Those of you who have followed this blog since the beginning might remember me mentioning "Aunt Sandy." Aunt Sandy is an Australian living in China and a regular volunteer with the Xi'an CWI for the past 8 years. Sandy is also a regular on the Xi'an CWI Yahoo Group and provides lots of wonderful updates and information to waiting "Forever Families" for matched children at the CWI. She is simply an amazing woman and we had the great fortune to get a chance to meet her in Xi'an.
We were provided with address instructions in Chinese and English by Sandy via email which we then were able to provide to the taxi driver to go to her apartment in Xi'an. We underestimated the wait for a taxi at our hotel and although we were in the lobby at 4 p.m. to meet Sandy at 4:30, we couldn't get a taxi until 5 p.m. Nevertheless, we thought we were unusually brave and adventurous to travel to meet her in a city where we don't speak the language. When our taxi dropped us off, we only had to ask 3 different passersby for directions to where the apartment actually was.
Sandy greeted us warmly and it was almost as if we'd always known her. Just an amazing angel woman! She led us across the street from her apartment to meet a woman who is a foster mother to 6 school-age children who but for this fostering opportunity, would be at the institutional orphanage instead. We met 4 of the children who regularly stay there and saw how loved and cared for they are in this home. Sandy explained to us that the furnishings and the rent for the foster home are all donated and that without the private donations, these kids would be in the institutional setting of the orphanage where the opportunities are severely limited. Instead, these kids are flourishing in this kind of home-like setting. Sandy also explained that due to the upcoming Chinese holiday, she was planning to transport the kids back to the orphanage to stay through the holidays because there was no back-up for the foster mom to take time away with her own family for the holidays. Sandy suggested that the kids would be disappointed to be back at the orphanage even for a short time.
You can view the photos from this visit in the right sidebar slideshow. The two girls in the photos are matched with adoptive families who will travel to get them soon. The two boys have not been matched and although they have some special needs, they were very loving and fun children. Hopefully someone will find it in their heart to make them a part of their family soon!
After visiting this home, we went just down the street to a neighborhood Chinese restaurant for dinner with Sandy. Sandy is clearly well-known here as it is her neighborhood and she is a very engaging person who anyone who meets her couldn't help but loving. We also ran into one of her friends in Xi'an in the restaurant picking up take-out. Greg and his wife had just returned from Guangzhou having adopted a little girl from the Xi'an CWI. They are Americans from L.A. and Oakland, CA who have been living in Xi'an for 3 years. They were volunteers with the CWI, advanced to foster parenting and have now adopted a little girl to join their family of two boys.
Sandy ordered some wonderful food for us, including a plate of steamed broccoli. Our fickle eater, Ahn-Bao not only tried the broccoli, but loved it and couldn't get enough of it. Our first vegetable and glad now to have this in our repertoire. What a fun time to get to talk with Sandy and hear about her work teaching and working with children and parents. Truly a moving experience to be in her presence.
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