Tianjin!
Monday, October 17, 2016
We had such a great day in Tianjin!
This morning we went to the Tianjin CWI and had a tour and saw a few children there. After lunch we headed over to a foster care center and jumped right in to seeing children. We only had a few hours to work, but we still managed to see 16 children.
What an awesome bunch! Tonight I'm especially thinking of two boys we met. Both are 11 years old and have some physical disabilities. Both are amazing in their determination to figure out how to do whatever they want to do! They both paint beautifully. And both are very intelligent. And, of course, they both need a family.
Please ask us about the kids we meet! We want to, love to, talk about them!
This morning we went to the Tianjin CWI and had a tour and saw a few children there. After lunch we headed over to a foster care center and jumped right in to seeing children. We only had a few hours to work, but we still managed to see 16 children.
What an awesome bunch! Tonight I'm especially thinking of two boys we met. Both are 11 years old and have some physical disabilities. Both are amazing in their determination to figure out how to do whatever they want to do! They both paint beautifully. And both are very intelligent. And, of course, they both need a family.
Please ask us about the kids we meet! We want to, love to, talk about them!
Superkids in China {Ji'an}
Friday, October 14, 2016
What should I say about visiting Ji'an? Do you want to hear about the new little boy who was just admitted here who is cuter than cute and sharp as a tack?
Or do you just want to gaze at the many expressions of one of the baby girls we met today?
Do you want me to speak of the infectious joy of Jewel?
Or would you rather hear about the boy who loved the little musical toys we brought with us and bounced from activity to activity trying to take everything in. Here he is looking at himself in the mirror!
Or the little girl who didn't smile much, but she loved when Melissa bounced her on the ball and played with her.
I could also write an entire blog post about the hospitality of the staff here and the food we were so graciously served, not only for lunch, but for dinner as well.
I guess for today I will present a little of all of this and hope that you can see the children as we get to see them; as living, breathing, giggling, crying, feeling, real little people. Children who need us, all of us, to do what we can for them. Every one of these children deserve the chance to be loved in a family.
Former Shared List Trip Jiangxi Province
Superkids has another team in China. As we are visiting our partnership orphanages they are visiting children whose files were formerly on the shared list. Read about their 3rd day visiting children in the Jiangxi province!
Day Three was another full day.
Day Three was another full day.
Another day of leaving pieces of our hearts across China.
Before visiting each SWI, each "shared list" child was a name, date of birth and diagnosis on a list. Now, well now, they are a living, breathing, PART of each of our hearts' on this team, which is exactly why CCCWA and four U.S.A. adoption agencies proposed this initiative. We wanted to get to really know these children, so we could properly advocate for them.
How can you look into the eyes of an eleven year old girl, severely hearing impaired and unable to speak (although able to make noises), cut-off from the world because she doesn’t have access to sign language and NOT be changed. The simple act of giving her a hair bow and access to puzzles, beads and other educational items, brightened her entire countenance. She was SO eager to learn. She couldn’t get enough of it and stayed with us until the last child left for the day!
A piece of our hearts left behind...
Or what about this little boy?? He ROCKED the place with his plaid-on-plaid shirt and pants.
Dearly loved by his foster parents and oh SO bright!
How can you resist his smile and charm?
A piece of our hearts left behind...
And then the three year old little girl diagnosed with Downs…
I’m pretty sure she ran the show when she walked in the door. No, let me rephrase that…she DID run the show when she walked in the door!
She kept us laughing with her little “attitude” and told us all how to do our jobs. She was equal parts attitude and smile! She was a “saucy” girl for sure!!
After finishing our assessment she demanded a ride on her ayi’s back and happily rode to the door of the room at which point she demanded to be put down to walk hand-in-hand with her little friend down the hall to go back to her room in the orphanage.
If you’ve ever considered a daughter diagnosed with Down’s and want a girl who knows her mind but will give you the smile of your life, this is your girl!
A piece of our hearts left behind…
Another day complete, two more of LOVING what we are doing and leaving pieces of our hearts in China.
Superkids in China {Yichun & XinYu}
Thursday, October 13, 2016
I was not with the group that visited the Jiangxi province on our April trip, so I was excited to see the children here that I have not seen for a year!
When we went into the room in Yichun the first child brought in was Carter and I wasn't even sure it was him he had grown so much! But it was and he was a cuddly and cute as ever!
We have met so many little children this trip! It is unusual in that way. Most of the time there just aren't this many babies to hold. I'm not complaining for sure, though I do love playing with the school aged crowd as well!
In the afternoon we drove from Tichun to XinYu. Due to a little mix up on the driver's part we took the "scenic route" and our big bus bumped along little roads that were all torn up because of construction for quite a while before hitting the smoother, larger road to XinYu. The bumping was all worth it when we got there and saw the foster moms lined up waiting with the kids!
XinYu tends to get a little crazy since the foster moms each are responsible for several children and they tend to congregate in the room we are in. The kids playing and crying, moms visiting, clapping and encouraging kids to smile for pictures, and answering questions about the children all unite to create a chaotic cacophony of noise that I have never experienced in any other setting.
