Welcome to Starfish orphanage!

(Disclaimer: In China I can edit the blogsite but not view the finished product...sorry if it looks funky)

This is Jade. People tend to think she is the most pretty of all 12 babies. She has longer eyelashes than most adults. When we first arrived 4 days ago (which was 4 days after she arrived in the orphanage), she just stared at the ceiling, mostly unaware of her surroundings. Because of understaffing and lacking funds in the government orphanages, thesicker babies are often malnourished, and their cries go unanswered, so it takes time for them to adjust to proper care. Jade smiles more every day, is increasingly aware of what's happening, and has started to cry! She has a heart condition, and we'll get a cardiogram on her sometime soon.

After everyone adjusts and learns the feeding and caretaking schedule, we'll start organizing all the things that have to be done. Medical examinations need to be done on all the babies that have heart conditions, since the government orphanage knew nothing more than the fact that they had heart conditions. We'll bring babies to hospitals near and far, help the orphanage become an established charity China, coordinate with medical missions from the US to here, lay groundwork for future volunteers and interns, etc. Until we get official nonprofit status in the US (which is an ongoing project), the funds are mostly from private donators.

Weak Sara- This was right after she threw up in three large swells, ALL over my strikingly hot hot-pink shirt and jeans. Her weight has hovered at about the same place for a week, due to the fact that she continues to throw up all the milk we feed her. She has a terrible hacking cough that makes a sound that even adults shouldn't make. We're worried about her, but many Chinese hospitals are not close to having US health standards, so we just keep trying different combinations of apple juice, diluted formula, and antibiotics. It requires tons of time to drop-feed her and just hold her when she cries relentlessly.

Xian has around 8 million in the immediate city area (I've been told). Traffic lights have little meaning, especially to the ancient men who ride old rusted oversized tricycles, loaded 10 feet high with scraps. I don't know what they do with the stuff, but they're all over the place. If it weren't for the pavement, modern buildings, street lights, and occasional Audi, you would think we were walking through the China of 100 years in the past. Our apartments are in the ritzy part of town…around $300/month, and the whole complex, which covers an entire city block, is patrolled by dozens of security guards that occasionally march in rank and file. The streets really aren't that dangerous, but they do a good job of making us look protected.