The Yongfeng Orphanage

Yesterday was our visit to the place where Ming has spent the entire 11 months of her life - Yongfeng Orphanage. What we thought was going to be a 2 hour drive to the orphanage ended up being 4.5 hours because of the poor condition of the roads and the construction projects we encountered. It was a tough trip for all of us, but especially the babies who had to be held the entire trip. I have not had the opportunity to really study a map to understand exactly where we went, but it is safe to say that Ming is a country girl. In fact, does anyone know how to say 'hick' in Chinese?

The photo here is a pic of Ming with the Orphanage Director. All the workers at the orphanage were very nice and caring. There are currently 13 babies there. They can accomodate as many as 18. We can tell that the workers are delighted to see Ming head off to a better life. They all call her "Guo Guo" (pronounced like the "gwaw" in guava) since her orphaned name was Yong Feng Guo.

At the Orphanage we were shown the official docs that were created to admit Ming into the Orphanage. This included a photo where she looks fairly swollen in her face because she was abandoned and found on her day of birth. It also included a foot print, and the little ripped slip of paper that was included in her apple box that said she was born at 4:07am on 9/10/2005. Amazing.

This photo with Levi shows her crib in the orphanage. She didn't seem to like being in her crib, but otherwise she didn't show too many emotions at the orphanage, either coming or going. She was very comfortable being held by her nannies during the time there. They loved on her and made lots of faces and shared plenty of Chinese baby-talk with her. I wish I knew some of that.

When the orphanage visit was over we were taken to Ming's abandonment spot - the gate of the Civil Affairs building in the community of the orphanage. While we don't know the exact spot, it appears that it was likely where Linda and Levi are standing in the photo.

Abandonment in China is both common and complicated. Babies are usually not abandoned in the community were they are born because there are levied fines and put in jail for 7 years for abandoning children. So, we are told, that people often travel a significant distance to abandon a baby so that they do not get caught or recognized. If a family is rich enough, they can just pay the government fine for having another child, but most people in the rural areas cannot afford to do that. They cannot afford to pay the fine for having a second child, or the cost to raise a second child.

Keep your eye on my Webshots page for plenty of additional photos at the Yongfeng Orphanage that I will be uploading there soon.