Cooking Playdough

Joan Lin, the first China Care intern who arrived at Beijing about the same time we did, was a student from University of Wisconsin Madison. Since she was the first intern there for the summer, she became the BCH volunteer coordinator. One of her ideas was for us to do some volunteer sessions with the foster home kids, who were living with families that took care of older, preschool-aged China Care children. Since many of them were disabled, we wanted to have activities that were stimulating to the senses. Playdough was one of the first ideas that we came up with.

The playdough supply that the China Care office had was small, and the majority of it dried out. So our first task was to make some more for our sessions with the kids. The ingredients were:

flour

salt

water

oil

food coloring

After all the ingredients were mixed together, you were supposed to put it in a skillet and basically fry it.

We used the kitchen that was on the top floor of one of the doors of apartment 15, which was used as a living area for other interns. Joan managed to gather enough of the supplies for us to make a few batches of playdough. I was in charge of mixing ingredients. Emily ran the actual cooking/frying of the dough, and Erica and Joan were to add the food coloring to make the finished product.

The first batch we made was blue and turned out pretty good - the dough was soft and warm. Okay, so not exactly like your typical playdough - it was a little too gooey, and greasy - but it served the purpose. The next batch was yellow, and the one after that was green. By the time we had finished making those three, however, the inside of the pan was starting to burn a little, and the kitchen definitely smelled a little off.

Since we had used up all the food coloring colors we had (blue, green, and yellow), we tried to decide what color to make the final batch. Fortunately, we didn't have to make a decision. The last hunk of playdough was already colored by the time Emily put it on the rolling surface - brown, from all the burnt scraps on the edge of the pan. By the time we had rolled it around a few times and molded it into a ball, it was the color of wet sand. It didn't smell too great either...

We laughed at how unappealing it looked, and thought about adding some food coloring to it - but decided that it would only make it worse. So as we packed up the chunks of self-cooked playdough into Joan's tupperware - baby blue, neon yellow, jungle green....and brown.

When we started our play session with the kids the next morning, the kids were excited about the new playdough that we had brought them. One of the parents even asked for the "recipe," so she could make it herself.

We left the brown playdough in the tupperware....

Note: playdough in the images was not the playdough we made.... :D

--- Jessica Wen, Summer 2008 Intern

Immunizations

There were several occasions during our volunteer sessions when the three of us would accompany a few of the babies to get their immunizations. One of the heads of the BaoJi Children's Home, who got relocated to Beijing after the earthquake, would ask for our help - so each of us would carry a baby on the trip over to the hospital, which was just down the road of BCH.

The place where they got their shots was similar to a small clinic. When you first walked in, you could smell that distinct hospital/medication smell. The tiles on the floor where bright white, as were the walls and tables. There was a small waiting/play area that had a small television, some rainbow colored benches, and a few blue cushioned chairs that were shaped like cupped hands.

After the BaoJi caretaker had us checked in at the frontdesk, we'd bring the babies into the next room, where they were actually given their shots. There were four cubicles in the center of the room, and each nurse there had a station with their supplies and paperwork. Usually there would be other families there, and we'd have to wait until the baby we were holding was called.

The babies were, of course, unaware of what they were there for. As the nurse called each of their names one by one, we would sit them down with them on a bench close to her cubicle. As she prepped the syringe and swabs, we would have to position the baby so that his or her upper arm was exposed and hold them so that they wouldn't fidget.

The first time I held one of the babies for her immunization, I think I was more nervous than she was. As I held the baby's arm tight for the nurse, I could feel her already trying to fight my grip. I was eyeing the syringe's every move, and I cringed to myself as it punctured her skin. Half a second later, there was be the signature wailing sound coming from the baby's mouth. The shot was over in a matter of seconds, and I swept her up across my chest and started rocking her to keep her quiet.

We did this several times during our stay at BCH; and each time, I braced myself for the shot that the baby was getting. I remember the second trip we made to the hospital, there were about 5 babies altogether that we brought. At one point, all of them must have been crying at the same time, and for some crazy reason, I really missed home.

To be honest, I really enjoyed those trips to the hospital with the babies. Not because I enjoyed watching them getting their shots, but because it made me feel a little bit closer to really caring for them. I felt like I had a responsibility for them as they got their shots; I was happy to be the one there to comfort and quiet them each time.

Mothers of the BCHs

It was rarely quiet in the BCHs. My first day in BCH1, all the feeding schedules of the babies happened to coincide, resulting in chaos. When the babies were quiet though, the caretakers took care to fill the silence. Each home had five caretakers at any given time, plenty for continuous chatter. Jessica, Emily, and I often laughed at the end of a day about the gossip we had overheard--more than one of them had children who were struggling in math, one of them had a son who was growing incredibly quickly, another had a son who was finally passing the 'rebellious' phase.

