Packages of Hope - China 2005

With the Bengbu experience still deeply moving me, I checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport.

It was there that I hit a glitch. I found out I had arrived at the airport too late, and I had missed my direct flight to Lanzhou.

I went to a nearby ticket agent, who appeared slightly interested in my plight, and told me that I would have to take a flight the next day, and that I would have to pay an extra fee. I figured that I had little choice, so I accepted her proposal. She then told me that I needed to go to the cashier to pay the fee, and then come back so that she could issue me my ticket. I then asked her where the cashier was.

She said, "there," as she pointed to the man sitting not 4 feet from her, in the next booth.

With a few papers in my hand, I lumbered the cart with my donation laden bags a few feet to the left.

The cashier appeared even slightly less interested in my plight, as I handed him my papers, and my Visa card. Without moving his head or gaze, his hands performed a flurry of swiping, filing, and stamping, and I ended up with twice as many pieces of papers as when I had started with. I then gave a few tugs on my cart, pulling it a few feet back to the ticket agent, who looked surprised to see me so soon. She took all my papers, and I did see some of them filed in different locations, but after all the stamping was through, I could have sworn the stack of paper now gripped in my hand was twice as big.

Resigned to another day in Shanghai, I used my cellphone to call my contact in Lanzhou, Mr. Huo. I told him what had happened, and he then offered me a solution to fly another route to Lanzhou that day, rather then spending another night in Shanghai. I told him I had asked all the requisite questions to the ticket agent, as in "is there any other way I can get to Lanzhou today on this or any other airline?". He responded, "let me talk to her".

Thank goodness I had purchased my SIM card for my cellphone to work in China.

After a lot of discussion, it was determined that I could indeed travel to Lanzhou, but would involve a stop in Xian.

I profusely thanked Mr. Huo for his telephone assistance, and was prepared for battle with the ticket agent. However, I was reminded of my overall objective, and peace overcame me, as I confirmed my agreement with Mr. Huo's plan to travel to Lanzhou that evening via Xian.

I won't tell you the details of the next 30 minutes, but I will say that the following was necessary for the transaction to take place:
1. My current ticket (for next day travel) had to be refunded
2. A new ticket had to be issued.
3. My original ticket had to be stamped in order for me to get a refund on my original flight.

Yes indeed, these three steps involved what I aptly named "the cashier waltz", as I had to go back and forth to properly process the transaction. While passing the papers over the divider between the ticket agent and the cashier seemed a bit easier, I accepted that I was the guest in this country, and I had to play by the rules.

However, the cashier had not seen the last of me, as when I went to the separate counter to check in, I found out that my bags were horrifically overweight, and even after a generous overage allowance, I still needed to sashay across the terminal dancefloor and collect even more leafs of onion-skin stamped paper from the expressionless cashier.

With only minutes to spare, and with the assistance of a very kind check-in attendant escorting me quickly through security, I was on my way to Xian.

I had to retrieve my bags at Xian and hang around for a few hours before I could check in for my next flight. As I waited, I took out my laptop, and watched a movie. Soon a number of children surrounded me, and I set the laptop on top of my bags, and we sat on the floor in front of the screen, like we were all sitting in the living room watching TV. My heart was warmed as one of the kids went and poured me a nice cup of tea.
When it was time to check in at Xian, and found out I again had to pay baggage overweight charges. This time, however, I mentioned that I was with a charity organization, and I received an even bigger break.

Finally I made it to Lanzhou, where Mr. Huo was waiting patiently for me. With a handshake and a smile, he helped me load my behemoth bags into his car. I thought for sure I would have to really make up for this bad start as an introduction for Packages of Hope, but Joe Huo didn't seem to mind. In fact, he did not mind at all, and I would soon find out just what a wonderful friend I had met.

I wanted to relate a comment I received indirectly from the staff at Bengbu.

During the final time in the meeting room together, I attempted a candid question on what the nannies would like as a gift from families traveling to Bengbu.

I received an interesting lesson in American vs. Chinese culture.

I was told (again, indirectly) that the nannies do not prefer soaps, shampoos, or cosmetics. In fact, they tended towards disliking these gifts, although I'm sure they wouldn't admit this openly. I was really surprised at this comment, as I remember reading many posts where people had commented that this was the ideal gift for the staff.

We had taken these along on our two adoption trips.

I asked, "we really want to get you folks something that you'd like. Something that you might need. Just let me know, and I'll let people know what to get!"

They responded, "we would really like to get something that comes from your heart. For example, some people from France gave us a scarf, which we were told is a typical heartfelt gift from France."

I thought that they were merely trying to appease me, but later I found out from YongMing that they were being very honest. It seems that in Chinese culture, a gift from the heart is much more meaningful than something that is useful, in these particular cases. So even if the gift has no practical use, it's meaning from the giver is the most important aspect of the gift.

YongMing later offered me some perspective, and offered his theory. He told me that in the late 60's and 70's, many common items were very scarce, and even required a ticket or stamp in order to purchase. One of these such items were soap. People actually had to have a ticket in order to buy soap (of course today things are very different, with soap and shampoo being readily available). He said that perhaps the gifts of soap and cosmetics might actually be misconstrued as an insult, with the perceived message being, "here you go, now you can finally have some soap, and you don't need a ticket".

I told him that this message couldn't have been further from the truth, and he knew this to be true. But YongMing offered this as a possible explanation as to why this gift didn't go over well with the staff.

I woke up the next morning, our last morning in Bengbu, with the same thought I had right before I fell asleep the previous night - "I've got to do more. I've got to do more."

I thought about how much Director Song had done for us, and I didn't want to let him down. I wanted him to know that we were in this for the long haul, and that the support from the families and Packages of Hope would be ongoing.

When the idea popped into my head, I shot straight up in bed.

"of course!"

We were going to meet Director song for a brief lunch before heading to the train station. We didn't have much time.

I got up, showered, dressed, and packed. I woke YongMing, and told him our plan.

"Good idea!" he said.

We got in the taxi and headed for the furniture store. It was still early, and the owner I had spoken to 2 days before wasn't there yet. He was contacted on the phone, and he was there within 15 minutes.

"I want you to make some beds for me," I said.

We drove back to our hotel, where the furniture maker took a look at the pictures I had taken, and discussed dimensions with us. We told him we wanted a rock bottom price for some beds for the orphanage. After much thought, he told us he could make a standard bed for 260 RMB (about $33) and a bed with a siderail (for the kindergarten kids) for 350RMB (about $42). After figuring out how much I had to spend, I said, "I want 6 of each". We paid him $200 on the spot as a downpayment, and he drew up a contract for the deal. We gave the rest of the money to Steven Tao to give the manufacturer when he completed the job. We also clarified that there might be future orders if he did a good job, and to clarify with the orphanage if there were any problems. The price included delivery, of course.

With great pride, I took the onion skin copy of the receipt with us to lunch, and presented it to Director Song. We told him the details of the deal, and I toasted him, reaffirming our commitment to the children. You should have seen the smile on his face!

I was expecting to say goodbye to Director Song at the hotel as he dropped us off from lunch. Instead, he waited for us in the lobby, and personally carried our bags to his car, and loaded them in. YongMing took me aside and told me what a great honor indeed this was for us. He drove us to a market, where we took about 40 minutes to buy souvenirs for our family. He walked along with us, and even helped us haggle with local vendors. He then gave us a ride to the very door of the train station, and again helped to unload our bags.

