By Terry R. Cassreino
NANCHANG, China - Behind the iron gates and inside the aging walls sat one of many Chinese orphanages which have become home to hundreds of children, both infants and older boys and girls, who are waiting to be adopted.
Our group of families arrived at the complex at around 10 a.m. Wednesday, and one of the first people to greet us was a young boy who was probably about 9 years old. He waved repeatedly, excited to see visitors from the outside.
Although we didn't have time to talk to him and other orphans, we did spend about 45 minutes seeing how the orphanage operates. We visited a unit where caregivers tended to 13 infants, some of whom were hooked to intravenous drips.
Here in China, they wrap all babies and young children tightly in clothes to protect them from the cold. Because of that, orphange caregivers keep the babies heads shaved so they can insert drips beneath the skin on their scalps.
We also watched older residents, some handicapped, knit clothes while watching television. And we toured a group home - where one of the Holt International Children's Services parents in our group met her 3-year-old's foster mother. The two wept as the foster mother showed the parent her child's old bedroom.
Bookstore visit
Besides the orphanage, our group also visited a two-story bookstore off the People's Square and across the street from Wal-Mart in downtown Nanchang.
Although it wasn't Barnes & Noble or Border's, the store still had a fascinating selection of compact discs, cultural DVDs and bilingual books in Mandarin and English. We bought Camryn several books and some Chinese music.
We believe it's important to maintain and preserve our child's heritage and background, so we will do everything we can to encourage her to learn as much as possible about her homeland, its rich history and its beautiful language.
The trip to the bookstore was a strong start.
Afternoon stroll
On Wednsday afternoon, we took Camryn for a stroll up the street from our hotel. The weather turned cool Wednesday after a stuffy,
humid day on Tuesday and strong thunderstorms that swept through the city Tuesday night.We thought Camryn was well prepared for the afternoon chill. She was wearing a pink, hooded jogging suit (no, she didn't actually go jogging through town) and thick socks. But the city's grandma police didn't like it one bit.
As we stopped briefly so Camryn could see a dog riding on the footrest of a motorcycle, a group of ladies converged and began fussing about the baby's cothing.
We couldn't speak Mandarin or underastand what they were saying, but their smiles and gestures said it all. Camryn was way underdressed for the cool weather and they wanted to make sure we were well aware.
One lady smiled and began to take off her jacket to make sure we understood exactly what she and the others were saying. Pam and I didn't take their criticism lightly; we understand how much children mean to the Chinese and promised them we would do better.
Paperwork update
Pam and I interviewed today with the notary for the adoption. I'm not quite sure exactly what a notary does in China, but I'm pretty certain it's a little different from the responsibilities of a notary public in the United States.
Anyway, we continue to wait for the Chinese government to process our adoption and Camryn's Chinese passport so we can take her home. This part will be completed by the time we leave for Guangzhou on Saturday.
Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.
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