Chenzhou Orphanage - Day 4

I just wanted to start out by saying I hope my blog isn’t too long and boring for all of you. I know some of you are reading at home, and my posts are so long and detailed.  But as much as this is for you all to read about our trip, it’s for me to remember as well. I need to remember the little details from the day. So I apologize if it’s long… but that’s just for me.

But, today it’s actually going to be shorter, because it’s almost 11 PM here and I’m TIRED.

Today at the orphanage we went upstairs and found the older kids. I walked into the room and Will was sitting on the bench in there and used his finger to call me over… kind of in a sneaky way. I came and he stood up and gave me a big hug… one that I’d been waiting for! It made me a little teary-eyed. He’s been acting super weird since we’ve been here… I think he was a little scared about getting attached and then having to say goodbye again. But he’s slowly coming out of his shell more and more. He asked me if I wanted help carrying the supplies I’d brought for today, and so I let him take them down for me.

We spent some time outside again. We’re trying to do the same sort of routine so the kids will be used to that. Once we had finally gotten everyone outside and situated, we realized we had our chairs in a circle and everyone was actually sitting still. So we used that opportunity to do a circle time. We sang songs like, If You’re Happy and You Know It, Hokey Pokey, etc. The kids seemed to really like it. Annie got up and showed them a song/dance and they all LOVED watching her, but wouldn’t get up to do it themselves. Eventually the older boy with down syndrome (we named him Collin) was brave and learned it, and soon followed a few others. They danced and danced and loved it!

Chun Chun sang us a little song, and we found out that she has a beautiful voice! We were all so shocked, but it was so nice and sweet.

After their patience ran out, we got out some coffee filters and water colors for them to paint (the painted filters will be used for a craft tomorrow). It was funny to see them all trying to grasp the concept of water paints. They’d never seen them before, so it took them some time, even after we showed them, to understand they had to put water on the paints and brush to get them to work. But once they got the hang of it, they seemed to enjoy it. Macy loved it, of course. She’s so artistic. It was fun to see her articulate her brush strokes and all. Leah was kind enough to paint all over Annie’s arm… haha. She always knows how to make things just that much more fun. ;)

Will saw my camera on my neck, and remembered the pictures from previous years. So, naturally, he picked it up and started taking pictures of everything. He loves that thing. I’m sure I’ll have a million pictures to delete tonight.

Time came for Elyssa and I to relieve the others in the baby room, so we headed upstairs. When we got there I picked up a sweet baby who seems almost bloated to me. She has some special need where her feet and stomach are puffy, almost like an allergic reaction, but I haven’t had to chance to ask what it is yet. It broke my heart because she sat in her chair unhappy, and when I picked her up and tried to sit her down, lay her down, stand her up, she just couldn’t get comfortable. :’( It took me a long time to get her in a position… and it just made me so sad to see it. Once I was able to get her comfortable, she was the happiest baby ever. Just any attention made her happy. She giggle being bounced, even when a nanny would walk in the room and talk to her she smiled SO big. It was so cute because anytime she’d laugh hard she’d get really shy and hide her face really quickly with her hands. And then put them down again and laugh and repeat the cycle. I loved it. :)

I sat her back down in her chair after awhile, and she seemed happy to be there, too. That made me feel better. She was content just having me give her attention from across the room holding another baby. I held Cassie for awhile. She didn’t want to be picked up and cried for awhile. She smelled bad again, and I just wonder how often they give them baths. I know that she would probably hate her bath, because she doesn’t like too much stimulation, but she NEEDS it. So badly. I held her for awhile, even though she was crying because she needs the attention and stimulation so badly. She calmed down quicker than yesterday, though. She sat up on her own for awhile, and she held her head up for a long time too. So, that was good to see. Still doesn’t like to roll around though… or can’t for that matter.

I held Sarah after her. She was happy today. I tried to get her to stand up, but she has absolutely no muscle in her legs. She doesn’t even try to stand when I lay her feet on the ground and she’s 1. Agh it makes me so sad.

