In September 2005 we took our daughter back to China for a holiday and an visit to her hometown and her orphanage. Despite my concerns prior to our visit she loved being able to visit the babies everyday while we were in Fuling.
I'm not sure that she had any conscious memories of the SWI (even though she was 13 1/2 months when we were united). But we talked about it a lot in the lead up to our trip - she knew she would be visiting the babies and meeting her nannies.
Being a typical shy 3 yo she didn't really want to have anything to do with the nannies when we arrived - it always takes her some time to warm up to a new social setting. This was hard for Director Yang and the nannies because they really wanted to give her a hug. But she did agree to sit on our friend's lap next to DirectorYang and look through the photo album we took (after all it was about her favourite subject - herself).
But as soon as that was over she announced that she wanted to see 'Her room' and 'her cot' now. So in we went - me with my heart in my mouth because I didn't know how she would react when she saw it - I needn't have worried she took it like a trooper, straight over the barrier.
I don't know if any of you are familiar with the classic British sci-fi 'Dr Who' but if you are the next scene was like the invasion ofthe Dalek - because a wall of babies in baby walkers surged towards her and surrounded her. She was completely trapped and little hands were reaching out to her - that she didn't mind but she didn't like being trapped. The babies did the same to me but I was able to stepover. At one point I tried to move forward but something was stopping me - the strap on my bag was hanging down and I found onevery determined but happy (I've caught you!) baby hanging off the end of it - not sure if she was trying to stop me getting away or thought she might get a tow.
In relation to the 'her cot' we showed her where we were told her cot stood on our visit to collect her. She was so interested in seeing what was in the cots. There were definitely less babies inthe room that we visited immediately post SARS in 2003 and therefore less cots.
There were also areas of matting near the TVs and we saw a number of babies out of their walkers and being given the opportunity to crawlaround and explore.
Our daughter wanted to know what the babies were wearing, what they were playing with and what they were doing. She wanted to know where their nappies (diapers) were and was fascinated with the split pants (to the point of becoming our official split pant spotter for the rest of our China trip). She witnessed a few lightening fast nappy changes.
We gave Emily her own camera to record her trip and the babies - she loved it. And throughout the visit she would buzz in and out of the rooms to visit the babies and take photos.
The babies still watch the big screen TV and love music - at one point they were all outside on the verandah and the nannies turn onthe TV - it must have been time for a favourite program because as soon as they heard the theme music there was a stampede back intothe room. We have to report that there are quite a few little 'headbangers' in the making because they were all bopping along in their walkers like they were at a heavy metal concert - it was a hoot.
On other occasions the nannies turned music on and clapped and danced and the babies were bopping and grooving along.
What really impressed me is that some of the babies were really babywalker artists - they would twirl and twist those walkers and hurtle forward and backwards giggling away.
Our daughter had a great visit and I'm sure she has some lovely new memories of the SWI - she is still talking about the babies and the nannies (even a year later - and that she would like the babies at childcare to wear split pants).
Showing posts with label Fuling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fuling. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 November 2006
Saturday, 18 November 2006
How do the carers in the orphanages keep track of the babies?
It had not occurred to me to even consider this until I made the return trip to my daughter's orphanage in Fuling.
I knew that the cots had the babies' names on them but how did they keep track of 30 babies in baby walkers in a room and not put them back in the wrong cot.
Well during our visit in September 2005 we found out - actually our friend who travelled with us and translated for us pointed it out to me first (I was having too much fun photographing babies swarming around me to see the detail).
Each of the babies had their name (or at least the last character) written on their forearms. Actually having spoken with the nannies those who are working with the babies day in day out know them all by name, so the name on the arm wouldn't be necessary for them.
However, we did see the medical staff come in and administer injections to some of the babies who were poorly and I think that this is probably when the name on the arm becomes very important.
Our friend stayed at the SWI and was able to observe the early morning routine (while we were struggling to get a 3 yo back at the hotel to wake up get dressed and have breakfast - mind you the question 'do you want to go and see the babies' worked wonders) -when she visited the rooms before breakfast in the SWI canteen shes aid that the medical staff were giving all the babies regular checkups. We also observed the nannies regularly taking temperatures of those children with runny noses etc (or signs of upper respiratory tract infections).
