I have been asked a few times over the months since our return home from China if Emily was loved and cared for in her stay at the orphanage. It is a question everyone would like to know the answer to. While I cannot tell you in detail the love, nurturing, and care that Emily received during her orphanage stay in China, I can offer real glimpses that absolutely confirm that she was loved and cared for.
Let me start by sharing one of the real treasures we have from Emily's orphanage. It is a Christmas card (below) prepared by Emily's HTS (Half The Sky Foundation) nanny and included as part of her orphanage packet that we received on "gotcha day". The HTS nanny took special care of Emily several times a week in an HTS sponsored infant care center at the orphanage, spending several hours each time nurturing and playing with Emily. That was this nanny's sole responsibility, nurturing and interacting with Emily in a playful and safe environment to support infant development in those early months prior to adoption. This particular nanny took the time to construct a hand made Christmas card for Emily's future first Christmas in America. Wishing her a Merry Christmas, and that luck be with her through her life.
What a wonderful blend of traditional East & West is shown in this card. A traditional Christmas tree, with a garland that says Merry Christmas in Mandarin, and bells hung on the branches. Firecrackers (a traditional method of celebration and good luck) going off all around the tree. A smiling Santa with a bag of presents slung over his head looking out from the Card. Warm wishes of luck throughout life for "little Bean" (her nickname at the orphanage) hand printed in Mandarin in the upper right corner of the card. 9I have included a photo of Emily with her HTS nanny below as well.)
I was both astonished and grateful for this card for Emily when I saw it. We very much enjoyed the hand written reports of Emily's progress over the months, and the photos of her each month that were part of the packet we received. But the Christmas card, well that was exceedingly special. Her HTS nanny took the special effort to create this card, and she did so in a fabulous way that blends our two cultures together. This will be a keepsake for Emily in her life ahead, as we have created a digital master of it so we are able to reproduce it for her, and retain a copy for posterity.
The other remarkable thing that happened on gotcha day that tells us how much Emily was loved was the grief her orphanage nanny (the one that took care of her and 5 other orphans) and her reactions at the Civil Affairs office on gotcha day. When we were entering the building, the babies arrived right behind us. There were 5 orphanage staff carrying the 9 babies. Emily and one of her fellow orphans were in their nanny's arms, (one in each arm). From the moment that Emily's nanny sat down right before we were to receive our babies, you could see the sadness in the nanny's eyes. When she gave up the two little girls in her arms so that they could be held in their new parents arms for the first time, the nanny broke down in tears. After a few minutes, the grief was too much and she excused herself from the room. Emily's nanny gave up 4 of her 6 little orphans to adoption that day. The way in which she clutched the two little girls in her arms, the sadness on her face, the tears that overcame her said everything. She cared very much for the orphan girls in her care.
While the story above is our particular experience, it is an experience similarly repeated time and time again by adopting parents when they are able to meet the nanny who cared for their babies up until adoption. Some nannys are more attached and caring then others of course, and they all have "favorites". But the point is, even with difficult environments and circumstances, the women who care for orphans in China for the most part care very much for them.
I still get a tear in my eye when I look at the photo we have of Emily in the arms of her nanny just before she was ours to hold. The women in Emily's life in those months leading up to gotcha day indeed cared for her. She was not just a haphazardly chosen name on a list. They nurtured her and treated her as an unique individual. They recorded stories of what Emily was like and what she liked to do and play with in those early months. We have photos of Emily that show her from just a week old, until the month before she was adopted. People loved and cared enough to take good care of Emily and to record and photograph events in her early life that should be a part of every babies mementos in life.
In closing this week:
I would like to celebrate a wonderful group of parents who share a common thread in life, parents who have adopted children from YiYang CWI/SWI orphanages. These wonderful people, through there energy, commitment and action, helped make a Half The Sky Infant Care Center a reality for Emily. http://www.yiyangfund.org/about.shtml
I would also like to celebrate Half The Sky Foundation for the wonderful work they do with China Orphanages. It is through Half The Sky that YiYang.org is able to do what they do, and it makes a huge difference in quality of life for orphans in China.
If you feel so inspired, please take time to visit the link above. Perhaps order a calendar from YiYang.org, make a donation, perhaps even sponsor a nanny or an orphan (all funds go directly to continued funding of the Infant Care Center at Emily's orphanage. You may also feel inspired to support Half The Sky Foundation on a broader basis. Feel free to take time to Visit Half The Sky Foundations web site.
The efforts of these two organizations directly contributed to Emily's care and well being in China, as they do for children each day, each month, each year.
Let your heart lead you, and Merry Christmas.
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