November 8

"Only where children gather, is there any real chance of fun." ~Mignon McLaughlin

Happy Birthyear, Happy Meals and Happy Children

If you have been following this blog you would have read about our Birthyear Celebration.  We have been planning this all week.  We wanted to take the children out of the orphanage for a day of fun.  We decided to throw a Birthyear Celebration.  Since we are unable to be here all of the time to celebrate all of their birthdays, we decided to have one big party for all of the birthdays. 

We took the children to a park in Jinan.  The park is probably a little different from the park that you imagine.  This park had amusement park rides, including a large roller coaster, as well as several places to rent little cars and peddle boats to take out on the lake.  None of the children have experienced amusement park rides before today.  They were so excited-most of them giggled out loud for the entire duration of the rides.

You probably also read earlier about the goodie bags that we made for the children.  They were a hit!  The kids loved the balloons.  One of the children turned out to be an awesome balloon animal artist (see the pics!).  After goodie bags and a few games it was time for McDonalds. 

McDonalds here works a bit different than it does in the United States.  Our trusty guide, Dennis, was a bit nervous about how we could make this work.  Here, when you have a large order you need to call it in ahead of time. We called two days in advance to order all of the Happy Meals.  When we told McDonalds that we were purchasing the Happy Meals for orphans, they insisted on helping us.  They delivered the Happy Meals to us at the park and also brought gift bags for each child.  In addition, they sent two of their team members to the park to host the party.  They played games with the children and stayed for lunch.  They also helped us to get a cake from a very famous bakery here in China.  We were so lucky to find such a great partner in McDonalds.  

One of the things that the volunteers found interesting what the large crowd that gathered around us as we had our Birthyear Celebration in the park.  At times there were more than 50 people gathered around watching and taking pictures.  Dennis explained that it is rare to see so many children all in one place, especially with so many foreigners also in the same place.  

After lunch it was time to head back to the orphanage.  Remember, the orphanage is very structured.  We could not keep the children out all day as it would interfere with their day to day routine.  We took the children back-all of them were smiling!

On the way back to the hotel we discussed how happy that this outing made all of the children. We reflected upon how well the children are taken care of, but how there is no extra money for luxuries.  We thought about what we could do as a group to provide something that would last a little longer than the bubbles.  Bicycles are the transportation of choice here in China.  They are everywhere, far outnumbering the number of motor vehicles.  We noticed that the orphanage had no bicycles.  It was off to Wal-Mart once more to purchase three bicycles and two scooters which we will take with us to the orphanage tomorrow.  We know they will be appreciated and they will see a lot of use!

We are winding down our stay in Jinan as we leave for Beijing tomorrow afternoon.  We will chat with you then!

contributed by Erin

November 7

Today we took our gong gong qi che (autobus) to Zhijang, a suburb of Jinan, to visit the foster center.  The foster center is affiliated with the Jinan orphanage.  The ride to the foster center was very interesting, we left the big city and drove out into the farm country.  Farming is the way of life of almost all residents of Zhijang.  We were fortunate enough to drive through on Market Day and we saw all of the farmers out selling their goods.

When we arrived at the foster center the directors greeted us with warm hospitality.  They explained what it's like for the children at the foster center.  There are currently 52 families in Zhijang that house 102 orphaned children.  They often move kids with cerebral palsy out to the countryside so they are able to grow up in traditional family homes with a mother figure and a father figure.  The foster center mothers take training from the physical therapists in Jinan and Beijing so that they are able to provide training to the foster children in their own homes.  Because the CP equipment is so expensive, the foster families often make their own equipment.  We were all very happy to learn that the money we raised bake in the States will provide new and advanced equipment to these families.

The foster children visit the foster center once a day,  where they receive training in groups and then the foster families also provide training at home.  After we played with some of the children at the foster center, the directors took us out to visit some of the homes of the foster families.  We felt very honored to be welcomed in to their homes.  They were all very beautiful.  They showed us the training equipment and introduced us to their families.