YongMing and I were speechless, as we watched this very senior official unload our bags from his car.

I thanked him once again for his generosity and caring, and I told him, "There's a saying I really like - "one hundred years from now, it won't matter what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had, or what kind of car I drove. The only thing that will matter is that I was important in the life of a child.' There is no doubt you have made a big difference in the lives of the children." He smiled and thanked us again, and we said our goodbyes at last.

It was only in the train station, where our team of 3 assembled for the last time (this trip), that YongMing told us a bit of personal news.

"You know, one of the staff members informed me that Director Song's 19 year old boy (his only child) very recently died.", he said.

"MY GOD!" I said. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

He said, "It was told to me privately. I don't think he wanted anyone to know. The staff said that another charity group was here recently, and Director Song did not meet with them due to his grief, but that he was so moved by our dedication to the children, that he stayed and met with us for so long. It was truly an honor that he accompanied us today."

We toasted Director Song with our tea, and then headed down to join the crowds getting on the train.

YongMing and I said so long to Steven, and I told him I'd be emailing him soon. I told him that he did such a great job. He said thanks, and congratulated us too, and mentioned that he would follow up with the bed construction soon.

It was nice to say "so long" and not "goodbye".

YongMing and I then boarded a heavily packed train for a grueling 7 hour ride back to Shanghai (the train was delayed for 1.5 hours enroute). The folks that had no seats stood along side us in the aisles, sometimes sitting on their luggage, which often consisted of just a nylon burlap sack. I had my big hardside bag in the aisle for 2 of the farmers to sit on, instead of having to sit on the floor.

We reached Shanghai at 11pm, and I checked into a nearby hotel (arranged, once again, by my amazing and doting friend, YongMing), exhausted. The next morning I would be on my way to Lanzhou, in western China.

I'm having trouble posting pictures! Sorry!

The meeting room was on the first floor, and the cries and squeaks of the babies could be heard resounding off the concrete walls and floors. It sent shivers down my spine. We stopped to take some photographs of the boxes that Packages of Hope had sent. The nannies smiled with glee at the cute animal blankets. We opened only 3 of the boxes, and Director Song asked if we needed to open them all an inventory them. With another baby’s squeal echoing from down the hall, I said no, anxious to see the children. We also opened the delivery of books that YongMing had so graciously ordered, and Steven had diligently delivered, made possible by donated funds from Packages of Hope. They were all there, safe and sound, and were in good condition.

Rounding a corner, we came upon a wooden screen door. The wood frame was painted green. Inside I caught my first glimpse of the little babies, some of them on rocking horses, some of them in walkers. The room was clean terrazzo floor, about 12’ x12’. A radiator type heater was set on one wall, and above it was a large old window facing the sunshine and the lake. There was a standing air conditioner in the corner. To the right as I walked in, there was another door leading to a room that looked to be about 2/3 the size of the room I had originally entered. This room was lined with cribs, where the babies slept, 2 to a crib.

The babies were clothed warmly head to toe, even though the temperature was a cool 70 to 75 degrees F. they wore cloth diapers, contained by an outer brown naugahide covering diaper. These were visible from the gap in their split pants.

Try as I could, my eyes could not stop from becoming wet and my vision blurred by tears. My concentration was completely broken, as I laid down my camera, camcorder, and notepad to just look at one of these beautiful babies, eye to eye. It was clear by the look on their face, that I was not a person who belonged in their daily routine, but one little gave me a non-commital look, as if to say, “ok, so what is THIS person all about?”. I reached out with my finger to the girl in the walker, and she also reached out with her tiny little hand.

Finally, after a year of preparation, money, tireless work, obstacles, prayer, and thousands of miles….

Contact.

I felt the pressure of her grasp, and the tears began to flow freely. I could see that she was growing a bit nervous, so I cooed to her in a calm feminine voice. She still wasn’t so sure.
The other little girls in the room grew a little agitated as our entourage now occupied the entire room. The 2 nannies did their best to both calm the girls, and try to warm the babies to me.
I had brought candy with me, but I think it was lost in translation that I had brought it for the nannies. Instead they brought the bag to me, and suggested that I give it to the children. One of the staff had a 35mm camera, and photographed me giving skittles and Starburst candy to the kids. The staff seemed to really smile at this.

In truth, I really hated to do this. It was a symbol of the opposite of my actual goals here. The candy, though sweet and loved by the kids, was such a temporary dose of happiness, and was actually bad for them. However, the director and the nannies were smiling with glee. I know that giving children candy is a symbol of doting parental love in China, and as such, I was happy to make the staff smile. So I was happy for that. But my gut wrenched as each child clamored to approach me, eyes fixed on the candy. I gave it to them, and then I had to turn away. I just wanted to hold them, and kiss them, and tell them how special they were.

If you are an adoptive parent of a chinese baby, I don’t have to tell you what the babies looked like. The images of our JieJie and MeiMei will be burned in my mind forever. Some chubby rosy cheeked, with little tufts of hair on top. Their clothes and faces were not immaculately clean, but even at our house with 2 children running around, keeping a child clean is a near impossibility. I would say that the nannies were doing a pretty good job considering they had 10 to 12 children to look after. They had crystalline brown eyes, within whose gaze held the meaning of the universe. I knew I would fade before them, and this actually comforted me. I can imagine a world without me in it. However, I will be glad for the world that has their eyes after me.

I was made aware that there were at least 4 children who had been identified by the CCAA to be assigned to families in America. Two of them were in this room. I asked if I could get some detailed information on those children, and Mr. Song said, “no problem”. I took a lot of pictures of the two children. They reluctantly allowed me to hold them, as I spoke softly to them through sobs, “hang in there, kiddo, your mommy is coming soon for you. It won’t be long now. Just hang in there…”. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer, and if my soul is indeed made up of some sort of positive energy, I willed it to her, to keep her safe until her family came.

Grabbing for my camera and notepad once again, I asked to take a picture of these children with their nanny. I asked for, and wrote down the name of the nanny. They asked me why I wanted to do this.

It took me a while to compose myself enough to speak, as my own personal feelings of my two daughters coursed through me. I thought of my precious JieJie and MeiMei, two people in my life I would gladly die for in order to protect. Often I think of situations and events that might cause them harm, and I shudder with adrenaline and fright. The feeling of helplessness and panic comes to me when I think of how she went without my protection in the first 11 months of her life. I realize I have the nannies to thank for this job.

And so, like a stereotypical blubbering mother at her daughter’s wedding, I told the nanny, “I want to take a picture of you with this girl. You can know that many years from now, when understanding comes to her, she will look at this picture in appreciation for all you have done for her.” The nanny gazed in the camera, as she gazed through time to the unknown future, and said hello and goodbye to this precious soul.

I had to get a grip, and so I went to the other room, and tried to shake myself into concentration. I took a few photos of the cribs, as one of the Packages of Hope missions is to provide these to orphanages in the future. Like most beds in China, the crib bottom was hard wood, covered by about an inch of cotton blanket as a sort of mattress. Bundled up towels or pillows are put under the babies’ heads, and at night they are sausaged up tight in thick wrapping of warm blankets, 2 to a crib, with each baby’s head at the end of the crib. It looked a little like a “baby hot dog”, with the heads at either end, and the blankets as a circular bun in the middle.

The next two rooms were a similar scene, except that I told YongMing that I didn’t want to waste time giving out candy. This was a true statement, although I wanted to gracefully bow out of another gut wrenching feeling of giving the children a temporary sugar high, in addition to contributing to tooth decay.

