A Day of "Firsts"

We took the children from the CP Residential Unit and 4 of the older children from the Special Care Unit, for their first ever visit to a shopping centre and …….. McDonalds!!

The children knew there was something special planned, but they didn’t know what until after lunch on Friday, as the excitement would have just been too much.

We hired a local bus, which is the only way to transport all the children and their wheelchairs. As you can see from the photo, it’s kind of crowded on the bus, but we all managed to squash in!

As we arrived, the excitement was at fever pitch. Each of the children had Rmb10 to spend which the SWI had given them. It was the first time for all of them to be in a shopping centre, the first time for them to buy something of their own choosing, and the first time to eat McDonalds.

Purchases were made, the moving walkways were well ridden, and Big Mac and Happy Meals were devoured. The kids had a wonderful time and were ready to get back on the bus and head for home a few hours after arriving.

It was wonderful to see them get so much enjoyment out of the trip. The shopping centre was very accommodating with a disabled bathroom facility, and McDonalds welcomed the children with hats and balloons.

Hope you can catch some of the excitement of the day from the photos.

Tyler excitedly steps out with his new walker

This week we received a walker donated by a family in America. It has completely changed the daily life of one of our children, Tyler. He was born without the bottom half of one of his legs, and so he couldn’t walk, but crawled around in a kneeling position. He is a very active, inquisitive 3 year old who gets the most out of life. The first thing he did when he got it, was to take a good look at all the nuts and bolts, checking them all out. Then off he went, he didn’t need any coaching, just started hopping off using his good leg! There’s been no stopping him since, he doesn’t let that walker out of his sight!