Today marks my final blog post from China.  Tomorrow morning after breakfast we will board a train bound for Hong Kong.  The team is scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong by 2 p.m. allowing a few hours for shopping in the markets before we head back to the USA.  We’ll stay the night at the YMCA again and board our plane at 11:45 a.m. Saturday (Hong Kong time).  The flight takes about 12 hours.  We have a 2 hour layover in San Francisco and land in Austin at 4:10 pm Saturday.

Last night’s dinner and meeting with the I.C.C. staff was amazing.  We were given a history of the Hengyang project.  Many improvements, renovations and upgrades have been made since I.C.C. took over in 2004.  Initially ALL the children from infants to teens were housed in one room!  It was survival of the fittest. Many children were closed off in the restrooms and left to die.  Only the loudest, strongest, meanest children who could fend for themselves were given food.  All of the boys and girls were together which created many disciplinary problems.  The mortality rate was 85%.  One of the first changes initiated by I.C.C. was to remove the babies and separate the boys and girls.  They also began to monitor feeding times ensuring all children were fed.  Gradually the therapy center, nurse’s station, girl’s group home flats and kindergarten program were added.  Within a few short months the mortality rate dropped to 20%.  There are numerous success stories. One orphaned teenager now works for I.C.C.  Many children have been adopted.  One little girl, the first wheel chair bound child ever, goes daily to the public school for classes.  She is a model student.  Children who started as emaciated, withdrawn, hopeless cases from the welfare centre are now well fed, smiling, social children who speak and feed themselves.  The international staff members come from Australia, Great Britain and Canada.  At the end of the meeting we were given the opportunity to lay hands on and pray over the permanent staff, what a blessing to be able to minister to those who have sacrificed so much to work with the forgotten children of China.

On our last day at the orphanage we were granted permission to take photos.  Lauren had her camera snapping beautiful shots of smiling orphans by themselves as well as with our team members.  We cannot publish the photos on any social networking sites, but we are permitted to share with family and friends.  Sadly, it looks like another baby from the Welfare Centre will pass soon.  The baby we call Him Him, obviously is not thriving.  He refuses formula and any water we can get him to swallow comes from a medicine dropper.  When I walked in this morning I knew right away he’d taken a turn for the worse.  He has had a fever the entire two weeks, but today it was much worse and his breathing was shallow.  I carried him down to the nurse on the I.C.C. side and she confirmed my worst fears, Him Him doesn’t have much longer.  All we can do for him now is love him.  I cried, prayed, sang, rocked and just cuddled him for as long as I could this morning.  Soon he will be with Jesus where his body will no longer be crippled or ravaged by disease, but letting go is very difficult.  We made sure to snap photos of him so that he will not be forgotten.

The orphanage was chaotic today.  A group of Chinese university students stopped by for a morning visit.  This is a very good thing as it raises awareness in the community.  Unfortunately though they bring hard candy to distribute amongst the children.  Most of our kiddos cannot eat hard candy so there were a few behavioral issues.  Some of the River Stone team members raised more funds than were required for the trip.  As a team, we are donating the excess to I.C.C. We have approximately $2000 which will be used to purchase therapeutic equipment. From what we have learned that amount almost equals their annual therapy budget. Isn’t God amazing!?!  We also have purchased gifts to leave with the carers who are with the children daily.  In the Welfare Centre giving is a bit more difficult, but we have left some funds with an I.C.C. staff member who spends most of her time there.  She intends to purchase durable toys and nutritious snacks for the children.  It is hard for us to leave these children as we have all become rather attached.  I had prepared myself for the pain and heartache of broken, abandoned children, but I never expected to fall in love and grow so attached.

We are bringing home information so that we can advocate for adoptions from the orphanage.  We also learned that there is a child sponsorship program.  Many of the children have individual sponsors and all of those funds go directly to care of that particular child.  Sponsors receive regular updates/photos of their child.  Though our time in China is coming to an end, we know that China will forever remain in our hearts.

The massage yesterday was, well interesting.  The stories about little Chinese girls walking on your back, they are absolutely true.  The massage lasted 70 minutes and there weren’t many body parts left untouched.  There were two of us per room and having the Chinese girls talking to each other, probably about us, during the massage was a little unnerving.  The girls were fascinated with our mascara and with the fact that the skin on the underside of my arm is the same color as their skin.  Some of the team members opted to have their hair washed and blow dried.  The finished product on Billy was hysterical.  We have photos.  He graciously did not put on a hat until all of us were able to see his coiffed locks.