While we were there a toddler came into the room and she was with her nanny, and she LOVES them. But anytime a nanny would leave she threw the biggest temper tantrum. She didn’t want anything but love from them. Which I understand that it’s something that is needed, but those poor nannies are so busy doing other things, that they can’t just sit and be with her all day long, like she’d like them to be. They were very good about stopping to hold her every now and then, but she still screamed when they left. So I sat on the ground with her and tried to get her attention with the ball. She didn’t want anything to do with me for awhile, but eventually I rolled the ball back and forth between her legs and she calmed down. I finally got her to stop crying, and then 2 minutes later a nanny came in, and she cried all over again. Haha. I started spinning the ball though, and that quieted her right away, and she was amazed by how it looked. I thought it was funny.

Our friends from dinner last night came to visit us (from the Communist Party), and they brought their wives this time! One of the ladies came and spoke very good English. So we were able to have her help translate whenever Fawn was busy, which was nice. She was so sweet and I think she loved the opportunity to practice her English. :)

From the looks of pictures, they brought the kids cans of Coke (oh my! I can only image how crazy they were when they got that), bananas, and pencils and pencil cases. They were very sweet to think of them.

Elyssa and I went downstairs to help, because apparently things were getting crazy. But I think the bananas saved the day because they were all sitting at their table eating the bananas. Afterwards we brought out some paper and stickers, again… always a crowd pleaser!

I took Sky by the hand and she smiled so big and walked me around the room. She loves to move around, specially holding someone’s hand. I scratched her back for a little bit and softly gave her a little massage which she seemed to love.

While we were standing around, Chun Chun came over and handed me a square piece of paper. She had one of her own, and she started folding it and telling me to do the same. So creative, I’m telling you. She folded so fast, though, that I kept losing track. I can tell you that I am NOT a very crafty person. At one point she had to take my paper from me and go back a few steps to correct the folding, haha. She let me use hers then. So we folded and in the end it turned out to be a cute paper crane. She, with her beautiful heart, gave them both to me. It just amazes me that this girl who has next to nothing has the biggest heart to give. It’s very humbling to see, and I’m  very grateful to have met her. We’re becoming very good friends. :)

At one point she saw the blue nail polish on my nails and pointed to it and smiled big! I later asked Fawn to tell her that I can bring her some nail polish to paint her nails tomorrow. She said she’d really like that. I asked her favorite color, and she said pink… such a girly girl!

We brought the kids back upstairs for them to eat their meals, and for us to leave. I snuck in a few pictures with Will before he had to leave. :)

On the way home we stopped at a store for a frame, and next to it was a little store full of all kinds of knick knacks, so a few of us took a look around. I found a few cute headbands, one I plan on giving to Chun Chun. I think she’ll really like it. Charlie, Elyssa, and I all walked to the market to grab a few more drinks, and on the way up we saw some nail polish. So I stopped to look for Chun Chun and found some really pretty pink colors. So I bought those along with a little bow clip which I think she’ll like. I’m so excited to give something back to this sweet girl.

After the market we had lunch at KFC. It was good. I’d say not as good as America, but honestly… I never eat KFC in America. Haha. The only time I ever eat KFC and McDonalds is when we’re in China… and it’s so funny because it always tastes like home. The ice cream that we got was the big hit, though. I was a happy girl being able to have some.

Back at the orphanage it was baby time. I didn’t see Cassie and Sarah in their normal room, so I went looking for them in the other rooms where the babies sleep. While I was in there I saw John bawling his eyes out on the rocking horse, so I scooped him up trying to calm him down. He would not stop crying though, and thrashed himself all over the place. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that. It was shocking. At one point he threw his face straight into my shoulder and bit down as hard as he could, and man, it was HARD. It immediately welted up and it’s a big cut right now. Elyssa has them all over her body. But as soon as the nannies came in and gave him a piece of steamed bread he quieted down. All that for being hungry.