Foster families are often made up of a husband, wife and maybe even grandma and grandpa, whose children have already left home and they are wanting to raise babies again and cannot have more of their own because of the One Child rule.  These foster families are so generous and have great amounts of patience and huge hearts.  They open their homes to children with special needs who need a loving family.  Once the children learn how to walk on their own, talk and feed themselves they will head back to the Jinan orphanage and become eligible for international adoption.  The directors of the foster center also took us to a greenhouse out in the fields.  We saw tomatoes, lettuce and carrots that the farmers will sell to big cities like Beijing.

After we visited the Foster Center in Zhijang, we drove back to Jinan for a little sightseeing.  We headed over to Baotu Spring Park which houses a natural spring.  The park was beautiful and had many traditional Chinese plants and flowers.

Later in the day, the directors from the Jinan orphanage took us all out to dinner...to a Brazilian Steakhouse to thank us for our volunteer efforts.  We were offered quite a variety of different meats from American Brazilian Steakhouses, but we all had no problems filling ourselves up!  We were very appreciative of their kind words and their generous gifts.

 

November 6

Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder. 

~Eberhard Arnold

Yesterday we learned how hard it is to run an orphanage that is as organized as the orphanage in Jinan.  We worked from 8:30 until 5:30 with only a short lunch.  We fed babies (imagine how difficult to feed two at one time...you have to be quick!).  We changed diapers, we chased babies who wanted to escape their play rooms, and we played until we could play no more.  We returned home late yesterday wondering how we were going to manage another day like that.  We have so much respect for the nannies and the staff at the orphanage who do this on a daily basis!

Today was a little more relaxed.  We took time to step back and remember what it is like to be a child.

Special Project:

We have been scheming all week about our special project.  We are faced with the task of taking 17 children who range in age from 4-15 out of the orphanage.  We decided to do a "Birthyear Party."  On Saturday, we will be treating the children to McDonalds Happy Meals and a huge party to celebrate their birthyear (we wanted to include everybody!).  Our task today was to get toys, candy and party favors for the goodie bags.  Where in Jinan do you go to do that?  Wal-Mart of course! It is true, we found a huge Wal-Mart right in the middle of Jinan.  After two hours with the children this morning we snuck out for a shopping trip with the children in mind.  See more about this in Saturday's posting.  We spent our entire lunch break (and maybe a little more) preparing for this party.

Bubbles and Troubles:

It seems so often we forget about the simple things that children enjoy.  We get caught up in fancy electronics, the latest hot toys that all the kids have, and we forget about the simple things in life that bring a smile to a child's face.  This afternoon we got to act like kids again!  Our groups split into two.  One group was to go outside with about 10 children and the other group would remain inside with 10 children.  The inside group was a special group-all of the children were deaf or mute.  As a group, we had brought a few things for the children to play with...today we broke out the presents and played!  The group inside started with crafts.  They had foam sheets with stickers, coffee filters to make flowers, washable markers, and coloring books.  The children started off by doing a mural on the orphanage wall-nice touch but we were thankful the markers were washable.  A team of children led by our volunteer Janet decided to take every sticker and foam piece and throw them onto the floor (see the pics!).  The point here is that craft time was so much fun...the kids loved it as did the volunteers.  But, in addition, they were allowed to make a mess.  They wrote on walls, threw stuff all over the floor and had a great time doing it.  Cleanup only required a mop and bucket!

  

Meanwhile outside...

The group outside showed children bubbles for the first time.  The children were amazed.  Some of them were afraid at first, but quickly saw how fun it was to chase the bubbles and pop them!  Some of them were able to blow bubbles while others had a great time chasing them around.  The children laughed out loud at this new found form of entertainment.

We ended the day fairly early as we still have a lot of planning to do for the party and we leave early tomorrow for the foster center which is about 40 minutes outside of Jinan.

See you tomorrow!

contributed by Erin

November 5

Today we volunteered from 8am-5pm at the Jinan orphanage.  When we arrived they dressed us in full Auntie gear.  

