Today is a big day as we are off to visit the orphanage. The day becomes an even bigger day when we learn a little bit more about Haley’s brief history on this earth. But first – breakfast. Haley is being quite fussy this morning and we are not sure why. She has a cold (most of the kids do) so I think that we will chalk it up to not feeling very well.
After breakfast we board our bus and are off to the orphanage. The orphanage is in the city of Nanfeng which is about 200 km’s south of Nanchang. The bus trip takes three and one half hours. Haley seems to have resolved her inner issues and is a dream on the trip. She sleeps most of the way and when she wakes up she is a happy little thing. Of course she eats about three times as much as anyone else (including Mom and Dad).
We arrive at the Nanfeng orphanage and are greeted by the director of the orphanage and several care givers. Here is where the story gets interesting. Several of the caregivers immediately pick out Haley and three of the other babies (there are 17 in total) and begin to pay very close attention to them. Up until this point we have always assumed (based on previous correspondence that we received) that Haley had been in foster care from the time she was found until we picked her up. This is in fact NOT true. About three months ago, Haley was returned to the orphanage by her foster mom and has been living in the orphanage ever since. We are still not clear why she was returned but understand that there was a crisis in the home of the foster mom and she needed to be returned.
The care givers are VERY kind and obviously took great care of our little Haley. This was a blessing because the conditions at the orphanage, although not horrible by any stretch, are not ideal. We are taken to see Haley’s crib and are given the official name tag which still hangs on her crib.
We then tour the remainder of the orphanage and see the classrooms (there are older children who live and go to school in the orphanage) and we see some other infants all in primitive exersaucers the youngest one being ten days old.
We finally leave the orphanage and are shown the place where Haley was abandoned (it’s less than a block from the main entrance to the orphanage). What a day. More than we had bargained for but a very interesting visit to say the least.
We are then taken to lunch by the director where Haley has her first “blow out”. After that fun little incident it was back on the bus and back to Nanchang. We arrive at the hotel about 7:00pm and are wiped out so head to our room for some noodles and to play with Haley. Tomorrow is our last day in Nanchang before heading off to Beijing.
Description of Pictures:
#1 – Haley – stretched out on the bus.
#2 – Stairs where Haley was found abandoned on March 3, 2005
#3 – The four “orphanage babies” with the caregivers
#4 – Haley’s Crib
#5 – Entrance to the orphanage
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