Ally's nanny saying good-bye to her for the last time.
The baby beds in Ally's room.
The nanny's mother rocking a baby to sleep while holding another baby.
An emotional picture of all of us
The view outside Ally's room
A chair the babies sit in, kind of like a baby walker. This chair caused the scars on Ally's legs.
The nanny holding Ally and Chloe for the first time since they were adopted
The bed in Ally's room, we assume the nanny, her mom, and son all sleep on this bed
A baby in Ally's room. This type of basket is where all the infants sleep
The medical room in the orphanage
The Yugan County SWI(orphanage)
A picture with the orphanage director
This picture was taken at the location Ally was abandoned. It is at the orphanage gates.
This is an excerpt from an entry I posted on my other blog.
On Thursday we traveled to Ally's orphanage, the Yugan County Social Welfare Institute. The drive was treacherous. Some roads were paved, some were gravel, some were mud. There were water buffalo randomly placed along the sides of the roads throughout our journey. when I think of Ancient China I think of Rice Paddies and people with traditional straw hats on. On the way to Yugan Co, we saw just this scene. It really was beautiful. We also saw a lot of poverty.
When we got into the city two orphanage officials met us and took our van to the various children's finding places. One child was found in an alley by the town's hospital, another by the gates of the old orphanage. Our Ally was found by the gates of the current orphanage. THe orphanage has babies, children of all ages and then it also houses senior citizens. When we arrived at the orphanage we were taken to a conference room where a table was covered in fresh fruit for us to eat. It was a gorgeous spread, however none of us ate anything other than bananas because they were the only fruit we could peel. We handed over our donations to the orphanage director. Many of the workers had come to the room to see the babies. They all knew which baby was which. Ally was referred to as "Dong Dong".
After we met in the conference room we were taken to the babies' rooms. This orphanage has rooms where a nanny lives with the babies. It's like the nanny's apartment. Ally was in Room 3. Her nanny, the nanny's mom and son all live in this one room apartment with, currently, 2 infants and a toddler. The room was small, about the size of my classroom. It had the nanny's full size bed, some shelves, a few baby beds, two wicker baskets which the infants were sleeping in, a small bathroom. There was a small balcony attached to the room. There was also a TV.
The nanny reached out to hold Ally and Chloe(another baby in our travel group who also lived in the same room). She walked over to the balcony windows and cried. She loved our babies. Many people upon discovering we're adotping from China have made comments about us saving the baby and rescuing the poor baby from the desperate situation. Let me get on my soap box and say that I in no way believe Ryan and I rescued Ally from a horrible situation. By America's standards, yes, the living situation was very simple. But, I know that above all else, a child needs love. There is no doubt in my mind that Ally was loved SO MUCH in the 8 months before we met her. Her nanny cried with the tears of a true grieving mother. In my mind ally has 3 mothers: her birth mother, her nanny, and me. I cannot imagine the heartache the nanny went through last Sunday when she said good-bye to Yue Mei Dong, a baby she had cared for for so long. I cry just thinking about it. I hugged the nanny and cried right along with her. I cannot thank her enough for taking such good care of my baby.
Ally, in all honesty, rescued me. In the 6 days she has been with us, this child has taught me about the deepest love I've ever felt. I never knew how much I could love a person. It's as if Ally has been in my heart forever. I sound so cliche right now, I'm sure, but, it's true. And, without her nanny, none of this would have been possible. So, Ryan and I will ensure that Ally knows all about her life before she came to us.
The orphanage visit the most profound moment I've had in my life so far. I can't do it justice here in this blog.
On Thursday we traveled to Ally's orphanage, the Yugan County Social Welfare Institute. The drive was treacherous. Some roads were paved, some were gravel, some were mud. There were water buffalo randomly placed along the sides of the roads throughout our journey. when I think of Ancient China I think of Rice Paddies and people with traditional straw hats on. On the way to Yugan Co, we saw just this scene. It really was beautiful. We also saw a lot of poverty.
When we got into the city two orphanage officials met us and took our van to the various children's finding places. One child was found in an alley by the town's hospital, another by the gates of the old orphanage. Our Ally was found by the gates of the current orphanage. THe orphanage has babies, children of all ages and then it also houses senior citizens. When we arrived at the orphanage we were taken to a conference room where a table was covered in fresh fruit for us to eat. It was a gorgeous spread, however none of us ate anything other than bananas because they were the only fruit we could peel. We handed over our donations to the orphanage director. Many of the workers had come to the room to see the babies. They all knew which baby was which. Ally was referred to as "Dong Dong".
After we met in the conference room we were taken to the babies' rooms. This orphanage has rooms where a nanny lives with the babies. It's like the nanny's apartment. Ally was in Room 3. Her nanny, the nanny's mom and son all live in this one room apartment with, currently, 2 infants and a toddler. The room was small, about the size of my classroom. It had the nanny's full size bed, some shelves, a few baby beds, two wicker baskets which the infants were sleeping in, a small bathroom. There was a small balcony attached to the room. There was also a TV.
The nanny reached out to hold Ally and Chloe(another baby in our travel group who also lived in the same room). She walked over to the balcony windows and cried. She loved our babies. Many people upon discovering we're adotping from China have made comments about us saving the baby and rescuing the poor baby from the desperate situation. Let me get on my soap box and say that I in no way believe Ryan and I rescued Ally from a horrible situation. By America's standards, yes, the living situation was very simple. But, I know that above all else, a child needs love. There is no doubt in my mind that Ally was loved SO MUCH in the 8 months before we met her. Her nanny cried with the tears of a true grieving mother. In my mind ally has 3 mothers: her birth mother, her nanny, and me. I cannot imagine the heartache the nanny went through last Sunday when she said good-bye to Yue Mei Dong, a baby she had cared for for so long. I cry just thinking about it. I hugged the nanny and cried right along with her. I cannot thank her enough for taking such good care of my baby.
Ally, in all honesty, rescued me. In the 6 days she has been with us, this child has taught me about the deepest love I've ever felt. I never knew how much I could love a person. It's as if Ally has been in my heart forever. I sound so cliche right now, I'm sure, but, it's true. And, without her nanny, none of this would have been possible. So, Ryan and I will ensure that Ally knows all about her life before she came to us.
The orphanage visit the most profound moment I've had in my life so far. I can't do it justice here in this blog.
This post put me in the same place we were 4.5 years ago. Even though our daughter was in foster care I remember vividly the day we visited Yugan. Congrats on your beautiful Yugan baby.
ReplyDeleteBecky -- mom to 5.5 yo Sophia (Yue Yu Xi)
Thanks for sharing this...I have goosebumps thinking this is where we are going and yes Tya is one of Ally's Yugan sisters...I wonder if that was Tya in the basket ... I could not tell...oh my! Thank you so much for sharing this with me. Thank you also for your email, I loved reading it!
ReplyDeleteI hope you keep in touch,
Jennifer
Congratulations our daughter comes from the same orpahange. We were there in 2005 and would like to thank you for taking us down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you're still checking comments... our daughter is from the same orphanage. I wanted to ask you about the baby walker that caused the scars on your daughter's legs. Can you somehow contact me through my profile (without me providing my email address in the "comments" window)? Thanks!
ReplyDelete