Hi, I am Susan Heley and I am 15 years old. I would like to tell you about the last few days I spent volunteering at the Yiwu Orphanage.
Every morning we report to the bus at 8:20, or are supposed to be. Lately I have been making it about 8:30 - Shhh, don't tell Danling! Then the bus transports us to the Yiwu orphanage where I get to be the half time photographer and camera woman. I have little experience with both machines so who knows what the results will look like... Yikes. After I take some photos then I go down and play with all the little babies in the baby room. There are about 40 + little ones in there. I have secreatly fallen in love with each one. It breaks my heart to see all these children just sitting in cribs and crying for attention and a little love. With all these children I have noticed that If they are crying you pick him/her up and then just like that the tears go away and smile emerges. I am planning to sneak maybe 2-3 or 15 kids in my suitcase back home then I can just distribute them off to you and you and you. lol. I love the travel group we are traveling with, they each are so nice and friendly. Every one of them brings something special to the table. I seem to be getting rather attached to Emma and Quin. whether they like it or not =P. Those two little girls are doing amazing, they never whine and are always up and willing to help. Yesterday I gave my speech - can you talk about STRESSFULL. I got it done and it went very well I was told. Danling (the big potato) did a great job of translating only missed two things Just kidding SHE WAS AMAZEING ladies and gents. Well I am getting really hungry and for those who know me I don't do very well with an empty stomach.
Susan Heley is Out!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
It is now 4:00 in the morning in Yiwu
Good morning! It is now 4:00 in the morning in Yiwu & I can not sleep. It is warm here but the air conditioners are shut down on October 1st every year. The same was true in Beijing.
We have had a few incredible days at the orphanage in Yiwu. I have been on the RTC board since it was founded in 2006 so I felt that I knew what was going on but it has been a real eye opener being here. It is hard to explain it. It is a bit overwhelming & it really makes you think about your own life.
The first day we saw 19 children, mostly ones that were in foster care. Many with cerebral palsy. I do not know how these foster mothers do it - one had 5 children & the other 6. I find it hard at times with 4 kids & none of mine have any special needs. It is a rather humbleing experience.
Yesterday we saw a few kids from foster homes but mainly we saw babies at the orphanage. So many sweet, little ones. And so many that should be placed for adoption soon before they fall further behind. Unfortunately, this orphanage used the bad formula & a number of kids we saw had kidney stones. All the babies were screened at the local hospital for kidney stones. I am not sure what the long term prognosis is for these children.
In the afternoon, Danling & the special education teacher that we hired for the Guiping orphanage gave a talk to the nannies and foster mothers. They left two nannies to handle the baby room which has about 40 children in cribs. Often both of the nannies were upstairs, bringing babies up to be assessed and talking with the nurses, doctor, or therapists. So that left Susan downstairs in the baby room on her own. She did a super job. It was amazing to see her in action - a very proud moment for me!
Later, Susan did her talk. She had put together a powerpoint with photos telling her life story. There were about 40 people in the room - foster moms, nannies, RTC staff from the U.S., and RTC translators from China. Again, she did an incredible job. I sat up front & watched the reaction on the faces & they were extremely interested. Again, Susan was very poised & confident. After her talk, there were questions for her and for our group. We had a nice dialogue between the different groups. I think the Chinese people really appreciated hearing from an adoptee and seeing that she was doing so well.
Last night we had a great dinner with the RTC volunteers & translators at the hotel. It was called hot pot. We sat at two big round tables and each had three boiling pots with broth sunk in the table. Then they started bringing food for us to add to it & you just scooped out what you wanted. Susan flipped a bit when shrimp on skewers were delivered to our table with the legs moving! After boiling them, most ate them whole but I opted to remove the head & eyes & most of the shell. Apparently the shell is full of calcium but I will stick to a vitamin instead! We also added beef, pig intestine, dumplings, noodles, mushrooms and crab. The nice thing is you could fish out what you wanted. Each person had a little bowl to mix their own concoction of soy sauce & spices to dip the cooked pieces in. It was delicious, especially with a nice cold Tsing Tao beer!
Off to another day of work.
Cheryl Heley
We have had a few incredible days at the orphanage in Yiwu. I have been on the RTC board since it was founded in 2006 so I felt that I knew what was going on but it has been a real eye opener being here. It is hard to explain it. It is a bit overwhelming & it really makes you think about your own life.
The first day we saw 19 children, mostly ones that were in foster care. Many with cerebral palsy. I do not know how these foster mothers do it - one had 5 children & the other 6. I find it hard at times with 4 kids & none of mine have any special needs. It is a rather humbleing experience.
Yesterday we saw a few kids from foster homes but mainly we saw babies at the orphanage. So many sweet, little ones. And so many that should be placed for adoption soon before they fall further behind. Unfortunately, this orphanage used the bad formula & a number of kids we saw had kidney stones. All the babies were screened at the local hospital for kidney stones. I am not sure what the long term prognosis is for these children.
In the afternoon, Danling & the special education teacher that we hired for the Guiping orphanage gave a talk to the nannies and foster mothers. They left two nannies to handle the baby room which has about 40 children in cribs. Often both of the nannies were upstairs, bringing babies up to be assessed and talking with the nurses, doctor, or therapists. So that left Susan downstairs in the baby room on her own. She did a super job. It was amazing to see her in action - a very proud moment for me!
Later, Susan did her talk. She had put together a powerpoint with photos telling her life story. There were about 40 people in the room - foster moms, nannies, RTC staff from the U.S., and RTC translators from China. Again, she did an incredible job. I sat up front & watched the reaction on the faces & they were extremely interested. Again, Susan was very poised & confident. After her talk, there were questions for her and for our group. We had a nice dialogue between the different groups. I think the Chinese people really appreciated hearing from an adoptee and seeing that she was doing so well.
Last night we had a great dinner with the RTC volunteers & translators at the hotel. It was called hot pot. We sat at two big round tables and each had three boiling pots with broth sunk in the table. Then they started bringing food for us to add to it & you just scooped out what you wanted. Susan flipped a bit when shrimp on skewers were delivered to our table with the legs moving! After boiling them, most ate them whole but I opted to remove the head & eyes & most of the shell. Apparently the shell is full of calcium but I will stick to a vitamin instead! We also added beef, pig intestine, dumplings, noodles, mushrooms and crab. The nice thing is you could fish out what you wanted. Each person had a little bowl to mix their own concoction of soy sauce & spices to dip the cooked pieces in. It was delicious, especially with a nice cold Tsing Tao beer!
Off to another day of work.
Cheryl Heley
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Red Thread Charities Public Blog
This will be the site for the Red Thread Charities Volunteer Trip October 11, 2008 to November 1, 2008.
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