The DingXi Orphanage - Video

It's about 12:30am here now in the business lounge, and the attendant is giving me a harsh stare. Combine that with a packed schedule tomorrow, so unfortunately I'll have to make this note as brief as I can.





I had a wonderful day today, starting with an absolutely fantastic chinese breakfast at the Lanzhou Legend Hotel.





I met with an interpreter from the Lanzhou Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Su Wei (Suzanne), and off we went to the market to get some things for the Chen family and the DingXi SWI. We purchased some soccer balls, basketballs, and ping pong equipment. During my last visit in October 2005, the Chen family children said that that's what they really liked, so I wanted to make sure I oblidged them with top quality stuff.





I also had to buy a suit, because tomorrow I will be meeting with the Mayor of Lanzhou, in a televised interview (but I'll leave THAT story to an upcoming post)! A suit jacket, pants, shirt, and tie, cost me 550 RMB, or about 65 USD. It was altered on the spot, free of charge.





Off we zipped to DingXi.





We met the DingXi officials at the base of the main exit ramp to the city of DingXi. In attendance was Mr. Yang, the child orphanage director, Mr. Niu the DingXi civil affairs director, Mr. Liu, the SWI director, and Mr. Guo, a foreign affairs officer.





Together we wound our way through the developing town, and turned off into a narrow sidestreet which was bordered on both sides by a 10 foot hall brick wall, and twisted and turned for several hundred yards. We finally entered an open courtyard to the orphanage





GPS coordinates: N 35' 34.943", E 104' 36.718"





(shown here is me at the entrance to the orphanage, surrounded by the orphanage staff. The man standing to my right is Mr. Yang, the orphanage director)



The orphanage is housed in an older building, but was recently renovated within the last year, and has only been housing children since the last year. The entire facility is situated on one floor of a 3 story building. It consists of one major hallway, and 6 or 7 rooms branching off from the hallway. There are 12 children there, ranging from 3 months old to 8 years old.





I found the shiny tiled rooms very clean and neat, with very little signs of dirt or grime, and I could not detect any odors at all. With my experience in MY house with a 6 and a 4 year old, I consider this lack of "child odor" to be a great cleaning accomplishment! The were at least 4 nannies that I saw, each were full of smiles, dressed very neatly in white smocks, and holding and interacting with the children that were there. The children looked animated and looked to have developed good motor skills. I have been to many orphanages, and I have seen that "vacuous orphanage look" that comes with children not receiving attention, and suffering various degrees of mental and physical atrophy. Clearly this was NOT the case here.





The visit was unfortunately brief.





On the plus side, I sat for a long time with the orphanage officials, explaining the Packages of Hope mission, and our willingness to provide for any need at the orphanage. They definitely got the message. We were going to donate a soccer and basketball, but most of the children were still in cribs, so we told the staff we would donate these items to the Lanzhou SWI. They happily agreed. Also, with gracious appreciation to Allison Heck and her family, we were able to make a donation of a Best Buy digital camera with a 512mb Chip.






3 families with children waiting for them in DingXi contacted prior to my trip, and I visited with their children, and took some photos and video, just for them. I was profoundly humbled and honored by being part of their sacred story.

Also, the orphanage director informed me that they had an emergency medical need for one of the children there, and communicated the details to me. Due to sensitivity, and the fact that the child is not yet available for adoption, I would like to refrain from disclosing the details. But rest assured that before I left DingXi, I was on the phone, contacting medical teams in China, including Love Without Boundaries.





We're gonna get this kid help!





Jeff can make it happen!





Once we get more of the details down and the situation properly assessed, I'll be sure to let everyone know!





Here's a video of the orphanage





Click here to see a video of my wonderful host, Huo Zhao Chen, Foreign Affairs Director of Lanzhou, who is my host.


Click here to see the DingXi orphanage


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