My second day of work, Tuesday, was a complete blur. L-ST and I were observing the children in the preschool, both in the morning session and the afternoon session (the schedule is different than what is posted on the website). 12-15 children during free play/time + 1 teacher + 2 teacher aides +2 therapists = chaos and lots of high-pitched screaming. The lack of sleep was a blessing in disguise because my senses were dulled to the screams. :)
On Tuesday evening, for dinner, I had a delicious beef noodle soup with two of the English teachers, near the Foster Home, before having a time of fellowship with some of the foreign volunteers. The apartment complex where many of the volunteers and teachers live, is about a 15 minute walk from the Foster Home. One of the teachers offered to give me a ride on the back of her bicycle, which I was a little hesitant about, but seeing as we were running late to fellowship, I accepted the offer. Mind you, she has never had a passenger before and I had never ridden on the back of a bicycle before. There we were, at 6pm, on the side of the road, with no street lighting, relying on the moonlight, and with me perched sideways on the back of the bicycle (as we’ve seen countless other Chinese people do). We were able to move forward one foot before the bike crashed sideways. I think the teacher managed to jump off in time but I ended up crashing hard on top of the bike and sustained a huge bruise on my thigh.
After the crash, one of the local staff, Anna, witnessed the whole scene and couldn’t stop laughing when she approached us. We explained what we were doing. She demonstrated how to gracefully hop and onto and off the back of the bike. I thought, “hey, if she could do that, so could I.” I re-attempted and was successful. Yay! I am open to trying it again, but in daylight and with a rider with more experience.
I made it to fellowship and enjoyed my time. The mother in the host family is a nurse and gave me a bag of frozen corn to ice my bruise. I had a delicious snickerdoodle cookie made by her daughter, a cup of hot tea and was all set. We spent the evening watching one segment of a Christian conference DVD recording. I was reminded that I should humbly perform all tasks, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to me because this builds humility and integrity. How can I be entrusted with more important and larger tasks if I think I am above doing the small chores?
On Wednesday morning, L-ST, the foster family manager WS, and I visited three of the foster families, Polly’s, Noah’s, and Lucy’s. Last year, when I assessed Lucy, her language skills were severely delayed. Though she was 24 months old at the time, her speech was at less than 6 month old level and she only produced the sound “a.” When I saw her at home with her foster mom this time, exactly one year after last year’s evaluation on January 12, 2010 (no joke!, I checked my records), she was speaking in one word phrases, calling out “mama” (妈妈) to her mom, “yeye” (爷爷）to the foster family manager, labeling objects here and there, and interested in engaging in conversation with all of us. Being in her foster family, with an attentive and loving foster mom, has greatly helped Lucy to develop and grow. Her speech and language skills are still delayed but she is progressing at a gradual pace and she shows such great potential.
On Wednesday early afternoon, L-ST, WS, and I visited the Forever Home, with our primary focus to see Jenna and Hannah in their natural environments, and provide suggestions to the foster parents on encouraging further speech and language development. Jenna is an absolutely fascinating girl. WS and L-ST report Jenna does not talk, only produces “a” when she wants, seems to completely understand everything being spoken to her, picks up simple sign language very quickly, has a preference to use gestures versus speaking, and is a fast learner. When she is happy, her face lights up with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. Here is an example of how quickly she learns: when I was at her home and she wanted me to go with her someplace, she would grab my arm and pull until I would follow her. I did not like my arm wrenched out of its socket and instead taught her to tap my hand to get my attention and that I would then follow. I practiced this technique three times with her and ½ hour after I showed her that she should tap to make requests, she spontaneously tapped my hand to request attention. She is one fast learner! She will be one of the children I will focus on during my time here.
On Wednesday late afternoon, my final stop for the day (what a long day…), was the Healing Home, to see Anton and Rosie in their natural environments. The little ones there are tiny (with most of them under age two) and oh so cute. Anton is over a year old, with a heart condition and cleft lip and palate. He needs heart surgery before getting the cleft lip repair and is quite frail, so the heart surgery is postponed until he is physically stronger. He doesn’t speak much, but I feel like he understands everything. His eyes are huge, looking around and absorbing all the happenings in the environment. Last year, when I assessed Rosie (at 16 months old), she was functioning at the 4 month old level, not responding when I spoke to her, or when toys are presented to her, and not walking. This time, she has started walking (though she wobbles) and will turn away from you when she doesn’t like something. Her speech and language remain delayed. She suffered brain damage due to the hydrocephalus but I believe she will continue to make gradual progress and be more responsive and communicative in time. :)
At the end of the day, WS commented that I was one of the few visitors to have seen all the different settings in the Foster Home (Healing Home, Forever Home, Foster Families, and Foster Home Beijing), plus the preschool. Boy, was I tired and it’s only Day 3 of my visit. In visiting all the settings, I saw the children in their natural environments and saw the needs in each environment. The rest of the week will be spent seeing a few of the children for therapy, training L-ST to assess the children and to provide therapy, and formulating next week’s schedule for Elaine and myself. Such exciting and rewarding work!
Thank you Lord Jesus for bringing me to China, for blessing me with a profession I love, for equipping me with skills to help Your children, and for blessing me with numerous opportunities to see Your love revealed through your people.
In His service,
Angela
January 13, 2011