In one room we found a lone boy, whom the nannies nicknamed “the General”. I burst into laughter at the sight of him, and then felt a bit ashamed because I was laughing at him. He was in a walker, and his cheeks were so chubby they seemed to swallow his whole face. His eyes seemed to swell shut with baby fat. Dressed in multiple layers, he looked almost unable to move. However he was vibrant and active, and perfectly healthy. They told me that his mother had abandoned him because he was very premature, and very close to death upon arrival to the orphanage. He was one of the tiniest babies they had ever seen. However, as we could see now, he was busy stomping around in his walker, just like a little General. It was unspoken that his future looked very bright, and his forever family is indeed very lucky.

I was able to visit the other 4 children, making sure to dutifully take the names and pictures of the nannies. In every room I visited I took extra care to shake the hand of every worker and nanny that I met, and thank them from the bottom of all our hearts for the job they’re doing.
The other rooms looked very similar to the first room, beautiful babies, very caring nannies. Some of the children were bubbling and gurgling while tightly wrapped in their blankets. I know there is a Chinese custom of putting the baby faced down, and one baby looked particularly miffed at her position. So with the nanny’s permission, I carefully rolled her over. It was heaven for me.

The nannies also showed me the toy donations from Packages of Hope. In a very helpful move, they described what did and didn’t work as far as toys went. Some broke easily. Others were great for fine motor skills. I thanked them for their recommendations.

We also visited a room where infants with medical problems were laying. I wasn’t allowed to enter, I assume because of the spread of germs, but I was able to get a good look at them through the breezy screen door. There were I.V. bottles hanging from a cord, with clear plastic tubes snaking down to the cribs. I said a prayer for these valiant fighters. For a moment I allowed myself a bit of hate and helplessness. Those tiny babies all so very alone. Fighting. Surviving. I suddenly felt ashamed of my hubris. If there was any time I thought myself courageous for leaving my family and my country and travelling alone thousands of miles, it was now gone. Here were the real fighters. Here were the real heroes.

A hand on my back, YongMing told me it was time to move on. We left the orphanage in a minivan, on the way to tour what turned out to be 2 of the other temporary sites of the SWI. On the way, we passed the old orphanage, now turned into a shopping mall complex. They told me that the playground, weathered by the sun, was stored someplace, but was not reusable. We snaked our way into a maze of single level “homes” to the first SWI location. The surrounding buildings seemed to all share common walls, with doors and slightly different facades being the only way to tell where one dwelling/business/whatever began, and the other one ended. The roads were mostly dirt paved, and dotted with treacherous potholes. We finally came to a stop in a nondescript section of doorways, and I was led into a courtyard area that contained a circumference of rooms which defined the dormitory for primary school orphans. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting these children, some of whom were disabled. I handed out American coins as tokens, and this seemed to go over well. Mr. Song told me that what’s really needed here are new beds. I took a few photos of the existing beds, which appeared to be made of scrap wood material, and looked slightly less comfortable than the infant beds. Again, the bed consisted of horizontal slats covered with an inch thick cotton “mattress”. Some of the beds had been pushed together, obviously so that more than one child could sleep there. He mentioned that most of these beds were 9 years old or older, although they looked much older than that to me. I was greeted with smiles and polite handshakes, and I thanked the caregiver as she took a break from her basin washing. She looked to be breaking a good sweat from the labor.

We walked for a while to the other location, and along the way I caught a lot of stares from children who were on their lunch break. I learned that primary school students get a 2 hour lunch, and they usually go home for these lunches. Some of the kids reached out and shook my hand, and they were about as excited as I was to do so. Of course I was drawn to the little girls, who looked similar to my daughters. They were so bright, energetic, and full of smiles as they hugged each other as they walked down the lane. They would stop this and gasp when I would catch their eyes, and the reaction was a 50-50 mix of fear and secret whispering to their friend, or either rushing towards me, anxious to practice their english “hello!”.

While shaking the hand of every kid I met, I saw Mr. Song look back more and more often as I lagged behind. I put a snap in my step, and caught up to him and we entered a kindergarten facility. Here I found a number of young children, most of whom were mentally disabled, sitting drawing at a big table (at the appropriate height for their cute little chairs) with crayons. They took great pride in each showing me their creations. I was thrilled. I visited a classroom where 4- 6 year old students sat in attention with a teacher at the head of the room. The class was filled with objects and aids for what looked like every subject – math, reading, art, etc.

Sadly I then saw a very desolate room where about 6 or 7 children (some of them disabled) sat against a wall on a low bench. These children were HIV+, and were kept isolated from the other children. There were caregivers in the room, and the children were smiling, but it still was not a pleasant site. The caregivers were smiling and kind, and I thanked them for their hard work. This particular complex had a 2nd floor, and the 2nd floor consisted of dormitories. Mr. Song again showed me the beds that were in a sad state.

He told me that even though the new orphanage will be a modern building designed specifically for SWI facilities, all items within the walls still have to be provided. All the airconditioners and all the equipment (including the beds) will have to be transferred to the new facility.

The Chinese government provides 192 RMB per child per month (no matter what the age). But it is clear that this is not enough, and barely is enough to sustain the children.

Before finally exiting the 2nd site, we took a look in the kitchen. It smelled wonderful, and one of the ingredients, a crushed mild pepper of some sort, had become airborne in the enclosed room, and soon everyone in the room was coughing and wiping their eyes from the sting of the spice. We all had a big laugh.

Finally, we visited the construction site of the new orphanage. On the way, we picked up Mr. Fung, a Party representative to the SWI (every large agency must have a Party official attached to it). Apparently his background is in the medical field, and I’m not sure if I heard right that he was a doctor.

Anyway, the new orphanage site was a massive complex, and it looked as though the skeletal concrete structural members (including the foundation) were all in place. Green netting and scaffolding cocooned the entire building, as it was clear that bricklaying was underway. They said it was going to be complete by the end of the year. Having been involved in construction efforts of power plants with my company, I found this a bit hard to believe. But I later found out that construction had only started in earnest in June, and that realistically it was supposed to finish in May 2006. Mr. Song told me that it costs a small fortune to rent the current facilities, and so they’re very anxious to get the building completed. Of course the speed of the construction depends on funding, which I imagine is not in big supply.

I walked all around the complex, taking video and pictures. It was 8 floors, complete with elevators. Mr. Song told me the first 3 floors would be used as a hospital. I saw the area where Packages of Hope will hopefully install a new playground. They told me that it will be canopied and thus shielded from sun damage.

I was stepping out from the main building, ducking my head to avoid scaffolding, and planting my foot squarely on a 2x4. I felt a mild prick, and recoiled my foot, only to find the 2x4 still attached. Mr. Song let out a howl as he rushed to my side, realizing that a nail had pierced my rubber soled shoe.

However, knowing my foot, and knowing how sensitive it is, I told him not to worry. I was right, as I sat down and removed my shoe and sock. In a big stroke of luck, the nail had only penetrated my shoe, and only found its way to press upon the soft part of my instep. There was a little red mark, but clearly the skin was not broken.

