In June of this year, an LWB team member stopped at an orphanage to pick up a little girl we were hoping to help medically. He thought it would be a fairly routine trip, as we had all the permissions already in place. While waiting for her final paperwork, he walked over to one of the orphanage cribs and saw a thin little boy who was clearly in distress.
June 1 is International Children’s Day, a time set aside to promote the welfare and well-being of children around the world. In China, this day is usually a favorite for children living in orphanages as they are often treated to a special meal or receive gifts of fruit or sweets. Many orphanages will take the children in their care to parks or other outdoor locations as well. This year in China COVID-19 restrictions meant that many of the celebrations for orphaned children, including the kids in our healing home, were held indoors.
When I first walked into our China Healing Home to meet its precious little residents, it was a Wednesday morning in early December — time now forever marked in my mind as “pre-coronavirus”. The sun was shining through the window, and a nanny introduced me to each of the children one by one. I was excited to meet all of the children who are cared for so lovingly in this home, but I was especially looking forward to seeing Baby Mason, a brand new 6-month-old arrival to our home with a very broken heart.
During the time of the coronavirus, many of us are just getting used to what it means to be sheltering in place. If you scroll through a Facebook feed, you’ll see lots of humorous memes from frazzled parents, adjusting to being home 24/7 with their kids. Well, our China Healing Home nannies are definitely pros by now, as they’ve been on complete lock-down since January 26th. That means they are now on Day 74 of watching over the orphaned children in our care – without getting a single break.