I eventually brought Cassie and Sarah back into the other room. I picked Sarah up and her entire back was drenched in sweat. When we got back into the baby room I held her by the air conditioning unit to cool her off, but because she wasn’t used to that, she cried. So I was quick to walk away. I spent time trying to work on her muscles. She rolled around on the ground, and was very close to rolling on to her tummy from her back! Soon she’ll be able to, if they ever give her time on the ground. After some time she started fussing, so I rocked her in my arms. She would put her arm up in the air in front of her face and I started kissing it. And when I stopped she’d put it down. Then after a few seconds she’d put it up again for more kisses. She seemed to really like that. One way or another we ended up laying on the ground, her laying on my stomach. She was so close to falling asleep on me. I know she was tired, but fought it so hard. She grabbed my necklace and played with that a little bit. Good to see she can grab a hold of things. She loved having her back rubbed. We must’ve laid there for over an hour. Molly said, “That’s the most peaceful I’ve ever seen her .” Sarah seems to have a cough and she was breathing really hard today, which worries me. We’re going to ask the director if there’s anything we can do to get heart surgery for her. We’ve been talking about maybe advocating for funds… or something. But right now they told us she’s too weak. But I still would like to know if we can do anything.

Snuggle time with Sarah-praying she gets the life-saving surgery she needs!

After some time I rubbed lotion on her, which she seemed to like. Her skin is just so baggy… it literally looks like how an old person’s skin hangs off their bones. It’s so sad to look at.

They took sweet Sarah away from me to go feed her in the other room, so I was left baby-less. Leah came into the room, though, and was playing with all the babies. Shannon brought big bows to put on the babies to take their pictures (we’re hoping to tell them for referrals and for the shared list that this would be good), and we had them out having so much fun dressing the babies up. I took one and stuck it on Leah as a joke, and she was so funny and didn’t like it. I took her picture and she made a face like she didn’t like it. So I put one on to show her as a joke. Elyssa laughed at it and wanted to take a picture, so Leah jumped in and stuck her tongue out like she didn’t like them either. It was so funny. Such a fun girl.

 Leah doesn't like her bow

 So silly

She also had fun playing with Shannon’s little baby, Blossom. She is a little rough, but the baby seemed to like that. She kept shaking her head on her belly and Blossom just laughed and laughed like crazy. After awhile she got a little too rough with the babies, though. She just hasn’t had a lot of experience with them, so she didn’t understand. But a lot of those kids haven’t been told/understand that babies aren’t ask strong/able to be as rough as them… and that’s why I don’t like that Cassie and Sarah (or any of the babies for that matter) to be in the play room with them. She wouldn’t hurt them on purpose, but still. We had to tell her to be much more gentle a few times. But she sure knows how to get a smile out of us AND the babies. :)

Shannon, our leader, with Blossom

Anyways, by the time we were done with that it was the end of the day at the orphanage. We quickly cleaned up the room and left.

On the way into Chenzhou I spotted a Christian church (government run church), which we had been looking for. So the head nanny, we named her Joy, found out we wanted to go. We asked her if she would like to come with us, and she said she would, but needed to ask if Mrs. Wang would let her off for those hours. She said she never goes to church. So immediately she left and walked down to the church and found out times for us, and came back and said she would come. I’m so amazed by her eagerness to help us. So pray for opportunities there. This could be interesting.

Tomorrow we won’t be going to the orphanage until 10:30 because of an inspection. I’m not quite sure what that means, but they were in a hustle and bustle cleaning today.

While we were doing devotions tonight sweet Amy slipped out and started to throw up. We’re not sure what it was, but your prayers for her health would be much appreciated. Also the health for the rest of the team. I don’t think it’s a kind of virus, but maybe from food/water? I’m not sure. Elyssa,
Amy's roommate, is sleeping in our room tonight, just to be safe, and to give Amy some room.

Wow. I said this would be short, didn’t I? Ha! Who am I kidding? Anyways, I’m about ready to hit the hay. Goodnight! 

Oh, and if you've made it this far, your reward is that you can go and read more blogs of my team members!  Our leader, Shannon, has a blog at http://www.teamchenzhou.blogspot.com/  ...you'll love it, and in her sidebar are links to the blogs of other team memebers on our trip.  Enjoy!