Day 10: Visit Orphanage
It was a hard day going to Sawyer's orphanage. It was hard for him too. Michelle had the good idea to have me put him the baby carrier so he'd stay close to me and could not be picked up by the nannies. That was the right thing to do. Sawyer's orphanage is about 45 minutes from our hotel in Zhengzhou. It has about 700 children. Sawyer was all smiles on the bus.
Sawyer was still OK as we walked to the building.
The orphanage has a special needs unit named after the woman who runs our adoption agency in Denver (Lily). This is where Sawyer was at for the first ~2 years of his life except for a 3-4 months stint in foster care.
When we arrived in Sawyer's room, he totally shut down. After ~20 minutes there we had to leave because he was crying and shaking. His nannies were excited to see him and told me what a good boy he was. He would not crack a smile and often turned his head away from them. It must have been very hard for them.
The facility was decent and the nannies were very nice. I just think he knew he did not want to go back. After a while of him shunning them, they started bringing him food. After a while of this, he started crying. After we got outside the building he livened up again almost immediately.
Sawyer's photo and name (Jian An) were on the wall near his crib.
This is Sawyer's crib. The crib just beyond it belongs to a girl (Eden) in our travel group. Watching Sawyer and Eden interact these past few days, we have been thinking that they must know each other. They do.
As soon as we got back outside, Sawyer opened up again and was all smiles.
The orphanage saved a few pieces clothes that Sawyer was wearing when he was abandoned. The bag contained a bib and hat. I was allowed to take one piece. I took the hat.
When we left the orphange a nearby school was getting out for lunch. Most people drive scooters -- sometimes 4 people per scooter.
Sawyer got his Chinese passport today. The next part of our trip focuses on getting his US Visa.
Here are a bunch of other special needs children in Sawyer's room waiting to be adopted...
Bedroom for older kids.
