Dinner with the Director

Mrs. Lu was accompanied by Ms. Cai. Ms. Lu had been an orphanage director in years past, and I had seen her once in Beijing when we at Packages of Hope had coordinated a trip for her and a disabled child from her orphanage to a facility in Beijing. At that time, she had met with Cherrie Turner, and together they were able to have the child seen by a doctor there. Since that time, that child in question has been adopted.

Ms. Cai was also an orphanage director, two years earlier. Both women looked very young, although I must admit a jealousy in that the Chinese face hides age very well to me. They apologized that the current orphanage director, Ms. Yang Ai Huan, could not be here but that we would meet her tomorrow.

Even though our volunteer Kay had spoken several times over the years to these two women, these three had never met. However, there were smiles and joyful chatter all the way to our hotel. The rain began to come down in earnest as night began to fall as we checked into our hotel. After hastily putting down our things, we rushed off together for meal. We settled on local restaurant, and dashed from the car to the smells of the delicious food in the dry restaurant, dodging large cold raindrops.

(the view of my hotel room)

(the "minibar" in my room - cigarettes and playing cards included)

The tile floor was slippery, and we all watched our step as we went up back stairs to a modest private dining room. I was carefully watching my step and clutching the papers I had prepared from the families who had sent me emails curious about their child's origins. My large Wolfskin boots were sliding a bit, and I wondered how the women with their high heeled smooth leather soled shoes could nimble so quickly up the stairs. I occoasionally caught the stares of shocked restaurant workers as they eyed the foreigner in their midst. I was mostly concerned with watching my step and making sure I didn't fall and break my neck.

(the cook of our restaurant, and two large kettles filled with hot soup!)

At last I sat down at the table, noticing that the three women were all silent staring at me. I feel like I hadn't exhaled in several days. The whirlwind of planes, (not) trains, cabs, and perserverance had been screaming in my head like an opaque white tornado of events. In a blink they were gone now, as my shoulders slowly sank in relaxation, and the silence of the stare of the bewitching orphanage director faded into the steady sound of rain attacking the ceramic roof above us.

I sat savoring the moment for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, I was shaken out of my stare by a lound and bone shattering thunderclap, as if some Upper Hand boomed out, "ok, son, you made it... Now get on with it!"

I began to speak.

I remember when I first came to China on business, and when I spoke via an interpreter, I was nervous, and fumbled. I remember when I first was introduced to an orphanage director, and the reverence I felt and the tightening I had in the pit of my stomach.

My stomach was still in knots this time. The woman sitting opposite of me was sacred to many families and to many children. I was in the presence of greatness, and many families had entrusted me with their donation money in order to do my best. However, this time, I had some experience under my belt, and I knew what I needed to do, and what I needed to say.

This was my moment, and it filled me with a profound sense of purpose and meaning.

I thanked the director for meeting with us, and introduced myself and Kay and provided some background to our organization and who we are. I stopped and paused for Kay to translate. The orphanage director then spoke and returned the greeting and the thanks for our coming from so far, and thanked us for our past donations for the children of QianJiang orphanage.

I told her about what our intentions were during this trip, and how I had some letters and questions from the families. All of these discussions were laced with the awareness and trust that had been built up over 5 years of working with this orphanage and doing our best to help the children there with the donations that we had.

As we shared dinner of delicious local foods, and as the lightning and thunder harangued us and occasionally caused us to jump and pause our conversation, we talked. It was so amazing that so much information was able to be exchanged in those few short minutes of face to face conversation, that took months and sometimes even years to accomplish by emails and phone conversation. The ability to see each other's faces, to enjoy the other aspects of non-verbal communication, further deepened our relationship, and was doing some real good.

We talked about some questions that the adopted families had for the orphanage, which I carefully documented in order to provide to them. We talked about how there are now 37 children at the orphanage, most of whom have special needs. Some are currently with foster families. The orphanage director said that there is a vision to provide disabled children physical therapy and education in order to integrate successfully into society, but that is a far off dream that could use our help. We talked about the new orphanage that is being built, and how we would be meeting the orphanage founder the next day.

The Qianjiang orphanage has undergone a number of political changes, recently converting from a privately run institution to being part of the government (as an official SWI). This orphanage is the only one in the city (countering a query I had made asking if there were any other countryside orphanages in the area that the director knew of). The current orphanage was started in 2002, after the founder converted a restaurant into an orphanage building. The new orphanage's completion is dependent on funding, but it is hoped that it will be completed in the next two years. The orphanage management has recently changed and is bound to change again in the future. They also mentioned that the water purification system that had so painstakingly been installed a few years earlier by A Child's Right, had not been working for a long time, and they could not read the instructions on the equipment to repair it. They had it set aside in a storage room that I would be able to see.

They told us that there are only a few other charities helping out in the area as well.
At the conclusion of the meal, with the rain still pounding down, the orphanage director asked,

"it's getting late now, would you like to go to the hotel and get some sleep, or would you like to visit the orphanage and the children now?"

.....and in a New York second, what do you think my answer was??