This was quite a day, and the real point of our whole trip. We went to the orphanage w
here we adopted Maggie and we drove out to the site were she was found. 
We started our day off early. The director of the orphanage, Ms. Guo needed to leave by noon for FuZhou to escort a child who was being adopted today (by a US couple). They wanted to treat us to lunch, and so she wanted to be sure we had enough time to visit, tour the orphanage and eat together.
The trip is about 20 minutes. We pulled up under the large gate which Linda and I somewhat remembered from our first trip. Some details were sketchy…our minds, 13 years ago, and our emotions were completely fixed on what was about to happened…we were going to meet our daughter. The driver pulled up the drive but none of us could recognize the building. It was very distinct. It had a big round roo
m which was the receiving room for waiting parents. It is where we sat when they brought Maggie out to us. There was a big dirt hole which was an active construction site, and several multi-story building surrounding it. Linda and I were not convinced we were in the right place. The driver got on the phone with the director and then he and Lina had a long exchange in Mandarin. They finally said “this way…” and we walked up around the construction site into one of the multi-story buildings. The picture with the recessed doorway, on the tile building is the entrance we went in. They took us upstairs to a small office where Ms. Guo very warmly greeted us (and we immediately snapped a pictu
re of her and Maggie). Several of the other administrators joined us. They were extremely gracious and seemed genuinely glad to receive us. They pulled some chairs out for us and got us some water. They initially asked “who is the adopted one?” They didn’t think Maggie looked Chineese and thought she looked a lot like Lin
da. We broke out the memory book that Linda had made and walked the director through it. Lina translated as we talked and explained the pictures. She and her assistant, Ms. Zheng seemed delighted.
We chatted for a little longer and began to ask about the facility and the very familiar building with the round room. Ms. Guo informed us that they TORE IT DOWN!! They raised the building last October. Its hard to explain, but I was overcome with a profound sadness.
This place was a place were an event occurred that was monumental in mine and Linda’s life (and Maggie’s). It is a moment and a point in time that changed me and my life forever….and this round room where I had hoped to sit and let those memories gather around me was gone. It seems a silly thing to be sadden over…but the news was like hearing someone had died. So, w
e began asking more questions about the current facility. The building which currently houses the children was built in 2000. They built another adjacent building that houses the elderly in 1998. The tore down several single story b
uildings in the processes. On the site where the round room was, is going to be a new multi-story facility for the orphanage. As you look at the pictures, you can see where there is an electrical box in the middle of the site. ..that is where the round room used to be.
Ms. Zheng took us on a tour of the grounds and the facility. She showed us what is
now an additional facility for the elderly. It has a hospital attached by used to be where the children of the orphanage were kept. It is, in fact, where Maggie was in the nursery. The picture of us in the courtyard has the nursery in 
the background. I have a picture of the building with Maggie in the foreground. You’ll notice some shots of us standing in a corridor. The room where Maggie’s crib was, was on the first floor. They took us in to show us. The interior of this building is all changed since 1995.
They walked us through the building to meet the kids. The first stop was the cafeteria were they were some older kids were playing Chinese jump rope (probably just “jump rope” to them)
. Two of these kids came to the orphanage in 1995 and were part of Maggie’s “class.” The one girl who you see sitting down in the white is 13 and weeks away from being “ineligible to adopt.” Ms. Zheng indicated they are feverishly trying to finish her paperwork and believe they have US family that wants to adopt her. The gir
l wearing the purple top is the other girl who came in 1995.
We proceeded upstairs to where some older kids were watching TV, then into the Kindergarten where the kids were all quietly lined up in their chairs watching TV. Becky and Ashley handed out candy. Maggie, who remain
ed very quiet, was being very shy. Honestly, I think she was taking it all in and trying to comprehend it. I was a little worried, because I found myself struggling to comprehend the moment and where we found ourselves…and all that it meant.
