ChangSha kiddos

Yesterday was an amazing day.  We visited a very active social welfare institute with a wonderful director.  He has begun alot of new programs and modernized the facilities.  We evaluated 22 children yesterday.  Wow!  A large number of the children were young with minor medical needs.  Some were a bit older or had more more significant needs.  Many were in fostercare and the foster Mom or Dad came in with them.  I cannot say how beautiful and special these kiddos were.  The foster Moms or Dads were able to describe each child's unique characteristics that helped us to get to know them better.  Almost every family was fostering two  children. 

There were several kiddos who stood out.  There was a boy who is a little person.  His smile lit up the room.  He was laughing and playful.  There was a very tiny baby with a serious cleft lip and palette.  The medical needs did not define these children.  They were all kids, all the same.  Their lives consisted of playing, eating and sleep.  A few who were old enough went to school.  Most were under school age.

So yestrday was a great day where we met incredible kiddos.  Forever families get ready, your child might be from ChangSha.

And then there were three

Yesterday was a quiet day.  We were tired but did a little  shopping,  We came back to .the Hotel and worked on the profiles of waiting children.  I think we were all a little quiet because on Saturday, Dr Darla Wrage returned to the states.  We will miss her.  She has provided invaluable help on this trip.  Our assessments were improved  by her expertise.  In a matter of one week she became our friend and one of the four musketeers.  She survived hot rooms, loads of children, Squatty potties and glass walled bathrooms with us.  We miss you Darla.

So Chelsea, Erin and I are in ChangSha, in the Hunan province. Again we are supported by Gongzhan and Rocky.  You just have to love them.  Always energetic, Alwaysup for the next challenge.  It is VERY hot in ChangSha.  It is considered one of the Asian "hot pots" according to Gongzhan.  Some of the unusual foods we were offered here included, braised snake, duck tounges, lychee soda and several types of Jerky.

Today we will visit ChangSha no. 1.  So here we go.  We are ready for meeting more special kiddos. 

 

These are some of the cute moments from the past several days.

Sometimes words fail to express the emotions associated with the day.  I want to share so many stories that this post would be three pages long.  I met a beautiful girl today who was deaf.  She made sounds for pleasure but could not say any words.  She was so happy, and sweet.  She is learning some sign language.  Unfortunately she was in an accident and is missing the fingers on one hand.  that will make it difficult for her to complete a lot of signs in the traditional manner.

I am meeting with a variety of younger and older kiddos.  Severe medical needs and small medical needs.  Many that are a puzzle.  I also met an older boy who was super skinny and could not use his legs.  All the other children were not so skinny so eventually we were able to deduce he has a disorder that causes muscles to shrink.  He was so smart and wrote his name in characters for us. I just adore him.  We made him promise to eat everything offered and try to move his arms around more.  Gongzhan showed him exercises with a water bottle.  Yes, thats correct, Gongzhan!  I guess he was listening all these trips.

 

I have hope that every boy and girl will find that forever family to love them.  A home, brothers, sisters and a bright clear future.  That is what we mean at Gladney by Guang Ming.  The bright clear future each child is entitled and so richly deserves.  Guang Ming kiddos! 

 

Here are some pictures from the day

Greetings from JiangXi province

We are in the JiangXi province and today gives new meaning to exhaustion.  We left our hotel in Shanghai at  5:45 am. We flew to the JiangXi province.  We were met by provincial officials boarded a van and drove two hours from the capital city to our first stop.  We evaluated six children there.  This is a SWI we have been to before so we knew the setup and the people.   This is the orphanage where one of the director's assistants was an orphan in this institution herself.  She has been working here for quite awhile and has her own family now.  So after we worked with the kiddos, we got back in the van and drove 3.5 hours to our next stop.  It was 8:30 pm by then.  The goal for today is to see 13 children in this city, then drive three hours to our next destination.  If everything goes as planned, we will see 50 children here before we move onto Hunan province.  We saw almost 30 children in Shanghai.  We are just trying to think of each day not total numbers as its too overwhelming.  All these kiddos need forever families.

In the early morning, I am reflecting on three of the children we met today.  One was a little cutie who came in with a cleft lip palette.  His foster mom brought him in and she was so sweet. She had been the foster mom to another child we met today.  When the other boy cried, she ran over with her current foster child and held them both on her lap. She really has a mothers heart.  There was another boy who has Spina Bifida.  He could do much more than we expected and he gets around by crawling.  We heard one of the other children speaking to the director.  The translation was, "hello, director mommy".  We came here last year so we know the director and the staff.  This is the SWI where one of the directors assistants was an orphan in this orphanage growing up.

The electronics have been challenging, here.  I could not get on email last night and my phone has just stopped working.  I will try for pictures later.  I am thinking about all the children we have met and all the children we are going to meet who need to find their forever families.  I am holding them in my heart until they do.  Hope you will too.







 

Our bags are packed

Well almost.  JiangXi here we come.  We will travel to Nanchung and the take a van out to five different orphanages so follow along.

It is always bittersweet to leave Shanghai.  We will miss the kiddos, the staff and everyone at the social welfare institute.  This orphanage is where Superkids began.  Yet we are excited.  On to new orphanages and a different pace.  I will leave you with a shanghai story.  We saw a little boy on Monday who every time I put him down he ran to me to be picked up.  Such a sweet little bug.  The joy is I have been speaking with his parents.  I am passing along their hugs to him.  What a special moment.  

Off to JiangXi.  

Goodbye Shanghai, until next time!

We have had an amzing two days at Shanghai Children's Home, filled with laughter and tears. These kids are amazing, full of potential and special spirit. We could tell that everyone in the orphanage, from the director to the caregivers and even one of the children really enjoyed and appreciated Erin Martin's video of Shanghai kids before and after adoption. While watching the video, people were talking, smiling, and yelling out the Chinese names of kids they remembered.

Darla getting down to eye-level with the kids

After sharing the video, we then began focusing on spending time meeting a new group of children who are designated to Gladney Center and are waiting to be adopted by their forever families. We also did a lot of baby hugging and played with the older kids. 

By the way, we hope you can spread the word about these wonderful kids! We head off to JiangXi Province tomorrow at 5am!