Mr. Song wasn’t so sure, and for the next hour or so, kept on asking how my foot was.
We left the new site, and had a wonderful lunch. There are many regional practices on how to conduct a business lunch, and I soon came to discover that in this particular area, toasting is done frequently. Everyone at the table personally toasted me and my effort for the children. I toasted them in return. They toasted all the families who are supporting and advocating for the children. We toasted the children. We toasted China. I then issued my favorite toast – “Luo Ye Gui Gen” – “Falling leaves return to the root” --- You always come back to the place of your beginnings, and for me, this is China.

After lunch we returned to the orphanage. Director Song took me on a brief tour of the “assisted living” building on the site. He told me that 3 of the residents are over 100 years old. I took a few pictures of the rooms, and met an 83 year old woman with a wide smile and a spry step. She was smiling, and credited her longevity to her optimistic attitude. A large poster on the wall bore a big red Christian cross, and she was proud to show me her Chinese version of the New Testament. She followed us around a bit, chatting all the way, and me and Director Song smiled. All the residents I met at the facility were very nice and greeted me with handshakes and smiles.

We returned to the meeting room in the orphanage, where I videotaped the presentation of the plaque for Carol Zara, along with the letters of all the families. Mr. Song was deeply touched by the plaque, and assured me in a very somber tone that he would personally make sure that the plaque would be near the books in the new orphanage. ( Currently the books would be divided between the sites on an age appropriate level, but all eyes and hopes were on plans for the new orphanage and it’s modern and central facilities). The letters from the families were a big hit, and brought big smiles from the nannies. Mr. Song emphasized that it was great to receive these letters and photographs, and were the inspiration for the nannies.

We then went down a long laundry list of items to discuss. What their needs were, what we could do for them, how we can be utilized, how desperately and passionately we (Packages of Hope and the Bengbu adoptive families) want to help.

One of the more interesting items that I had come with was the subject of Finding Ads. I had recently been monitoring the yahoo egroups I belong to, and came across a post where people were offering to find a particular baby’s finding ad. For those who don’t know, when a baby is abandoned in China, the law stipulates that an ad must be run in a paper for a certain number of days (usually 60) describing the child (and in recent history, a picture was added), where it was found and when. This is done in order to aid the biological parents in finding their “lost baby”. The website offered (for a hefty fee), to find a particular child’s Finding Ad. Repeated queries to this website for the reasoning behind the hefty fee, or what the proceeds were used for, yielded no reply. I was determined to find such ads, and of course, let other people know what I found. And I’d do it for free.

Through Director Song’s generosity, I was given a paper with some finding ads in them. I found out interesting information. As in any country these days, there are a number of different newspapers. The particular paper the Finding Ads were posted in was called “The Young Workers Trade Union Paper”. Unlike the Chinese version of “the New York Times”, or even the analogy to our “National Enquirer”, this paper has very little circulation. In fact, when YongMing (whose talents and abilities in regards to this mission were far beyond those of mortal men) tried to look for this paper outside the orphanage, we couldn’t even find it. It was described to me that “the Young Workers Trade Union” is an organization similar to the Communist Party itself, and the Young Pioneers (the organization that trains young students about the communist party, where the children wear the red scarfs). The workers pay dues, and part of the bylaws are that a periodical (newspaper) has to be published with worker related news. The government actually subsidizes the newspaper, unlike the various other newspapers crowding busy newspaper stands. Because of the limited budget, the circulation is very small, and the readership interest is minimal. Since the orphanage must pay for the running of such ads, this particular paper is advantageous since the fee for running the ad is small. As witnessed by our diligent yet fruitless digging to 3 post offices, a dozen or so newspaper stands, and even a local government office, I can infer that the goal of the finding ad may be little more than following standard procedure for the local law.

One of our objectives was to try to meet with local medical college students to see if we could inspire them to assist in caring for the children of the orphanage, and serve as a conduit for providing medical needs. Mr. Fung responded that there was already a lot of local community volunteer action, and that in the past medical students did volunteer their time at the orphanage. He also mentioned that there were a lot of medical procedures done by the local Chinese hospital. He did not dismiss our efforts, but I think rather he was trying to help us to not duplicate effort. He did provide a detailed list of highly specialized medical equipment that will be needed for the new orphanage. I will have YongMing send this list to a medical doctor I know in China, and get it translated properly into English. These pieces of equipment I suspect are expensive, such as a neo-natal intensive care unit, specialized vital sign monitoring kits, etc.
He reiterated his needs for the new orphanage. Three 3 H.P. airconditioners (large capacity) for the large orphanage “common rooms”. Fifteen 1.3 H.P. (standard) airconditioners for the other rooms. He needs 150 new beds for the older-than-4 orphans, and 50 new cribs for the babies. These would be used to complement/replace the other beds which will have to be used in the new orphanage.

We thanked him again for his openness and generosity. He told me that he was very thankful to our group, and to all the families whose prayers are with them. He told me that he is committed to the children, and that all funds that come in will be used for the children. He also mentioned that he welcomes comments and feedback to do better. This really impressed me. I know that many folks can offer constructive advice, but I also know those whose opinions and words can be very harsh and filled with anger. Many of these people suffer from culture shock, and a lack of understanding of the Chinese way. Others hearts are understandably filled with anger and pain, given their children with specific special needs. Surely Director Song must have understood this as he issued this comment, and I thought it took immense courage to do so.

We took a final picture, and Director Song invited us out to dinner later that evening.
As we were dropped off at the hotel we stood for a moment in the lobby. I was dumbstruck with the success of the day. I know I missed a lot. But still, I think we did very well, and we had a lot of our questions clarified. I was also deeply impressed by Director Song and his staff.
That night I was invited to a sumptuous banquet, where the directors of the Hospital and other party members also attended. It was a long meal of toasting and giving thanks. Director Song then invited me out to go on a city tour the following day with some members of his staff. He regretted that he would not be able to accompany me. I personally would have been surprised if he WAS able to go with me.

I went to bed exhausted, and my notebook filled with scribbled, tear-stained notes.

YongMing and I met Ms. Guo in the lobby the following morning, to take us to JiuShan cave and to the grave of the first Ming emporer’s parents. As we drove out on our journey, I found we were in for a special treat. The driver of the bus was an orphan, and spent his life in the Bengbu SWI system. He is married and has two daughters, one of whom works as an accountant at the orphanage. He proudly tells us that there are 42 local civic leaders who spent their childhood at the orphanage. Apparently, the Bengbu orphanage dates back to before Liberation (1949), and was called “the international Red Cross Home for children”. At the dinner the previous evening, Director Song says a complete history lies in papers in disarray at the temporary orphanage, but he promised that he would compile and publish the history by the time the new orphanage opens.

The tour of the JiuShan caves was incredible. It is a cave that was discovered in the Song dynasty over 1000 years ago, and winds underground for over a kilometre. Bright fluorescent lights illuminate spacious interior caverns and ancient stalactite/stalagmite formations. At the end of the cavern was an underground lake, only traversable by a wooden "johnboat". After the short boat ride, where the Chinese "captain" used the ceiling of the cavern to push us along, the cave snaked upwards to open air.

On our way back to the shuttle bus, we encountered a MiG-15 rusting away in a field. We were told that this plane had shot down some American fighter planes back in the Day.

With the weather turning colder, and daylight running out, we made a brief stop at the first Ming emporer's parent's tomb. It was interesting, although we were all a bit too tired to enjoy it fully.

We stopped on the way back into town to have some dinner. Before the food was brought to us, I had a chance to videotape a short interview with our driver, and ask him some questions about life in the orphanage. I was hoping for a casual and opened style American interview, but I think I got mostly the standard Chinese phraseology. He enjoyed his childhood, he is thankful to all the kind administrators. He was thankful for all he was given.

