Day 6 0rphanage uncle Rob

Day 6 – Orphanage And More on China

For those of you who have never been through this process, adoption is illegal in China. That may seem strange to hear considering we are here in a communist country adopting – obviously they sanction it. What it really means, is that you cannot legally give your child up for adoption. Children are actually “abandoned” (their word not mine) usually in a public place where they know they will be found quickly.

Then the babies are placed in the orphanage system – and become eligible for adoption. Many of the babies are taken in by foster families for the first months of their young lives. In the system you were in – 6 months is the standard they keep babies in foster homes for. Then they usually go back to the orphanage until they are hopefully adopted.

We were lucky today Ella, we visited the orphanage that took you in in Zhangshu. It was about a 1-½ hour drive from the hotel. The city is actually quite large (minimum for a city here is 50,000 people – or it is considered a town). Some of the provinces are changing the laws about family’s visiting the orphanage – but we were lucky enough to get a visit.

We were greeted by the Director of the orphanage who told us that he used to carry you around all the time (I have a video of the orphanage – including the actual room you stayed, the kitchen area you ate in, and the area where you were given your baths..) You stayed in a room with two of the other young ladies in our group. The room is about ½ the size of a normal college dorm room in America. Inside were three cribs and a bed where the nanny slept. (There were three more little ones sleeping in the cribs you used to be in). That is the ratio the orphanage uses – 3 children for one nanny.

We also got to visit the other babies in the playroom watching videos and singing. Hopefully they will be as lucky as you girls are – and some family somewhere will give them a loving home. As I mentioned, it is clear you were taken care of very well – both at the orphanage and in the foster home.

We had the book that was sent to mom, “When You Were Born In China” signed by the Director – and your mom is deciding if she wants to get it translated now – or wait until you take classes as you get older.

While you played, and ate, and slept on the bus to the orphanage, your uncle Rob (when not picking up your dropped toys/bottles) learned a lot more about China. We passed many rice fields with people out working and planting. They still use water buffalo in most areas – because they do not have the machines to do it.

In China school goes for 9 years although in the villages some parents do not send their children because of the fees that the government does not cover – and they want/need them to work. After 9 years a test is given – and if they pass, they are eligible for our version of high school. Approximately 50% of the kids that get to the test – go further according to Mary (our guide through this whole trip.) A very small % of those kids end up going to university. And they usually end up taking loans from family members for that because banks are just starting to do college loans. But the families usually think this is a good investment because of the money they believe that person will be able to make with a degree.

In Zhangshu we did not get off the bus except at the orphanage because they are not used to foreigners visiting. Mary told as that in a similar city not too long ago, they stopped and were mobbed by people – many who have never seen a foreigner. Traffic stopped, they were surrounded and the police came. Sounds strange – especially since this was a big city, but several people were pointing to the bus and you could see a few (especially the children) saying “Americans”.

Driving in China is pretty interesting. There don’t really seem to be a lot of rules of the road except that evidently if you blow your horn – you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want afterwards. We played chicken with a dump truck that luckily moved out of the way at the last minute back into his lane, and those of us in the front of the bus felt fortunate to be back at the hotel…

We are waiting to go to dinner and a birthday party, as one of the baby’s turns 1 year old today. We will hopefully have some good pictures of you eating what just might be the first birthday cake you have ever tasted….

Uncle Rob