Dear friends and family,
新年快樂 (xin nien kwai le) from China! Apologies for being horribly behind on replying to emails. It'll be at the top of my list of New Years resolutions, starting now! =)
Last night, I had the amazing experience of ringing in the lunar new year with 54 babies, two times as many nannies (called 'ayi's' here in China), 2 doctors and their partners, one nurse, one co-volunteer and somewhere in the mix, surely a partridge in a pear tree. (Though here in this tiny village about an hour's drive NE from Beijing, we're mostly surrounded by watermelon, tomato and tree farms =P).
In the continuing adventures of Shannon, I arrived in China on the other New Years Day, after a quick pit stop back home to visit friends and family after 15 months on the road. (Ready, set, Sept 2009: SF>DC cross-country > Rio > Sao Paolo > Montevideo > Buenos Aires > Patagonia > Santiago > Buenos Aires > Holland > France/Belgium/Germany > Nov 2010 back home sweet home--whew!) My Mandarin is decent enough to pass as a southerner, my Spanish is already getting rusty, my Portuguese never got off the ground, and my Dutch consists of all of twenty words or phrases, like the ever-so-important 'ja ik hou van mijn omafiets!' =P Being home was great if not whirlwind, but I even squeezed in a ten-day silent meditation course which was wonderfully centering and gave me invaluable tools to handling those ever-present tough situations in life. And because everyone always asks, no I'm not tired of seeing the world, and yes my savings are still fine after that year+ of frugal-yet-fulfilling living (and for that I am very thankful).
For the first week of January, I tagged along with my parents on their vacation to see the famous ice and snow festivals in the frigid northeast Chinese city of Harbin--our first family vacation abroad in ten years! It was simultaneously a great parent-child bonding experience and freezing freezing freezing cold one (-27C/-17F)!! Getting back to Beijing was a thawing relief (-5C/23F), plus, what with my one-way ticket to China and all, sticking around afterwards seemed like the perfect opportunity to feed my longstanding desire to live in and experience the motherland =). I wanted to learn more about my culture and heritage, improve my little-kid Mandarin, and attempt to be of service to others.
I dunno if anyone remembers, but back in high school, after receiving my college acceptance letters, I lay on my living room floor, crying to my mom about not wanting to go. 'How can you not go to college!?' she asked, 'and what will you do instead!?' 'I'll go to China and work in an orphanage' was my quiet reply--who knew it'd take 11 years for that intention to turn into action!
It started back in December, after tons of googlin', I found an opportunity to bring donated baby/medical supplies to China (yey for checked baggage allowances and traveling light!), and was then connected to the foster home's directors to see about volunteering on-site. So, here I am at New Hope Foster Home, in what has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my life (parents, sound familiar? =P), and that's in just one month of being here! I don't even change diapers either!
What I do do, is spend my days playing with the pre-schoolers and one kindergartener, teaching them basics likes colors and ABC's and animal/object names, and getting them used to English, as most will be adopted by American or other English-speaking families. All the kids were abandoned at orphanages, hospitals, police stations, or even the foster home's front gate because of their medical needs. Some have as minor of problems as cleft palates and lips and club feet; others come with heart problems, intestinal defects, and other more severe abnormalities that you wouldn't even imagine were possible for a baby to be born with.
