China Team Update

Judy Elliott has just returned from co-leading an ICC China Team. She writes:

'I remember the day the team gathered outside the office to board the bus. Without warning firecrackers began to go off very near to us, giving one or two near heart attacks! A black car was parked by the entrance to the welfare centre baby area and the fire crackers were exploding near the car. Our translator explained that a Chinese family was collecting a baby for adoption. As the car pulled away I couldn’t help thinking about that baby – their new family were proudly fussing over her in the back seat and celebrating. The contrast was marked the next day when a police car arrived with a newly abandoned baby boy, born with a cleft lip and palette. He arrived under less auspicious circumstances and was quietly and quickly taken to the admission room for a thorough check up. What potentially different lives for these two babies!

Having been part of the first China Team to visit Heng Yang in November 2004 it was great to see some of the changes first hand. One of the most surprising was the way the older boys behaved during their afternoon craft session. It used to be utter chaos! Leisel Luscombe (ICC international volunteer) has worked very hard with these boys in difficult circumstances, many of them with very challenging behaviours. They are now used to Leisel’s afternoon craft session and obviously look forward to it. As she arrived and shepherded them round a table I stood amazed. The boys continued to sit relatively quietly waiting for her to return with all the equipment and spent the afternoon engaging them in cutting, gluing and pasting. This is a major step forward and an incredible achievement bearing in mind many of them, until recently, couldn’t even sit for any length of time. It may not sound much but this is another great success for the work in Heng Yang.'

Come and join an ICC China Team – you could change someone’s life, even your own!
www.intlchinaconcern.org