We ate dinner close to the entrance of the restaurants, and cold breezes hit us each time the floor-to-ceiling glass entrance doors slid open and shut. My thoughts turned to the orphans, and I suddenly felt the need to be near them. Here I was touring and having a hot meal, being taken care of by wonderful guides, while clear white tubes snaked down to the cribs holding the real heroes. They had been there all day fighting while I was out enjoying myself.

My guides were a bit taken aback when I announced that I really wanted to say goodnight to the children. Without questioning it, they agreed.

The van's headlights pierced the darkness as we passed through the orphanage gates. I had been silent on the ride from the restaurant to there. YongMing asked if I was ok. I merely nodded my head affirmatively. The headlights cut off as they came to rest on the orphanage building. I asked if I could just be left there, and catch a cab home later. They were a bit surprised by this request, and said no, that I should only stay for about 20 minutes.

The driver had called ahead, and the nannies were already outside ready to greet me, smiles on their faces. Our footfalls resounded off the floor as we approached the silent room. The nanny there informed me through YongMing that the babies were just about all asleep, as she then flipped on the light. I think she was thinking that I was there to take a last minute look or inspection of the kids.

None of them realized my true intentions.

Confusing them, I turned off the light, and gave them all a "shhhh!". I took a small wooden chair, and placed it next to one of the cribs, and reached my hand out, and just started stroking a little girl's head, softly. The nannies and the touring entourage were in the next room, whispering rapidly in confusion. I didn't want to take time to explain. I knew that sooner or later they'd either figure it out, or ask me to leave. I didn't have much time.

The little girl went to sleep after a long sigh.

Then I moved my chair to a crib with a restless girl who couldn't seem to get herself to sleep. I hushed her and patted her gently, as I just hugged the crib, just as I had done to my JieJie, after she first came home.

Crying came quickly, as I wept without sound, tears like rivers down my face. I just wanted to stay there, to be with them, as JieJie and MeiMei had been there without me.

Pain... unanswered questions...helplessness....

It was YongMing who embraced me from behind, patting me on the back and whispered in my ear, "C'mon Jeff, it's time to go. Don't worry, they will take good care of them."

I don't remember much about leaving that place. I hope I remembered to thank them all again, and to thank the guides for a wonderful day of caring for me and paying for my meals.

YongMing patted me on the back.

I thought about blogging, but instead just fell asleep.

Fatigue has caught up with me, and I just had to get some sleep last night. So I'm now even further behind.

I have another packed schedule today, but here's some pictures from the Bengbu orphanage.

The rocking horses were a Packages of Hope donation!

Re: the picture of me with the young children. These are not kids from the orphanage, but like I said, I get severely distracted by kids, and they wanted to get their picture taken with me. I was only too happy to oblige.

Do you like the baby girl smiling on the red rocking horse? Me too! But sorry folks, she's already taken! She's coming home to her family in America soon!

Gracious thanks again to Director Song for allowing me to take these photos.

YongMing and I went over our game plan one last time at breakfast. I had already packed my bags the night before with all the items we needed for our big day.

We met Steven Tao in the lobby of our hotel, and he pointed to one of the many Chinese men sitting casually in the leather chair in the lobby. It indeed was Mr. Song, the Director of the Bengbu Social Welfare Institute, in the flesh.

With a low and even voice and calm demeanor (which I would later discover would be how he would communicate throughout our time together), he greeted us with a smile and a handshake, and beckoned us to follow him to his car.

He then personally drove us to the place where so many of our hearts are, the Bengbu orphanage.

(I have my GPS with me, and for those of you who would like to know EXACTLY where it is, it is
N32' 55.823" E117' 23.884")

It is a calm site, with a dirt road entrance, and is on the edge of a large lake.

With the hairs on my arms standing on edge, our troupe exited the van, and Mr. Song directed us to the first floor meeting room.

(It is here that I'll start to rattle off the facts as I recorded them, and they contradict an earlier post by my wife. I'll try to be as accurate as possible in this post).

As we walked in, I was happy to see all 16 off the boxes we had worked so many hours to finally ship. They were all intact and stacked neatly against the back wall. We went to a common greeting room where we made some preliminary introductions with Mr. Song and the director of "children and family", Ms. Wan, along with some of the nannies. We laid out our plan for the day, including all the items we wanted to cover. We figured we would start out slow, depending on how well we were received. Of course we were there to take as many pictures as possible, but I didn't want to breach the subject right away.

Without further ado, Mr. Song thanked us and the families for the donations, and then suggested that we first take a tour of the orphanage, and then we could do the sitdown discussions. I carefully then asked if I could take some pictures. He replied, and YongMing translated, "of course, take as much as you want."

I was waiting for the other shoe to fall.

But it never came.

I started to take advantage of this "free license" by snapping a lot of pictures in the first room we went to, which was filled with unbelievable cuties.

But before I get into that part, let me state some of the facts as I recorded them.

Mr. Song has been in this position for 4 years. He comes directly from the military, after a 21 year career in the army, being stationed in his hometown of FungYa, which is very closeby. He achieved the rank of Regiment Commander.

Mr. Song is head of the Bengbu SWI, and in charge of 4 main branches: The "hospital" branch, which is headed by a Mr. Chen, the "Children and Family" which is headed by Ms. Wan, a branch of the elderly which is akin to our "assisted living facility" in the USA, and a branch of the elderly which is akin to our "nursing home" system in the USA.

Nearly 3 years ago, the entire Bengbu SWI population was moved out of its location (at N32' 55.074" E117' 21.113"), because that location was/has-been incorporated into a shopping mall complex. The current SWI population is being temporarily housed in 5 sites around the area. The first site I visited (which is where the babies were), had one building that housed 0-3 year olds, another held a contingent of elderly folks in an "assisted living" facility building (I visited this building as well), and another building which had nursing home patients (elderly)(I did not visit this building). The buildings on this site were originally designed to house resort workers (for the resorts on the lake, I assume). They have been in this building for nearly 3 years. They are anxious to move out of this building, and apologized to me for its poor visual appearance, even as I was snapping away pictures.

I learned that the Bengbu SWI has 180 children throughout the different sites. There are an additional 60 in foster care. Currently there are 80 children in the 0-3 year-old building, 20 are SN.

He told me that around 90 to 100 children (overall) are adopted each year, 80% to foreigners.

The old orphanage was contained on 60 "Chinese acres" (I have yet to find the conversion on this one), and the buildings contained around 10,000 square meters of living space.

The new orphanage, which I was told will realistically be completed by May 2006, will be contained on a 80 "chinese acre" site, and have 20,000 square meters of living space.

The new orphanage site (which I visited - N32' 55.155" E117' 21.982") will have 8 floors. The first 3 floors will be for the hospital facility. When completed, it will house 500 people, from infants to the elderly.

Sorry, but I'll have to get back to the kids in a later post. There's still so much more to tell! It has a great ending, thanks largely to the openness and kind hearted nature of Mr. Song. It's 2:30am here, and I still have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm way behind on posting, but I really want to get this right for everyone. I'm already in Lanzhou right now, with a wonderful story to tell about Mr. Chen and his family.