Friday, 17 November 2006
Fuling - A River Town set on Fast Forward
"…Fuling slipped out of sight quickly. I stared out the window at the city and mountains, trying to grasp more into my memory. But who knows what will be when I come back next time? ..."
I couldn't put it better - but this is a quote from one of Peter Hessler's (author of River Town) students about leaving Fuling (Changing Course by Peter Hessler, Time Asia, 2003). It is how I felt in 2003 when we left Fuling after our flying visit to collect our daughter from Fuling SWI and it is most definitely how I felt leaving Fuling after our extended visit. Only difference is this time I know how quickly things are moving in Fuling - this is a town that has been on fast forward since Peter Hessler wrote about his time there approximately 8 years ago.
In fact, although I knew that the River Town of Hessler's time had changed I still suffered what I can only describe as a kind of 'culture shock' trying to equate the town I had read about and the one I was walking through. Yes there are still parts of Fuling exactly how Hessler described it but there is the modern Fuling with modern buildings and chain stores (I even found a baby boutique which was better stocked with Huggies, Pampers, formula and babyfood than anything I saw in Chongqing city).
The new dykes have cut a swathe through what would have been 'old town' - the dyke area will be Fuling's answer to Shanghai's Bund -you can walk along the top and get views of the river, underneath will be shops and cafes. But when we were there these were still empty (hardly surprising because the rent advertised on the signs was huge even in our terms) - Vice Director Huang who took us there said they should open soon. Behind the dykes there is a large area of cleared land - part of it is a construction site. We were told that this a museum for White Crane Ridge - this will incorporate an underwater viewing of the rock which will/is submerged by the rising Three Gorges waters (the reason for the dykes). There is a new museum in Chongqing - opposite People's Hall - and it has a piece of White Crane Ridge on display - so worth the visit.
We drove back to the orphanage through an area of old town (ala Hessler's River Town) behind the cleared land - to my surprise we were told that everything to the left (ie lower side) of the street we were on was earmarked for demolition and the right side would stay - so there were at least several streets that were still to be knocked down.
The taxi drivers didn't beep nearly as much as I had thought from Hessler's description - maybe they had toned it down or perhaps I was deaf to horns after a couple of weeks in China when everyone seems to beep every 5 seconds.
We noticed the development made in the area in the last 2 years even on the trip there - there was far more development along the highway from Chongqing. But I was completely surprised at how close the city was getting to the bridge. When we were there in 2003 the Taiji pharmaceutical plant was sitting by itself on side of the hill -nothing much around - it is now in quite a built up area and this extends back towards the bridge.When we visited the building site for the new orphanage with Director Yang and Vice Director Huang, Mr Huang joked that 3 years ago the current SWI lay outside the city limits now it is really in the centre - he joked that in a couple of years the new orphanage would be in a built up area and I can believe it. The new orphanage site is perched high above the Fuling side of the bridge - if you look up as you cross the bridge you can catch a glimpse of the crane on the new site.
One thing that hasn't changed with Fuling is the friendliness and the curiosity of the people - we did have a number of Hessler type moments with crowds gathering around us and firing questions at us that my Mandarin was not good enough to cope with. On one evening I took our daughter by myself to watch the night exercises on the square outside Fuling Stadium and we drew a big crowd. Fortunately one of the people who came up was a local teacher, trained at the Fuling Teacher's College, who spoke perfect English - she teaches English in one of the local schools and liked to take every opportunity to speak with native speakers (as it turned out 2 of her teachers had been Australians). She was able to translate all the questions that the crowd had and the answers - when she had to leave those in the crowd were able to tell newcomers of the who/what/where of our visit (except for one old lady who I think was telling me off for having our daughter in shorts in 35 degree heat who got very animated with me and despite my 'I don't understand' in Mandarin kept telling me in Mandarin to LISTEN). But word of our visit spread because in the following days when we were out people would gather around and Iwould hear someone say in Chinese of course- 'the daughter is a Fulinger, from the SWI'.
So Fuling is a changing town and changing rapidly (probably not interm of the pace of change in the rest of China but in comparison with the West - they can pull down and rebuild in less time than the environmental impact statement takes here)- what will it be like when we next visit. I don't know. What I do know is that we want to visit a regularly as we can afford because it the city and the people do hold a special place in our hearts.
