The Visit to the Nanchuan Orphanage

Where to begin, this was the best part of the trip - a lot of emotion but now allows for the family to share in Jack's life previous to us. The ride was about two and a half hours (145 km or 90 miles). Chongqing itself is a very crowded city with narrow streets and high rises everywhere. It is quite a different experience once you leave the city. The houses are few and far between and their are fields upon fields of rice paddies and beautiful hills and mountains. The scenery is breathtaking and it was a very relaxing ride. Nanchuan is a very different city from Chongqing. It is still very metropolitan but on a much smaller scale. The streets and sidewalks are much wider often with trees planted on a meridian. The buildings are not quite so tall and more spread out.

We went to the orphanage first and the Director Luo was there to greet us. She really is a lovely woman who cares very much for her charges. She introduced us as we were getting ready to enter to a little girl from the community who walked Jack to pre-school. I had brought some candy for the children and gave her some and she told me "thank you, auntie" in Chinese (auntie is a common form of address to female adults). She was a very sweet little girl.

We then walked inside and on the first floor is a lobby with beautiful wood furniture and plants. In addition, they have a large easel board that has pictures of all the newly received children who are they are still trying to find their biological parents. There are currently five photos. They also have pictures of the other children at the orphanage picturing events or just daily life. There were two pictures of Jack, one as a baby and one at what looked to be a birthday party, probably within the last year. He was standing next to his best friend in the photo. Director Luo gave me these photos, I had not asked for them and was very touched by her generosity. There are also many photos of the children who have been adopted and their families that they now live with. The orphanage really follows the lives of the children and has deep feeling for them.

We then went upstairs to the living quarters. There are five nannies for approximately 20 children, all who are currently age three or under. There are three main rooms connected to each other with large archways between them. The middle room is a communal room with a television and four chairs. It is relatively open so the children can push themselves around in their walkers. The two rooms on either side have one large bed for the caretakers (they stay with the children) and many cribs that pretty much fill the room. The rooms are approximately 10X12. There is then a hallway that leads from the middle room back to the bathroom, the laundry and the kitchen. I had always noted how clean Jack appeared in all his photos - his fingernails were always white with no dirt under them. This is because the caretakers wash each child each day and have a shower in the bathroom to use. This may seem normal but you have to realize that is a lot of kids to bathe and that not all orphanages have wash facilities (for example, Madeline's orphanage used a nearby lake to wash her weather permitting). The overall feeling is a homey, cheery feeling. There are curtains and posters of happy babies and alphabets and numbers. The staff is also very caring and holds the children a lot. I am really grateful that I was allowed to visit. Jack was delighted to see everybody and immediately ran to a little push that he loved to ride. Unfortunately, in his eagerness he bowled over a little boy. The caretakers immediately stepped in comforting the little one and telling Jack "no" (boys are often not told no so it was nice to see that they corrected him gently). When we left, that was the hardest part. Jack cried and begged for his caretakers - but it only lasted until we were out of sight (I felt so bad for him and the staff - they had tears in their eyes and this must be one of the hardest things to do letting go of a child you have cared for for so long).

From there we went to the pre-school Jack attended a few blocks away. It is a community school, not just for the orphanage, starting at ages 2.5 to 3. It is a two room school with the classroom on the first floor and a playroom on the second floor. The classroom has little desks and chairs and bright paintings on the walls. The name of the school is LeLe (which means happy in Chinese). The school runs from 8:30 to 11:30 with a break for lunch and then from 2:30 to 5:00. The children were on lunch break when we arrived but we met the teachers and they were so happy to be able to say goodbye to Jack - when the school year started recently they had wondered what had happened to him.

We then went to Jack's finding spot which was at a nearby apartment complex, Zhu Yan Tang. Jack most likely was left there as it is a high traffic area and someone would find him quickly. He was found by Liu Ting Lun and sent to the orphanage from there. We also received a finding advertisement that is done when children are brought in as an attempt to find the biological parents. He was four months old and described as "having congenital spina bifida and pale face and few hairs on head. Has old clothes and one bottle." This was published in what is called a "Law Newspaper".

We found out that Director Luo named him. Nan Min is the standard name given to all the children orphanage but she named him Hang as it is translated to mean to be able to fly or sail. She said the protrusion from the spina bifida on his back was so painful that she hoped he could fly to get away from the pain.

I know this is a lot to share but I wanted to have it in writing somewhere so I wouldn't forget. His story is amazing to me and even our guide said it is a miracle. You think you will always remember the detail but with you forget so quickly all the things that make your child special or made up their life before you knew them.