It's amazing how email and cellphones have changed our lives. I've been emailing Steven Tao, our contact in Bengbu, for so long that I felt like I knew him. As our train got closer to Bengbu, we called on the cellphone to make sure of each other's position. When we finally got off the train and walked out of the train station, we knew exactly where we were, and the only interruption we had before heading to a taxi was a warm hello and hug for us finally getting to meet each other.

Steven's handsome looks and his svelte figure make him appear to be not a day over 18. When I found out that he was 31, I nearly fell over. He was accompanied by his girlfriend Amanda, and after a short introduction, we were on our way to the hotel.

After a quick check-in, we started discussing our agenda for the next day. After that, YongMing decided to have a rest while Steven and I started to work scouting out local furniture manufacturers to see if we could get some beds cheaply made. We had previously been given a wish list by the orphanage which listed that they needed beds. While we had yet to actually verify this need, we didn't want to waste any time.

My first impression of Bengbu, as in many Chinese cities I have visited, showed the massive movement towards change. This was evidenced by the construction of new high rises and new buildings at every turn. Old buildings were being abandoned, or had already been left to decay. Others were in process of being torn down. I had certainly been to more opulent areas of China, but even in the face of old buildings and broken up sidewalks, it was clear that this place was going to be unrecognizable ten years from now. While it appears that progress is inevitable, I wonder how much of the local charm would be lost. I cherished this, as I walked the streets.

Steven and I visited a furniture warehouse, where we met a man who was very enthusiastic to help us. We showed him pictures of our children, and introduced our organization, and he thanked us very much for our efforts. He told us he'd give us a good deal. He even showed us his woodworking factory. It was indeed an interesting place, and he apologized to us for it not being as advanced as what I must be used to in the USA, but I told him not to worry about it. He looked and acted like a good man, and he let me take pictures and he told me he'd work hard for us. What more can you ask for!



















Here's a photo of the woodshop and the sales manager for the furniture company.

Steven and his girlfriend then treated me to a wonderful meal at a local Schezchuan restaurant,
and I went back to the hotel. YongMing was rested, and we went over in detail what we were going to try to accomplish during the next day, and he made sure he had all the translations right. He also wanted to make sure we were prepared for different plans of action given the level of access we might be granted. We had a lot of ground to cover, from presenting boxes, presenting books, presenting family letters, taking a look at the orphanage, asking a lot of sensitive questions, to talking about future relations between Packages of Hope and the Bengbu orphanage.

Steven Tao told us that the Director would be waiting for us at the hotel at 9am.

I could barely sleep from the excitement!

A big wonderful hug to my wife for posting in my absence, while simultaneously running the house (which I understand is currently being assaulted by Hurricane Wilma) and taking care of our two beautiful children. I'm a lucky man.

I should start by saying that I'm not a reporter or a doctor or a healthcare professional. I'm severely distracted by little Chinese babies, and I loved every single second I had to be with them.

I'll try to be as accurate as possible, but there's going to be a healthy dose of my own perspective in this post, and I beg forgiveness to anyone who can poke some holes in my report.

Then I have to give a lot of thanks to the Chinese people who gave me ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE amounts of help and support for this trip. The phrase "it couldn't have happened without them" sounds so terribly trite, but these folks exhibited so much kindness and dedication to me and our mission, that words simply can't describe it.

Jin YongMing, a Shanghai citizen and fellow co-worker was on 110% onboard with the Bengbu project, and looked after me like a mother and father combined. He anticipated problems, helped with translation, and sacrificed his vacation and time away from his family to be with me in Bengbu. We all owe him an incredible debt for his selfless dedication.

Steven Tao, our contact in Bengbu, also worked tirelessly to make sure we had everything done and delivered for Bengbu.

There were many others that helped too, but I also think it should be noted that Mr. Song, the Director of the Bengbu SWI, is a man I came to admire and respect in the short time we had together. There is no question in my mind that he has great dedication to the children of Bengbu. But more of my very positive personal opinions on him a bit later....

The train trip from Shanghai to Bengbu was indeed unique. One has to be open to the different customs and degrees of cleanliness and blatant lack of observing the "no smoking" signs, when traveling by train in China. Another big tip for train travel -- only bring small bags. This particular train did not have a baggage compartment, and my rather large hardcase finally found itself in the walkway in between two cars. Of course it would have been easier had we booked a sleeper compartment instead of regular class seating for our 5.5 hour ride, but that would have added another 125RMB ($15) to our ticket (which was 75RMB - $9).

(You should have seen the look on my face as I sat in my seat to Bengbu when I found out how little it was to have had enjoyed more comfort. But I had asked YongMing to book us cheaply, and he dutifully followed my instructions!)

I wanted to take a lot of pictures, but when about 100 pairs of eyes are staring constantly at you like you just dropped in from outer space, it isn't easy to inconspicuously pull out a camera and start taking pictures.

It is also interesting to note that buying a train ticket is a little different in China. You can book a ticket 10 days in advance and have an assigned seat. Or you can book a ticket on the day of travel, and not have an assigned seat, even if everyone already is sitting in assign seats. What this leads to is a bunch of people standing in the aisles for 5.5 hours, or in our situation, at least 2 people making very good use out of my hardcase suitcase. Actually, it was a good anti-theft device. If I could see the guys' heads in between the cars, I knew that they were sitting on my luggage, and thus it wasn't stolen.

The reason for overbooking is because of the population. There's just too many people for the amount of seats available. For whatever reason (no more trains available, can't pull more cars, etc), they can't fit everyone on, so they just let people stand in the aisle, along with their luggage, which often consists of burlap-nylon sacks.

After a lot of staring, a few of the Chinese folks broke the ice, and started talking to me. They wanted to know where I was from, and how much it cost me to get there. Through YongMing, I told them all about my trip, showed them pictures of my daughters, and handed out a few U.S. coins. After awhile it was smiles all around, and people stopped staring and were a lot more relaxed.

We wound up talking to a man we found out was from Bengbu. In fact, his family went back there for a many generations. He appeared to be a farmer, his hands rough, and his face dark from the sun. He had been in Shanghai working (or trying to get work), and had to come back to Bengbu for some sort of family emergency.

After a bit of talking, I asked, through YongMing, if he had ever seen or known of any babies being abandoned in Bengbu. He told me that it used to happen a lot about 10 years ago or so. He said however that many people opted to move instead of abandoning their daughters. YongMing explained to me that everyone has an ID card. If it is known that you have an additional child, you may be fined heavily. Some families opted to leave their village, and start afresh in another area, living their anonymously. The supposition there is that most parts of China are still poor and remote so that these folks can easily fade into the woodwork in other areas, even though they will be living there without the benefit of their ID card.

But he said that now it happens less and less, because people are very poor these days, and know that they can't afford to have an extra mouth to feed, even if they want to have another child.

YongMing then related to me his understanding of the process of child abandonment. He said that usually when a family already has a child (usually a girl), and the mother gets pregnant and is faced with a fine or having to leave the village, she will go out of town prior to the baby's birth. She will go to another town and register in the hospital (or sometimes a "midwife center" depending on if it is in the countryside) under a false name. Most local hospitals are not connected to the government like in the USA, so there's no little chance that birth records are transmitted to a central national government agency. YongMing said that if you REALLY wanted to, you could dig to find out this information, but most of the time, it just doesn't happen.
So, when the child is born, if it is a boy, (or whatever the desired case may be), the mother takes the child back to the village. But if it is not, then the mother will leave the baby at the hospital, or abandon it along the way back to the village.

Again, I don't know if this is true, but this is YongMing's assessment.