We then moved into where th
e babies were in the nursery. As suspected, we fell in love with everyone of them. First, let me say that these children are very well loved and cared for by this team of workers. But, still, when you see these infants there starved for individual at
tention you want to pick them all up. The one little girl in yellow I found laying in her crib staring at her feet which were propped up on the side of the crib. I walked over and whispe
red, “hey, watcha doin”, and she immediately looked up at me and a huge smile came across her face. I stroked her cheeks and she came alive, cooing, smiling and giggling when I would tickle her stomach. This was one of about 22 equally lovable babies.
While this is an institution and an institutional environment, it is truly a place where you can feel the love the caretakers have
for these young lives. Did you notice the ba
mboo playpens the three little ones are in? These are curious contraptions but seem to function like an exer-saucer. While the caretakers didn’t mind that I took pictures, it was made very clear to me that they are NOT to wind up on the i
nternet. They have had issues with people trying to get photos of babies in the orphanage to choose which ones they want. I made it clear this would not happen. As this is a private blog and not a complete set of photos, I believe posting some candid snap shots here will not violate their intent. 
We went back down to the office. The director presented Maggie with a special gift they had prepared for her. It was a crystal plaque engraved with her name and the symbol for the golden pig. There is an encryption in Chinese that commemorates the return of M
aggie to the orphanage. Maggie is holding it in the pictures.
It was now a little early for lunch, so we sat and visited for a while. They wanted to treat us to lunch which we thought was very nice. While we were waiting, they provided
us with the “Registration Document” from when Maggie was delivered to the orphanage. This document provided us with the following information. Maggie was found at an intersection in the village of MaXiang in the district (like a suburb) of Tongan (now known as Xiangan). She was found at the intersection
of XinXu crossing. XinXu is the name of the small town and the name of the road that intersects (sort of the main drag in town). This town is about 1.5 hour drive from the orphanage. This would be equivalent to being found in a very far west suburb of Chicago and being taken into downtown Chicago to the orphanage. Maggie was discovered by a couple. The man 56 and the woman 48. Their names are on the form. When they found Maggie, they took her to the police who in turn transported her the 1.5 hours into the Xiamen Welfare Home. It is the only center for children for the area. She was discovered at the XinXu intersection by this couple at 8:30AM, June 13, 1995. (By the way, this is the very day that Linda turned in our completed adoption paperwork to China’s Children in St. Louis…the very same day).
It was time to head to the restaurant for lunch. We climbed in the van and went dow
n the street to a very nice restaurant called the Peony. We had a private room and they had order quite a delicious spread. The head director joined us. His name was Mr. Wu and he was in charge of the entire welfare home which is comprised of the orphanage and the elderly care facility. He was a charming man who was completely taken by Becky.
Lunch conversation was difficult as we spoke absolutely no Mandarin except hello and thank-you. Lina translated. They were interested to see how the girls ate (Maggie of course being very shy…did not engage much and really didn’t eat.) Ashley was her ty
pical picky self and did not eat. Becky, God love her, wolfed down a bit of everything. She won their hearts. We had a fungus called tree ears (which was delicious - tasted like mushrooms), steak, shrimp with the heads on them, very spicy chicken with bones in it, and various other good food.
I found some of the conversation interesting in the implications to the differences in how Americans raise their children (perception of US has less discipli
ne, they don’t teach the kids Mandarin). All in all, they seemed tickled with how well Maggie is doing and complimented us on having a “perfect” family. They toasted us and we them.
This was a gracious, loving group of people who have at their very core the best interest of these young children. They are truly doing God’s work and it was a blessing to have the opportunity to spend time with them.
Maggie seemed to take things in stride, and based on our discussions after we left, seemed very glad that we went.
I’ll leave the story about the “abandonment site” for the next posting.
here we adopted Maggie and we drove out to the site were she was found. 
We started our day off early. The director of the orphanage, Ms. Guo needed to leave by noon for FuZhou to escort a child who was being adopted today (by a US couple). They wanted to treat us to lunch, and so she wanted to be sure we had enough time to visit, tour the orphanage and eat together.
