"Another Day In Paradise"

Remember the Phil Collins song "Another Day In Paradise"? "Oh, think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise" were the words of the chorus. That's the song that was playing on the radio as we drove away from Amanda's orphanage today and keeps running through my head as I reflect on this day. We thought long and hard before deciding to bring Amanda with us to her orphanage, but we think it ended up being a very good decision and experience for all of us. It was important for both of us to see firsthand where she spent the first few years of her life. Dongguan City Children's Welfare Institute is one of the best orphanages in China according to our guide (who has over 13 years of experience with orphanages all over the country). Here's the front of the building -

We first visited the "Sunshine Academy" Preschool, which was brand new and beautiful. It's only two months old, and that's how long Amanda had been there. The classroom was bright, clean and colorful with lots of toys and books. The teachers and kids were all excited to see Amanda when we walked through the door - and the kids especially loved it when she began to hand out candy! The director of the school was telling us how "verbal" she is and how she's always friendly and loves to be around people (yup, we've seen that!) Another director at the orphanage said she's happy and loves to be loud, thrown up in the air, and has a "very higher voice" (yup, we've seen that too!) However, Amanda was very quiet for the most part while we were in the preschool, but still interacted with her teachers and friends. She didn't act upset or scared, just more quiet than usual.

We got to see where she slept - on the lower bunk next to a window, in a room with 6 sets of bunk beds, all donated by a local construction company. It was bright and clean and looked like a really great place (relatively speaking) to be. We also saw their bathroom - complete with both western-style kiddie toilets (on the right) and Chinese squatty-potties (on the left):

We then headed over to a different building to meet and take pictures of a little two-year-old boy whose parents are part of a Yahoo group I subscribe to for that orphanage (they should be getting him in a little over a month!). It was an older building and felt far different. It was darker and far less stimulating than the preschool area. There were no toys in the room, and a TV on the wall was blaring when we walked in. The kids looked much more frightened and stoic than in the preschool area. After I got some pictures and video of the little boy, our tour was over. Amanda also had a much harder time there. She didn't readily go to the people working in that room - and when she did the one time, she started crying. Jason quickly snatched her back and was able to immediately calm her down. The biggest positive from the entire orphanage experience was that she clung to us and sought us for reassurance. We left shortly after that. As I walked out of that room, it hit me that a room like that was where Amanda likely spent the other two and a half years of her life. It was heartbreaking and about all I could do not to break down and cry. Gratefully as soon as we were out of the room, Amanda was back to her sweet, smiling, giggling self - even giving BahBah unsolicited kisses! As we walked out of the orphanage gate, we took video of the surrounding area, as somewhere in that vicinity was her "finding place." Even though Amanda had no idea of the significance, it really meant a lot to me to see where she'd been left - right outside the gate of one of the best orphanages in China. I imagine her mother knew she'd be well taken care of there and decided it was worth the risk of being caught, which speaks volumes for the love she must have had for her daughter. God gave us a great charge when He placed her with us - what an incredible gift!

Here's a picture of us outside the gate - as you can see, she was all smiles again. ;)

As I'd mentioned before, as we drove away from the orphanage, "Another Day In Paradise" was playing. It's a song about how we go through our days enjoying our comforts and conveniences, while ignoring  the poverty that surrounds us. It brought tears to my eyes as I thought about how only 80 of the 800 kids in this orphanage get adopted each year. And how grateful and blessed we feel that we're able to adopt even one.

After an emotional, yet overall positive day for all of us, we got back in the car for our hour-long drive back to the hotel. And the best part of the whole day (maybe the whole week?) was Amanda falling asleep on me. Heaven. ;)