a Chinese Orphan.
I have wanted to, yet dreaded typing this post.
It is utterly heartbreaking gut wrenching for me to think about how the orphans in China are treated.
I am not slamming or condemning how the Chinese people do things. I have a great respect for them and their culture... it is different from what we know. That is all I can say, different.
The information I am going to share is what our social worker shared with us. Not every orphanage in China operates this way, but it is common practice among many. From what I read in Silent Tears by Kay Bratt the orphanages "put on a show" if they know any media is going to be doing any coverage. I will share more from her book in the next post.
The orphans are in rooms that have no heat or air. They bundle clothes in the winter and shed in the summer to help with the conditions. The rooms are lined with metal cribs. The cribs do not have mattresses. Instead they have plywood bottoms that the babies sleep on. There are mostly two babies per crib. There are a couple of nannies per room. There are simply too many babies for the nannies to tend and give attention to.
Their day starts off with morning bottles. The nipples on the bottles are cut a lot larger than a normal bottle nipple. The nannies go around and hang the bottles on the side of the bed (like you might picture a rabbit's water bottle to be hanging on the cage). The babies lay in their beds and try to lap up as much milk as they can as it pours out of the nipple. Many are not able to even get half of the bottle in their bellies before the milk runs out or the nannies come back around and take the bottles down.
After feeding, it is potty time. The babies do not wear diapers. Instead they wear split pants. These are exactly what they sound like. They are pants that are split in the middle (like chaps). The babies are strapped to a potty chair (with their split pants on) with bungee cord type things. They are left here for about an hour while the nannies wait for all of the babies to use the restroom. Our social worker said that some babies have scars on their legs from these tight straps. The purpose of the plywood bottomed cribs is for the babies who use the restroom in their bed. The nannies can just spray it out and not have to wash any bedding.
They repeat the same bottle attached to the bed routine for each meal. The starving babies just hoping to get as much as they can at each meal. You can imagine that the young ones have an even harder time lapping up the milk since their coordination is not developed yet.
For naps the babies are strapped to the bed for three hours. The nannies strap them all down so that they will all lay and "take a nap" at the same time.
Our social worker said it is not uncommon for the nannies to slap the babies if they try to explore by touching the nanny's face. These babies so desperately need and want positive human touch and stimulation and they get slapped and punished when they seek it.
For bath time the babies are dunked in a large tub of cold water. There is no warning, no easing them into it. They get dunked straight into the freezing cold water.
This is the routine that they live through day after day after day, which turn into month after month after month... until a family comes to get them and take them home to their forever family.
Our social worker told us that when we go to China and our daughter is placed in our arms, she will officially be a SURVIVOR!! Many do not survive these harsh conditions. They loose many babies and children to hunger, sickness, and lack of stimulation. At the point she is placed in our arms, she will have faced things we cannot even begin to imagine. Brynn Olivia will be a SURVIVOR.
Will our daughter have "issues" we will have to face as a result of her life in the orphanage? Absolutely. Will it be worth it for us to put aside our own comfort in order to show her what earthly love, family, and God's love look and feel like? Absolutley!
There is a story often told of a particularly rough storm that came up one night and left a sandy beach strewn with starfish. The next morning a child walked along the shore, stopping every few feet to pick up a starfish and fling it back to sea. An old man watched the child and finally shouted at him, "Why bother, son? There are too many starfish to make a difference!"
With that, the boy picked up another starfish and looked at it intently before heaving it out to sea. Then turning to the old man, he said, "It makes a difference to that one."
A Treasury of Adoption Miracles ~ Karen Kingsbury
I am not slamming or condemning how the Chinese people do things. I have a great respect for them and their culture... it is different from what we know. That is all I can say, different.
The information I am going to share is what our social worker shared with us. Not every orphanage in China operates this way, but it is common practice among many. From what I read in Silent Tears by Kay Bratt the orphanages "put on a show" if they know any media is going to be doing any coverage. I will share more from her book in the next post.