There is a Chinese supermarket located right next to the hotel.  Never have I been inside a two story grocery store.  The top floor houses all of the food while house ware type items are downstairs.  Sunday the team went in together to purchase snacks for our trip to the mountain. We were assaulted by a Chinese store staff who insisted we turn our backpacks over to him. I guess he was afraid we’d steal.  None of us were comfortable with that so one of the team members followed him downstairs to baby sit the bags.  The market is packed on Sunday mornings, apparently that is Chinese grocery shopping day.  The bakery items are everyone’s favorite. Nate bought potato chips with an angel on the bag called, “Lonely God.”  We thought that a strange name for potato chips.  One display houses live eels and baby turtles, we bypassed those without stopping.  All the cashiers are dressed like little flight attendants, red polyester vests, blue/white stripped scarves around their necks and matching hair clips fastened in their hair.

Random things are marked with English translations, but it is not the kind of English that we speak.  One sign at the Sacred Mountain read, “Warm Prompt.” We’ve no idea what they were trying to tell us. There were warning signs that said, “Caution Slip”.  So, they want you to slip with caution???  Interestingly enough the police stations are marked in English.  I suppose they are warning foreigners to beware.  Until yesterday it had not occurred to me, but the keyboard in the internet cafe is in English.  How does that work?  I for one am glad about that.

Today at the orphanage Nate and Lacey came around to our groups with the guitar and we got to sing with our kiddos.  One of our little down’s syndrome girls really enjoyed that, she clapped right along.  Nate only knows about six songs but ”Jesus Loves Me” and “Old MacDonald” worked really well.  One of the older boys from another area joined in our circle and sang along with the babies.  While I was putting a nappie (diaper for you Americans) on Zhen Zhen this morning one of the carers came up and started clipping his finger nails, with SCISSORS!  Wow.  I tried not to watch.

Tonight we are dining with all of the I.C.C. administrative staff and afterwards the original staff who started the work in Hengyang are going to share some of the program’s history and show us before and after pictures.  We are all pretty excited about that. Personally, I think maybe I’d like to make this trek annually.

Hooray, after seven days, they finally changed the sheets and our hotel rooms.  We were beginning to wonder if that was ever going to happen.  The bathrooms get wiped down daily, dirty towels replaced and oddly enough the furniture dusted, but there is no replacing of drinking glasses or vacuuming of floors.  We are all grateful though for hot running water while flows from the water heater mounted inside the shower. Last night at dinner we had ribs. They were gone the moment the plate hit the table.  Most of our meat comes in the form of chicken, beef or pork included in a vegetable dish. Those dishes are all pretty tasty, but we were glad to be able to actually bite into a piece of meat.

Tomorrow is our last day at the project and though all of us are pretty worn out, we’ll be sad to go.  Our prayers today was that we’d finish whatever job the Lord has for us here and then take all that we’ve learned here about ministering to “the least of these” and continue the work at home.

Currently I am sandwiched between two Chinese men who are smoking so I’ll sign out while I still have full lung capacity.

The daily routine was changed up a bit today as we were able to take some of the children out to a local park.  What an experience!  The River Stone team, two staff members, about eight “carers”, twenty-six children, ten strollers and one wheel chair boarded a bus intended for twenty people with no luggage.  The bus bottomed out a couple of times during the trip.  Upon arrival at the park we disembarked, loaded up the strollers and walked with the kids to a nice area.  Under the trees the children were fed bananas, cookies and milk.  My little boy, Sun Sun, consumed all his treats and wanted more.  We snuck him extra milk.  Another boy, Ken Ken, who is probably six, had trouble drinking from a straw.  Sucking from a straw is a skill he should’ve developed years ago.  Cindy patiently helped him drink from the hole where the straw should have gone.  He managed to consume two whole bottles of much needed nourishment that way. After snack time we loaded the kiddos on the kiddie train for a short little ride.  Some of them were a little frightened by the train but quietly took it all in.  The trip home was nuts.  The bus arrived already loaded with carers and babies returning from hospital visits. There was no way everyone was going to fit.  We packed as many people in as possible and a kind lady driving an Audi offered to chauffeur everyone else back, so seven people squeezed into her car for the return trip.  I wonder if there is a Chinese word for “plan better.”

Most of us were pretty worn out by the park expedition so our team leader offered to give us the afternoon off which we all graciously accepted.  Later on this afternoon she is going to show us where we can get massages, facials, or have our hair washed.  The massage costs about $6 US and lasts an hour.  Count me in!

