Our Visit to
Lianjiang Social Welfare Institute
The next day, we had the opportunity to visit Lianjiang Social Welfare Institute, where Cathryn had spent the first months of her life. Lianjiang is a beautiful city in far Southeastern China. The Gulf of Tonkin and Vietnam are within several hundred miles. The city was very modern and clean, but it was obvious from the crowd that gathered whenever our bus stopped that they don't see many foreigners there.

When we arrived at the orphanage, there were signs welcoming us, and several local government officials as well as the SWI leadership and staff greeted us at the gate. We were quite impressed with the orphanage building, built in 1999. A similar building for elderly people was under construction in the same courtyard. We were led to a conference room where we were served bottled water, and local oranges (famous in Southern China) and dragon's eye fruit (Similar to grapes). The officials and SWI directors made several speeches, expressing their happiness at the sight of the girls with their forever families. Then, the nannies who had taken care of the babies entered, smiling and calling out the names of the different babies. They swooped them up, hugging and kissing them. The babies obviously recognized their "aunties," and were laughing or snuggling with them! It was wonderful to see! We had been told Cathryn had been particularly close to one woman. It was her day off, but she came to see Cathryn and another baby she had cared for. We will always be grateful for the chance we had to meet this woman, and to see Cathryn interact with her.

It was lunch time for the babies, so the aunties took them off to feed them one last time. We were then allowed to view several baby rooms, although not allowed to take pictures. They rooms were clean and airy. The babies we saw were well-bundled and appeared healthy, just like our girls. The SWI staff was obviously doing a great job with the limited resources they had.
After our tour, we spent some time outside with the SWI staff and nannies, taking pictures and talking. Another one of Cathryn's "aunties" appeared with a baby about Cathryn's age. After some gesturing and "talking," (We don't speak Cantonese!) we understood the baby to be Cathryn's crib mate. When I first saw her, I did a double take, because, while she didn't look like Cathryn, the expression on her face and in her eyes was identical. Like twins, their expressions mirrored each other's. It was amazing. I will never forget this sweet baby and will always wonder what happened to her. We didn't get her name, which I sometimes regret. She was precious.

It was hard to leave, but hard to stay as well. While the children were well-taken care of, and we treasured the time we had with their caregivers, it was hard to see so many babies who will probably never have forever families. I hope someday we can return to Lianjiang and to the orphanage.
Lianjiang
The orphanage building, Lianjiang Social Welfare Institute. Cathryn's home before we met her.
One of Cathryn's aunties greets her with a hug
Cathryn gets a kiss from her favorite auntie.
Cathryn was well-loved! We are so grateful for her aunties!
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