The director of the XinYu SWI is always so gracious and took us out to a local restaurant. She said she knows we eat in "nice" restaurants all the time, but she wanted us to experience an authentic XinYu restaurant and dishes. The food was absolutely scrumptious! This is a picture of a man beating the rice for the sticky rice dessert we had.
Our next orphanage to visit is Ji'an. We will be there then heading to Nanchung where we will meet the team who is seeing former shared list children in this same province. We are ready for some rest this weekend, but it has been a wonderful week!
 |
| The team minus Rocky and Erin(photographer) |
When we went into the room in Yichun the first child brought in was Carter and I wasn't even sure it was him he had grown so much! But it was and he was a cuddly and cute as ever!
We have met so many little children this trip! It is unusual in that way. Most of the time there just aren't this many babies to hold. I'm not complaining for sure, though I do love playing with the school aged crowd as well!
In the afternoon we drove from Tichun to XinYu. Due to a little mix up on the driver's part we took the "scenic route" and our big bus bumped along little roads that were all torn up because of construction for quite a while before hitting the smoother, larger road to XinYu. The bumping was all worth it when we got there and saw the foster moms lined up waiting with the kids!
 |
| Here is a new picture of Sierra! |
XinYu tends to get a little crazy since the foster moms each are responsible for several children and they tend to congregate in the room we are in. The kids playing and crying, moms visiting, clapping and encouraging kids to smile for pictures, and answering questions about the children all unite to create a chaotic cacophony of noise that I have never experienced in any other setting.
 |
| Savannah seeing Mama and Baba for the first time! |
The director of the XinYu SWI is always so gracious and took us out to a local restaurant. She said she knows we eat in "nice" restaurants all the time, but she wanted us to experience an authentic XinYu restaurant and dishes. The food was absolutely scrumptious! This is a picture of a man beating the rice for the sticky rice dessert we had.
Our next orphanage to visit is Ji'an. We will be there then heading to Nanchung where we will meet the team who is seeing former shared list children in this same province. We are ready for some rest this weekend, but it has been a wonderful week!
Superkids in China {Changsha Day 2}
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Today we saw more children in Changsha. Many of these children we have seen before, and that just makes seeing them again even more fun. To see their little faces light up with recognition is so bittersweet. Sweet because we know them and love them but so bitter that they are still there.
This is Leo. We have seen Leo at least once a year since 2013. We've watched him grow from a little boy 7 year old to a bigger, more mature 10 year old. Leo has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He is smart and loves to connect with people. He loves any activity we do with him. When we asked him what he dislikes his answer was "living here." He knows. He needs a family and he knows he needs a family. Please contact April Uduhiri at april.uduhiri@gladney.org for more information about him.
Just before we left they said we had four more children to see and they brought out the baby babies. One little boy was only 3 months old. What a sweet way to end our day!
We traveled by high speed train to the Jiangxi province where we will be for the rest of this week. Be sure you are following our Facebook page for updates throughout each day!
This is Leo. We have seen Leo at least once a year since 2013. We've watched him grow from a little boy 7 year old to a bigger, more mature 10 year old. Leo has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He is smart and loves to connect with people. He loves any activity we do with him. When we asked him what he dislikes his answer was "living here." He knows. He needs a family and he knows he needs a family. Please contact April Uduhiri at april.uduhiri@gladney.org for more information about him.
Just before we left they said we had four more children to see and they brought out the baby babies. One little boy was only 3 months old. What a sweet way to end our day!
We traveled by high speed train to the Jiangxi province where we will be for the rest of this week. Be sure you are following our Facebook page for updates throughout each day!
Superkids in China {Changsha}
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
This kind of sums up how I feel about today:
We saw so many precious little ones! Many of them we already knew, but there were a lot of new little faces too. We will see older children here in Changsha tomorrow, but today it was all about the littles!
We spent some time with sweet Lorelei this morning. Please take the time to read about her and share her post with friends. She loves interacting and was right in the thick of things when we were on the floor coloring and playing! She enjoyed fruit snacks and could pick them up and put them in her mouth all by herself. She would just thrive in a loving home!
As always we are soaking up the time spent with the time spent with the children, but also enjoying the food and the experience of being in China. Tomorrow we will be at the Changsha #1 SWI again then travel to Yichun, Jiangxi by high speed train.
Thank you for following our journey and for all of your support!
We saw so many precious little ones! Many of them we already knew, but there were a lot of new little faces too. We will see older children here in Changsha tomorrow, but today it was all about the littles!
We spent some time with sweet Lorelei this morning. Please take the time to read about her and share her post with friends. She loves interacting and was right in the thick of things when we were on the floor coloring and playing! She enjoyed fruit snacks and could pick them up and put them in her mouth all by herself. She would just thrive in a loving home!
As always we are soaking up the time spent with the time spent with the children, but also enjoying the food and the experience of being in China. Tomorrow we will be at the Changsha #1 SWI again then travel to Yichun, Jiangxi by high speed train.
Thank you for following our journey and for all of your support!
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