Our time at Hohhot has come to an end...at least for half the team. Shannon, Mary, Catherine, Kristen and I arrived in Xi'an this evening and are at the Starfish Home. We are unpacking your gifts and will meet the babies in the morning. I am on Amanda's computer, so I will not have photos today, but we will hopefully get it together by tomorrow afternoon!
The birthday party today was a mixture of emotions. The kids loved their new outfits which included shoes and socks. They REALLY loved the watermelon and bananas, not to mention the cakes and cokes! We colored backpacks for the children to keep their things in, and played with balloons. I checked on the cleft palate baby and was able to show the nannies how to feed him until a special bottle arrives....otherwise he will dehydrate. The other baby I did not get to see, she had already gone to foster care (I hope). I will worry about her...
We saw a lot of difference today in the orphanage between the have and have nots....there were some items that were disappearing under our nose....which was very upsetting. I will write more about this later. Shannon had a special contact today with a child who is deaf and we have not seen much since Monday. She did not want Shannon to leave and cried when she did go. Although painful, this did let us know she could attach still which gave us hope. On leaving, I asked everyone if they would come back to Hohhot given the chance, and we all answered yes. Even though it was one of the most difficult weeks, it was als one of the most rewarding.
Hopefully we can write more soon and get some pics up--I know Amanda wants to sleep and I need to get off her computer. Until then,
Love,
Eve
2 comments:
Happy belated birthday Eve!! I have been thinking about you guys and praying for you. It is sometimes hard for me to think that we are going about our lives here, when there is so much sadness and neediness around that we do not even know about.It is such a contrast and hard to know what to do with all of those feelings. I have so enjoyed seeing all the pics and following all the blogs. Thank you guys for sharing. I just received the email about Jeannie being adopted. Praise God!! I look forward to your return to catch up on all the details. Love you guys!
Trudy
Hey Eve - I've been thinking about you and praying for you as I read along. I just now figured out how to leave a comment - and I'm feeling silly for not figuring it out sooner. Happy belated birthday! Your trip sounds amazing. A rollercoaster no doubt, but also no doubt that you are doing a lot of good. I am so happy to hear that you were able to help them with the baby who had a cleft, just that alone makes your trip worthwhile. Not to mention all of the joy and love you have brought to these children. I have to admit that I did not understand what exactly the mission was about, but reading your blog has really opened my eyes. I feel for the nannies, having so many children to care for and so few resources must be extremely difficult for them. I think it is wonderful that so many of the children seem to have developed familial bonds with each other, and hope that it does lead to some permanency for them. Good luck with the rest of the trip and I will be reading...
Eva
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