Meeting Children at Xiamen Orphanage

2What an amazing day!  We are so blessed to have a one to one partnership with Xiamen.  The director and entire staff care deeply for the children.  Our team got an early start and we were able to see 73 children.  We were able to play with the children, learn a little about their personality and just have the opportunity to love them.  We were able to spend time with children who are about to meet their families as well as those who AGCI will have the opportunity to find families for. We were able to meet infants as well as older children. 

Highlights of the day were of course the children. We had the privilege of being entertained by a well-choreographed dance from one boy. Another little boy was very cooperative for the first few photos then told us about 5 times, how it was time for lunch and must have been a little hungry. We were also entertained by 3 foster brothers who were clearly comfortable with each other, to vie with one another to be on camera. 

Our day began with holding infants in the special care unit – what could be a better beginning! Then we moved to the children’s activity room and met with toddlers. They are a busy group. Just after the children’s lunch time, we also geared up for a break. Our phenomenal crew of Jessica and Jordan needed to rush to empty their memory cards and re-charge batteries. 

We were then treated to a lunch with the Directors of Xiamen, as well as with Hollen and Gongzhan who caught up with us. It was especially fun to hear the health benefits of everything we ate.

We had a short break before returning to meet more children.  We definitely have some kids who ate up the camera and are stars or models in the making. Other children were of course less interested in the camera and more interested in the lollipop. 

3We ended our day on the top floor garden area, which is an outside play area. A definite highlight of our day came from “Joy”. As she raced up to greet us, she had a huge smile on her face. When asked if she would like to say anything to her family, her smile grew even bigger and she immediately responded, “I love you!”  She quietly asked our photographer, Jessica, if she would make sure her family saw all of her photos.

Today we’re driving out to Longyan where we will meet children who are currently cared for in foster homes. 

Since we were delayed at the beginning of our trip, the Director is allowing us to extend our stay one day and return to Xiamen on Friday.