In August 2000, eight families traveled with CCAI to bring home their young
daughters from the Jiangxi province of the PRC. Three of those families adopted
babies from the Yongxiu SWI. We stayed in the provincial capital of Nanchang. We
received our daughters in the hallway of the Jin Feng hotel in Nanchang China on
August 20. Mr. Cai, the orphanage director, and a few nannies brought our babies
to our CCAI representative’s room. Then James called out each of our baby’s
Chinese names for us to come forward and receive our babies. The babies ranged
in age from 7 to 11 months. All of the babies from Yongxiu were healthy and very
attached to their nannies. Our daughter mourned for her nanny greatly. We all
received gifts from the orphanage: a handmade clay pot made by our daughter’s
nanny, a handful of soil from the orphanage grounds wrapped in a red silk cloth,
and the story of our daughters’ life written in Chinese on a red cotton cloth.
We all received our disposable cameras that we had previously sent, and some of
the other items that were sent to the orphanage. We did not get back the toys
that we had sent, though.
On the 23rd of August the three families that adopted from
Yongxiu, plus some of the others in our group, traveled ninety minutes north to
JiuJiang to finalize our adoptions. We
traveled by bus through very beautiful farming country with awesome mountains in
the background. Mr. Cai rode with us, and told us that if we had time, we would
drive by the orphanage. James informed him that our three families along with
other families from the Yongxiu email list had purchased a fax machine for the
orphanage as a gift and hoped to deliver it in person. Mr. Cai was very
thankful, and then said that we would stop by the orphanage for a short tour and
to drop off our gift but we couldn’t take any pictures. After the notary
appointment we headed for Yongxiu. By the time we got to the SWI Mr. Cai had
decided that we could take both still pictures and video.
Yongxiu is located in a very poor
part of Jiangxi along the banks of a river that feeds the Poyang Hu Lake. It was
very humid and hot. Fireworks were set off to welcome us and a lot of village
people came to see us also. The orphanage buildings were some of the newest
buildings in the village. There were a lot of grassy areas inside the orphanage
grounds. There was even a small play area in the courtyard. A lot of the local
children come to play there. We were told that Yongxiu was a fishing and farming
village. It was a very poor village with a lot of flood damage. Inside the
orphanage the staff had prepared us a snack of fresh fruits and bottled water.
We were showed each child’s room, which consisted of a baby sleeping area of 12
cribs, the nannies room, a small kitchen, a sitting area with TV and a private
bath with a washing machine. All of the rooms were clean and well kept. My
oldest daughter did notice the toys we sent Vickie were still in her room and
pointed them out. The nanny asked if we wanted them back and we told her no,
that the others needed them.
Before we left, the staff brought us
cold towels to make us more comfortable. Mr. Cai also took pictures with each
family and told us to bring our daughters back for a visit anytime and to please
keep in touch. As we left the orphanage we were sent off with more fireworks. It
was a wonderful experience and I think it helped Vickie with her mourning, as
she was much happier once we returned to our hotel.
You may see pictures of our visit here.