ZhuMaDian CWI - A Trip To Sarah's Orphanage

We headed three hours south to Zhu Ma Dian city to get Sarah's passport and to visit her orphanage. There is always a little fear associated with visiting the kid's previous homes. We are worried that all the bonding and attachment developed over the past few days will have a set back, and we are worried that the kids will be really sad seeing the people they love and who have loved them too.  But we also think that it is really important to provide as many pieces to their vagues pasts as possible. So we headed to the ZhuMaDian Children's Welfare Institute to be able to tell Sarah as much as we can about her past.

We did not even make it through the front doors before nannies came rushing her to love on our Sarah. Nannies, teachers, officers, the director and the nurse all came to say good bye to our sweet girl. It was very obvious that she was well loved and cared for. I'm happy to report that Sarah did not want to leave my arms - especially in the beginning. She ended up feeling more confident the longer we were there and went to a nanny and her nurse. It was very tender to watch. She did not shed a tear when it was time to go and she was happy and willing to leave with us. She blew kisses goodbye. 

Orphanages are hard places to visit. Sarah's orphanage has 130 children. They also have another 20 in different foster families in the area. In the last 3 years they have adopted out 50 children. Most of their kiddos have cerebral palsie.  The workers are so loving which is amazing to witness. It was very clean and they fed kids while holding them. The hard parts to see are the fact that 18 children sleep in one room with all the beds lined up head to toe. The kids didn't have any sheets or blankets - just bamboo mats. (That may be partly due to the heat).  Their were a lot of kids with real needs who will never have families because China will not allow them to be adopted. Some older girls followed us around and called us mom and dad. It is heart wrenching. I'm so grateful for the love and care Sarah received the past 22 months. She is a happy, loving, and well adjusted little girl. We owe the orphanage a huge debt of gratitude. 

The long wait at the passport office

Brig was slightly bored

The ZhuMaDian CWI

Rick was a huge hit

This is the nurse. She and Sarah definitely have a very close relationship 

Brig and Sarah became great friends at the train station. Brig has benn patiently waiting for Sarah to warm up to him. Success!!!