested about the Chinese culture.  She insisted on buying some of this fruit for us to try.  It was called "leechee." It wasn't bad.

 

 

 

After eating lunch we were ready for the orphanage.  The director knew we were coming to take a tour.  We had to pay an additional fee for the visit (on top of the orphanage donation), but we felt it was important.  I have heard from other adopting mothers that their orphanage director frowned upon them taking any photos during their visits.  We were fortunate that they let us take all the photos we wanted to.  The only photos we were told not to take were those of the older children in the orphanage (I'm guessing they were elementary school age). We learned that the orphanage has been there for 75 years.  About 1,500 children have been adopted from it, with about 600 of the 1,500 being adopted by Americans. The majority of the children who live there now are special needs children.

 

 

 

 

The Nanny was making sure the directors were ready for us to go up.

 

 

Here we are with the directors of the orphanage.  They were very proud of their institution, and welcomed us with lots of hot tea!

 

 

We wanted to make sure Caroline was nice and full. 

 

 

Caroline smiled when she saw her nanny.  The nanny held out her arms to hold her, so I let her.  I wasn't sure how Caroline would react when I reached out to take her, but she came right to her mommy.  I can tell she was so loved.

 

 

I brought a small album with photos of Brin and Savy. 

I wanted them to see Caroline's forever family!

 

 

This is one of the floors we weren't allowed access to.

 It either had much older kids, or adults with mental illness.

 

 

This is their view....bars everywhere.

 

 

What I am about to show you was one of the hardest parts of our day.  This was the only empty crib in the bed baby room.  It used to be Caroline's.  All that is there is a piece of plywood, and an old towel.  They have no cushion to sleep on.  They don't wear diapers.  It's actually some type of rough material wrapped around them.  The room is very hot, and there are no fans or air conditioning.  They were so proud to show us their orphanage, and all I could do is look around in disbelief that this is how these children live, day in and day out.  I was holding back tears.  Bo and I went around to each and every baby and smiled at them, and silently prayed for them.  The back of Caroline's head is flat, and this is caused by sleeping on her back on this piece of board for 14 months.  Heartbreaking!! They asked if we would like to take a photo of Caroline in her crib, and I quickly said "No."

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was their "play room."  All that we saw for them to play with were these two walkers.  I thought about sending over donations every year on the anniversary of Caroline's "Gotcha Day." I was thinking of sending over diapers, toys, blankets, clothes, etc..  The director said all they needed were clothing items.  Any package we sent would be searched, and toys would never make it to them.  How sad!

These children need some type of stimulation and play time!!

 

 

 

I hugged them and told them thank you taking care of our daughter. We are forever grateful!

 

 

 

After touring the orphanage, we then went to see the site where Caroline was left by her birth mother.  She was left at what used to be a medical clinic.  The clinic has since moved to a different location.  We are thankful that her birth mother loved her enough to leave her at a place where she knew she would be found, and taken care of.  Most people in this area don't have the financial means to care for a special needs baby.  Caroline's cleft lip was severe when she was born (she had surgery when she was between 5-6 months old).  

 

 

It was now time to say good-bye.  The director bought and gave us some famous tea for "good luck."  She told our guide to tell us to please email her photos of Caroline as she's growing up.  I assured her that I would stay in touch with her.

 

 

 

Waving good-bye!

 

 

 

Outside the gate of the orphanage.  We were so thankful that we were leaving with Caroline in our arms. 

Thank you Lord Jesus for this wonderful blessing.

 

 

Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Reprove the ruthless,

Defend the orphan,

Plead for the widow.

Isaiah 1:17