March 6, 2019- Zhaotong Orphanage Visit

On Thursday we took a long day trip to visit Bin’s orphanage in Zhotong.  Zhaotong was about an hour from Kunming by airplane.  The agency told us that visiting the orphanage was optional, but there was never any doubt in our minds that we would.  This is the place that Bin had known as his only home since he was about two weeks old.  The people who had done such a tremendous job caring for him and raising him until he came to us were all here, and it was crucially important to us that we see this wonderful place, meet the exceptional people, and experience first hand where he came from.  We met our guide Tessie  in the hotel lobby at 7:30am and headed to the airport.  Our regular guide Susan was busy expediting Bin’s passport on this day so we had a different guide for this one day.  The flight was only about an hour.  Once there we divided into two taxis and drove to the orphanage.  Abigail and I rode together and we packaged gifts in the car on the way.  The taxi dropped us off on a big street close to the orphanage.  Before going in, we walked across the street to a noodle café for lunch and ate. 

The weather was chilly and rainy on this day.  After lunch we walked back across the street to the orphanage, where we were met by one of the nice ladies who had been with Bin on his Gotcha Day.  She led us past the security gate into the courtyard and pointed out the different buildings.  There were murals painted on some of the exterior walls.  The courtyard was landscaped very nicely with flower beds.  We were led into the main building where the dorm rooms where. 

Exterior photo

President, one of the directors, some of the staff

The first room we visited was where Bin stayed.  There were several child sized beds in the room and colorful scenes and characters painted on the walls. Bin showed us which bed had been his.  There were several nannies in the room along with some other people.  We were introduced to the president of the orphanage, a very business-like but friendly man, along with two of the directors; one male and one female.  We gave the president and the directors the gifts we had brought for them.  They told us about the room and showed us which bed Bin had slept in. 

Bin’s bed

Bin and Abba by his bed

Bin, Abba, and Nanny

In an amusing reversal, these nannies wanted to adopt Abigail! They kept caressing her face and taking selfies with her.  Abigail didn't mind at all 😅

We were very impressed with the cleanliness and cheerfulness of the rooms.  There were probably about eight other children in the room.  These children had varying degrees of special needs.  One of them appeared outwardly to have no special needs, while other children were lying in beds, unable to walk on their own or speak.  The staff took time to introduce of to the children in the room and tell us a little bit about each one.  The children who could communicate and interact looked at us with big smiles.  We had brought a giant bag of lollipops for the children.  Bin scooped up handfuls from the bag and went around to the other children delivering several to each child.  We fell in love with every child in the place.  Even a lot of the children who were unable to sit up and could only lie in bed looking up smiled when we would go over to them and talk to them.  From Bin’s room we moved on to see the other rooms.  We probably visited about 6 different dorm rooms in all.  Each room had children ranging in age from a few months to even young teenagers.  The older kids appeared to have the freedom to leave their own dorms and visit the others, as one of the children from Bin’s room did as he followed us around on the tour.  During a stop at one room, as soon as we walked in we were immediately met by a sweet faced smiling little bundle of joy who squeeled and ran up to me with his arms out, wanted to be picked up.  He was so adorable it was almost unreal.  He was probably about three years old and he probably had Down Syndrome.  He was the happiest little baby boy I had ever met in my life.  He spent the whole time alternating between me and Rhonda, wanting to be picked up and hugged and cuddled.  I hope with all my heart someone adopts him soon so they can enjoy his smile and snuggles.  Rhonda sat in a rocking chair bottle feeding a sweet little girl who was about nine months old.  She totally fell in love with her too.  It’s probably a good thing that the adoption process takes as long as it does, otherwise we probably would have left that place with about ten additional kids.  It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming to meet these children and spend time with them.  They were all so sweet and innocent, and it made us sad to think that many of them may never know the love of a permanent family.  On the bright side, it was very evident that the people who ran the orphanage and cared for these children did so out of love.  It was not merely a job for them but a calling.  Bin was in a great mood on this day because he was the center of attention and the star of the show.  He got to lead his new family around the place and show us the different rooms, friends, and nannies that he had known during his life.  He was proud of this place and with good reason.  After touring the dorm rooms we were led to a large room with couches where we sat for the rest of the day and had opportunities to chat with the nannies, ask questions about Bin and his life, and learn more about him.  They told us that he was very intelligent and that he loved to read and recite poetry.  They convinced him to recite some poetry from memory for us while we were there and we loved it.  They told us he loved to color and work on his school work.  While we were there they brought him several coloring books and workbooks to send with him when we left.  We spent the rest of the time playing and visiting. At the end of the day, the staff had dinner for us in the administration building.  We all gathered around a large round table where the cook began to bring out dish after amazing dish of mouthwatering food.  It was a true feast and it was delicious. 

Dinner photo

We had a great time eating and drinking wine with the staff.  After dinner we took a few last photos and headed back to the airport.  On the way to the car we managed to gather some small rocks and pebbles from some of the flower beds so that we could give them to Bin when he is older.  Credit goes to our friend Tyla who suggested this wonderful idea and asked if we could bring a few for her daughter as well.  Tylas and her husband Steve had adopted a sweet girl from the same orphanage several months before, and coincidentally live only about twenty minutes from us.  We are so grateful that Bin will have one of his lifelong playmates close by once we are back home halfway across the world again.

It was a long but wonderful day for all of us.  Rhonda, Bin, and Abigail fell asleep in the car on the way back to the airport. 

Pooped

We were also able to exchange chat contacts with the staff so that we could send them updates and photos in the future.   We are very grateful for the opportunity for a peak at Bin’s life before he came to us.

A three year old little Bin from a newspaper article about the orphanage a few years ago

The opportunity to visit Bin’s orphanage was a huge a privilege.  We have met several families that weren’t given the option to do this.  It often depends on the individual orphanage policy as well as geographic location, etc.  We will be forever grateful to Small World Adoption and the orphanage staff for this wonderful opportunity.