Our Visit to the Gao'an Orphanage
Photos of trip here.
October 2007 Heritage Tour
We flew to Nanchang. Wow has it changed in 12 years. When we were there before the traffic was 90% bicycles. Now there are hardly any! There are lots of cars and everyone else has a motor scooter. There was construction everywhere. We wanted to stay at the Galactic Peace Hotel, but it was booked so we picked another 5 star hotel, the Jiangxi Hotel. As we were checking in I asked where the pool was. They said it was outdoors and closed for the season. (This hadnt been indicated on the online reservation system). After some discussion we called the Galactic Peace and arranged to move there the next day. The Jiangxi was OK, but very smoky. We walked around town a bit (almost bought some lovely and cheap prints but couldnt figure out how to ship them) and then we had a nice hotel dinner.
Our guide, Tom, arranged for though Our Chinese Daughter's Foundation (OCDF) met us the next morning. OCDF had also gotten our permission to visit the SWI. We had a nice van for the 1 hour drive to GaoAn. Along the way there was a lot more construction, including widening the highway.
GaoAn itself is not so prosperous. To get to the Social Welfare Institute you go under a low bridge into a somewhat hidden-away poor neighborhood. On the drive Tom gave Amanda a red banner that said Welcome Home Gao Ling, in Chinese and English, and a similar sign (in only Chinese) was hanging over the entry to the SWI courtyard. We went to the Directors office and saw Amandas file. It only contained the same documents we had received 12 years ago. Then Amandas caregiver , Li Xiao Ping, arrived. It was a very happy and emotional visit. Of course Marcel and I remembered her but Amanda didnt. She was obviously delighted to see us and to get the photos we gave her of Amanda growing up. Her daughter (who was 13 when Amanda lived with them) now lives in Beijing, so we arranged to get in touch with her.
We then went and held 3 babies for awhile and then went to Amandas finding place. It was a pleasant location, under a Chinese-style arch along the river, where they had once been an outdoor market. We looked around and Amanda got a bit sad. She asked, as she does periodically, why she cant find out who her birth mother is. I said that it may be possible some day. She got over being sad relatively quickly and it was clear that she was glad we had come.
Before going to lunch we went to see the new SWI where they will all be moving at the end of November. It was a similar arrangement where each room opens to outdoors, not to any central area. It is up on a hill with a nice view and it will be a good change to get out of the darker and old building. After lunch, Marcel took the Director shopping for supplies and Amanda and I returned to hold the babies some more. They were all 3-5 months old and had quite flattened heads from spending so much time in bed or in strollers. While they were well cared for, we could tell that they liked having more attention and being held. One of them cried when Amanda left the room at the end of our visit. It was sad but were so glad to know that they will all be adopted by loving families.
We had a pretty full day in GaoAn. We are all glad that we went. Since then I found the Gao'An Yahoo group and we are putting together a photo album of the Gao'An Sisters to send to the SWI. We also had a lovely lunch with Li Xiao Ping's daughter. So it feels like we have now found a whole extended Gao'An family. I think this will be great for Amanda though out her life.
By DLI
October 2007