Our Visit To The Orphanage

This is a message I wrote to our friends in the Children's House group about our visit to the orphanage.

December 14
We took Brinley to the orphanage yesterday and she did great....although her nanny and I both had a meltdown. Her nanny is so young and she has cared for Brinley ever since she has been at the SWI. When she saw Brinley she pushed the baby she was holding into the arms of another nanny and came running to her. I handed her over because I could tell that her heart was breaking and it meant so much to her to see her again. She hugged her and took her into the room with many cribs and she held her close and cried. Then she had one of the other nannies take some pictures of her holding her sweet Wei Ya. I cried and cried. It broke my heart. I know Brinley must be the first child she has had to give up after caring for. We took several pictures together with her and she handed Brinley back over to me and squeezed my hand and walked away. When we came back by the room, she was still crying and so was I. I have to say that she has done such a wonderful job with Brinley. She is sweet and loving. Of course, she is a 2 year old so she acts like any other 2 year old ..... but she has been loved.......and that is so wonderful to know. We owe this young girl so very much for all of the love she has given to our sweet little one. Brinley did fine through the visit and didn't cry at all. She was glad to see everyone but she was fine leaving with us. Would we visit the orphanage again??? YES!!! Yes, we would. If she had been grieving hard, we may not have but we felt like everything would be okay if we went and we are so glad that we did.
On the trip to the orphanage we saw the homes of the people in the area. There were children picking through trash beside the water and it was so sad to see so many doing without so much. In the orphanage it was overwhelming to know that these children didn't have families. Brinley and all of the children in this orphanage are very fortunate to have such great care. We have met other families whose children were not given the care they deserved and they are having to overcome the obstacles that the neglect has put in their way. All of these children deserve to have a family and until they do, they deserve to be loved and cared for.