A New Home for Bei!

Throughout the course of each child’s Dew Drops Little Flower experience, they are bound to travel with us. Many times this is to transfer a child to or from our long-term locations (Inner Mongolia and Shanxi) to Beijing. They come to Beijing to seek medical expertise and return to their home province for long-term care and/or to be adopted.

 

Here we tell the story of Bei’s travel from Beijing to our home in Inner Mongolia.  While Bei was in our Beijing home, he was treated for club feet. Earlier this month he transitioned from two large casts to braces. With his transition to braces, he was ready to move from our more medical intensive Beijing home to our long-term home in Inner Mongolia. In addition to continuing to receive medical care in his new location, we are hopeful that Bei will strengthen his eating skills by being with our older children in the mom-care unit.

The trip from Beijing to Inner Mongolia is a total of 8 hours by train. This overnight train ride is no small feat, especially for a feisty three-year-old. Bei went with two of our staff members, Mary Claire and Rebekah, and our physical therapist, April. To catch our 11:00pm train, we left the Beijing home at 9:00pm and traveled by car to the train station. For Bei, the short car ride was an adventure in and of itself; he was intrigued by the busy street and all of the unfamiliar noises and smells. Once we arrived at the station, we hurried to find our train and get settled in.  As it was already long past Bei’s bedtime, he was quite tired once we reached our bunks. As the train began to move, the swiftly passing scenery and the soft sway of the train lulled Bei right to sleep. We woke up in the morning as the train slowly pulled into our stop in Inner Mongolia. From the station, we went directly to the long-term home, arriving there around 7:15am.

Bei was excited to see some familiar caregivers at this home, but especially his “big kid” friends. When they sat Bei down for breakfast around the big table, we could already tell his eating habits would quickly improve! The older kids set a wonderful example for him and we know he will continue to thrive in these surroundings.

That morning, April taught the on-sight physical therapist how to stretch Bei’s feet and properly remove and put on his braces. They developed a strategy to make this routine as comfortable as possible for him. In his free time, Bei went straight to the bookshelves to look at the new books! He was so excited to have sing-a-long time with the older kids as well!

We are eager to watch Bei grow and learn in his new home and very happy this transition came with such ease! If you would like to invest in Bei, please consider sponsoring him. You can sign up here.

A Day in the Life: Inner Mongolia

Currently we have 7 older children, ranging from 3-9 years old, in our mom-care-model in Inner Mongolia.  Three nannies by day and two by night provide amazing, around the clock, mother-like care to these children with special needs.




Although this special care unit is housed within the orphanage, it has a single door that leads to an apartment-style living area. It is comprised of 6 different rooms: two bedrooms (a large one for the children and a small one for the nannies), a kitchen, a dining area with child-size tables and chairs, a play/therapy area, and a bathroom/laundry room.












This mom-care-model functions as one large family and provides the children with not only the love and nurturing that is crucial to their overall health, but also the stability, structure and consistency to help them thrive and optimize their potential. Monday through Friday, the children have busy schedules that look something like this:
















With the exception of Zhong who is in specialized seating, the children all sit independently in their chairs at the table for meal time. While waiting for their food, you might hear singing, laughing or even typical sibling banter. This communal eating has a very family feel and has been therapeutic for the younger ones who haven’t always enjoyed mealtime; you’ll see them desiring to feed themselves or possibly even trying new foods.

 The children go to school on-site with other children from the orphanage.  Classes typically include 6-8 students and two teachers. Their nannies drop them off and pick them up from school, just like a parent might.



 

The children are thriving in this environment and tremendous gains are evident. This mom-care-model has got to be the next best option when fostering or adoption aren't immediate realities. Several of these children, do however, have adoption files and others will in the future.  We hope and pray that each child in our mom-care-model will come to know the love of a forever family.

The Railway of Life

In today’s China, high-speed rails and bullet trains are becoming ever ubiquitous. The old “green carriage” trains, on the other hand, are slowly fading from the collective consciousness. However, to everyone here at Dew Drops the “green carriage” trains are heaven sent, for they have provided lifelines to our precious children. On September 12, a little angel with so much desire to live boarded a “green carriage” train and began her journey to life-changing medical care in Beijing. After safely arriving in Beijing, doctors confirmed that little Ying’s heart condition was in a bad state. She needing emergency surgery. On September 15, doctors successfully operated on little Ying. Our little angel now has received her second chance at life thanks to the “green carriage” trains.

The much needed lifeline that was afforded to little Ying was not a one-off event. Over the years, these trains have provided passageways to second chances for many abandoned children.  They did so by making sure that the children arrived at their hospitals in Beijing on time, so that they could receive their life-saving surgeries. The captains and crew members not only provided our nannies with sleeping bunks, but also lent a hand whenever help was needed. Even though the crew members were very busy with their work, they always found the time to assist with looking after the children, so that our nannies could take a rest or go to the bathroom. 

This little guy, Cheng, is familiar with travelling back and forth from Inner Mongolia to Beijing. He took his first trip in February when he needed a life-saving surgery for anal atresia and took his second trip for a follow-up surgery not long ago. The crew members were moved to tears when they found out about his condition.

  

 

 Here are more children that have travelled from Inner Mongolia to Beijing.

We don’t know if these broken-winged angels will still remember the “green carriage” trains in the future or if they will remember the lifelines that these trains provided. Even if our angels do not remember, the smiles on their faces after receiving a second chance at life are enough to warm the hearts of the crew members. Thank you for giving them a second chance at life!

