Today was the day Kian had been anticipating....the day he got to hand out stickers at his orphanage. From the moment we made the decision to visit Dongguan Social Welfare Institute, Kian has been asking about which day we were going!!
In front of his orphanage.
This afternoon we met our guide and rode the 1 1/2 hours to Kian's orphanage. Our guide had told us that when she had called to make the appointment for us to visit, the nannies were very excited about You Liu coming; but we were not completely prepared for the overwhelming welcome we got. Nannies and teachers and social workers and orphanage drivers all wanted to hug and exclaim over him....in Mandarin of course. Kian did very well and gave lots of hugs and smiles, but we sensed it was a little overwhelming to him. We were hoping he would share some things with us about his life there, but he actually talked more on our ride back to the hotel. It was fun to watch him try to remember which bed had been his and climb up on it....slowly walk through the play area and remember the toys he had played with....climb around on the playground toys. Most of the children that he would have spent much of his time with have been adopted. Sadly, the ones his age who are still at the orphanage have major special needs. It is heart breaking to realize that most of the ones his age that are left will probably never have a family.
Kian and Tarcy.
Tarcy handles all the paperwork here for adopted children.
Kian and two of his teachers
On his old bed
Playground
Kian with the orphanage driver..
....I remember from last time that this man really liked Kian
We are very glad we made this second visit to his orphanage. From what our guide said, not too many families go back and it is special to the workers there to have a child return and see him thriving and doing so well! We left feeling very blessed that our son was truly cared about and loved during his first 5 years!!
Tia did very well as we toured Kian's orphanage. As long as she has her Baba, she is pretty content. Today has been a better day for her. The last couple of days, after we had traveled from her province to Guangzhou, she has been very quiet and withdrawn; but today she was more relaxed...chattering as she played. We continue to pray that her grieving heart heals more everyday.
Oh wow!!! What a special blessing for ALL involved!!! I see this opportunity as a definite "perk" in choosing a GZ child....;) easier to make a return SWI visit!! But oh what a blessing to all those dear staff....I am sure it was such an encouragement to them!!
ReplyDeleteAnd your trip is almost over!!!! So excited to see you all very soon!!! Hugs and love!!