A Clear Sign

The Social Welfare Institute of Poyang (formerly Boyang) County is where our precious baby has been cared for since birth. All the babies who are placed there are given the surname "Bo", in our baby's case, "Bo Zheng" (In China the surname comes first and the given name second). We will most likley not get to visit the orphanage itself when we go to get our own little "Bo Beauty", but some families have.

We have found a Yahoo! group with families who have adopted babies specifically from SWI Poyang County. It has been great to connect with some of these families and read about their experiences. Some families who have gone to the orphanage have shared pictures with the group that you will see below. One group was at the orphanage as recent as June, and we have seen one photo that may possibly have Bo Zheng in the picture! We have been asked not to post pictures of babies whose faces are recognizable, but we're glad to have copies of these photos.

The orphanage building is fairly new and seems to be run by very caring people. There is no heat in the orphanage except for small space heaters, so the babies are very well-bundled during the cold months. Although Poyang is one of the poorer areas of Jiangxi and Jiangxi is one of the poorest provinces in China, we have not heard any reports of children that are malnourished that come from this orphanage. In fact, Hero formula is manufactured in the Jiangxi province and the Poyang orphanage evidently has a good supply.

Through the Yahoo! Group we were able to acquire the orphanage's address and send Sinclair Bo-Zheng a care package. We sent her a photo album with headshots of all us in hopes that this will help her recognize us when we meet. We also sent her a very soft pink teddy bear that has a ladybug on it. The teddy bear slept with Anita for a few days before we sent it out since baby's are so in tune with scents and smells--anything to help familiarize her with us! And lastly we sent a disposable camera for the orphanage workers to photograph Sinclair with her caregivers and friends for us to have a memoir of her first home. All of these were sent with a note in both English and Chinese (thanks again to the Poyang families Yahoo! Group) which indicated what we hoped that the workers there would do with these items. Many families have said that their baby's caregivers did take photos and brought their baby's gifts back with them when they were united with their forever families.

Here are the pictures we can share:

Labels: China orphanages, Poyang County