He’s a hard kid to match. On paper, he’s a hard match. 7 years old. Serious heart condition. And, he’s a boy.
“Help this one,” the nannies told me. “He’s open and clever. He’s a good boy.” I nodded and agreed. Yes, he’s so sweet. yes, I’ll help him. But, I know he’s a hard match.
Day 1. He loved the dollar store echo microphone and ran around with it like a game show host, inviting others to speak into it and marvel at the sound it made (and the way it made all the grown ups jump). Of course, this was made better via stickers and funny poses.
Day 2. He thought the flippy ball thing was pure magic. He and his buddies smiled for the camera, all of them requesting to see each shot on the screen after it was taken. And, he sang EIEIO with some serious passion acting out a tiger, chicken, rabbit (what does a bunny say?), and elephant. Apparently, American farms are seriously boring compared to Chinese ones.
Day 4. He walked hand in hand with a new friend at the zoo, calling out to her with “Ayi!” to get her to admire along with him the pandas and the giraffes and the hippos. (Again, an experience clearly sweetened by stickers.)
“Help this one,” they said again as we prepared to leave. “Yes, he’s so sweet. I promise I’ll try.” And, I meant it. After all, he’s an easy kid to match. He’s animated and social, well loved and content. Everybody likes him. And, he’s pretty incredibly adorable with the stickers and microphone.
I heard that he crossed his arms and refused to go to kindergarten class the day after we left. “I won’t go unless the Americans are here,” he told his teacher. That sweet teacher smiled and said, “Okay, that’s fine. Wait to go to school again until they come for you.” That seemed to satisfy him enough to get him to comply. And, I’m pretty sure he’ll be singing EIEIO until then.
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“Wayland” has been waiting for someone to come for him and is eligible for adoption through Madison Adoption Associates for only 2 more weeks as of today. He’s labeled “special focus” which means that any family regardless if they are paper ready or just considering adoption for the first time can say yes to him. Email me personally or Sarah@madisonadoption.org, who works for Madison Adoption Associates, for more information.
Most pictures (aka the really good ones) courtesy of Nicole from Living Out His Love. Video courtesy of an ayi who wanted me to know that the children and she missed us.
I keep up with one of the staff at the orphanage where we serve. Her name means beautiful, likely given to her as a wish by whoever was in charge of intake and naming when she was abandoned as a baby at the same orphanage where she now works. It’s a name that fits her well. In October 2015, I led my first staff training there. It is a video driven training where, simply put, we capture the good and magnify it. We used a number of clips that day but the most effective clip we used was one featuring her. I had entered a classroom to observe and take notes of a child in the class. As I did, I caught one of the most beautiful moments there I’ve ever seen, a moment shared by a little boy who would soon be someone’s son and a young woman, an orphan never chosen made teacher. Not long ago, I asked her what it was like for her to be come to a mandatory staff training, sit far in the back looking at the backs of the heads of all those ranked higher than her, and then see herself on the large screen in the front as an example of what good caregiving looks like. It’s a bit of a puzzle talking back and forth as we both use app translations to communicate. Among all of the pieces of our conversation puzzle as she responded to me, there were a few phrases that became ones that I wanted to read over and over again. One of those such phrases was this one: 让我想要做的更好—It made me want to do better.
