More from Xinxiang

After we left the children in Gracie’s room we drove with the director and vice director and Xia to the construction site of the new SWI. That site will have an administrative building, building for the elderly and disabled adults as well as the orphanage.

We toured the orphanage and it is well laid out. Instead of single rooms there are pairs of rooms that the children will play in one area and sleep in the other room next door. This would work well for the concept of Gracie’s Room as currently are with their Ayis in Gracie’s room 6 days a week from 7:30am to 11:30am and again from 2:30 to 6pm. During the Ayis lunch break and from 6pm to 7:30am they go to their cribs in an area away from the room.

The director told us that she would like to have a Gracie's room at this new facility. We of course agree but will have to look at costs. We will have some capital start-up new construction costs in this new facility. Plus we are seeing that the Ayis being hired for Gracie’s Room are not staying in the job longer than a few months. We have raised their salaries once but they are still not competitive. It looks like we need to bring the salaries to about 1000$ per month which include insurance. That is a whopping 142$. That will attract quality workers who will appreciate their jobs and be committed to them. CCCI provides training for the Ayis but with such frequent staff turn over we no longer have well trained staff. Also with high staff turn over there are 2 important outcomes.

1. The babies are not gaining secure attachment with the care givers, learning trust and love and

2. the care givers do not really know each baby in their care.