First Hugs

Friday, March 29, 2012

Today was our last day at the orphanage. It was a short day as the director invited us to a fancy lunch with the local director of Civil Affairs and some other Civil Affairs officials ( our first one since we got here ... Hurrah... Lunch at the orphanage was always awesome!!).

I broke out the bows for some of the babies. Oh my! Could they be any cuter? We played with the kids and took care of some last minute consultations with Qi Rui, the head nanny in Gracie's Room/First Hugs. We are so very pleased with the dramatic changes in the room since last year; not just the obvious cosmetic changes but the care and love the kids are receiving... And oh, how it shows. They are just blossoming!!

But some important basic points needed to be addressed. Like changing the kids on a changing table (to be built or bought) and washing hands frequently (the ayis). 

On Thursday the Director brought in some journalist from the local paper, XinXiang Daily, and we were featured in the Friday paper!! 

 Earlier in the week we had visited other rooms in the orphanage where there were children. It was for all of us, a very emotional experience. In the newborn room, we saw two babies who were in obvious distress. One was a preemie like a baby already in Gracie's Room and one had heart disease and was very blue. We asked for them to be transferred to Gracie's Room where they can get extra care. We were told the preemie also had spina bifida and we were told they would be transferred to our project.

 Sadly, on Friday we were told the preemie had died on Thursday night. Life is so very fragile. 

  We left "our babies" on Friday at lunchtime with tears in our eyes but hope

 in knowing they were receiving much better care. And some will soon be with families. We have increased the partnership with the orphanage and will be working with them to advocate more for the adoption of specific children.

We had an interesting experience (political) with the orphanage that I will share in the next post. So different than anything we would experience in US or Canada. 

Moya, Krista and Cathy