The trip is about 20 minutes. We pulled up under the large gate which Linda and I somewhat remembered from our first trip. Some details were sketchy…our minds, 13 years ago, and our emotions were completely fixed on what was about to happened…we were going to meet our daughter. The driver pulled up the drive but none of us could recognize the building. It was very distinct. It had a big round roo
m which was the receiving room for waiting parents. It is where we sat when they brought Maggie out to us. There was a big dirt hole which was an active construction site, and several multi-story building surrounding it. Linda and I were not convinced we were in the right place. The driver got on the phone with the director and then he and Lina had a long exchange in Mandarin. They finally said “this way…” and we walked up around the construction site into one of the multi-story buildings. The picture with the recessed doorway, on the tile building is the entrance we went in. They took us upstairs to a small office where Ms. Guo very warmly greeted us (and we immediately snapped a pictu
re of her and Maggie). Several of the other administrators joined us. They were extremely gracious and seemed genuinely glad to receive us. They pulled some chairs out for us and got us some water. They initially asked “who is the adopted one?” They didn’t think Maggie looked Chineese and thought she looked a lot like Lin
da. We broke out the memory book that Linda had made and walked the director through it. Lina translated as we talked and explained the pictures. She and her assistant, Ms. Zheng seemed delighted.We chatted for a little longer and began to ask about the facility and the very familiar building with the round room. Ms. Guo informed us that they TORE IT DOWN!! They raised the building last October. Its hard to explain, but I was overcome with a profound sadness.
This place was a place were an event occurred that was monumental in mine and Linda’s life (and Maggie’s). It is a moment and a point in time that changed me and my life forever….and this round room where I had hoped to sit and let those memories gather around me was gone. It seems a silly thing to be sadden over…but the news was like hearing someone had died. So, w
e began asking more questions about the current facility. The building which currently houses the children was built in 2000. They built another adjacent building that houses the elderly in 1998. The tore down several single story b
uildings in the processes. On the site where the round room was, is going to be a new multi-story facility for the orphanage. As you look at the pictures, you can see where there is an electrical box in the middle of the site. ..that is where the round room used to be.Ms. Zheng took us on a tour of the grounds and the facility. She showed us what is
now an additional facility for the elderly. It has a hospital attached by used to be where the children of the orphanage were kept. It is, in fact, where Maggie was in the nursery. The picture of us in the courtyard has the nursery in 
the background. I have a picture of the building with Maggie in the foreground. You’ll notice some shots of us standing in a corridor. The room where Maggie’s crib was, was on the first floor. They took us in to show us. The interior of this building is all changed since 1995.They walked us through the building to meet the kids. The first stop was the cafeteria were they were some older kids were playing Chinese jump rope (probably just “jump rope” to them)
. Two of these kids came to the orphanage in 1995 and were part of Maggie’s “class.” The one girl who you see sitting down in the white is 13 and weeks away from being “ineligible to adopt.” Ms. Zheng indicated they are feverishly trying to finish her paperwork and believe they have US family that wants to adopt her. The gir
l wearing the purple top is the other girl who came in 1995.We proceeded upstairs to where some older kids were watching TV, then into the Kindergarten where the kids were all quietly lined up in their chairs watching TV. Becky and Ashley handed out candy. Maggie, who remain
ed very quiet, was being very shy. Honestly, I think she was taking it all in and trying to comprehend it. I was a little worried, because I found myself struggling to comprehend the moment and where we found ourselves…and all that it meant.We then moved into where th
e babies were in the nursery. As suspected, we fell in love with everyone of them. First, let me say that these children are very well loved and cared for by this team of workers. But, still, when you see these infants there starved for individual at
tention you want to pick them all up. The one little girl in yellow I found laying in her crib staring at her feet which were propped up on the side of the crib. I walked over and whispe
red, “hey, watcha doin”, and she immediately looked up at me and a huge smile came across her face. I stroked her cheeks and she came alive, cooing, smiling and giggling when I would tickle her stomach. This was one of about 22 equally lovable babies.While this is an institution and an institutional environment, it is truly a place where you can feel the love the caretakers have
for these young lives. Did you notice the ba
mboo playpens the three little ones are in? These are curious contraptions but seem to function like an exer-saucer. While the caretakers didn’t mind that I took pictures, it was made very clear to me that they are NOT to wind up on the i
nternet. They have had issues with people trying to get photos of babies in the orphanage to choose which ones they want. I made it clear this would not happen. As this is a private blog and not a complete set of photos, I believe posting some candid snap shots here will not violate their intent. 
