Living and working in Baoji was a wonderful and challenging experience. Being housed in the orphanage, and sleeping a few rooms down from the baby room, allowed me and the interns to fully immerse ourselves in our volunteer role, and experience a real taste of the everyday life of the children and workers of the orphanage. Everyday we were lucky enough to see the babies as soon as we woke up, right before bed, and anytime in between. Our typical daily schedule went something like this: breakfast, shower, play with babies, lunch, nap, play with babies, take a few babies outside to the playground or for a stroll, dinner, explore the city (which often meant trips to the grocery store), more baby-time (around night time that often meant putting the babies to sleep and tucking them in), sleep. I was very pleasantly surprised by the conditions of our orphanage- a nice, well kept, new building with great facilities- and with the cleanliness of our 4th floor. The baby room was always kept very clean. Only indoor shoes could be worn inside, and the babies were kept off the floor and on a playmat for the majority of the time. I say majority because towards the end of our stay several of the babies had learned to crawl and had become very rambunctious. Some of the funniest moments happened when I would be walking down the hallway and suddenly see a little head poking outside the door of the baby room- a slowly emerging baby, followed by one of the nannies running after him or her. The nannies were so wonderful and motherly with the babies. There were normally about 7 nannies per shift for about 13 babies, so our help was always a relief, since 2 babies per person is a lot of work.
Most of the time we played with and entertained the babies, giving them a lot of individual attention and love- two things that a child growing up in an orphanage could lack. The orphanage had a whole array of toys and games for the kids, and we added to that collection by buying a blue bouncy ball and an inflatable pool for them! The ball was a big hit, especially with the older babies, and the pool was meant for a pool party so they could all splash around in it. Unfortunately, some of the troublemakers (who were normally the crawlers) deflated the pool as they were playing in it before we could ever fill it with water. On cooler days, a few of us would take some babies out to the playground that was right outside the building. We went down slides, picked leaves and flowers, and gave the babies a nice change of scenery even if just for a little bit. Our stay didn't always consist of fun and games, however. We went on quite a few hospital trips for blood tests and vaccines. Our presence there was especially appreciated since there had to be a one to one ratio with nannies/volunteers and babies, and there was always a lot of screaming and crying, followed by feeding bottles and carrying.
Overall, this summer with China Care was a great learning and eye-opening experience. The China Care organization is making great strides in orphanage care in China. I'm happy to report that several of our babies (including my favorite one, Xiao Yan) have been adopted and placed in foster care since our departure. The babies were, of course, absolutely adorable and lovable and I will admit that I wanted to bring all of them back home with me. We all got very attached to them, but we were able to leave in peace knowing that they were under great care surrounded by people who love them, and that China Care is working hard on finding them all homes.
--- Gracia Angulo, 2008 Summer Intern
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