The orphanage visit…

Saturday May 23 is designated as the day we’re to visit Maya’s previous home. We’re a bit anxious as she hasn’t been in a car except once on her way to meet us and we’re nervous about how she’ll deal with seeing her nannies & old home again. Plus, the drive is 3.5 hours EACH WAY and there are no car seats – we have to hold her.

The drive down was rough. Maya cried and fussed a lot and the weather was terrible – torrential downpours flooding highways and streets. When we got there, it was rather surreal. We’re driven up to a non-descript building with a side, lane entrance. The assistant-director met us at the gate and led us through the old building. Through our guide, she was telling us that the 1st two floors of the building are a home for the elderly. The 3rd floor is home to infants 1-3 months old and special needs babies. The 4th floor was Maya’s home – babies 4 months old plus.

There were 40 little faces looking out at us from their 36 silver cribs. 40 babies! Yes, some had 2 per crib and there were only 2 nannies (per shift) plus the assistant-director (A.D.) to care for them. Wow!! The cribs were strapped together in clusters of 8. The cribs had wood bottoms and no mattresses. Each crib only had a blanket and pillow inside to entertain the babies. Toys were reserved for the play-room. It was difficult to see and even harder to process how these little ones functioned in here. The orphanage finds an average of 3 new babies a month, most coming from young un-wed mothers from the villages that are unable to look after their babies in the city.

The assistant-director was very friendly and very excited that we had come to visit. They only get to see the adoptive families occasionally so they’re so happy when they get to meet the new family of one of their charges. She showed us the facility, answered our questions, gave us a copy of Maya’s finding ad (with her birth picture) and other documents then took us to Maya’s finding spot (where she was found abandoned). The A.D. clearly cared for Maya and Maya clearly cared for her. They laughed and cuddled together. The A.D. is the lady that was in the orphanage photo of Maya standing. These babies are obviously well cared for and well loved by the staff. I’m glad we were able to see this. It was a bitter-sweet visit that ended too soon.

After this visit, Maya was a new girl. We don’t understand why but she seemed to have some ‘closure’, if this can be associated with an infant. Maya laughed, clapped, played and just seemed happier overall. She even started bonding & coming to me! Woo hoo! Although daddy is still the preferred choice when tired or fussy, I’m now in the running for all other activities and enjoying being able to finally hold her for short periods of time.