We went back down to the office. The director presented Maggie with a special gift they had prepared for her. It was a crystal plaque engraved with her name and the symbol for the golden pig. There is an encryption in Chinese that commemorates the return of M
aggie to the orphanage. Maggie is holding it in the pictures.It was now a little early for lunch, so we sat and visited for a while. They wanted to treat us to lunch which we thought was very nice. While we were waiting, they provided
us with the “Registration Document” from when Maggie was delivered to the orphanage. This document provided us with the following information. Maggie was found at an intersection in the village of MaXiang in the district (like a suburb) of Tongan (now known as Xiangan). She was found at the intersection
of XinXu crossing. XinXu is the name of the small town and the name of the road that intersects (sort of the main drag in town). This town is about 1.5 hour drive from the orphanage. This would be equivalent to being found in a very far west suburb of Chicago and being taken into downtown Chicago to the orphanage. Maggie was discovered by a couple. The man 56 and the woman 48. Their names are on the form. When they found Maggie, they took her to the police who in turn transported her the 1.5 hours into the Xiamen Welfare Home. It is the only center for children for the area. She was discovered at the XinXu intersection by this couple at 8:30AM, June 13, 1995. (By the way, this is the very day that Linda turned in our completed adoption paperwork to China’s Children in St. Louis…the very same day).It was time to head to the restaurant for lunch. We climbed in the van and went dow
n the street to a very nice restaurant called the Peony. We had a private room and they had order quite a delicious spread. The head director joined us. His name was Mr. Wu and he was in charge of the entire welfare home which is comprised of the orphanage and the elderly care facility. He was a charming man who was completely taken by Becky.Lunch conversation was difficult as we spoke absolutely no Mandarin except hello and thank-you. Lina translated. They were interested to see how the girls ate (Maggie of course being very shy…did not engage much and really didn’t eat.) Ashley was her ty
pical picky self and did not eat. Becky, God love her, wolfed down a bit of everything. She won their hearts. We had a fungus called tree ears (which was delicious - tasted like mushrooms), steak, shrimp with the heads on them, very spicy chicken with bones in it, and various other good food.I found some of the conversation interesting in the implications to the differences in how Americans raise their children (perception of US has less discipli
ne, they don’t teach the kids Mandarin). All in all, they seemed tickled with how well Maggie is doing and complimented us on having a “perfect” family. They toasted us and we them.This was a gracious, loving group of people who have at their very core the best interest of these young children. They are truly doing God’s work and it was a blessing to have the opportunity to spend time with them.
Maggie seemed to take things in stride, and based on our discussions after we left, seemed very glad that we went.
I’ll leave the story about the “abandonment site” for the next posting.
This was a very special way to spend Easter Sunday. Perhaps it was not a conincidence that our itinerary had the trip to orphanage fall on this day. It is an Easter Sunday that will remain in my memory for some time to come. What an appropriate place to be celebrating Christ raising from the dead to give all of us hope.
1 comment:
This was the site we were waiting for you to visit. How wonderful for all of you. Paul we can feel your emotions - and see everyone elses, thanks. How special for Maggie and all of you. We both have shed some tears but they are happy tears. Enjoy the rest of your visit to Maggie's homeland. Love you all, Mom/Nana, and Dad/Papa
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