China Day 12: Orphanage Visit

Today we visited Molly’s Social Welfare Institute in Dongguan, Guangdong. It is about 1½ hours south of Guangzhou. The last time we made this trip is was a cold, wet, overcast and miserable. In fact, everything about the trip was miserable. The orphanage felt cold and sterile, there were no sounds of laughter, all of the kids we in cribs. Six hundred children in the orphanage and you cold have heard a pin drop. There were no signs of toys, no stimulating decorations for the kids to look at while in their cribs.

It didn’t get much better when they talked with us. It felt like we were getting their generic speech full of propaganda. Blah, blah, blah. We left feeling as gloomy as the weather.

Needless to say, I didn’t have high hope for today’s visit. But I was pleasantly surprised. The trip to Dongguan was lovely. Dongguan, despite being a factory town, is the equivalent to a Palm Springs or Naples, FL. Stunningly beautiful and obviously full of money. You would not expect anything like this in China. The orphanage itself is also quite beautiful with manicured grounds and granite floors and walls.

We were greeted at the door by a nice young man and woman who answered our questions in a fairly straight forward manner. There are now 800 kids in the orphanage, and this time it seemed to be more full of life. Nannies were interacting with children. Kids were being picked up and hugged. Toys were out to play with in several rooms. They even let us look through our kids files. Amazing. A lot more open than before.

We got to see some pictures of Molly that we had never seen. We were allowed to photograph them, as well. We also got more detailed information about our kids’ finding spots. Although it seemed crazy and chaotic, like everything in China, I felt very positive about what we were able to glean.

Molly did pretty well. For the most part she was lively and personable. When we were busy asking questions both of the kids started getting restless and you could see the anxiety level raise a bit. After talking with the director, it took them a few minutes to warm back up. Molly was eager to give the orphanage the gifts that we brought and show them the photo album that I made for them. She went page by page explaining each picture in English, which was probably not well understood, but I am sure was greatly appreciated by the staff. You could see it in their eyes.

The staff also let us go up and see the cribs in which our kids slept. Molly had a great time running from crib to crib, playing with the babies. I could have taken each and every child home with me. I tried to pick up as many kids as possible and love on them, even if it was just for a minute. On little cubby toddler with albinism stole my heart. 

Many of the kids have obvious special needs, others do not, but each child is absolutely perfect and deserves a home. My heart breaks for them and I pray that they are all on their way to a forever family at some point. If you have it in your heart to adopt, please pick up the phone and call an agency right now. These precious babies need you. Please.

Before we left the orphanage, the kids played on the playground for a few minutes. A couple more pictures outside of the orphanage and we were done. I left with a much more joyful heart than last time.

The only discouraging part of the day is that Molly’s finding spot was too far away to visit. She was found in a remote part of the county. Going there would have added at least 5 additional hours to our trip which was already scheduled to take most of the day. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I told the driver that I understood why we could not visit it today. Next time. I have to remember that this entire trip is a miracle and I am blessed just to be in China with Molly. It’s a huge disappointment not to be able to see Molly’s  finding spot but it’s not going to spoil my trip.

We did make it to Luke’s finding spot, which was near the orphanage. I was able to sit and talk to Molly about what this meant for Luke and how she had a spot of her own somewhere else in China. We talked about what she thought her spot might be like and why she was left there. A good conversation.

Once again, lots of pictures to post.  I will do orphanage pictures in this post and the rest of our day in the next post. Please read both to get a full view of our day.

Only one full day left in China (BOO HOO). I am not ready to leave at all, but every single kid is more than ready. They are all pretty tired and getting on each others nerves. I will miss this place so very much.

 

Manicured gardens of Dongguan City.

Beautiful new buildings....

and well landscaped streets.

Front gate of Dongguan Children's Welfare Institute.

Full shot of the building.

Front entrance.

Heading inside with a bit of trepidation.

Molly poses for a picture.

Waiting to talk with the staff.

A never before seen photo.

Molly showing the staff the album full of pictures of her and Luke.

Giving gifts to the director and staff.

Two orphanage workers, me and Molly and the orphanage director.

Entrance to Molly's former hallway and room.

Molly next to her crib.

I took a picture of Molly crawling on this window sill in April 2007. Here she is recreating the moment.

Playing on the playground.

Molly and Luke doing something that they never had the chance to do while they lived here.

Final pictures before we left.

Molly and Luke say goodbye to Dongguan.