Xian City Orphanage - Library Project - Foster Care Program Day 2

Well it was anther incredible day as we went out of the city about an hour or so into the mountains to visit a small village that has some of the foster kids from the orphanage. Almost all of these children were special needs, ranging from dwarfism, emotional issues, retardation and physical problems. They range in age from 18 months to 13-14 years old. We were told that we were the first foreigners to ever vist this village, and from the looks from the foster care parents this seemed to be true! There was a big turn out for our visti, as all of the foster care parents came to show us their children.

After visting with them for about an hour and taking many pictures we were treated to traditional chinese lunch prepared by the grandmother of the village leader. This consisted of noodles, pickled cucumbers, bean curd, albino-greenbeans and super hot chili pepper paste, which the orphange driver insisted we mix into our noodle bowls! Lets just say Fire! This was all washed down by a thirst quenching cup of hot dirt tea also prepared by the grandmother, leaves and all. The cold bottle of sprite we had about an hour later never tasted so good!

Next we drove back to the city close to the orphanage to see the smaller children in foster care. Again, all of these children were special needs, ranging from cleft pallets, retardation, and physical disabilities. The conditions were not what we are used to , but the foster parents seemed to love and care for these children. We took many pictures and visited with them for awhile. These foster parents receive approximately $40 -$50 USD per month for caring for the children. Most of them are grandparents whose children have left the home.

Finally, we arrived back at the Xian orphanage to finish the library. While we were away the children logged in approximately 1000 books for the library. We were able to finish catagorizing the books on the shelves before we left. There were about 3000 books of all subject matters. This library will hopefully provide long term educational benefits for orphans living here. The driver commented to us on the way home, that this would be beneficial for years to come.

The kids we worked with are normal teens with little chance of furthering their education by going to college. Most of them will go to vocational school at best and the rest to the labor force. The cost of going to the university is about $1500 USD per year, including spending money. The kids seemed very proud of their new library and we saw them reading the books as they were logging them in to the system.