FIRST FULL DAY IN LANXI

WOW is all I can say. We entered the Lanxi Orphanage & what a shock. The last time I had been here was 2003 & they are in a new building, across the lane from the old one.

But the real WOW is the changes in the children. There are currently six children upstairs in the orphanage and 4 older children in foster care. The nannies and orphanage kids were all in the special education/playroom when we got there & the children were all happy, some sitting at a small table, some playing with toys. There was children's music playing. Some of the kids could not even sit up by themselves last year & were now playing and showing emotion. Their faces were so content & joyful.

All of the RTC volunteers that had been here on prior volunteer trips and me had tears in our eyes, knowing where they were at just a few years ago. Truly Lanxi is a model of what should be done with all orphanages in China. It was just a night & day difference between Lanxi & Yiwu - I truly hope that Yiwu can get to this level in the future.

They have a number of different rooms - one bedroom, a little room off the bedroom with a t.v. in it, special education/playroom, another room I am not sure what it is used for but the RTC doctor & nurses used it, and a therapy room. All of the orphanage rooms are on the third floor & before you enter the floor, you have to take off your shoes & put on slippers or put little coverups over your shoes. It is all clean so the kids are able to crawl on the floor & not get dirty. There is an outdoor area to play in outside of the orphanage rooms. It has mats on the floor, bikes & other bigger toys, and it is protected from the sun by a blue plastic awning. Lanxi does not get as cold as Minnesota so the hallway between rooms is all open to the outside. The whole building is shaped in a U & there is a nice courtyard down below with a pond & nice plants. It is a very nice setting. Seniors live in the rest of the building.

There are three nannies at the orphanage & they were all there yesterday since we were coming. They have a uniform of dark blue athletic pants & a fitted white athletic shirt. It is a practical uniform for working with the children but also looks professional as it is fitted. The nannies seemed very proud of themselves & the children.

In the afternoon, the nannies did demonstrations for Nancy & Kiki so they were able to show that they remembered and could perform the things taught last year. They did great on the PT stuff and will get more training on some of the OT stuff, like brushing. The OT is a bit harder to grasp. Nancy & Kiki were very impressed by the staff.

The group did doctor/nurse/PT/OT assessments on each child in the orphanage & foster care. While the assessments were happening, the Cheryls & Danling went shopping! No, we were not slackards, we needed to go to the antique market to find some things for the RTC Red Lantern party to be held in February. We tried to find the old man & his stall but could not find it. Danling started asking around & found out he died this year. After about a dozen inquiries, a woman selling small birds took us down the alley & into her home. Her family had antiques but they were too expensive for our budget. But they welcomed us & tried to help us find the daughter-in-law of the old man who sells things some days in the market. She did not have her phone number but called a friend of the daughter-in-law who gave her the number for the daughter-in-law (got that?!). She came running & then we wove further down the alley & into her home where there was a room full of antiques. We went through & picked out more than a dozen things that we liked. Then the skills of Danling were put to use - bartering with them & going back & forth. It was comical to sit back & look at the parties in action! Prior to this, another family member, a man, stepped in to add his input about prices. What a fun experience!

Back to the orphanage to join the others. And then Danling, the orphanage director, and I went to meet at the Head of Civil Affairs and the Head of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was very relaxed with a lot of joking. The three of them plus the vice-director from the local hospital hope to come to Minnesota in December. We tried to convince them that another time of year would be better due to the weather but they were not flexible on that. It is not a sure thing yet as they do not have their passports & visas. While in Minnesota, they plan to spend time at Special Childrens in Hudson where Nancy & Kiki work doing therapy with special needs children. Also, they want to see a nursing home & hospital. It will be a short trip so we will try to pack in a lot in a few days.

The whole group had dinner with these three officials. It was delicious!!! And all three were very relaxed & friendly. I was seated at the right of the Head of Civil Affairs which meant I was the most honored guest. As the waitresses set down each dish on the lazy susan, she would spin it so that I took it first. Yes, I could get used to this but I don't think it will happen at home! The Head of Civil Affairs invited the whole group to his house tomorrow night for tea!

Each day has been amazing. It is now in the morning & time to get running as Susan has another powerpoint to do this morning!

Cheryl Heley