Xiamen City

Today was a very long, very exhausting day, and at first we wondered if it would be worth it. We made the three-plus hour drive from Fuzhou City to Xiamen City, where Calli was found and where her orphanage is. She lived there for the first 10 months of her life, and then she has lived in foster care (under the direction of the orphanage) since then. This past week she was moved back to the orphanage to prepare for her adoption day.

Our purpose in making this trip was to gather all the memories we could for Calli. She is so young and will remember so little, so we wanted to see for ourselves where she came from and what her life was like.

We rode in a van with a driver and the director of all Fujian province adoptions, Mr. Jack. We were able to learn a lot about the cities between Fuzhou and Xiamen City, and we enjoyed seeing the cities and the countrysides between here and there. Calli fell asleep in my lap for about half an hour on the way there. I loved that! She is showing signs of trusting me more and more and I'm so proud of her.

 Calli was found on the fourth floor of the Xiamen City Hospital. Mr. Jack said he would take us there but that only one of us could go in. Randy stayed in the van with Calli and I went up with Mr. Jack. She took a nap in his lap for awhile, too.

Here is the sign for the fourth floor - that is the pediatric unit of the hospital. We are so thankful for her biological parents - they left her in a very loving and brave place, even risking being found so that she would be found and receive care quickly. It is illegal to abandon your children in China, so Mr. Jack guesses that Calli's biological parents were possibly workers in the hospital, and that is why they might have had access to this location. Calli was very frail when she was found, possibly because of feeding issues, so she was able to be taken care of at the hospital quickly.  

The entrance to the fourth floor, right where she was found.

 She was found right here in front of the elevators. Precious girl. I stood in awe of the fact that she was found here, wrapped in a red blanket 17 months ago and now she was laying in her Daddy's arms wrapped in her new family quilt downstairs in the van. Praise God for his sovereignty and care in watching over our sweet girl!

In front of the hospital - no longer an orphan. We're so thankful she's part of our family forever!

 Then we continued our journey to Xiamen City orphanage, stopping in front of these rocks that are a symbol of Xiamen City. I need to ask Randy if he got the whole story - I was a little nauseated from the car ride at this point. Also Frosty the Snowman was playing over loudspeakers in this park area. Who knows.

 Then we were finally headed to the orphanage, stopping to buy some diapers to take with us on the way. By this time we had been driving for 5 hours and we were more than ready for some time outside of the van.
Here is the outside of the Xiamen City Social Welfare Institute. They are called this in China because they are not only for orphans but also for elderly people. We only went to two floors, so we didn't see much of it, but it is newer and very nice.

 

 

The first thing we did was sit in a meeting room with Mr. Jack, the orphanage director and the other worker who brought Calli to us and were there the next day to sign papers. They don't speak any English, so Mr. Jack translated and we told them again how thankful we were for them. They asked if we wanted to see her file and we said yes! Most of the information was paperwork we already had, but there were two new things - her footprint from when she was found and brought in and her finding ad! We were so so excited to see these. In China, when a baby is found, the local police place an ad in the paper for a certain amount of days to see if any family comes forward. We had been wanting to see Calli's because we knew that would be the earliest picture we could have of her. What a blessing to get that today! I took a picture of it but then they actually made me a copy of each. We can't wait to get this translated. Her chubby little cheeks don't look too frail to me! :)

 One of the best parts of the whole day was when the director and her assistant walked in. We could tell when they gave Calli to us that she loved them very much, and they her, because she reached for them the whole time they were in the room. Then, when we saw them the next day, she reached for them again and wanted to go to them. BUT....when they walked in the room today, Randy was holding her, and she didn't even smile at them or motion for them. She squeezed Randy tightly and turned her face away from them and toward Randy. SO COOL! What a difference three days makes - they kept trying to get her attention and talk to her and she wouldn't even look at them. We are so thankful she already knows who her "baba" is and that she didn't want to leave him to go back with the ladies. I looked at Randy and said, "Totally worth it, just for that." He agreed.

 Next was something else incredible. The director had been telling us that Xiao Fei was very popular and had a good personality. She said, "You'll see for yourselves when we go up to the fifth floor, where she lived at first." We got up there and met the nannies who cared for her - and they were all so excited!! "Xiao fei! Xiao fei!" They would smile and talk to her and then go find more nannies who would also come in, excited to see her. Such a rock star!! Several tried to hold her but she wouldn't let them. They also wanted her to get down and come play on the play mat where some toys and some of the other babies were, but she wanted to stay close to Randy and me. We got a picture with some of them.

 This lady in the last picture is in charge of all the babies in this special care unit that Xiao Fei was in. She was so happy to see her and even asked if she could take a picture with us with her camera. As several more nannies started coming in the room, all of the sudden we saw an American! A young woman, probably our age, came in speaking Mandarin with some of the nannies. She also remembered Xiao Fei and was excited to see her. We started talking and she told us she is from Arkansas and that she has lived and worked here for seven years now! She teaches in one of the older children's rooms. She told us thank you so much for coming back with Xiao fei and said that they had been praying for our family. We were so shocked! We asked her if she was a believer and she said yes, and that many of the nannies were as well! We told her that we were believers too and they were all so thankful to hear that about us! We didn't realize this, but learned today that there is an NGO that operates in conjunction with the staff at the orphanage. I believe some of the workers at the orphanage work for the NGO and some work for the government. She told us that the director and her assistant and some of the other workers are not necessarily believers but that some of the nannies are. AMAZING! All these months that we had been praying for Xiao Fei to be well-loved and taken care of and come to find out, she has been prayed over, prayed for, and God is doing an amazing work in her orphanage through these people. PRAISE GOD! We met another man who works for the NGO and he also was so thankful and said he was so encouraged to get to meet us. After only spending a week here, I can imagine how hard it must be to live in such a different type of country, in such darkness. But God's hope is here, in Calli's former orphanage, and we are just so thankful for these people who are living out his love here. 

We had a great long conversation with the people from the states, and then they asked if we wouldn't mind staying in touch and sending updates on Calli as she grows and has her surgeries. We of course were so thankful to be able to do so, and we can't wait to continue our new relationship with these people.

Then we headed back down to the van and drove back to Fuzhou. Calli did great leaving - she even seemed to be a little sillier in the car, maybe a little lighter and more relaxed. We're so thankful that even though we know she was so well-loved and cared for there, that she at some level realizes we are her family and she chose to show she wanted us.

Our drive back was long and Calli cried for about thirty minutes before she finally fell asleep. She fights sleep so hard, and she also cries a lot when she wakes up. We have been told that sleeping time is the hardest for newly adopted children - they dream about their life up until now and then wake up disoriented, confused, and upset. This has definitely been the case for Calli, and today was really hard before nap.

Also, our driver thought it would help to play music, so he put in a Brittany Spears cd. Then it looped over and over and over again. Probably a dozen times the whole way home. That did not help at all. When we finally got back to our hotel, Randy said he thought if he could make it through that trip today he could make it on Survivor. He said that cd almost caused him to have a mental breakdown. :) He's been on Calli duty almost the whole time we've had her because she has only wanted him. When we got back to our room he said he was on break, so she and I played and we had a good evening! She is not fussing at me as much and I even was able to be the one to walk her up and down the hall in her stroller to try and get her to sleep. It didn't work, but it was progress! I'm so thankful for Randy and fall in love with him more every day - especially through all of this. He is awesome at being a dad and the way he already loves Calli is so amazing.

They are both asleep now and it's almost 11 pm here, so I'm going to join them. I just had so much in my mind and heart about our trip today and I don't want to forget any of it. Thanks for all your prayers for today. God is doing more than we could ask or imagine!