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Katie's Orphanage Pictures
These are pictures of Wu Zhao (Katie) taken at the Wuwei Social Welfare
Institute. The SWI is rather poor and the conditions very primative. The Wuwei SWI recently began participating in the International
Adoption program in 2001. Over time, adoptive families' donations will provide the necessities required by the orphanage to
continue to care for the more than 60 babies that are currently at the Institute.
At night, the babies did not share cribs. We were told that each baby slept
in their own crib. There was no heat in the building. The rooms were heated by coal stoves in each room. During the day, the
children are taken outdoors to play if the weather is warm. Otherwise, there is one large play room that was heated where
the children could play. While awake, the babies were frequently placed in cribs together and often played on beds you will
see next to the cribs. Teathers or belts kept the children from crawling or falling off the beds. The children wore several
layers of clothing. When we received Katie, she was wrapped in 4 layers. At nighttime, the children were wrapped in wool
blankets with hot water bottles to keep them warm during the winter. The blankets were tied around them with rope.
In some pictures, you can see small infants and newborns that were recently
taken in to the orphanage. The babies are propped in make-shift cribs from cardboard boxes.
After we received our referral for Wu Zhao, we sent a box to the orphanage
with some clothing (Katie was wearing two articles when we received her), toys, photos of our family, and a disposable camera.
These pictures were taken by the orphanage staff and the camera returned to us in the province.
The most important thing to keep in mind while viewing these pictures is
that ALL of the babies are happy and well cared-for by the orphanage staff. Developmentally, the babies do very well regardless
of their living conditions during their first year of life.
- Diane Chan
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| Wu Zhao on the blanket with one of the caretakers |
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| Posing for the camera. We have not yet identified the baby on the left. |
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| Wu Zhao in her crib. They slept on a board with a straw mat. |
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| None of the babies wore socks. It took us 3 days of bathing to clean Wu Zhao's feet. |
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| Snack Time. The children snacked on egg cookies that we found at the grocery store in Lanzhou. |
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| Wu Zhao was well cared for by the orphanage staff and is a happy girl. |
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| It appears as though Wu Zhao was a favorite, as several staff members posed in pictures with her. |
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| Wuwei Girls. From left: Unidentified, Wu Wei (Ruby), Wu Zhao (Katie), Wu Yu (Sarah), Wu Shu (Jewell) |
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| Wu Zhao's primary caregiver at the orphanage. Her name is Zhao Cui Lian. |
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| Katie at 13 months, just a few weeks after we returned from China |
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| Wu Zhao playing on the bed |
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| Wu Zhao loves the attention. Note that she is tethered to the bed to keep from falling. |
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| Crib picture with room in view. Note the small infant on the left in a cardboard box on the bed. |
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| Underneath all those layers of clothing, is a very petite 17 lb girl at 12 months. |
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| Wu Zhao sleeping. Today she prefers no blanket as she enjoys the freedom of moving in her sleep. |
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| The orphanage staff loved all of the children. |
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| Dressed up for pictures. Wu Zhao is holding the toy we sent in her orphanage package. |
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| Friends Ruby Acker and Jewell Caputa |
The Wuwei Social Welfare Institute is in need of donations. If you
are interested in sending a package to the orphanage, please mail using US Postal Service to:
Wuwei Social Welfare Institute
#338, Fuli Road
Wuwei City, Gansu Province
PRC China 733000
Director: Mr. Dong Junshan
The orphanage could use clothing for young children, sizes 0-12 months. Clothing that can be layered for daytime. Nicer
clothing for referral pictures. Children wear split pants, so no need to donate childrens pants. SOCKS and footwear like slippers
or shoes for outdoor play in infant sizes 0-4.
Also, small toys - rattles, stuffed animals, developmental toys, stacking cups, teething toys, etc.
Food - rice cereal, oatmeal, dry/packaged goods, snacks for young children, teething biscuits.
While we were in China, we had the opportunity to meet with the director of the orphanage and his staff. At this meeting,
we handed them our monetary donation. We learned that in this province, the orphanage staff must hand over the International
Adoption donations to the province government officials. The orphanage is then paid by the government on a monthly basis.
Subsequently, our group chose to give an additional monetary donation that went directly to the orphanage director
for the purchase of an appliance such as a washer or refrigerator. Monetary donations made directly to the orphanage are allowed
to be used directly on orphanage necessities. We found the orphanage director and his staff to be very honest and open with
our families and very proud of his institute and the children.
If you would like to make a monetary donation, please contact me directly so that it can be arranged through our non-profit
adoption agency, Great Wall China Adoption.
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