Chinese Foster Home
February 10, 2010
Around Christmas time, I had the privilege to visit a foster home in the outskirts of Beijing. The home is run by an American organization called the Philip Hayden Foundation (http://www.chinaorphans.org/shepherdsfield.php) in an industrial district just southeast of Beijing. You’d think that an industrial district is not the best place to raise kids, but you just wouldn’t believe what kind of kid-friendly oasis they have built. They have a private property enclosed by a beautiful wall and main gate stringed with lights, and large and clean facilities.
Every kid in this home, over 150 in all, has some sort of physical or mental disability. They are all so cute, some of them can sing really well, some have cute laughs and smiles and some are just funny.
I should make the point that this is not your average Chinese foster home. I hear some very scary and sad stories about the ones that are government owned–old buildings, fewer caretakers, harsh treatment. Sherpherd’s Field on the other hand has enough funding from American supporters that keep it running in good condition. The goal is for every child to eventually be adopted and many of them do become adopted. Unfortunately, Chinese culture has an aversion to adoption (why raise someone else’s kid?) so very few of the potential parents are Chinese and mostly American or European. It was truly amazing to see the work being done there.
Kid with autism, pretty calm except he head-butts me sometimes.
This is little Eric, he can sing "Silent Night" really well.
We brought over some DVDs and got some Pixar action going.
During our stay, we spent most of our time playing with the kids. Since it was Christmas time, we also offered presents like Legos and toy cars and trucks. It was pretty entertaining playing “kitchen” with them and watching them cook meals for me. Eric and some of the other kids sang a song together for us (they got in a fight about the correct lyrics when they were out of sync). And we built an awesome castle out of Legos.