Four children from I.C.C. were adopted yesterday, cause for much celebration.  The four vacancies were filled by the neediest children from the Welfare Centre.  The four children who left the Welfare Centre were housed in the baby area, so four of the youngest children from the area I worked in were moved.  Sadly my baby, Dow Dow, was moved. She is next door to my area so I can stop for a brief cuddle on my way in or out, but can’t spend as much time with her now.  The move is good for her though as there are no big kiddos to step on her, so she’ll get more floor/tummy time.  I honestly did not expect to have a child wrap herself around my heart the way Dow Dow has. The love I feel for her is equivalent to the love I feel for my own children. I pray she finds a good Christian family to adopt her and maybe someday our paths will cross again.

On a very sad note, yesterday right as we were leaving, we discovered the tiniest baby I’ve ever seen, lying in a box in one of the cribs. The baby had just arrived from the hospital.  There was no hope of survival.  The Chinese fear death and thus delivered the child to the Welfare Centre to live out its last moments.  The baby did not make it through the night.  Having experienced the loss of a child, I was profoundly affected not only by the plight of this child but by thoughts of his grieving mother. I do find comfort though knowing that this baby, who probably did not even have a name, is now safe in the arms of my Savior.

A four story building sits just inside the gates to the International China Concern compound.  Housed inside are the throwaways of Chinese society.  Residents of the facility range in age from newborn to adult.  It is a “care for life” facility.  Sometimes children are adopted from there, but it is rare.  Others, those with the most debilitating diseases, are transferred to I.C.C., as slots become available.  Life in the government operated Welfare Centre is a sad state of affairs.  The facility lacks central air, so the windows are always open, creating a fly breeding ground.  Sticky fly papers (traps) sit atop the babies cribs.  Those children who are unable to move much become fly landing zones.  The children rarely are taken outdoors.  The River Stone teams take the kids out in 30 minute shifts hoping to get everyone outside, even the non-walkers, at least once a day.  When teams aren’t there though, there is no outside time.

Everyone is fed three times a day.  The children who are able to feed themselves occasionally receive snacks from the carers, but the others go without.  Our team breakfasts include hard boiled eggs which we save to feed the children at the Welfare Centre, hoping to add some additional nutrition to their diets.  The children receive no milk or juice and rarely water.  Babies are fed a formula/cereal mix from bottles three times daily.  Holding while feeding is a rare occurrence as most babies receive their bottles propped in their cribs. Bottle time is one of my favorites as I get to cuddle with baby Dow Dow.  The big kids are fed in groups, three or four children, one bowl, one spoon.  Though several of them children are able to feed themselves, they are messy, so the carers prefer to do the feeding themselves.

The Centre has no toys, no sort of stimulation for the children.  Some children are placed on mats to “play” but there is nothing for them to do.  One of the I.C.C. administrators spends her mornings in the Welfare Centre and has a bag of toys that she brings in and out with her.  Sadly, when toys are left they tend to disappear.  There are two particularly rough children in the center who have managed to destroy half of the toys brought in just since we arrived.  The carers feed and clothe the children, but rarely do they play with them.  Our team spends time singing, clapping and interacting hoping to provide stimulation, even if only for a short time.

Hygiene is a big issue.  The children wear the same clothes for days on end.  We were pleasantly surprised to see most of the children wearing fresh clothes today. I guess Sunday is “clean the clothes” day.  Baths, hah!  There is no such thing. The centre is equipped only with a shower which makes cleaning the children rather difficult.  Even the big kids who can stand on their own are rarely washed.  What I could do with a big wash basin and a bottle of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo!  There’s no hand/face cleaning after meals.  We bring wipes in with us and try to wipe down the messiest of kiddos.

Troublesome children are tied to potty chairs.  One little boy, Zhen Zhen, was spending his entire day strapped to a potty chair in the restroom until we came along.  I got him out, dressed him and put him in the general population.  According to our team lead he was very busy until they started tying him to the potty, now he hunches over with his fingers in his mouth barely walking.  We make sure Zhen Zhen gets outside daily.  Babies spend most of their lives lying on their backs in the cribs.  Several of the babies refuse to eat and the carers seem to overlook them.  One baby, who would take water from a bottle when we first tried, now refuses. Today one team member with the help of the nurse managed to feed him water with a dropper.  He needs that kind of attention on a daily basis, but sadly it is not available.  I cannot think about what will happen to the children who constantly refuse formula or water.

