Neal's version of Zhongshan CWI visit

I can honestly say that I am not the same man today that I was yesterday. Yes it has been a wonderful adventure to find our daughter and bring her into our waiting family but our visit to Chelsea's orphanage was very powerful. My love of children has caused me to resent the process of abandonment and my view on orphanages. How unfair.

We arrived at the orphanage just before lunchtime and were met by Mr. Lui who leads the orphanage. (He is giving us Chelsea's finding ad in this pic)


We had met him on gotcha day as he and one of Chelsea's nannies had brought her to meet us. He lead us through the campus of buildings, courtyards, and playgrounds the lunchroom where kids were finishing up lunch. The first thing I noticed were happy, smiling children playing and cleaning up their lunch. THey were very busy interacting with one another and the nannies were helping them get cleaned up. When the children saw us, we became caught up in their happiness and suddenly we were included in the activity. We could not converse with them because of the language barrier, but their body language made up for it. Happy smiling children, excited for life and seeming not to realize that they had been left out of the remainder of society. In an instant, all the other situations in my life were meaningless. I could think of nothing more than how full of joy these kids were. This was not limited to just the children but also the nannies, cafeteria workers and other orphanage employees.




















Not sure how long we spent in the lunchroom but we were told that if we wanted to visit the room that Chelsea lived in, we had better hurry because it was almost naptime. We went upstairs to her room that included probably 25 beds (sort of like short baby beds).





This was a repeat of the lunchroom experience except for the fact that they were all running up to see our baby girl. They missed her in the few days since we had met her at the CA office. Dawn held Chelsea, while Nanny and the boys handed out suckers to the kids. The kids were full of joy and having a blast rolling from bed to bed, flipping upside down and rolling back and forth just having fun with us and each other. A group of the nannies surrounded Dawn and Chelsea, unable to contain their excitement. They were kissing on my sweet baby girl, loving her and going through the little tricks they had taught her in their time together. Chelsea was very happy to see them as well. I could see tears of joy and sadness welling in their eyes as they were holding her for the last time. I know that they had prepared themselves for this day but it was difficult for them to see her go even though they knew that they had prepared her for us. THey had truly taught her how to love and how to be loved. They treasured her (as well as the other children there).


I could tell they had a passion for the children for which they were entrusted. I told them repeatedly "thank you for loving my baby." I was so overcome with emotion seeing the love and joy in the eyes of the nannies and kids. I felt guilty and ashamed for how I had imagined Chelsea's orphanage home. We left this room and went through the hallway downstairs to the preschool room where the teacher explained to us how much she loved Chelsea and how quickly she learned. I immediately recognized the hallway from the videos we had received. It was neat to finally be in the place that we had imagined all those months. I recognized the area that included the drying racks for the clothes and the corner of the hallway where we had seen Chelsea walk through in her little sandals and tank top last summer. WHile in the preschool room, Chelsea was right at home playing with the construction sets and showing her brothers around. The orphanage visit was so important for her because it provided closure and also she was showing us off to her friends. The boys just soaked it all in. We left the preschool room and went to the playground courtyard that was surrounded by the building. They had wonderful toys to play with there (as well as in the other ares of the school) Everything on the campus was very well taken care of and organized. when we entered the playground, we heard someone calling Chelsea her Chinese name from the second story of the surrounding building.


One of the nannies that we had not yet encountered had spotted Chelsea (dressed up with a bow in her hair playing with her favorite toys with her new family. I watched the lady as she stood in the window looking down on my little angel. I was both sympathetic for the nanny because this would be her last image of Chelsea, but also proud that my little girl could touch someone's life as she had done.




We left this building and headed back toward the office where we had entered the campus. On the was, we saw an older boy (maybe 11 or 12) playing soccer in a courtyard with a friend. Graham, Cayden and I jumped right in.








Within minutes, there was at least a dozen kids playing soccer with us. Each had the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning. Happy, happy,
happy! I was right there with them, Half a world away from the routine that we had come to know as everyday life. l felt like I belonged there. Like I had been searching for that moment my entire life. No words to speak. Words did not matter. We were all just having fun. Dawn, Chelsea, Nanny and Mr. Lui had long since continued to the front office. Dawn had to come back several times to convince us into leaving. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and headed out. Mr. Lui gave me his email address and asked me to email pictures of Chelsea as she grew up. I was flattered. It was time to leave but I could have stayed much longer.





I know that my life will never be the same because through my little angel, I have been touched by the love of children that have been abandoned by society. They are God's children and He watches over them. They are happier than they should be which is a miracle. Real perspective.



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