Reflection on Summer in Baoji

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

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