Here is the photo I secretly snapped of the Bengbu farmer. He was a very nice man, and thanked me graciously for what I was doing for the children, and told me I was welcome to come to his home in Bengbu to visit.

Jeff is currently in Xian. Some of you might realize that Xian wasn't on his itinerary....Let's just say that when an internet/computer dependent person (Jeff) is unable to use the internet for several days and then he is able to find an internet cafe in the Shanghai airport, one must expect that this unnamed person (Jeff) might lose track of time... I am sure that the plane just left early from the gate heading to Lanzhou. :)

Jeff will still arrive in Lanzhou Sunday PM local time and Joe will be meeting him.


Jeff was able to send this post about his experience arriving to the train station in Bengbu.

Yong Ming and I were dropped off by taxi at the Shanghai Train station. This is a sprawling complex of busy and scurrying people, none of whom appeared to have the trappings of upper class society. The taxi stand was one floor below ground, and we had to climb some stairs to reach open air. We found ourselves being buffeted by people as they dashed about either on their daily commute, or going to or coming from the train station.
Lumbering with our bags, we slowly made our way through the crowd towards the huge rectangular facade of the train station. As we weeded our way through the throngs, we found ourselves blocked from crossing the street to get to the train station. There was a waist high fence of vertical metal rods in utilitarian fashion mere inches from the road's edge, lining the road all in front of the train station. While there were masses huddled together on either side, I chuckled to myself in comic desparation, wondering how we were going to get across. My only answer to this question was to look to YongMing with a pleading stare. He said, "follow me.".
With clumsy bags in tow, we struggled along the road until we came to a newspaper stand. it was near to the iron fenced road, and people struggled to get by the structure, or else struggled to get by the people who spent 5 to 10 seconds to rapidly exchange a few coins for a newspaper.
An old man, obviously a part of the work crew of the newspaperstand, was sitting on the ground with his back on the green metal of the newspaper stand, rapidly exchanging print for coins, as hands jabbed at him. His eyes never made contact with the patrons, as it was all he could do to keep track of the money coming in and the papers going out. He had his white hair cropped short against his head, and his face was a deep brown leather, although not too creased. His blue Mao jacket was faded and a bit worn, like stonewashed jeans. Although the garb may have been from the communist era, it was almost as if he was wearing it as a fashion statement, as it looked liked it had been washed once or twice too many times for it to have been usable.
YongMing said without looking at me, "I will ask this man how to get across". He blurted out something quickly to the man in Chinese, as we stopped to talk to him. In the few seconds it took to issue the question, as we stopped, we were already creating a disruption in this high paced society. The old man, not finished listening to the question, seemed irritated that we were interrupting his business.
YongMing issued the question, and the old man smiled, not looking at him. He issued his response, and then looked up at YongMing, and grinned even further.
YongMing then issued a deep and hearty laugh, and turned to me and in a rushed tone said, "let's go!".
"What? What? What did he say?" I said, as I was hustled and buffeted along in a direction along the fence.
Yong Ming said, "He said to me, 'Che dao san qian bi you lu' "
"and this means.....?" I said, as we finally found the intersection in which to cross, and we joined the flowing river of masses going across the street to the train station.
YongMing, still laughing a little, said, "He said, 'There will be a way when the horse-cart will come to the front of the mountain' ".
"Huh?" I said, perplexed.
"It means that when you reach the mountain, you will find a way around it... It means that you'll find a way...it's like saying 'you'll figure it out when you get there' ".

As we presented the entrance guard our ticket for the train and passed through the turnstiles on our way to Bengbu, I said, "Amen!".

Lisa here- Jeff has great news to report! His trip is going very well in Bengbu. He met with Mr. Song, the SWI director who spent the next 12 hours with Jeff and Yong Ming giving unlimited access to the orphanage housing birth to three years children. Jeff learned that the children are split up into five different temporary locations while the new SWI is being built. The new SWI will be 7 floors approximately 20,000 square meters large and one floor will be a hospital. There are approximately 180 children in the 5 temporary facilities with another 60 children in foster care in the city.

All of the 13 boxes have arrived including the books to start a library for the children. Jeff went back to the birth to three years facility in the evening to help the children get to sleep. He shared that it was a powerful day. He would like to adopt another 180 children......

Lisa here- Jeff called, he arrived with Yong Ming in Bengbu on Wednesday after a 5 1/2 hour train ride. Jeff states that they met Stephen and his girlfriend, Amanda and "went right to work". They visited three furniture manufactorers in hopes of finding someone to make cribs for the Bengbu SWI. After a dry run of the packed agenda for Thursday's meetings, they ate a fabulous dinner and were anxious to get to sleep.

Jeff doesn't have internet access yet in Bengbu, but I would guess with a little time, he will figure a way to send pictures back to us! As soon, I get them, I will post them!

Pictures of some families in Shanghai

I'm just about over my jet lag, and anxious to get to Bengbu to start the real work. Here in Shanghai I've been working out final details of shipping boxes to Bengbu. It's been a grueling learning experience in dealing with international regulations and customs requirements. While at home in Florida, Sarah and I worked diligently through phone calls and emails in order to get the boxes of supplies cheaply to Bengbu, but there seemed to be an endless number of road blocks and miscommunications in dealing with the shipping company. As with many situations where are difficulties in communication, nothing beats a good old fashioned face-to-face meeting. And after a number of subway connections, taxis, and airport shuttle buses, (and with key critical help from my good friend Chen Rong along for translation and overall moral support), we walked up to the door of the shipping company main offices. After a lengthy pow-wow, it looks like the kinks have been ironed out, and the shipment is finally on it's way to Bengbu in time for my arrival there tomorrow (Wednesday the 19th). In addition, it looks like future shipments will flow a bit easier now. However, I'm just so glad the ordeal is finally over. I don't want to think about shipping for a LONG time, and it's now great to finally concentrate on the KIDS!
Tomorrow will be a long day, starting early with a trip to the train station in Shanghai, and ending up in Bengbu around 4 in the afternoon. Our contact there, Steven Tao, will be waiting for us.
More updates to come, but Thursday through Saturday will be jam-packed with activities and meetings with the orphanage staff and local students. We're trying to drum up local support for a long lasting presence in Bengbu to interface with Packages of Hope.
I had some free time today in Shanghai, and I did what I absolutely love to do, which is wander the streets looking at babies and kids. It brings a gentle smirk to my face when I realize that the Chinese children have Chinese parents! Normally I'm looking at these cute kids, and wondering where their western-faced parents are!
It made me ache for my children back home.
The kids were so adorable, and tomorrow I'm going to get someone help me translate the phrase, "hi there, do you mind if I take a few dozen pictures of your child?". I saw these adorable street scenes where grandparents were carting around these little kids through the shops (because the parents were both working, or perhaps because they just wanted to). Even though the sun was shining brightly through hazy clouds of the cities exhaust fumes, and it was a balmy mid-seventy degree day in the shade, the kids were still all bundled up from head to toe. Their chubby cheeks and cozy blank stare were commonplace as grandma or grandpa held them close, nuzzling and whispering to them in the secret code language only understood by grandparents and grandchildren.
While the younger parents looked at my western face with a little bit of wariness, I didn't feel at all uncomfortable in asking to take a picture of baby to a grandparent whose smile was about a mile wide.
There was no hiding their feelings in the picture, the smile and the face said it all - they were in 7th heaven with their grandbaby.
Also shown is a typical picture of Jeff. I have trouble following the rules.

