Natural wonders

Wow, what a day. Four new babies arrived in the Special Care Unit late in the afternoon on 3 July. Two of the bubs are premmie, so we have them all wrapped up and warm and sharing a cot at the moment. It always takes some time to process each baby and make sure they are settled, so it was 7.15pm by the time we were heading for home.

Then we had to negotiate the flood waters to get home. It had been raining steadily for a number of days and the result was major flooding. We were very fortunate to get out before the only road left open was completely closed. The photo shows the flooded farmland and roadway. Our afternoon shift staff weren’t so lucky and had to stay overnight. They took it in relays to work the night shift, so that they could all get some sleep. Fortunately, the road was open again late the next morning and the new shift could come in for each of the Units.

Club Foot Unit update

We now have 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys in the Club Foot Unit. Some have taken longer to settle than others, but they are all doing well now. We are expecting more to arrive on Sunday and early next week.

The staff are enjoying getting to know them and the kids are really enjoying their new environment.

Jack's birthday

We celebrated Jack's birthday on 12 June. He excitedly waited for the candles to be lit on his cake and really enjoyed opening his presents - a bath towel with Cars on it, a model car to build, a large pencil case style bag and a notebook. The older boys helped him in putting his model car together, which we then glued in place with superglue to avoid the tears brought about by lost pieces!

More arrivals

Cris our first arrival is slowly settling in and getting used to the new routine. She is still very clingy, but improving every day.

Tonight we received 3 more children after 9pm, who had flown down from the North. There is 2 month old with bilateral clubfoot, a 3 year old girl with one clubfoot, and a little boy who doesn't have clubfoot but other issues with his feet, so we will get advice for treatment for him.

They settled in well, playing with toys, then having a nice bath and milk so they felt fresh and had full tummies, before crashing into bed after their long day of travel and changes.

Open!

Today we officially opened the doors for the Club Foot Unit. The staff were ready and keen to get started. Our first little girl arrived at 8am, after an all night train trip. She was upset and disorientated, but received ample amounts of love, care and attention!

We had been promised that our diapers which were on urgent order would arrive on the 22 June. To our amazement they did! We are really impressed with the quality of the diapers and more so by the price. The Chinese company gave us a special price, as they wanted to do something to help the children.

Ready to Open!

After weeks of cleaning, sorting, labelling, remodelling and lot's of sweat - it's very hot here - we are ready to open on Monday morning 22 June. Our first child will arrive early that morning, after travelling all night on the train and the others will arrive gradually over the next couple of weeks.

We have hired 10 staff as Carers and they underwent their training last Thursday and Friday, so they are ready to start their shifts on Monday morning. Their uniform is the same style of apron as the staff in the other units, but a different pattern to distinguish the units from each other.

We are really pleased with how the rooms have come together and we are grateful to all those who have donated funding or items to make this unit happen.

We really look forward to seeing the children's lives change as a result of this.

Children's Day

Today was International Children's Day, which is widely celebrated in China. The teachers had worked hard in preparation for this day. The children in the CPU who attend classes, prepared drawings for an exhibition in our main entrance. They did a great job and they were very proud of their work. Then they joined the children from the orphanage on the main courtyard, and participated as best they could in games, before being given treats to take home.

For a number of the weeks, the children have been practicing reading short stories and poems to read aloud. We all gathered in the Dayroom, for the children to perform their readings which were done very well, and concluded with a group song.

Each child received a book as a gift after the performance. Lunch and naptime came soon after, when most of the children took the opportunity to get into their books.