Field Visit Report -Shangrao



	Report of the Field Visit to Shangrao Orphanage April 6, 2002 by Dr. Peggy Gurrad

		We visited the Shangrao Social Welfare Institute on Saturday. The orphanage has about 90 residents and about 70 are children. Approximately 35 of the children are handicapped. Forty of the children live in the orphanage. They moved into their current building in October of 2000.

Shangrao Orphanage has been working with Amity since 1999, initially receiving school sponsorships. Currently 16 children are sponsored in school. Seven children received surgeries or medical aid last year. The director feels that this medical assistance not only helps the children’s bodies but also helps their minds. They feel better about themselves knowing their disability can be improved.

They have requested two nurses to work at the orphanage (taking turns so one will there at a time) since their access to a doctor is limited and a number of the children have medical problems. The nurses should also be able to help with rehab exercises for the handicapped children; there are some with cerebral palsy that need additional assistance.

They are also still badly in need of an industrial sized clothes dryer. An adoption agency had made a donation towards this a year and a half ago but it wasn’t enough money so the donation was used instead for formula and medical care. So we’ve told them that they would need to purchase the dryer first, then send the receipt and a photo to Amity and then they would be reimbursed. Getting clothes dry in the upcoming rainy season is very difficult and also during the cold months of winter.


	We saw an infant (pictured with Amity's Dr. Hong right) with congenital heart disease who will get their echocardiogram soon to see what type and how severe. There were two other children with heart disease that Gloria’s Place of Hope sent to Shanghai but their blood had low platelet counts and surgery couldn’t be done until this improved. Both of these children died, so the staff members are quite anxious for this baby to receive medical care.


	Upstairs we saw a sleeping room, which looked like it was for toddler/preschool age children. Next to that the primary students were in a large room with some desks. Since it was Saturday they weren’t in school and a staff person appeared to be helping them with their schoolwork. Many of these children are sponsored by us in school and have received support from us for surgeries. They are also some of the children that will be returning to the foster home they had to leave.


	We discussed the 20 children who recently were returned from their foster homes to the orphanage due to lack of funds. Ten of them are now back in their homes and we visited them there. Most of them have handicaps such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and hydrocephalus. Amity has not yet been working with Shangrao on foster care so we did note some improvements that will need to be made. In particular the cerebral palsy children need a rehab program and the foster mothers will need to be taught to work with the children on their exercises.


	We also met the children in the orphanage that will be returning to their foster homes soon. A couple of the older schoolchildren have been back at the orphanage for a bit and are happy there with their friends and don’t want to go back to foster care. One of the children that didn’t want to go back is a girl (right) with autism. The orphanage has a pet dog that roams freely in the building and plays with the children. This girl with autism has connected with the dog and this is the reason she wants to stay at the orphanage. So three special needs infants will be placed in foster care instead, two with cleft lip or palates and one with congenital heart disease.


	The orphanage only receives 104 yuan per child per month to provide all of the care for the orphans (including medical needs). They were giving this 104 yuan to the foster family plus some addition funds to bring the total to 200 yuan per month but were unable to afford to continue this. With the sponsorship from Amity (and still some contribution from the orphanage) they can return these children to foster care. The first ten were already back in their homes when we visited and the rest should be returning soon.

When we visited the foster homes we found the situation to be different than we expected after visiting foster homes for the orphanages were Amity has already been working.

The first home had four children who are cared for by the foster mother and her two grown daughters who are laid off workers. These children appear happy and adequately cared for. We don’t usually have this many children in one foster home so Dr. Qiu, the Amity staff person overseeing the foster care program, will review this situation. But since the children appear happy and three of them have been in this home for three to five years hopefully they will stay. It may be that the fourth, new child is moved to a new home.

Unfortunately, the second home was very disappointing. The foster mother and her daughter care for five handicapped children, four with cerebral palsy and one with hydrocephalus. It doesn’t appear that these children are receiving adequate care; it is just too much for the mother and daughter to handle. I’m sure that Amity will decide to move these children (or most of them) to new homes, fortunately some have only been in the home for about six months. And the foster parents will need instruction on working with handicapped children and will need to do exercises and activities to get them more mobile.

After comparing this home (not previously an Amity sponsored home - we are just starting foster care support at this orphanage) to the Amity sponsored homes that we saw at the other orphanages I was very grateful that we have an organization like Amity to work with. It really brings to light the fact that merely giving money and having the children placed in any home is not adequate. There needs to be instruction and guidelines for choosing homes and monitoring them. When Amity visits the orphanages they check the foster homes and teach the orphanage staff how to manage foster care. They also hold conferences for orphanage staff to attend that provide in depth instruction on running a foster care program.


	We now have three Grandmas at this orphanage and the director feels they have been especially good for the handicapped children and for those children needing better nutrition. When the children first arrive after being abandoned there are often very thin and need extra attention and feeding.