Expanding to Inner Mongolia

This year, we launched two new baby homes outside of Beijing that provide long-term, specialized care to abandoned children. Beijing is still the center of everything, and through our Beijing home we are able to provide world class medical care and surgeries to our children. After the children have surgeries and are stable to travel, they move to our Inner Mongolia or Shanxi homes for long-term care. These programs are hosted inside of official state-run orphanages and represent a big step forward as the local authorities affirm our model of care.

Today, we take a closer look at our Inner Mongolia baby home. Mrs. Qin, or Qin Jie (sister Qin) as we call her, is the project manager at our Inner Mongolia home. She joined our team earlier this year after retiring from her previous job at the same orphanage. She actually worked there for more than fifteen years. It is pretty impressive to choose to continue to work with orphan children even after you are supposed to retire. Her passion and dedication for these precious children is priceless.

We currently have 21 children in our home in Inner Mongolia ranging from a three-month-old baby girl to an eight-year-old girl. The kids have a variety of medical needs including cerebral palsy, heart defects, anal atresia, and spina bifida. Meet some of our new arrivals:

Would you like to invest in one of our children living in the Inner Mongolia Dew Drops home? Please consider sponsoring a child today. Your monthly donation will help cover basic living expenses and provide a future to the precious children at Dew Drops. You can sign up to become a monthly sponsor on our website here:  https://www.dewdropslittleflower.org/get-involved/sponsor-a-child/

Let’s Share a Good Time Together!

Last week we launched a new outreach program through our Family Support unit, working with Jingdu Hospital in Beijing.  Jingdu Hospital is a large children’s hospital that includes one of the most well respected pediatric burn units in China.  Families come from all over the country to seek treatment for their severely injured children at Jingdu Hospital, and many of these children require such extensive treatment that their inpatient stay averages not days, but weeks and months at a time.   In China, it is expected that the parent or another family member will live with the child in the hospital as they recover. This places an overwhelming burden on the family, not only for financial reasons, but because it also impacts the parents’ ability to remain employed, to care other family members and to maintain a stable home to return to after they leave Beijing.  We are specifically targeting the families of children who are in the hospital for long-term treatment due to severe burns.  We are very excited about this new outreach, as it increases our opportunities to preserve families and prevent abandonment. 

 

At the hospital, our Family Support unit meets the needs of the children receiving treatment by providing financial support, in-kind donations, emotional support, and medical support. Our “Let’s Share a Good Time Together” classroom provides both education and fun for the children at Jingdu Hospital.  Our team of staff and volunteers takes turns in leading the classroom activity each day. We hope to engage the children in a variety of activities, such as drawing, cooking, dancing, learning English, and playing.  Our outreach program also gives the children’s families a little respite from the intense daily responsibilities of providing the care and therapy that their child needs. 

This week, one of the classes was an English class where the children learned “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” We went over the vocabulary first and then played “Teacher Says” (a version of Simon Says where we practiced the new vocabulary). And then of course, we sang! 

Next week, we have a cooking class and a DIY handicraft class lined up. If you are in the Beijing area and have a special skill that you would like to share with the children at the hospital, please contact us! We are looking for more volunteers! Or if you have some fun activity ideas we can lead with children between the ages of five to fourteen, please let us know.

Will You Love Me Again?

“Mothers are the best in the world. Having a mother is like having a treasure.” These are some famous lines from a Chinese children’s song that inspires anyone who listens to it. However, not every child has the opportunity to have a mother. Sometimes mothers have to make the difficult decisions of how to provide medical care to their children without any resources or without an understanding of the medical problem. Other mothers struggle to fight for their children for a long time and ultimately make the heartbreaking decision to give them up, hoping they will receive a better life elsewhere. These are very tearful and difficult decisions for a mother to make.

We have a few children who already had one or two surgeries before being abandoned. These babies were cared for by their families but ultimately were given up when the family had no other method for providing continuous medical care.

For example, few days old Yu was found with a large scar on his abdomen indicating that he had been examined by a doctor to figure out what was wrong with him. Although it was the summer when he was abandoned, he was still wrapped in a blanket and a beanie to keep him warm and comfortable.

Zhuo, another child born with anal atresia and abandoned when he was only a few days old, was also found with a scar on his abdomen. He was slightly jaundiced and his oxygen saturation levels were very low when he was found by his orphanage.

Little Xia also has a similar story. He was born with anal atresia and when he was found, he too had a scar on his abdomen. 

Lastly, one year old Yu, had already had her first surgery for anal atresia when she was left at an orphanage. She had a large wound on her abdomen that was healing slowly. It is hard to imagine what she has experienced in her short life already.   

Although these precious children were born with birth defects, they were once the treasure of their families. Their families loved them and tried to provide medical care for them. But for factors unknown, these children were eventually abandoned. Now, it is up to us to provide specialized care and love for each of these children.

Here is a recent picture of little Yu. Initially, he often had diarrhea but, now, we have identified the problem and have treated him. When he turns 6 months old, he will be ready for his next surgery.

After over a month of specialized monitoring and care, we identified little Zhuo’s gastrointestinal issues and heart issues. Once he is a bit older, he will also be ready for his surgery to correct his GI related issues. We also discovered that he has a heart murmur. For now, his heart condition doesn’t need surgery, but we are monitoring him closely.

Little Yu and Xia both have suffered with multiple fevers and infections. They both need a few more surgeries to help them become strong!

Xia says “We are both stubborn little babies. We are not going to give up on our life! Will you love us and then we can show you how we will grow big and strong!”