After getting our Letter of Approval (LoA) in May, we contacted Ann at http://redthreadchina.com/. Through Red Thread we ordered a package to send to Eliza in her orphanage. We went a bit overboard—with help from grandparents—and sent a big package. Cake for a party. A Dress. A letter we wrote in English (and Ann translated into Chinese). Fruit. Candy. Oh, and most importantly, a photo album with subtitles in Chinese.
We were not sure if Eliza got the package or what she thought. When we finally got pictures, we were thrilled to see a big smile on her face as she wore her new dress, held her new teddy bear, and fed cake to her friends. She liked the dress so much that the orphanage workers took some of the fruit money and bought her another dress she picked out (which we hope she can wear to our consulate appointment in Guangzhou next week).
We were relieved that she got the package but wondered what she thought of the pictures.
On Gotcha Day we got a flash drive that we had sent to her orphanage with the Red Thread package. We downloaded the pictures yesterday. To our surprise, there were 162 pictures. We got to see what her orphanage looked like and pictures over several years. Perhaps the most precious pictures were those of her looking at our family photo album with her friends and nannies, and coloring in a picture of our family that Anna had drawn.
All these pictures fill us with gratitude for a group of hidden heroes in the adoption story.
The orphanage workers and foster parents.
They love the orphans in their care. They feed them, change their diapers, help them recover from surgery, clean up after them, and do their best to provide help when they can, even without training. We were told that the orphanage workers used to rub Eliza’s legs every day. They loved her well and gave her the attention they thought she needed.
We hope in the future to update them with news (thanks WeChat!) of how help in the US improves Eliza’s mobility and health in general.
Orphanage workers and foster parents love the kids in their care. These kids hopefully get adopted into their forever families and, usually, never get to see their aiyis (aunties) again. They are indeed hidden heroes.