My trip to Asia was both informative and insightful. I’ve been wanting to join a Superkids trip for a couple of years now and I’m so thankful I was invited to go on this one, with the added bonus of a week in China! Getting ready for the trip, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve seen so many children, post placement, that have thrived and done really well and their families have nothing but positive things to say about their experience. But then I also deal with the tough cases and have heard difficult stories our families and their children have had to endure. My hope before arriving was just to soak in as much information as I could but with all of the changes in China, I wasn’t expecting much. I admittedly thought China would just be a good thing for me to experience while mostly looking forward to my second week in Taiwan. However, I was completely wrong. I truly enjoyed my time in both places. It’s actually quite hard to compare the two!
My first stop in China was Shanghai. After a full day day of travel, I was exhausted yet strangely unable to sleep... I knew jet lag would be tough but really, I had no clue. I woke early and we were off to Shanghai Children’s Home to meet with the director. We had a really great meeting where I was able to ask any question I wanted and felt the director answered them honestly, which I really appreciated. I found out they have 600 children in the orphanage and another 800 out in the community, in foster care. That is such an alarming number to me when you consider it’s only one orphanage. After our meeting, I was able to go on a tour. First I saw the baby rooms, lined with cribs and occupied by several young ones sitting around tables eating their bowls of lunch. I peeked in their small wash rooms of large buckets and all the tiny little washcloths hanging up, instantly flashing to bath time at my house and how different of an experience the two are. Next we toured some play areas, classrooms, the library and a common area for the older children. The hallways were filled with children’s art work, so colorful and unique. Then I saw the cafe/store that the older children run in order to learn skills that will help them once they are living on their own. All in all, I was impressed by not only the size of the place but by how nice it seemed inside. They told me they have many donors, such as Disney, and it was apparent with all of the colorful artwork, toys, and Disney characters located throughout. I will say, it was quiet for such a large amount of children. I was told many of the children were at school but I couldn’t help compare to my home of four young boys and the extremely rare moments of quiet. We talk in Pathways about the “quiet” and lack of asking for your needs to be met, but it really drove the concept home for me to actually experience it. However, even with the quiet and silly comparisons, I was overall pretty impressed. I was expecting the dark, uninviting, impoverished building and it definitely wasn’t that. Yet it still puts into perspective all of the things we take for granted. After Shanghai, we traveled to Beijing and then Nanchang. I met with more officials and the orphanage director in Nanchang. I feel like I met almost everyone at CCCWA, although I know that’s not true, I was able to meet with several different departments which was helpful. I met with the post adoption department and saw the archives where I learned they actually do care if there are missing reports and do make them available for those interested to read. I met with the social work department and learned just how new social work is in China and how they want to learn from us to better inform their social workers out in the community and at their orphanages. In both Beijing and Nanchang I met the infamous Rocky and Mary, two guides I hear so much about. I was very excited to finally meet them. Lastly, Gongzhan was an amazing guide the entire week and ensured I got the full cultural experience. We toured some fun places and walked around the cities, eating local cuisine. I even got to see Gongzhan’s childhood home I loved every minute of it! My week in China flew by and then it was off to Taiwan.
In Taiwan, I was able to join the Superkids team at both Cathwel and Chung Yi. Both wonderful agencies filled with caring social workers and directors. It was apparent that everyone is invested in the children’s lives and truly care about them. We met caregivers, foster parents, and various social workers and you could just feel the difference in care, compared to China. Not that China was notably bad, but Taiwan has so many more adults involved in each child’s case and I believe better resources offered to many of the children. I was thoroughly impressed with the Superkids program and how well it run. The ladies are experienced professionals who make it run so smoothly and obtain such valuable information. We were able to meet several matched kiddos, which I admittedly was really excited to see those that I’d be seeing again after placement. We also saw children that haven’t been matched, and some new children the team hadn’t seen before. Each of the children were different in personality, some extremely nervous and some quite comfortable and outgoing, but each one brought a smile to my face.
We were able to staff cases at both locations. I was asked about some of the children I’ve seen post placement and how they’re doing...again, they really do care about these kiddos. I was also able to share about Gladney’s post adoption services and what I do with the program. I was able to offer some insight on certain behaviors they see and what to do about it. Overall, it was eye-opening and so informative to know more about the ins and outs of each program and their processes. I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the other women on the Superkids team and again, experiencing some of the culture. At Chung Yi, I was able to tour their children’s home. Quite a bit smaller than Shanghai but again, not a dark and scary place I had somehow put in my mind an orphanage would be like. I’m including pictures to be able to show both places I saw. I’m also including some fun photos from my time in both places. I had such a great experience and hope to be able to go back again in the future.
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