8 August 2007

Travel Day 8 — Orphanage Visit and Finding Spot

Posted by BaBa under: Travel .

Before we knew it was time to go to the orphanage. This is one of those decisions that is hard for a parent to make. How will the child react to going to the orphanage? Will he or she meltdown? Will it be painful for them to see their playroom, bed or nannies? We had decided that we were going with him no matter what. This was easier as he had bonded well with us since the first hard hour of crying. It was also easier since he is only a little more than two. I felt and so did MaMa that this would be something that we needed to document for him when questions would come later in his life. We also thought that it would be something that we would always wish we had done if we did not go to visit.

So with all of these thoughts in our minds, we boarded the little van we had hired and off we went. We have seen pictures for other families who had visited the orphanage so had some idea of what to expect. We arrived and were led to the director’s office. We had a nice visit there and then were given an ornament that was personalized with our child’s name and a brocade art piece as keepsakes. Soon we were off to visit the kids. We had a list of 8 names to take photos of and I had given this list to Coco on Monday. However, she was not there but at the Civil Affairs Office with another family who had just received their child the day before. Kim and I did bring the list with us and so we were able to shoot photos of the 6 children on the list that were there. Coco had said that the other two were in foster care, but she would try to get their photos.

The orphanage was really spotless and modern. There were many volunteers from Half the Sky and we soon were in with the children in the rainbow room. Min made it a point of keeping Sheridan’s nanny at a distance to avoid a repeat of Monday’s parting. Even so, his nanny was distressed and very tearful. She had to leave on two occasions. We did get a picture of him with his other nanny, but he soon wanted MaMa. This is really a good sign. MaMa also got her first kiss from him at the orphanage.

I shot pictures of every child that I saw. I even ran the juice out of the camera with so many flash shots. I then switched to MaMa’s compact camera for the rest of the trip. I shot over 145 pictures during the trip and hope to get these posted soon as many parents will want to have these shots.

Sheridan did get upset on two occasions. Shortly after we got there, he was ready to leave. This became obvious as he grabbed MaMa’s hand and led her out of the room and to the elevator. Smart little guy. He did come back and seemed to be OK. He got some playtime in while there engaging in a game of moving the table around. We got a picture of him and MaMa with the rocking horse that was in the second set of photos we got of him. It was very hot on our excursion today and slightly stressful for him. Mary Audrey had a similar reaction as did Sheridan. Grant had much more stressful visit and it visibly upset him and his parents.

Next we went up to the younger kids room and when Sheridan got there we could here many of the girls calling his name Youbai, Youbai. He is really going to be a favorite with the gals. We got the last of the photos and then went back to the director’s office to gather our things and say goodbyes.

Back in the van and off to see the finding spots of each of the children. Grant was found at the Buddhist temple. This was really pretty ride to the place and the surroundings in a park were gorgeous. Mary Audrey was found at a construction site at a busy intersection. Her spot was the exact opposite of Grant’s in terms of décor. It was quite plain and well it is a construction site. Sheridan was found near the railway station in front of the lake. His also was a nice spot. We each got a chance to take photos of the finding spots.

We were soon on the way back to the hotel. We went out for Hagen Daas and Sheridan did not like the Ice Cream, but took some time showing us he knew how to use a spoon as he attempted to feed MaMa. We walked down to the market street just to see the sights. We came back to the hotel and crashed.

Pictures from the Orphanage Visit and Finding Spot
	Our Former Leader who is held in high esteem in the breakfast bar at the hotels —–

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