September 29, 2010 Orphanage Visit…

Today was very insightful. Here is an exact translation of what the nannies wrote about our son, Rory Kai…

“He took part in ICC program on May 11, 2009. He was a little over 4 months old. He was skinny, weighed only 3.4 kg and had severe malnutrition. He received two months of treatment for pneumonia and bronchitis at the ICC’s clinic. And then he weighed 3.7 kg by Jun. 3 and 4.4 kg by Jul. 5. He ate, slept well and gained weight. Now he is one year and a half and weighs 7.8 kg. He is open, active and adorable. He loves laughing when you tease and play with him. He can say simple addressing. He is not as timid and sensitive as before. As he sees some volunteer workers come, he will stretch out his hand and want to be held.

He is a smart boy. He not only understands what people say but also reads peoples face. When you give him a serious look, he’ll pretend to cry, make a pitiful face and expect you to hold him. If you hold other babies, instead of him, he’ll crawl toward you and want to be held.

He can walk a few steps on his own and a long time if you hold his hand or he holds the wall. He can crawl fast. The nannies all love him and give him an intimate nickname “Xiang Tuo Tuo”. They hope he’ll grow up healthy and get adopted as soon as possible so that he has a chance to have heart disease cured.”

I cannot count how many times I have seen that “pitiful” look!!!!

I think that Kai was scared at first, clinging onto either Roger or me. Then he decided that we were not giving him back and decided he was going to be ‘okay’. We spoke to the director and it turns out that there are around 200 orphans living there. We then left the administrative building, and went to the building that housed the children. The lady from ICC (International China Concern) saw us and joined us for the tour.

We arrived at the children’s naptime, and saw where Kai slept. I didn’t take a picture of his crib because there was already another child in it. Our guide explained that I was a nurse at a big hospital in Dallas and that we had tee shirts for all the nannies. When we were talking in his old room, one of the nannies uncovered a little girl for me to look at. It was the little girl I wanted to see!!!! Can you believe that out of 200 children, she was in the same room as Kai??? To my surprise, she looked so good! She had a surgery for her serious heart defect, but is expected to be repaired in 3 stages. Her surgery was just 15 days before we got there. The ICC paid for her surgery, and it saved her life. My husband was asking about how we could help this little girl, and we will be advocating for her and raising money for her. She touched his heart too. I was looking at her and holding her hand and she was looking right at me with the most inquisitive beautiful big eyes!

We left the room and went to the play room where my son played. The nannies tried to tell me that the baby swing was his favorite activity. He pointed to it and in his baby talk asked if he could get in it. It was so funny to see this 21 month old getting into a baby swing! They don’t even turn it on, he swings all by himself! I was hoping it was nailed down, because my little dare devil was swinging so fast and high! Then, I see a nanny walk in with the little girl and she had tears in her eyes. She was crying because we left the room! I then decided that I was going to hold this little girl. We asked if we could take her picture and they agreed because they know how we will advocate for her. They proceeded to show us other children that were special needs, mostly congenital heart babies. One little boy was so sweet even though he was waken up from his nap. He was so beautiful, but then again, they all are to me.

Kai did wonderfully. He was not sad to go at all, but he was polite considering he had no nap. We then were invited have lunch with the director at a local restaurant. The food was the best we have had our entire trip. We then went to the finding site and took pictures and video. Finally on our way home, which is more than a 3 hour drive, Kai shed his first tear when I wouldn’t let him put Cheerios in the driver’s belongings. He was exhausted and the cry was seriously less than a minute before he passed out in Roger’s arms.

I have to say I was so conflicted on deciding to go or not to go to the orphanage. After it was all said and done, I am glad we went. I can’t stop thinking about those angels that are left behind. I can see their hopeful eyes in my dreams. I will never forget that day for the rest of my life.