Today’s report is probably tough to read, but it is the reality that the River Stone team members working in the Welfare Centre face on a daily basis and I felt it important to share.  Please continue to pray, not only for the team, but for the children housed in this centre, that they would survive to find homes or be transferred to the I.C.C. side where they can receive the type of love and care they need to thrive.

After a full work day Saturday the team furiously rushed back to the rooms to clean up for our evening on the town.  We caught a bus into the center of Hengyang (we are actually staying on the outskirts).  There we split into groups; some of us hit up the local KFC and others a “western” style pizza parlor.  I was among the KFC group.  The young girl who took my order asked, in English where we were from and when I told her America, she said, “Welcome to China.”  The menu items were a bit strange and the food didn’t taste exactly like home, but it was close enough to calm our cravings. It was cheap too.  A bucket of chicken, soda, corn and biscuits was $9 American.  I ordered nuggets and Pepsi for about $2.50.  It was a little odd to see the locals eating their chicken wearing plastic gloves.  Of course we attracted much attention. One group of Chinese teens who spoke English asked where we were from, what we were doing in Hengyang and if they could have our MSN identifications or email addresses.  After dinner we headed to McDonalds for ice cream.  There we were assaulted by very persistent beggars, they would not go away.  Fortunately we outlasted them.  The ice cream tasted just like home, but mine had purple swirls which was very cool since purple is my favorite color.  After dinner we roamed the city streets checking out the local shops.  We searched for a karaoke bar but they are quite different here, you pay for individual rooms. We didn’t see the fun in that; we wanted to absorb the culture.  After buying new luggage for a team member whose wheel fell off, we managed to catch the right bus back to our hotel.  We did all of this without the assistance of our guide.  Arriving back at our hotel we stumbled upon a street dance and joined in the merriment, it was fun!   A local fellow even asked one of our team members to dance, she accepted. They “cut a rug” rather well.

Fireworks here are easy to buy with no restrictions regarding setting them off.  Two team members have birthdays during our time in China so we bought a strand and celebrated by lighting them in the street.  No appendages were lost during the process.

Today we chartered a bus and drove to the sacred mountain,  Nanyue Hengshan.  Had we chosen to hike up the mountain, it would’ve been a three hour trip.  Being a bit overzealous, I wanted to hike the whole way.  Fortunately my team mates vetoed that idea.  Instead we took a bus half way, a trolley car and then climbed lots of stairs to the top. There were two temples.  It was odd to see people making the pilgrimage to worship there.  One of the shrines was very oppressive; the “worship” bothered many of the team members myself included.  The scenery was breathtaking; we snapped lots of amazing photos.  Shopping at the stands was fun since the shop keepers are willing to barter.   Since none of us speak Chinese we used pen and paper to write down numbers.  Everyone bought at least one item to bring home.  Dinner was at a local restaurant, there were at least ten dishes, serving 18 people at a cost of about $55 American total, very cheap.  The locals loved seeing Americans.  We were stopped numerous times throughout the day to have our pictures taken by Chinese young adults.  Not only did they want pictures of us, but photos with us.  We thought all the attention was hysterically funny.

We had a really great time absorbing the local culture.  And by the way, my laundry from yesterday? Still not dry.

Entering China by train there is much green country side with few people, the city of Hengyang is a completely different story.  There are people everywhere, all the time!  I sometimes wonder if anyone works.  There are always lines at the local supermarket and no such thing as self check out or express lines.

Our hotel is study in contrasts.  The modern glass doors, marble stairs and brass handrails create the illusion of elegance.  The rooms however are anything but elegant.  The room doors open with a dog tag style “key” that slides into a slot.  The electricity can only be operated by a credit card type key inserted into the wall.  The rooms are designed for double occupancy, but only one key is issued so roommates better plan well.  The hot water heater is mounted to the wall inside the shower and there is no tub, or even wall to catch water thus, the bathroom floor is soaking wet most of the time.  The toilet is western style but cannot accommodate toilet paper so that must be discarded in a trash can.  The beds look inviting with their plush down comforter and soft pillows, but the “mattress” is only slightly firmer than a table top.

The fifteen of us cause quite a stir walking around town.  Lauren, who is 5″11″ really gets stares as the average Chinese person is only about 5″ tall.  Yesterday as I walked back to my hotel from the internet cafe a group of little girls, about 8 or 9 years old saw me and started giggling, chasing after me and saying, “hello” “hello”.  It was cute.  Our brightly colored t-shirts and Bermuda shorts stand out amongst darkly clad Chinese wearing pants.  Matching quilted pajama sets worn with high heels are quite the rage now.  Many of us are curious as to whether or not that fad will make its way to the states.