(from left Erin, Jocelyn, Janet, Kathy, Lindsay, Jessica, Suzie)

We each split up into different rooms for the first half of the day.  Some of us went to help with the little babies, while the others played with the 1 year-olds in the playroom and then we switched after lunchtime.

When we helped with the little babies we gave them bottles, washed them, changed dirty diapers and held them.  There were about 10 babies in each room and they are split up by age group.

When we took the 1 year-olds to the playroom we played with balls, rattles and anything else that made noise!

After we took a break for lunch, Dennis took us out walking behind the streets of the orphanage where there were open markets.  We bought apples for the children that the Aunties turned into steamed applesauce later that day.

We all had a long day playing with the children but we enjoyed it very much, and we feel like we've helped the orphanage even in our short time there.  We admire the Aunties because we know how hard their jobs are now!

November 4

Today we flew from Beijing to Jinan which is where we will be spending the majority of our time volunteering in the orphanage.

We went to the Jinan orphanage where we met with the directors.  They talked to us about the orphanage and how appreciative they are to have us there.  The Jinan orphanage has been around for 60 years and currently has 300 orphans.  The ages range from newborn to 18.  The older kids leave the orphanage each day to go to school while the younger ones stay and learn social skills by playing with each other.  99% of the orphans are there with disabilities and/or other diseases.  The directors told us said that the babies just need attention...they need us to hold them and give them love...and that's what we are here to do.

The directors then took us on a tour of orphanage.  Each floor houses a different age group.  Babies on one floor, pre-school on another etc.  We played with some of the 2 year-olds during their exercise time.  Because there are so many children with special needs at the orphanage there are specific floors and wings dedicated to teaching these children with physical therapy as well as speech therapy.  When we went into one of the rooms that had children with cerebral palsy, they all said "Hello" and came over to shake our hands.  It was the cutest thing I have ever seen!  Our director told us that they all learned how to speak on the "Dr. Speech" speech therapy machine and before they got the machine they couldn't say anything.   There were also rooms dedicated to physical therapy that teach the children how to walk, how to climb, how to lift weights to strengthen their arms, balance and how to open their hands properly.  Jinan has schools for special needs children so as these children get older they will go to the city schools.  For now though, teachers from the city schools show the Aunties (nannies) proper techniques on how to teach young children with special needs.

We were all very moved by our first visit to the orphanage and we look forward to tomorrow where we will spend the day holding and feeding babies.

November 3

We are all very happy to have Dennis, our gracious and funny translator and tour guide with us!  We can't imagine trying to get ourselves around the city without him.

First, Dennis took us to Tiananmen Square.  There were many tour groups there.  We were surprised to see so many tourists from other parts of China.  Then we went to the Beijing Hope Center.  This is an orphana

ge and center in Beijing where orphaned children with sev-

ere disabilities go to get operations.  When we arrived there were some Chinese volunteers there who come once a week just to hold the babies.   One of the volunteers had lived in Chicago before and she told us all about the center.  There are babies there with cleft pallets, cerebral palsy, babies who are paralyzed from the waste down, deaf and mute babies, babies with spinal chord problems.  It breaks your heart to seem them, but we know that the babies that come to the Hope Center get the personal care, medical attention and necessary surgeries to improve their lives.  We were able to play with the children and learn their stories before we had to leave.

Later in the day we stopped at a Jade factory on our way to the Great Wall.

We were all so excited to get to the Great Wall-one of the Seven Wonders of the World!!!  There were so many steps that were very hard to climb-good thing they had a railing for us to hold on to!  Jessica and I climbed up 1,275 steps (yes we counted, but only on the way down).  The views from the wall were amazing.

  Jessica and I are now certified Heroes-(you get a hero card for climbing the steps).  There were little shops and checkpoints along the way that gave us the chance to catch our breath.

In the evening we went out to eat the famous Peking duck, which was very good.  The food in China is amazing.  We are all coming home 10 pounds heavier.