Goodbye from Hefei
Today started off with a big lump in my throat as I had to say goodbye to my team. Nothing like spending a week together on an international mission to cause quick and lasting friendships to form.
After visiting with some wonderful friends who had driven up from Hangzhou, we went to the cleft house to play with the babies and to check on how the kids who had surgery were doing. Everyone is doing so great! Only a few babies remain at the hospital, and they are all leaving tomorrow.
I promised a bit of info about our banquet last night. The food was good, the air was filled with laughter. Many toasts were made in celebration of the week of partnership and cooperation. The hospital offered a more formal and well thought out speech than I did, but no one seemed to care. We all exchanged gifts and emails, and then the vice president of the hospital sang a song for us in Chinese Opera fashion. We were asked to return the favor and had a request for “The Wheels on the Bus”. You will be so proud to know that we represented our country so well by singing at least 5 verses of that song.
Sadly, it was then time to say a final goodbye to our team and to all the new friends we had made. Thank you so much for being faithful followers of our trip. Thank you for your support of these precious children, and thank you for believing that every child counts.
Wendy Petersen, RN
