The day before THE DAY, we visited Poyang (or Boyang: 鄱陽縣). We wanted to see a bit of the town where our daughter was found and has spent her first seven and a half months. We were told beforehand that we would not be allowed to visit the orphanage, and we only pretended to take a picture of the outisde gate, andother of er founding palce, and walk a bit around the strets.

In fact we were luckier than that: we could get into the Social Welfare Institute complex, up to the door of the orphanage door. And we were able to talk to the director and other staff members (through our guide, indeed...). Some importnat points:

1. •The SWI is rather new, in a new are on the city’s Northern part. There are many buildings, in a large and quiet area.
   

2. •The orphanage itself is rather small, hosting some 40 babies. As they had close to 60 babies on care, some 20 were placed in foster care. Our daughter for instance was on foster care since early September, that is, after the referral. This is why your baby might have been with a family even if the referral file said nothing about that.
   

3. •The most important part: we were very favorable impressed by the orphanage itself (bear in mind that Poyang County is among the poorest areas in Jiangxi, one of the poorest Provinces in China..). But above all, we were very favorable impressed by the careakers, and director, how they interacted with the children, how all f them seemed to be really loved.
   

4. •My wife is a school teacher, with over 20 years experience with 3-to-5 years old children. She insists that not only our daughter but all the other babies from Poyang we met are remarkably up-to-age in development and psycho-motricity skulls. And, even more remarkably, in relational skills. The babies seem very well taken care of, and they seem to have received lots of affective attention. The fact that many have spent the very last weeks before adoption in a foster family should certainly help.
   

We got the permission from the oprhanage director to publish these pictures. So here they are, as we know that many families have been looking for some info on this SWI that has only recently the international program

Instructions: Go to Pictures on the menubar (page top). Click on Slideshow for an automated ...err, slideshow, you guessed it. Click on the first (or any other) picture to see a bigger image, and navigate manually though the album. On any individual slide, you can add comments or download to your computer a ful-res (well, more or less) version of any and all of them. And be patient, because it might need some time to upload....

Amadeu & Maria

amadeu01 (at) mac (dot) com