Friday, December 25, 2009

Where Our Daughter Is From

Danny is on his way now to where Lia Kate came from in an effort to piece together her past and to take pictures and video of what her first 16 months were like. Lia Kate lived in an orphanage in Guangdong Province, way down South, since she was 12 days old. I wanted to give you an idea of the magnitude of China's orphan situation.

First, here is a map of China, divided into provinces.

Lia Kate's province is Guangdong, which is at the bottom in yellow.

Here is a map of Guangdong province ...

... all of the little "houses" are where orphanages are known to be. There are 57 known orphanages in Guangdong province alone. Now, go back and look at the map of China. I really can't fathom how many children are living in orphanages in China right now. Only a small proportion of these orphans will ever be adopted.

Thankful our agency put together this day trip for Danny. Her orphanage is far away enough (6 hours) that most would tell us it's too far to travel. Her orphanage, Lianjiang SWI has also granted Danny permission to visit. We are so grateful.

Hope to have pics up tomorrow!

2 comments:

THE BALOGH BUNCH said...

Just after reading this post I was helping Ford with his Snap Circuits he got for Christmas. On the back it said, "made in Guang Dong, China"!! I then showed Ford the map you have posted to show him how far his Snap Circuits had travelled! Emily, you are currently his hero for having held and fed a baby tiger (it is the Auburn fan in him!). Continuing to pray for all of you -- your story is such a sweet one.

Anonymous said...

Just a tip, if you are interested culturally, you could try to check with the orphanage where you daughter is actually from. Most of the abandoned girls are from north/west China in the undeveloped regions, and then brought to the orphanages in Guangdong where it is more modernized for adoptions and care although it is possible she was born in the region, there is so many different ethnic groups (that us foreigners can't really tell apart), that even if she is from Guangdong she may not be (originally) Cantonese. I have a one-year old daughter here in GD as well, and congratulate you on your new addition!