CHINA: A visit to YunMei's orphanage

Today we drove to Fuzhou to see Yun Mei’s orphanage.  It was about a 2-hour drive from Nanchang and it was fun to see the countryside on the way there.  Still cold and rainy.

In Fuzhou

In front of the SWI (Social Welfare Institute) main office building in Fuzhou.

When we arrived at the orphanage the director and several of the nannies and children were waiting in the lobby.  We had brought a big bag of candy (lollypops) for the kids and they seemed pretty excited about that.  The staff had made a big red banner that said, “WELCOME FU YUN MEI BACK!”  

This is Meizi's foster mom who cared for her during her first 6-12 months.

We got to meet with several of the staff and they answered our questions and let us go through her file and take pictures of any of the pages.  We went up to her room and met the other kids in her group (all boys, eight total) and the nannies who look after them.  There was one who Yun Mei seems to be particularly close to and I guess she would take Yun Mei with her into the staff sleeping quarters each night and let her sleep in her bed.  The nannies seem to really love these kids though the conditions there are… limited.  No heat, for example, except in the one room the kids sleep in.  Yun Mei was very stoic through the whole thing but when her special nanny picked her up and held her she burst into tears.  I think it was hard on her to go back there but hopefully somewhat healing for her to be able to say goodbye.  It gave us the opportunity to see where she came from and understand better her first 3.5 years of life... helping us to fill in some of the gaps for her as she gets older and wants to know more.

The children's building at the SWI.

These are the nannies that work with Yun Mei's group. I think two during the day and two at night.

Yun Mei's old bed next to her friend.

Yun Mei's special nanny.

The nicest part of the day was that she let me hold her hand, Mama on the other hand, as we walked into the orphanage.

After the orphanage the director and one of the assistant directors took us to lunch at another fancy Chinese restaurant where we got our own room (with a heater!) and ate lots of delicious Jiangxi-style Chinese food.  Spicy, savory, and yummy.  All of the places we’ve been have been able to provide good Stacey-friendly food, which is something if you know her dietary restrictions.

Then they took us to find her “finding place”.  It was on a street corner by a park in the middle of the city.  A passerby heard a baby crying there one morning and found our Yun Mei dressed all in white on that corner.  They estimated her age as 8 days old based on her remaining umbilical cord.  We took lots of pictures of the corner.

Yun Mei's "finding place" where she was abandoned at 8 days old.

Back “home” once more in our room our little Yun Mei has slowly thawed out and is once again happy and playful as she is when she feels safe.  We’ve been trying to reassure her all day that we are always going to be together and she’s never going to be taken away from us.  I hope she’s understanding and that her sweet little heart will fully heal and that she will feel safe as part of a forever family.  -Mark