GY Girls Home

Last weekend our family went to a town (for simplicity I will refer to it as GY) not far from Shanghai to visit a foster home for older girls. The home was being run by a couple (husband is American, wife is chinese) who are working for the orphanage in that area. The orphanage has allowed them to take the 13 oldest girls from the orphanage and house them in a large apartment nearby. All of the girls have physical disabilities, and most were not allowed to go to school when they were younger because of that. The system has changed a lot in recent years and younger kids in the orphanage are now allowed to go to school, but unfortunately for these girls they have had very little preparation for life. Because of their disabilities many of them are eligible to live in government social homes, but the environment there is not generally positive. The goal in getting these girls out of the orphanage is to help them first, to know love, second, to get schooling and training in job skills, and third, to help give them life skills that come from living in a home with 'parents' and having responsibilities, discipline, and love. I am posting a few photos from our time. We taught a class, led some devotionals, and 2 chinese ladies that went with us taught the girls how to make JiaoZi! Many of the girls are missing parts of their hands or arms, and it was amazing to see them work! Wendy and Vera had a great time, too. When we got back home on Sunday night Wendy wanted to know when the next time we would go to GY again was. You can see in the photos, her favorite part was making Jiaozi!
It was a blessing for us to go and spend the weekend in GY to see how this one couple is making a difference in these girls' lives. 9 months ago, several of these girls couldn't even look into another person's eyes for lack of any kind of self confidence. When we were visiting, the girls were bubbly and active, and affectionate. Of course there are still many obstacles for these girls, but this family has helped give them a chance to grow and move forward in their lives.
When Alex and I were in Uganda two years ago, we visited a home called "Noah's Ark". It was a home for close to 100 kids who had been orphaned. The director told us that he wanted each of the kids in his home to grow up and bring positive change to the country of Uganda. He raised money and built an amazing school for the kids, has raised sponsors so that each child will have a chance to attend university or recieve higher job training, and he has set up a home where the children are loved and cared for individually.
Most welfare and social systems in most countries achieve the goal of meeting kids basic needs, but don't expect the kids to grow up to be people who would give back to their community. These two places are modeling ways that it can be done. Of course the best place for a child is in a family, but for so many kids in this fallen world they either cannot or will not be adopted. These kinds of people who are bringing life and love to these kids are our heros.