Saying goodbye is so hard

Ok, so today was a very wonderful and hard day all taken and shaken together. First we went to visit Amy Meng's orphanage. I am so glad and grateful that we were all able to go. It was very obvious that these kids are very loved by their nannies. There were many tears as Amy said goodbye. Not only by Amy but by every adult there. You could tell how much they loved her. This orphanage is a Social Welfare Institute, which means that it is the home for children, elderly and disabled. They have just built a new orphanage nearby specifically for children and so have moved all of the babies out and are not taking in any additional children. This picture is taken in a large, cold room. The children are sitting on stools watching a program in what feels like a prison. It is unfortunate because, again, I think that these people who work here are really doing their best with what little they have. They were very gracious to us.

There aren't many children left here. The numbers are dwindling. The 2 boys in the front right are about to be adopted. They are the lucky ones. They will finally have the opportunity to have a life with a loving family. I wonder if they know. I wonder if they have been told that their lives are about to take a turn, that they will not stay in China to become beggars because of disabilities or lack of education. They will come to America where everyone has opportunity. I love America. I don't think that I realized until a couple of days ago how much I love America. Ok, Beijing was cool but I am now officially content.... no, more than content with living in the grand USA! For those of you who are not familiar with this orphanage, it is all special needs. It is the children who have never been put up for adoption on the healthy baby list. Their chances of being adopted are not good, their chance of ever having a family, finding a job or even having a home are pretty slim.

Ok, so everyone in our group here has adopted a special needs child. I often hear of the children who have trouble attaching or those who are angry and don't want to go with their new parents. This is the total truth - not one of the new families here is struggling with any of that. I know that every case is different but what are the chances that 9 out of 9 families have ended up with happy kids? I don't know but I wonder if the special needs children don't end up with more compassionate care takers. If any of you are thinking about adopting please consider these children. In our group we have 2 with heart problems, 2 with possible cerebral delays, 1 missing hand, one probably in need of having part of his leg amputated, one Hep B and 3 cleft lip/palates. These kids are happy and capable. They are fighters! Little Jasmine, with a missing hand, is already riding on her dad's shoulders and singing in english!!! She is two and cute as can be!!

I am now officially off of my soapbox. The above picture is of Amy's room. It looks a lot nicer here than it was. She shared it with one other girl. Again, you could tell that they really did try to make it nice but it is heartbreaking to stand in a cold, cement room that they call home and know that that may be all that they ever know.

Now is the part when there was a lot of crying and goodbye's. Many of the nannies had brought presents for Amy. It was very sweet. Walking away and seeing her look back over her shoulder at those who had taken care of her and loved her was hard for us - what must it of been like for her. Even a gentleman in a wheelchair and his aide were crying. She was very loved.

Next, they took us to her school. Now that was something!!! She flew from the van and went running into the building. Where was Amy going? Shouldn't someone stop her? Then I could see her running across the outside of the 2nd floor and disappeared into what appeared to be a classroom. A loud cheer went up and then the class (all 49 of them) came charging (literally!) out of the classroom looked over the rail at us, started waving and ran down the stairs. Thus the above pictures! It was quite a site. What beautiful children. They surrounded Amy and us and were VERY curious. I loved them!! They asked me my last name and when I told them "Flatt" the boys looked at eachother and cracked up. What in the world is so funny?!! If they weren't so darn cute I might be insulted. We wear a name badge, ID type tags on a lanyard, around our neck (in case we get lost someone will bring us back to the hotel). The kids crowded around and took turns reading them. They were so cute. If you wave at them they start giggling. I want to be a teacher at that school (whine). Amy brought small gifts (gel pen refills, strange gift, but both she and our guide said it was a good gift) for everyone in her class and special gifts for 4 of her best friends. With the crowd around her I couldn't really see how it all went down. She also received gifts from a few of the girls.

This is way too long I know and probably way more info than you want but it was a huge day for us.

She is beginning to feel more comfortable with her english. I suspect she can say more than she has let on. When we were leaving for dinner she said "lets go". We'll tell her something and she'll say "I know". All of these little phrases popping out are a joy for us! She is definitley an independent girl. I guess you would have to be. She wants control of the room key, the camera and the remote control! We don't mind giving up the key or the camera but she is going to have to fight for that remote!!! I actually found myself hiding it from her! How pitifull is that? Mike looked at me like I was nuts and I decided he was right and turned it over - but I wasn't happy!