The kids are SO sweet and so much fun, and somehow almost all are seemingly happy and well-adjusted little people. They fill me with joy whether they are awake and playing, or sleeping and sprawled all starfished-out in their cribs. I have never been mobbed by kiddos the way I am here when I enter their playrooms, and my ongoing joke with their ayi's (nannies) is that given the number of kids that plop (and sometimes fight) onto my lap as soon as I'm seated on the floor with them, I'm not actually a teacher, but a complicated chair. =P
Mugs of four little ones are attached. We call them by their Chinese names, but publicly they are: Jonas (cleft lip/palate), Julia Grace (bowel defect), Kevin (urinary tract defect), and Arrayah (also bowel defect). My co-volunteer teacher, SJ, and I will be taking Arrayah and another little baby girl with an inside-out-and-outside-of-her-
As you can imagine, connecting and caring for our kids is both nourishing and heartbreaking. Even just during my volunteer-position search, I struggled with how I was going to take care of myself and my heart while caring for these abandoned babies. Actually I thought I wouldn't be able to handle the more severe cases like New Hope's, the special needs babies, the ones without less hope for adoption. I also worried about feeling isolated in New Hope's rural setting two hours by bus to the capital, about striking a balance with 'work' and having other outlets. I've cried over my weakness and selfishness, searched for strength, and I'm still in one piece today, so I guess I'm ok. Though, I still cry every now and then when I feel overwhelmed by the challenges the children face, and when I see just how much resilience and joy the kids have in spite of their challenges. That feels ok too.
I think everyone who spends enough time with orphans, especially older ones, must go through what I am going through-- the heart feelings, the bittersweetness, and also the reality of wondering when/if these sweet kids will be taken in by forever families. I wonder myself when/if I will ever be able to call one of these children my own. Just today, our 5 year old Luke, a paraplegic boy with a contagious giggle, asked me while recounting last nights new year's eve fireworks display, if next year he can just be my son. Imagine how quickly I lost it as I reassured him that in fact his forever mom and dad are waiting for him! (They are!)
I am thankful that I can skype with family and friends, and talk with the ayi's and other volunteers here, and that simply by living in the same building with the children, I can walk downstairs at any moment to glance through the play/sleeping room windows and remind myself of why I am here. In my spare time, I read up on topics like child development, orphan psychology, and institutionalization of foster children, take short excursions into the capital to see the city, make new friends and check out vegan spots, and of course make attempts at maintaining my connections with all y'all, but I still struggle with understanding how to balance my social, intellectual, spiritual needs and work.
I am also learning much in humility, seeing the diligence of our nurse and volunteer doctor, and in hearing the directors' story and about just how many other people have been so generous with their time and money to help these children have a chance. It really makes me wonder why it took so long for me to get here!
I know some will ask what you can do to help, thank you. Definitely start with New Hope's website: hopefosterhome.com, particularly the 'Babies' and 'Needs' sections. If anyone's coming to Beijing from the States and would like to courier supplies like I did, please get in touch with Rebecca. If you're in the Bay Area and have new/gently-used baby or toddler clothes, please get in touch with my mom who will be bringing donations in May.
Here in Beijing, I'd like to refresh our weathered toy supply with some new ones, especially toddler-appropriate learning toys, and a replacement pop up rocket-ship! (Ours is disintegrating at the moment =/.) I ran the mini toy-fundraiser idea by the directors which they approved and suggested for such a small campaign that donations just come to me directly. Granted, in all our respective currencies, this could get tricky, but let's cross that bridge when we get there, first just let me know of your goodwill and we'll figure out the rest.
Overall, I plan to be here at New Hope until August (my co-teacher returns to England in early March), with my tourist visa requiring that I exit the country every two months (Mongolian border here I come!). Looks like a trip to Japan for my birthday is in the works (please send me all your travel tips/must see's!). Post August, I'll likely travel/friends-visit in country and SE Asia. We'll see.
Overall, I plan to be here at New Hope until August (my co-teacher returns to England in early March), with my tourist visa requiring that I exit the country every two months (Mongolian border here I come!). Looks like a trip to Japan for my birthday is in the works (please send me all your travel tips/must see's!). Post August, I'll likely travel/friends-visit in country and SE Asia. We'll see.
Whew, hope this update finds you well, that is it long but meaningful. (Knowing me, I still have loads more I want to share of course!) I may start posting to chegringa.com again, for there are many places/sights that still needing sharing.
I look forward to hearing back from y'all. =)
hugs
Shannon
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