We're back now from Changzhou, the city where Avery lived for her first 9 months. We were received very warmly by the Director and other orphanage staff, but were disappointed to find out that we wouldn't be allowed to go to the orphanage. They brought us to the old orphanage to take pictures and to show Avery, but the new orphanage is being built and won't be ready until June 1, 2008. In the meantime, the children are in a temporary location (a factory) and they didn't want to bring us there. I know its probably because it is not a great location and they wouldn't want us to see that, but we were still disappointed. Avery seemed fine with it, she knows we'll be visiting the Nanjing orphanage tomorrow so that helped.
When we arrived at the old orphanage location, there was a huge banner that read "Warmly welcome Changzhou daughter returning with her Canadian parents" . Here is a photo of us with the Director and adoption manager in front of the sign:
We had a wonderful lunch with the staff and our 2 guides. The toasting went on for quite a while and everyone had a great time. After a while, Avery warmed up to to the staff. Here is a photo of her with the Director and a photo with one of the nannies who took care of her:
The Director brought us to a beautiful park in Changzhou (by the way - any of you who have been to Changzhou would not recognize it anymore - there are so many new buildings and high-rises - another city going through huge growth).
The Director was very open and honest with us. They told us we are the first Canadian family to bring our daughter back to Changzhou to visit. This really surprised us because I know Changzhou has been placing children in Canada for more than 15 years. There have been no adoptions from Changzhou by Canadians since 2001 either - which surprised us as well. I wondered if this was because most of the children are special needs. They told us there are approximately 150 children up to age 13 living in the orphanage. There are very few healthy children - most are special needs. Jiangsu is becoming more affluent and people's attitude towards daughters are changing, so there are many fewer babies being abandoned. This is great news, of course, but it also explains why the wait is approaching 2 years for a referral from China.
Tomorrow, we visit the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum and the Nanjing orphanage. Will update again.
2 comments:
Hi Paola - I was thrilled to see the pic of you guys outside that entrance way in Changzhou - brings back so many memories!! Lovely banner too!! I can't wait to go back.
I have to correct the Director though...there HAVE been some Canadians who have adopted from Changzhou since 2001 (and they'd be sad that they've been forgotten!! *grin*). There were a couple of families in our 2nd group who adopted from Changzhou in 2004 (I was envious that I wasn't going with them!!).
Hey! I thought I wrote a comment on yesterday's blog, but either you rejected it or it didn't make it through. I remember the lanterns at the Confucious Temple; wanted to know how the rooms were any smaller than 2001 and recalling Tom and me waiting forever for one photo to upload back then. I was really looking forward to seeing the Changzhou orphanage too!
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