On the day more kids from Baoji were expected to arrive in Beijing, the condition of provinces still affected by aftershocks were brought up. As most conversations in the BCHs do, the conversation quickly turned toward children, and the number of babies orphaned because of the earthquake.

"Yesterday, a mother and a baby were discovered in the ruins," one of the caretakers said. "They thought the mother was breastfeeding the child, but it turned out she had already died hours ago."

"Is the baby still able to get milk that way?" asked another.

"No. But it is still better for the baby. The baby lived."

For the first time since I had been there, BCH1 was silent. I noticed one of the caretakers rock a baby in one arm while wiping her eyes with the other.

A few minutes later, a baby's cry finally broke the silence, and everyone was back to work.

Sometimes we joke about how the caretakers don't seem to notice babies crying as they get carried away with their own conversations. But we can only joke about it because it is evident they do care about and love the ChinaCare babies. Sometimes, I almost forget that they are orphans.

--- Erica Lin, 2008 Summer Intern

A Day In Beijing

The first weekend after we arrived, Erica, Emily and I wanted to go into Beijing for the day. We left early on a Saturday morning and the plans were to make our way to Tian An Men Square, the Forbidden city, and then do some shopping/walking around the city by WangFuJing DaJie.

We left early, around 7 AM, to catch the bus that would take us from where we were between the 5th and 6th ring roads to the 2nd ring road close to the heart of the city. The bus ride was, of course, packed, even on the weekend. I was impressed by how efficiently everything ran - there was smart card system that read your bus pass as you boarded and again when you got off, and deducted money according to how far you rode. We had to go all the way to the last stop, which was DongZhi Men. From there, the plan was to walk our way over to the north end of TianAnMen Square, close to the Forbidden City.

According to Brent, the walk was only about 30 minutes.

NOT TRUE. We ended up walking for almost TWO HOURS. On the map it didn't look so bad, but around 10:30, it started to hit us that maybe we should have taken the subway. The walk there was fun though, we got to see a lot of city close up. It had been a while since I last visited Beijing. The streets were really spread out and wide, pretty much the opposite of places like New York and Chicago, things were a lot less packed together.

When we finally got there, we went straight to the Forbidden City and spent a little less than 2 hours walking around. The inside was huge - everytime we thought we had walked all the way across, there would be another layer of buildings to pass. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to appreciate the history of the place as much as I would have liked, and I found myself reading the English version of the tourist plaques that were posted in front of important buildings throughout the city.

After we left the Forbidden City, we walked toward WangFuJing DaJie for lunch and just wandering around for the rest of the afternoon. The street contained a long stretch of sores and shopping centers. The nicest one was this huge mall that was about 6 floors to it. We were too tired from all the walking to do any shopping, so we ended up sitting in the food court. We didn't buy any clothes or anything, but I remember from the last time I visited that when you purchase something in a large shopping center, they first write you a slip that you take to a paying station, and once you've paid for everything you want, you go back to the small sections/boutiques in the store and pick up what you bought. It was a similar thing for the foodcourt - you have to put money on a card first, and then you but something to eat with the card and return the card when you're finished. The three of us shared a Shaved Ice - it was the real deal: this huge mountain of ice covered in condensed milk, jelly, read bean and corn (?).

We eventually made our way to a small kite shop that wasn't too far from the mall - the shop sold handmade kites that were of all different shapes and animals. After more walking around, my cousin, who currently works in Beijing, called us and wanted to take us out to dinner.

We ate at this really nice Roast Duck restaurant right along WangFuJing DaJie. My cousin, who obviously knew what he was doing, just said a bunch of things to the waiter, and about 20 minutes later, we had the whole ensemble in front of us, including duck liver, duck intestines, duck HEARTS, and even the head. They even gave us this card that had the registration number or something of the duck that had been cooked for us :D

One of the coolest things about the meal was the way the waiters served the tea. It was apparently the way it was done in the past, where there's this bronze teapot with an extremely long and thin spout, it must have been at least 2 or 3 feet long and a centimeter in diameter at the tip. Everytime the waitress poured the water, she would have to stand a bit aways from the table, and it always looked like she wouldn't actually be able to pour the water into the teapot, like she was aiming to far. But it never spilled.

After dinner, my cousin helped to direct us to a subway stop so that we wouldn't have to walk another two hours to get back. We got back to our apartment extremely exhausted but also very full, haha. Our original plan to go into Beijing again the next day didn't end up happening, but we were satisfied with our first trip into the city.

The Star of BCH3

His name is Wang KangPing, and he's probably around 2, almost 3, though I never asked the ladies there specifically how old he was. The first day, when we were being taken around by Brent to tour the China Care facilities, we came into BCH2, and Kang Ping was the first to greet us. He immediately walked over, not having seen any of us before, with his arms held up. The only thing I could think of to do was stoop down and pick him up. When I stood back up again, with him sitting in the crook of my arm, he proceeded to play with the light switches, laughing and pointing as he pushed them on and off.