Rain.  It rains here almost daily.  We all pray for the sunshine to come out because we enjoy taking our kids outside.  The happy expressions and smiles we receive in return are such a reward.  Speaking of kids, toddler age children don’t wear “nappies” or diapers.  Instead they are clothed in “split pants” with bare bottoms for ease in squatting wherever is convenient.  Interesting concept.  Today, the children in the Welfare Centre were wild.  I don’t know if it was due to the rain, or the fact that it is Saturday and the routine is different, but several of us got peed on and also cleaned up about four or five puddles off of the floor.  We all just smile, do what it whatever needs to be done and scrub down afterwards.

The hotel staff has kindly permitted us to use their washing machine.  There are directions posted in English, but they serve little purpose as the washer buttons are all in Chinese.  The translation of the directions is hysterical.  Apparently this particular machine “moos” after the cycle is complete as opposed to buzzes???  I for one have NEVER heard a washing machine moo. I suppose there is a first time for everything.  There are no clothes dryers but instead a “drying room” which is strewn with rope.  With the wet climate my blue jeans are sure to take several days to dry completely.

On a random note, one of my babies, Dow Dow who is about six months old cannot hold her head up well.  This morning I awoke with her on my heart.  The Lord reminded me that babies need tummy time and these babies are always on their back.  After a morning of tummy time precious Dow Dow had her little head just a movin’.  That made my heart so happy.

Tonight our team leader is taking us further into the city for some “western” food. There is a McDonalds, KFC and pizza buffet.  We are quite excited.  The Chinese food is very good but some of the team members (Lacey) really miss American food. Tomorrow the team has a day off from the orphanage.  The plan is to travel by bus to a sacred mountain about 1.5 hours from here.  After that we hope to do some shopping in the local market.

Until tomorrow. . .

There is so much I could talk about.  I thought today I’d provide a breakdown of what a typical day looks like for the River Stone China Team:

7:30 a.m. Devotions in our team leaders room (Nikki from International China Concern) Devotions are led by a different team member each morning.  Everyone signed up on our first day.  I was sitting in the back of the bus, so by the time the sheet got to me it was full, darn. 

8:00 a.m. Breakfast at the same local Chinese cantina.  All meals are served family style and include at least five to seven different dishes.  It’s pretty exciting to see what delicacies arrive.  The food is carried in one bowl at a time, so we never know if there will be more, or that’s all.  Breakfast staples include a rice porridge served with either sugar or salt and pickled veggies, hard boiled eggs and hot tea.  The other dishes vary from day to day.  This morning we had dumplings with a side dipping sauce that tasted like soy sauce, along with a noodle type soup.  This morning a real treat arrived in the form of an icing less cupcake.  We all ate two of those, a tasty sweet treat.

8:30 a.m. On the bus headed for the orphanage.  The trip takes about 25 minutes.

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Disembark, pray together and head to our assigned areas.  The orphans range from infants to teenagers.  There are two to four team members assigned to each area.  I am part of the team working at the Welfare Center.  This area is not operated by International China Concern and thus is quite different from the other areas.  Some of the children in care there are very sick.  Sadly, a new baby arrived Tuesday and today is no longer with us. We knew how sick she was and that she probably wouldn’t make it, but the reality of that empty crib this morning was heart wrenching.  All the children have fun names like Ling Ling, Chow Chow, Dow Dow which we Americans find rather amusing.

12:30 p.m. Lunch at the same Cantina.  The dishes are difficult to describe.  Most of them are a mixture of meat and veggies, all very tasty.  Since there are so many different dishes, even if you don’t like one, chances of leaving hungry are very slim.

2:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Back at the orphanage. Afternoons are a little easier because we get to take the children outside, provided it isn’t raining.  It’s amazing to see some of the more disabled ones smile and laugh in the fresh air.  In our area, one boy in particular will lift his arms and point outside each time we arrive.  Communication with the “carers” is usually a game of gestures since we neither speak Chinese nor do they speak English.

6:00 p.m. Dinner at a different restaurant.  Last night’s dinner included a spicy but cold chicken dish complete with the chicken’s head displayed on the plate.  Pictures will soon be in circulation of the one team member who attempted to eat the chicken head. That soul shall remain nameless for now.

8:00 p.m. Worship/team meeting.

9:30 p.m. Bedtime, seriously, most of us are so exhausted that we shower and turn in before 10:00 p.m.