Nanchang Social Welfare Institute 

The last group that I know of that was allowed to visit (before visits were stopped for a few years) was in February 1996 but they were only allowed in the two infant rooms on the first floor and could not take photos or video. One of the mothers writes: "We were lucky enough to be there at lunch time! All the babies who could sit up were in their little bamboo chairs and were busily consuming what looked like fettuccini noodles in a broth of some kind. They LOVED it!! The aunties were working hard to feed all of them.  It was so cute to watch. All of the babies who were sitting in the chairs did not appear neglected in the least--they were bright and alert and bundled up in multi layers of clothing (it was still winter), so they looked like adorable little stuffed sausages."

"The orphanage was spartan, but clean. It was readily apparent that the aunties loved those children--you could just tell. Some of the babies were still too small to sit in the chairs, and were laying in their --one baby to a crib. My 12-year-old son walked among the cribs, patting babies on the head. He even got one to laugh out loud!! Based on the card on her crib, it appeared she was not quite 4 mo. old. It was almost overwhelming for those of us in our group to think that, just two days earlier, our daughters had been in the orphanage...."

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We'd love to hear from other families with children from this orphanage. If you'd like to share any information, ask questions, or post photos please e-mail me at webmaster@gurrad.com.