This little boy was the reason I went back to BCH2 for our first volunteering session that morning. I was hoping to get a chance to play with him again, but unfortunately he was outside with another A-Yi at the time. But I did get more time later in the week and throughout our stay in Beijing. Kang Ping was actually from BaoJi, which is why his last name was designated as Wang (all the kids from the same childrens home all have the same last name). He was very active - he walked easily and quickly - and always animated. When other kids fought with him for toys, he would fight back, but when they wanted to play together with him, he would play.

He was really smart too. All the ladies there encouraged me to teach him English words, because he would learn them quickly. One morning, he was eating an apple, and I taught him to say apple in English; the next afternoon, when Erica went to volunteer in BCH2, he impressed her with this new word. It made me extremely happy to hear that he had remembered what I taught him.

It wasn't until the second week that I learned exactly what his disability was. He had a heart condition that caused cyanosis - a blue tinge in his outerextremities like his hands and feet and lips. KangPing was small and skinny, and his body always felt a little cold, and now I realized why. But you would never be able to tell that he was a sick child just by his personality - you would have guessed that he was the happiest and healthiest little boy there.

The saddest part of the story was the day we found out that Kang Ping was actually scheduled to leave BCH. It was the second Wednesday of our time there, and one of the ladies in BCH2 told me that he was getting ready to leave that day. They kept saying to him in Chinese, "are you ready to go see your grandfather?" The news was that his grandfather was coming to get him. I was actually volunteering when they came to get him. Brent was taking us out to lunch that day, and while we were waiting for everybody to arrive, we saw his grandfather come walk into Building 15 where the office was located.

The story, we later learned at lunch, was that Kang Ping's grandparents had abandoned him at BaoJi earlier in the year. They brought Kang Ping to Beijing and were hoping to give him surgery for his heart condition. However, before that surgery could take place, his grandfather contacted China Care and asked to have Kang Ping back. So China Care flew him into Beijing to pick up his grandson. The next step was to inform the grandfather that China Care would also pay for Kang Ping's operation - it would be completely free of charge for his grandparents, and it was something that his grandparents, in their entire lifetime, would probably never be able to afford. All he would have to do was consent. Though I was sad to see Kang Ping go, I was glad that he was being reunited with his family, and hopeful that he would be able to live a healthy rest of his life.

Two days later, while I was volunteering in BCH1, I heard the ladies talking about Kang Ping and discovered that the grandfather had not consented to the surgery. I was completely suprised. It would significantly help Kang Ping's health, and China Care was willing to pay for the whole procedure. The ladies said that it was mostly likely out of fear that Kang Ping's grandfather said no. They guessed that he was probably afraid that China Care wouldn't actually give the boy back to him. It was a choice that I didn't expect him to make, knowing the things that China Care worked and stood for.

Wang Kang Ping was definitely one of the little ones who made my time in Beijing Children's Home worthwhile, though I only got to spend a little bit of time with him. His story is sad, like those of many of the children there, and it made me realize the tragedy that really goes on in these orphanages. But it also makes the volunteer work we do that much more valuable.

Being Three

A few months ago, I watched with amusement as my 18 year old friend threw an orange peel out the window of our moving car and clapped with joy when it zipped behind us. "I wish I were three again!" he had exclaimed, "Then every physical experience would be so exciting."

Being at the Beijing Children's Home was probably the closest I've felt to being three again. My favorite kid, Huei-huei, was a 'toddler' in BCH3 (she couldn't quite toddle yet). The first time I sat down next to her, she handed me the little picture book she had been holding almost immediately. I was flattered for a few seconds before she reached out her hands and claimed it back. For the next fifteen minutes or so, we engaged in this simple ritual of passing the book back and forth. I have never seen anyone so overjoyed over something so simple. Every few passes, she would stop, look up at me, and beam.

Over the next few days, she discovered new sources of amusement. She absolutely loved the sound of clipboards, containing all details of the babies' conditions, against the wooden shelf. (The supervisor was not so amused.) She loved the sound of her own hand pounding against the wooden shelf. She loved smiling into the mirror and would always giggle when I helped her lean forward and touch the mirror. She loved watching a next-door neighbor ride a bike past the window. I loved that she loved these things, and I loved that she could do all of these things over and over again. The best part was how she would smile ridiculously, absolutely ridiculously, every single time.

A Blog Tour of Beijing Children's Home

Beijing Children's Home is located within a huge apartment complex called YuXiang Garden in the ShunYi Province of Beijing. (The name always reminded me of the chinese dish YuXiang Eggplant. But the tones are definitely NOT not the same. At least it helped me remember what the place was called :D). There are lots of senior citizens who live in the complex, and lots of kids.

