Zhengzhou Orphanage and John's Finding Spot

Today was another great day in piecing John's life together.  We were able to visit the orphanage here in Zhengzhou where John essentially lived for the first 6 months of his life. We learned that he lived at the Lilly's Orphan Care Center portion of the orphanage. The orphanage seems to be split into different foster facilities. Each floor was a different organization. Maria's Big House, Half Sky and Lilly's to name a few. John got really insecure again and clung to Rick for dear life. He did end up relaxing but would not go near a nanny that remembered him and who took care of him.

This is John's old nannie

The orphanage was as nice as an orphanage can be. There are 600 children there but they are separated into groups of 8-10 with 2-3 nannies who care for them. It was very clean and the children were well cared for. We found out that 50 children were adopted last year from this orphanage and this year over 50 have been adopted so far.  We also learned that 1-8 children are abandoned each day in this city alone. That is a staggering number. We have a copy of John's article in the paper and there are at least 20 children on the page with him - that is the article where they try to find the parents. They have a picture of the baby, a description of what they were wearing and where they were found.

 This is John's old room. There were 9 beds and 3 nannies in there.

The director of the orphanage is a really great man who was part of Gotcha Day and the passport day. He asked us if we would like an article of clothing that John was wearing the day they found him. We were so appreciative of the kindness shown to us and John today. He told us that John was very sick with pneumonia and was sent to Beijing for a short while. He also definitely had a cleft palate and lip, and was diagnosed with Hydrocepholis. He clearly does not have that, but it was interesting to know more of his history. The picture of him as a baby looks so different from how he looks now. He was basically skeletal, so brand new and wrinkly, and does not look at all healthy. Because of the great care he received over the past two years, we have a healthy happy boy now. We can't help but be appreciative to China, Zhengzhou, and the orphanage.

Clothes John wore when he was found

We were also fortunate enough to go to John's finding spot, the place where he was abandoned. We originally were told that he was abandoned at a temple. That does not seem to be the case. It seems now that he was abandoned near a graveyard. We were able to see the site. It is in a really poor part of town, although the graveyard was pretty amazing. He was most likely left by the busy road there, so that someone would find him easily.

John at his finding spot

People here talk very openly about the one child policy (of course I am constantly asking questions about it). I have to say that I have heard my fair share of abortion stories, abandonment and sad stories. When they are talking about it, they are very matter of fact - almost emotionless. I guess they have to be emotionally removed from the horror of government intervention. Apparently about 10 years ago here in Zhengzhou, they rounded up all the women and forced them to have check ups to see if they were pregnant. You can imagine what the result of that round up was. The only way to avoid the result of a second pregnancy was to leave and hide in other cities. Crazy stuff!

We have come across some really amazing people here, a lot of kindness, and overall I really like the chinese people. This trip is much too long though, and we are more than ready to go home. We still have 9 days to go. Oh well, can't control it so we will enjoy it. Tomorrow we head to the birth place of Kung Fu. By the way, John is sooooooooooooooo attached to Rick. He likes me, but he is full blown crazy cakes about my cute husband. Can we blame him?