On the day she came into the world, XiaoAn (Quiet Morning) lost everything she came with.

She was wrapped in a woman’s jacket and left near the orphanage gate in Guilin, a beautiful city in Southern China.

When the staff took her inside, they noticed that her little heart was thumping hard in her chest. Her breath was raspy and forced. Her rosebud lips and tiny fingertips were blue.

They kept her in an observation room. The doctor said it was her heart and that she might not survive. Every day her special Half the Sky nanny came to hold her and rock her and let her know she was not alone. XiaoAn did not cry. Only now and then would she open hazy eyes – and her nanny would whisper sweet words. “It’s all right, XiaoAn. I am here.”

The orphanage applied to send XiaoAn to our China Care Home in Beijing. Her nanny traveled with her on the long train journey, comforting her whenever she woke.

When XiaoAn and her nanny arrived at the Home, they were welcomed by the care supervisor and nurse on duty. In the morning, XiaoAn was examined by the medical director and immediate arrangements were made for her to have tests at a fine children’s hospital. When she is strong enough, she will have corrective heart surgery and her Half the Sky nanny will be by her side. XiaoAn will survive.

This is only the beginning of her story. In her first days of life, XiaoAn lost everything but has gained something extraordinary. Something that your support makes possible. She has a family again at Half the Sky. A family that will never let her down.