There must have been around 30 large separate apartment buildings within the complex. Each building was given a number, and there were a certain number of "doors" within each building. (The doors basically divided the building up into sections.) Each door was an entrance to one section of the building, and went up 5 flights of stairs, with two apartments per floor. I'm not exactly sure exactly how many apartments China Care was using, but they were spread out all over the place as opposed to all in one door of one building.

The main office, which we went to immediately when we arrived to YuXiang Garden, was located in building 15, on the first floor of door 1. This is where they had all the administrative things going on. There was a large whiteboard that was split up into the different children's homes that China Care oversees. On the board were laminated cards with the babies' names on them, and these cards helped keep track of where each child was. For example, when the BaoJi kids were moved to Beijing, their names were moved respectively on the white board to reflect where they were at the moment. It's a pretty clever system, though relatively recently organized. The office also took care of donations, which we promptly gave to them when we arrived. Several staff members had their offices in this apartment, and it was interesting to see how a normally residential area was turned into a work environment.

There are four children's homes altogether in Beijing. Everybody there called them B-C-Hs. BCH 2 was right across the hall from the office, and BCH1 was upstairs of that. BCH3 was on the first floor of building 5 of the complex, and BCH4 was upstairs of that. All of the BCHs housed babies except for BCH3, which was home to the toddlers.

We lived in building 27. To get to it, we had to go past an awkward white fence that just sort of cut through part of the complex. Our apartment was number 101 in door 1, and was actually the place where Brent housed his guests that came for his business purposes. Since our plans were changed, we were in search of a nice place to stay for not too much money, and Brent's place worked out perfectly. It was sort of like the style of a dorm, where there were just beds stacked on top of eachother and in the rooms (there must have been around 16 total or so), and there was a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a dining room area. It was right in the complex, so we didn't have to travel to volunteer. It had wireless, which was a huge plus. Overall, a very comfortable place to be - we lucked out, since there were no other interns there at the time, which meant there was space for us to stay. If we were going to be there past June 15th, we would have to find somewhere else to go.

The street that YuXiang Garden was located on was fairly busy, and there were lots of things going on closeby. The North gate had a hotel nearby, along with a restaurant, post office, and a beauty salon. Not too far from the complex were a supermarket (Rainbow: we ended up buying a lot of bananas from them :D), more apartments, a bank, another supermarket and small and older villages and streets where people lived. One of my favorite places was the "village," as the three of us called it. It was a five minute walk from where we lived, and it was like a whole complex of small shops, restaurants, and an outdoor market. It was very busy all throughout the day. There was also a park closeby that had an ampitheater and an exercise arena for senior citizens. The location was great.

Getting to Beijing Children's Home

Our first task in our China Care summer experience was actually getting there....it took us almost a whole TWO DAYS to arrive to Beijing.

The tickets we (Erica Lin, Emily Hsu, and I) booked brought us from Boston to Chicago to Shanghai, and from there we had planned to fly to BaoJi. But those plans were disrupted due to the aftershocks of the earthquake that were still in the area. What made things worse was that American Airlines decided to keep us in Chicago for a whole 12 hours after we were supposed to have taken off. The first leg of our trip was to get from Boston to Chicago, which went fine, but meant that we had to leave for the airport around 3 AM....I seriously slept from the moment I sat in my seat until we had to get off the plane. I had no recollection of take off, landing, the complimentary beverage service, or anything else, haha.

Once we got to Chicago, we were definitely tired and wanted to be on our way, but that of course couldn't be the case. The problem apparently was a part of the plane that they were waiting to get fixed. That later turned into finding a replacement for that part of the plane, which then became finding another plane altogether, a whole half a day later. We actually even boarded the plane, and then were asked to get off because the problem was not fixed. I guess I would have much preferred to fly later than stall 35,000 km in the air, but the 12 hour delay was still no fun.

So after 2 meal vouchers, free diet coke, lots of reading, and some sleeping in awkard positions in the gate-area seats, we finally boarded and finally got to Shanghai. At midnight their time....

Luckily my uncle came to the rescue and picked us up there. He had originally found and booked us tickets to BaoJi, but when that ended up getting cancelled, he returned them and waited for us to arrive in Shanghai to get tickets to Beijing. The ticket counters weren't open until 6 AM, so we did some more waiting/sleeping/reading. Fortunately, we got tickets that left for Beijing from Shanghai at 11AM, which gave us time to have breakfast....at KFC :D

The domestic Chinese airline was run so much better than American, haha. All the flight attendants were these tiny, young Chinese women wearing perfectly clean and purple uniforms and a red bow tied at their collars, and they were all hovering over you to make sure things were taken care of. I was very impressed...and comfortable, haha.

But we finally arrived!!! Thank goodness....when we got to where we were staying, I swear I slept for 12 hours straight.