International Adoption
AAI Welcomes Back the Hearts Toward China Team
The Arrival
After thirty hours of travel, the Hearts Toward China team finally made it to their destination—the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Social Welfare Institute in Jishou in China’s Hunan Province. Exhausted and jet-lagged, the team soon began their major construction project: renovating the seventh floor of the facility to make it habitable for children.
About the Orphanage
The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Social Welfare Institute is not a typical orphanage. It is a combined social welfare institute that houses childless seniors, special needs children, and younger children. Currently, there are fifty-one children in the orphanage, two-thirds of whom are special needs and will likely spend the rest of their lives in the institution because of their disabilities.
Why Participate?
The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Social Welfare Institute has been in desperate need of improvement for some time, but the institution has found it extremely difficult to obtain any financial assistance due to its remote location. With this in mind, Keith Cannon, who has sixteen years of experience in custom home building, construction management, and real estate development, and owns LaCati Custom Homes and Cannon & Company, signed up for the trip. The son of Nancy Cannon, director of both of AAI’s central Michigan offices, Keith found out about the trip from his mother. Accompanying him on the trip were two of his relatives: his father, Gordon Cannon, and his brother-in-law, Jason McConnell. Keith wanted to go on this trip not only to put his construction skills to use for a great cause, but to “see and interact with the children I want to help.” Keith also wants to see others who are in leadership roles reach out and do something extra, too. “We can all talk about it,” says Keith, “but to do something personally—now that is special.”
Making a Difference
As soon as they arrived, the team began to work on the 7th floor of the orphanage alongside Chinese nationals who had been hired to help with the project. The 7th floor of the orphanage included seventeen dormitory rooms and a large community room that were connected by a 200 foot hallway. The team began this project by purchasing painting supplies and picking out the flooring for the bedrooms. After their purchases were made, the team taped around the outlets and windows. Then, they sanded down all of the walls and washed the dust off to prepare them for painting. Next, the team began to “cut in,” or paint, the trim around the ceiling. When the ceiling was painted, the team cut in the walls of the dorm rooms. At this point, the men took on the project of painting the walls with rollers. After the painting was completed, the women removed the painting tape and cleaned the rooms to prepare them for the installation of the flooring. In one day alone, the Hearts Toward China team was able to sand and paint the entire 200 foot hallway of the seventh floor of the orphanage with two coats of paint.
Although the team did not participate in the installation of the flooring, the nationals were able to finish this part of the project on the day that the team departed. When the team left, the renovation had been completed except for the installation of electric heaters that needed to be mounted and plugged in. The seventh floor will give the children a separate place to live apart from the elderly adults who also inhabit the facility. The children will move into this new area in approximately one month.
Communicating Together
Working side by side, the Chinese nationals and the Hearts Toward China team soon learned to communicate with each other in unconventional ways. Gordon gave his baseball cap to one national who wore it proudly as he worked. Caps are very special to the nationals, who are accustomed to wearing hats made out of newspaper to keep the paint and dust out of their hair. The nationals, however, did make newspaper hats for the Hearts Toward China team to wear as they worked alongside them.
The team and the nationals were also able to communicate through music, which crossed all ethnic and language barriers. Jason shared his iPod with a national, who enjoyed listening to the country western music. The team was able to experience Chinese music as well through the folk songs that the nationals sang while they worked.
Sharing the Culture through Food
Perhaps one of the quickest ways to experience a different culture is through their food. Early in the trip, the Hearts Toward China team ate dinner with the orphanage director, Mr. Peng, and his staff. They were treated to food from the Tu minority group, which included beef, shrimp, fish, and a dish of deep fried bee larvae for the adventurous eaters!
The team didn’t leave, though, without treating the children in the orphanage to their first traditional American meal. The last night of their orphanage stay, the team brought the children to a local chicken restaurant. The children thoroughly enjoyed the dinner, which included music, singing, gifts, and perplexing American food such as fizzy pop, straws, and ketchup. The team chuckled as they watched children attempt to spread ketchup on top of their buns and turn their straws into chopsticks!
The Children
“We developed friendships with the orphanage staff,” says Amanda Buiter, a graphic designer for AAI, who was impacted not only by the kindness of the staff, but by the orphans as well. Many members of the Hearts Toward China team were touched by the children who were amazingly optimistic in spite of their difficult circumstances.
“Some of the children attend regular school where they are picked on for being orphans,” says China Program Manager Mary Zoet. However, these children are amazingly talented in art, and one child has even won a dancing competition in the region.
One Special Girl
Although all of the orphans hit a soft spot in the team’s hearts, one special twelve year old girl remains deeply imbedded in their hearts. Perhaps it was her incredible optimism, or her joy in living that first attracted the team to her and made her unforgettable. Her name is Fu Fu, and she is twelve years old. Born with cerebral palsy, Fu Fu spends her days in a wheelchair, and because of her disabilities, she is often left out of activities that the other children participate in. The team did all that they could to include Fu Fu in the activities they had planned for the other children, so when they walked into the dinner arranged for the orphans at the chicken restaurant and noticed she wasn’t there, Jason and the driver went back for her. Arriving with Fu Fu an hour after they left, Fu Fu enjoyed her meal with the team since the children had already finished eating. When they left, the men in the team pushed her down the streets and stopped to buy her flowers. “The whole evening brought a lot of dignity to this little girl who suffered much,” writes the team on the blog of their experience in China.
Even though Fu Fu is acutely aware that she is not included, she does not pity herself and always puts others first. “She told us ‘Life is hard, but there’s a lot to be thankful for,’” says Mary.
If you are interested in learning more about the availability of Fu Fu, please contact Mary at 616.667.0921.
The Future of Hearts Toward China
“We’re very proud of the work we accomplished in China,” says Mary. Although the team accomplished an incredible amount of renovations during their short stay, they would like to see the orphanage facility continue to be improved. The eighth, and highest, floor of the social welfare institute building also needs to be renovated so that the children can have more space to live. Eventually, the orphanage would like to include a playground for the children on top of the building.
For more information on the Hearts Toward China project, visit our Hearts Toward China page.