I couldn't put it better - but this is a quote from one of Peter Hessler's (author of River Town) students about leaving Fuling (Changing Course by Peter Hessler, Time Asia, 2003). It is how I felt in 2003 when we left Fuling after our flying visit to collect our daughter from Fuling SWI and it is most definitely how I felt leaving Fuling after our extended visit. Only difference is this time I know how quickly things are moving in Fuling - this is a town that has been on fast forward since Peter Hessler wrote about his time there approximately 8 years ago.
In fact, although I knew that the River Town of Hessler's time had changed I still suffered what I can only describe as a kind of 'culture shock' trying to equate the town I had read about and the one I was walking through. Yes there are still parts of Fuling exactly how Hessler described it but there is the modern Fuling with modern buildings and chain stores (I even found a baby boutique which was better stocked with Huggies, Pampers, formula and babyfood than anything I saw in Chongqing city).
The new dykes have cut a swathe through what would have been 'old town' - the dyke area will be Fuling's answer to Shanghai's Bund -you can walk along the top and get views of the river, underneath will be shops and cafes. But when we were there these were still empty (hardly surprising because the rent advertised on the signs was huge even in our terms) - Vice Director Huang who took us there said they should open soon. Behind the dykes there is a large area of cleared land - part of it is a construction site. We were told that this a museum for White Crane Ridge - this will incorporate an underwater viewing of the rock which will/is submerged by the rising Three Gorges waters (the reason for the dykes). There is a new museum in Chongqing - opposite People's Hall - and it has a piece of White Crane Ridge on display - so worth the visit.
We drove back to the orphanage through an area of old town (ala Hessler's River Town) behind the cleared land - to my surprise we were told that everything to the left (ie lower side) of the street we were on was earmarked for demolition and the right side would stay - so there were at least several streets that were still to be knocked down.
The taxi drivers didn't beep nearly as much as I had thought from Hessler's description - maybe they had toned it down or perhaps I was deaf to horns after a couple of weeks in China when everyone seems to beep every 5 seconds.
We noticed the development made in the area in the last 2 years even on the trip there - there was far more development along the highway from Chongqing. But I was completely surprised at how close the city was getting to the bridge. When we were there in 2003 the Taiji pharmaceutical plant was sitting by itself on side of the hill -nothing much around - it is now in quite a built up area and this extends back towards the bridge.When we visited the building site for the new orphanage with Director Yang and Vice Director Huang, Mr Huang joked that 3 years ago the current SWI lay outside the city limits now it is really in the centre - he joked that in a couple of years the new orphanage would be in a built up area and I can believe it. The new orphanage site is perched high above the Fuling side of the bridge - if you look up as you cross the bridge you can catch a glimpse of the crane on the new site.
One thing that hasn't changed with Fuling is the friendliness and the curiosity of the people - we did have a number of Hessler type moments with crowds gathering around us and firing questions at us that my Mandarin was not good enough to cope with. On one evening I took our daughter by myself to watch the night exercises on the square outside Fuling Stadium and we drew a big crowd. Fortunately one of the people who came up was a local teacher, trained at the Fuling Teacher's College, who spoke perfect English - she teaches English in one of the local schools and liked to take every opportunity to speak with native speakers (as it turned out 2 of her teachers had been Australians). She was able to translate all the questions that the crowd had and the answers - when she had to leave those in the crowd were able to tell newcomers of the who/what/where of our visit (except for one old lady who I think was telling me off for having our daughter in shorts in 35 degree heat who got very animated with me and despite my 'I don't understand' in Mandarin kept telling me in Mandarin to LISTEN). But word of our visit spread because in the following days when we were out people would gather around and Iwould hear someone say in Chinese of course- 'the daughter is a Fulinger, from the SWI'.
So Fuling is a changing town and changing rapidly (probably not interm of the pace of change in the rest of China but in comparison with the West - they can pull down and rebuild in less time than the environmental impact statement takes here)- what will it be like when we next visit. I don't know. What I do know is that we want to visit a regularly as we can afford because it the city and the people do hold a special place in our hearts.
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