Orphanage Visit

Today, we headed out early to Yangxi to visit the Social Welfare Institute where Kora is from.  It took 3 1/2 hours to drive there.  On the drive, we saw fields of rice, corn, and sugar cane, and man-made fish ponds.  We also saw water buffalo by the rice fields.  There were lots of hills/mountains covered with a variety of trees along the way, including bamboo and some time of pine.

On the way, we stopped at a gas station to use the restrooms.  Megan, Kora, and I were standing outside waiting when I saw a young Chinese couple hanging around talking to themselves.  Finally, they came up so the girl could get her picture taken with Megan.  This is the second time someone has taken Megan's picture.  Jason was mad because he hasn't gotten his picture taken by anyone, but he hasn't been around at the right time.

Once at the SWI, we were only allowed to see Kora's room and the only picture allowed to be taken in the room was of her crib.  There were about 22 other children in the room, most with special needs.  Two other children had families waiting to adopt them.  The directors and the nannies all wanted to hold Kora.  She didn't care who held her as long as that person was standing or walking with her.

 

 

Here is a picture of us with the director and assistant directors in front of the orphanage.

 

 

 

This is outside of Kora's room.

 

 

After we finished at the orphanage, we went to see the spot where Kora was found.  It was at one of the gates of a local park.

 

 

 

It was important for us to see the orphanage and finding spot, so that we can tell Kora about it when she's older in order to give her some history of her life.  We tried to take everything we saw and heard in, so we'd remember it later.  Seeing how she lived her first year of life also helped us better understand her behavior and developmental level.  After leaving, we were so glad that we didn't wait any extra time to bring her home.