Olympics Part #2 - The Orphanage

When I headed up to Beijing last week to see the Olympics - I wasn't sure what to expect. Shanghai is such a dichotomy. You have people living in amenity rich, luxurious country club type estates - and literally five minutes down the road you have houses in disrepair, covered in muck and grime with generally squalid living conditions. When I arrived in Beijing last Thursday night, I was greeted by Caroline Koopman - a friend who had attended Grove City two years after I started. We never knew each other during our time at GCC, but as we corresponded during the weeks leading up to the Olympics, I found a fast friend with a quick wit that resonated with me.

Caroline works with an organization called New Day Foster Home. Its on several acres of land in the outskirts of Beijing. The area looked much like rural USA - with Caroline's apartment being across the street from a corn field, and on our first night of walking into the village(50,000 people - that constitutes a small village in China) we crossed paths with a man herding sheep along the road.

The mission of Caroline's organization is to help orphans who have special needs get hospital treatment and then to find a home. Orphans are much more prevalent in China than in the USA for several reasons. The Chinese are only allowed to have one child, so if a child is deemed undesirable because of poor health in first few days of life, it is quite often abandoned so the family can try for a "better" only child. Also - many Chinese are poor and could not afford the hospital care that these children require - and so they abandon them hoping someone with better means might be able to help.

That is where Caroline's organization comes in. Through donations, they have accumulated enough money to be able to afford expensive surgeries that are vital for these children to surive. Once these children have received the proper care - families are found for these children to begin a new life with.

I had a chance to meet some of these orphans - and their attitudes in spite of their struggles are miraculous. They know nothing other than smiling and laughing, even though some of them suffer from ailments so painful and so severe that I can't imagine how they do it. My favorite was a girl named Addison. (The employees of New Day name the orphans and give them American/European names since most orphans end up in America) Addison has a serious heart ailment that severely limits her circulation- so much so that even though she is approaching two, she weighs all of twelve pounds. Her toes are constantly blue because of the lack of circulation. Holding Addison brought tears to my eyes. This is a tiny orphan girl from China, whom was neglected by her parents and who lives half a world away from me and my comfortable life in America. She looks up to me as I hold her and smiles at me - exposing her two little front teeth. How could I not be blessed by that? I have decided to sponsor Addison - which means for $35 month I will help pay for the surgery she will need next year when her heart is more developed. Each child needs 8 sponsors to pay for care and surgery, and many of them don't have enough sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, check out this website: http://www.newdaycharities.org/