The orphans are in rooms that have no heat or air. They bundle clothes in the winter and shed in the summer to help with the conditions. The rooms are lined with metal cribs. The cribs do not have mattresses. Instead they have plywood bottoms that the babies sleep on. There are mostly two babies per crib. There are a couple of nannies per room. There are simply too many babies for the nannies to tend and give attention to.
Their day starts off with morning bottles. The nipples on the bottles are cut a lot larger than a normal bottle nipple. The nannies go around and hang the bottles on the side of the bed (like you might picture a rabbit's water bottle to be hanging on the cage). The babies lay in their beds and try to lap up as much milk as they can as it pours out of the nipple. Many are not able to even get half of the bottle in their bellies before the milk runs out or the nannies come back around and take the bottles down.
After feeding, it is potty time. The babies do not wear diapers. Instead they wear split pants. These are exactly what they sound like. They are pants that are split in the middle (like chaps). The babies are strapped to a potty chair (with their split pants on) with bungee cord type things. They are left here for about an hour while the nannies wait for all of the babies to use the restroom. Our social worker said that some babies have scars on their legs from these tight straps. The purpose of the plywood bottomed cribs is for the babies who use the restroom in their bed. The nannies can just spray it out and not have to wash any bedding.
They repeat the same bottle attached to the bed routine for each meal. The starving babies just hoping to get as much as they can at each meal. You can imagine that the young ones have an even harder time lapping up the milk since their coordination is not developed yet.
For naps the babies are strapped to the bed for three hours. The nannies strap them all down so that they will all lay and "take a nap" at the same time.
Our social worker said it is not uncommon for the nannies to slap the babies if they try to explore by touching the nanny's face. These babies so desperately need and want positive human touch and stimulation and they get slapped and punished when they seek it.
For bath time the babies are dunked in a large tub of cold water. There is no warning, no easing them into it. They get dunked straight into the freezing cold water.
This is the routine that they live through day after day after day, which turn into month after month after month... until a family comes to get them and take them home to their forever family.
Our social worker told us that when we go to China and our daughter is placed in our arms, she will officially be a SURVIVOR!! Many do not survive these harsh conditions. They loose many babies and children to hunger, sickness, and lack of stimulation. At the point she is placed in our arms, she will have faced things we cannot even begin to imagine. Brynn Olivia will be a SURVIVOR.
Will our daughter have "issues" we will have to face as a result of her life in the orphanage? Absolutely. Will it be worth it for us to put aside our own comfort in order to show her what earthly love, family, and God's love look and feel like? Absolutley!
There is a story often told of a particularly rough storm that came up one night and left a sandy beach strewn with starfish. The next morning a child walked along the shore, stopping every few feet to pick up a starfish and fling it back to sea. An old man watched the child and finally shouted at him, "Why bother, son? There are too many starfish to make a difference!"
With that, the boy picked up another starfish and looked at it intently before heaving it out to sea. Then turning to the old man, he said, "It makes a difference to that one."
A Treasury of Adoption Miracles ~ Karen Kingsbury
6 comments:
What heart wrenching sadness to think of these precious babies living like this. Oh how I wish that the adoption process was faster and easier for you all so that you could keep your sweet baby girl from living like this! We will be praying that God will surround her and keep her safe when she is born and as she begins this life.
I was thinking of sweet Brynn today in church. I am not sure why but she was on my mind. (Along with Jenny's daughter, Malaya.) I just thought about the joy she will soon have sitting with you, her forever mommy, feeling safe and secure someday soon. Praying that until that day comes...
Still praying for you AND your sweet Brynn....
Praying for Brynn....that God will protect her sweet heart and that the second she feels your arms around her, she will know she...is home.
don't know what to say....with tear filled eyes.....speechless....
WOW, I am reading your blog tonight with so many mixed emotions, and my heart is truly burdened for these babies and how they are treated. Praying for you guys, and thank you for being so willing to share your God-trusting journey with everyone. God Bless!
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