First day at Hidden Treasures

July 31, 1:30pm CT. This morning Malia took us to breakfast in the village at 7:30. We trudged through the rain, puddles, dirt, and mud to a little outdoor corner restaurant. It was basically a roof, 2 tables, plastic stools, and a stove. People from all over the village sat around eating noodles and dumplings. We all had peanut noodles and pork dumplings. It was so good. Everything seems to taste better in China. It was fascinating and humbling to eat with the local people under a roof on a dirt street in the rain. It's almost shocking to see the way these people live their everyday lives. Kyler and Shi Yu later gave us the tour. There are about 9 buildings that Hidden Treasures owns. We saw all the rooms and all the kids and workers. So many of the kids have severe Cerebral Palsy and Autism. The majority of the kids are non-verbal. Many of the kids however seems to have less severe special needs. Afterwards we ate lunch back at the guest house and met with the schedule coordinator to plan out the rest of the week. I'll be with the youngest kids this week. They're 3-5 year olds. Mostly heart defects, autism, and Down syndrome. We work 7am-7;30pm Tuesday to Saturday. Sunday after church and Monday before we leave, Malia will take us to see Fuzhou. Mostly markets and stuff.

I'll go to my kids room at 3 to meet the staff and kids better. Then we'll go to the local market to get foods for breakfast. It's been raining pretty much since we got here yesterday and it'll probably stay like this all week. Which is fine because it has been 115 degrees for the past few weeks. I'm very excited for the weeks ahead! I can already tell that these kids are going to bless my heart more than I am going to bless theirs. I won't be able to post pictures of the kids until I get back to the states but I'll write all about them and put names to faces later. There are about 15 children here that are available for adoption. Please share with anyone you know that may be interested in adoption of a child with special needs!

Here are some photos of the village:

6:45pm CT. Very fascinating and emotional day. At 3 Debbie and I went to the room on 2rd floor and Shyla and Alice went to 4th floor. I'll be there everyday all day for the next 5 days and Debbie will be there in the afternoons after her and Alice teach the girls to quilt in the mornings. There are 8 kids in our room 4 boys and 4 girls. I can't remember all their names yet; they're mostly Chinese names. 2 of the boys have Down syndrome and autism. Boy "A" is less severely autistic than boy "B". The two other boys are visually impaired. Boy C does not have eye balls and has severe autism as well. He does self inflicting pain a lot. He banged his head against hard objects over and over, including mine and Debbie's heads. He was probably the most heartbreaking of the group. Boy D who has eyes but can't see well, had heart surgery a while back. He seems to be more developed cognitively than the others. He really likes to lay on the floor and stare at the lights on the ceiling because they're bright enough for him to see. The four girls are amazingly full of hope! Girl A is 3 and has Down's syndrome. She is funny because the girls that work in the room say her hobby is napping (and it is). She fell asleep once while Debbie was holding her in our short time. They said she goes to school but falls asleep the whole time she's there 😂 (they have a school part for the more cognitively developed kiddos to attend in another part of the buildings for a couple hours a day.) Girl B had a stroke as a baby on one side of her body. They said she would never use that side of her body but today she's 4 or 5 and running all over the play room. She's probably the most active of all the kids! The last two girls are amazing. I'm not sure what Girl C's special need is. I know she's 5 and pretty small. She doesn't walk but crawls around well. They watch ASL videos during play time and she can sign very well! She may not say a lot but she can understand everything you are saying to her! She's so happy and smiles all the time! Girl D really touched me. She's 4 and has spina bifida. Her head, arms, and chest are normal size for her age but her waist down is very small. She is just absolutely beautiful! She seems to be on track cognitively. Frankly, I'm surprised she doesn't have a family yet. She's so beautiful and so full of life. She may not walk but she gets around on her arms perfectly fine!

I can't post pictures of the kids but if you would like to see them, tell either of my parents and they can have me send them pictures and videos.

The girls that work in the 2nd floor room don't speak much English, so it's difficult to communicate with them right now. They're all about my age or younger, which really surprised me! We'll go to the market in the morning, then go to the 2nd floor room at 7:30am. Tonight I plan to reorganize my stuff and go to sleep early.

Goodnight from Fuzhou!