Lisa here- Jeff emailed that he had a full and productive day in Shanghai. He and another Seimens co-worker, Chen Rong, visited the shipping offices where Packages of Hope had shipped the 13 boxes for the Bengbu SWI. He finally spoke with the right person and discovered invaluable information for shipping directly to the orphanage in the future.

Jeff and Chen Rong also rode the high speed mag-lev train and apparently went over 275 miles per hour and then they went shopping!

I wonder how much stuff can be put into two already totally packed suitcases?

Pictured are Jeff with Jacqueline Shen (shipping company), the shipping company's offices, and Chen Rong, Jeff's Seimens co-worker.

Lisa here....Jeff called and he arrived in Shanghai on schedule this morning. He was met by his friend and co-worker, Jin Yong Ming who helped him get to the hotel and get a local sim card for his cell phone. Jeff sounds happy to be back in China and not at all ready to go to sleep even though it was 11:00pm in China!!!

Now the work begins.

Please keep Jeff in your prayers that he is able to touch many children on his journey.

Here's a general idea of the route for this project:

Shanghai to Bengbu: 268 miles
Bengbu to DingXi (the Lanzhou site): 751 miles
DingXi to Siping: 1178 miles

I've also noted on the picture the relative lattitude positions of New York and Orlando, in relation to the map.

Geographically speaking, it is similar to traveling from my town of Orlando, to the Packages of Hope offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then going to Washington, D.C.

The Siping Project was inspired by Hannah.


I often refer to Hannah (Chinese name Huang Hua) as my Guardian Angel. She works as an adoption faciliator for IAAP (International Assistance and Adoption Project www.iaapadoption.com), and has assisted in over 400 adoptions to the USA since 1990, primarily special needs children.

In 2003, Hannah founded the American Special Chinese Children Assistance Center (ASCCAC) with her husband Frank, who is a pediatric doctor working in Changchun, along with financial assistance from IAAP and generous and kind families, ASCCAC has had a inspirational start.



The ASCCAC was conceived as a convalescent facility for children preparing for or immediately returning from life-saving surgeries. In addition, the facility has the goal of caring for very specific special needs children.

As of this post, my company, Siemens, has generously donated a washer and refrigerator for Hannah's facility.

In addition, a local Florida non-profit charity, A Mother's Love (www.amotherslove.net) is working with Hannah to establish an infant care program at ASCCAC.

I look forward to helping Hannah in doing what we can for these beautiful children.

The Lanzhou Project was inspired by an article Sarah Woodard found in early August.

You can see the link here:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/08/21/for_chinas_infant_castoffs_a_home/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+World+News



Here are some excerpts from the Boston Globe article:
"ANDING, China -- Chen Shangyi makes a living as a scavenger. He prides himself on having a good nose for unusual finds. So when he saw a crowd clustered around a white bundle at the local train station one day while he was hunting for empty soda cans and soy sauce bottles, he couldn't resist taking a peek.
It was a baby, wrapped in a thin sheet.
''Everybody was just looking. Nobody would do anything," recalled Chen, who was 65 on that bitterly cold, snowy day 17 years ago. ''When I took her home, she was frozen stiff. My wife and I wrapped her in a burlap bag. . . . We started a fire. We fed her soup and put some old clothes on her. A while later, she started to wiggle."
Chen named her Ling-Ling.
Today, Chen still makes a living as a scavenger in this remote Chinese town of 460,000 people on the edge of the Gobi Desert. And he is still bringing home children -- 42 in all, at last count.

....
Now Chen worries that local officials may take his children away on the grounds that he is too old to be their caretaker. ...Chen says he can't trust the government to do what's best for the children.
''All I know is that when they were little, no one would come and help them. They say I am too old. I say I will raise them as long as I can. They'll have to kill me first before I'll let them take the kids away." "


I was surprised by the email that said, "Hey Jeff, how about a side trip to Lanzhou?"

With the help of the internet and very wonderful and generous supporters, the project quickly evolved, and Packages of Hope is proud to announce that we have enough funds to hire two full time caregivers to help the family care for the children. We also have boxes and boxes of donated supplies provided by inspired families with children adopted from Lanzhou. While there, we hope to provide the family with a more adequate place to live.

The Bengbu project started when a family was looking around on the internet to find someone in Bengbu to take photos of the surrounding area.

They finally found a very nice young man who offered to take some photos of his native Bengbu.


After some correspondence, they realized that there was a possibility to help out at the orphanage.

That's when Sarah Woodard at Packages of Hope entered the scene.

We have provided some needed supplies, baby bouncers and children's play and therapy items. The Director has created a "Wish List" of needed items for the children and orphanage. We'll explore those needs during the visit.

As of October 6th, there are 16 boxes of supplies and gifts on their way to Bengbu, provided by families with children adopted from Bengbu.

Also, with the help of a wonderful local man in Shanghai, a personal friend of mine, we are ordering Chinese books for the Children in Bengbu. We have also ordered bookshelves for these books and are looking forward to unveiling the first Books of Hope library.

We are looking forward to developing a lasting presence in Bengbu, so that families with Bengbu children, as well as caring supporters can make a difference for the children of Bengbu SWI.

Packages of Hope, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that provides packages of needed supplies,
such as clothes, over the counter medicines, shoes, bedding, school supplies, playgrounds and
toys, to children living in orphanages. For more information, visit http://www.packagesofhope.org/ or
email packagesofhope@aol.com.

This trip is part of the ongoing work of Packages of Hope, a non-profit organization, who in 2004 accomplished the following:

- installed five new playgrounds of bright, beautiful play equipment at Jinzhou, Jian , YongFeng, Beihai and ChangDe.
- secured 50 new beds, cribs and bedding for children in the Jinzhou S.W.I.:
- funded a cleft palate surgery for a young boy at the Jinzhou S.W.I..:

And provided thousands of donated supplies to orphanages throughout China.

Inspired by happiness I have decided to give back and do what I can for those orphans still in China.

I will be going on a humanitarian effort on behalf of Packages of Hope (http://www.packagesofhope.org/) to China starting October 15. So far I will be visiting at least 3 orphanages.

The first orphanage is in Bengbu, Anhui province.

The second institution I am scheduled to visit is in Lanzhou, Gansu province. You may have heard of this famous story of an elderly couple looking to take care of orphans. You may have a look at this published article

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/08/21/for_chinas_infant_castoffs_a_home/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+World+News

We are working diligently to raise funds for workers to construct a new living facility for this family. We have received an invitation from the local foreign affairs office for me to meet with this family.

The third institution I am scheduled to visit is in Siping, Jilin Province. There is an institution there started by a good friend of my family's, Huang Hua (Hannah). She is a Chinese citizen living in Changchun, and was our guide during our 2 adoption journeys, and she has personally assisted in over 400 adoptions to families from the United States, most of them special needs children. Our youngest daughter has "Hannah" as her middle name, in Huang Hua's honor. Hannah has founded a special institution in Siping called "the American Special Chinese Children Assistance Center".

There may be an opportunity for me to visit a few more orphanages, but my schedule is very full as it is. However, I am very passionate about the children, and so far there is great support from the families of adopted Chinese children, and others, to help the orphaned children who will remain in China.

My primary objective in visiting these places is to establishing firm needs list in order to secure donations; working to build a facility and creating a special assistance center for children with special medical needs.