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Special Visits by Peggy Gurrad

Xinyu 2013-06
Yichun 2013-06
Ruijin 2013-06
Shangrao 2013-06
Wanzai 2013-06
Guangchang 2013-06
Ganzhou 2013-06
Pingxiang 2012-12
Yingtan 2012-11
Yichun 2012-11
Shangrao 2012-11
Ji-an 2012-11
Jingdezhen 2012-11

2013
Fengcheng 2013-12
Jiujiang 2013-12
Nanchang 2013-12
Jiujiang 2013-12
Ji-an 2013-12
Shanggao 2013-11
Leping 2013-11
Jingdezhen 2013-11
Shangrao 2013-10
Fuzhou 2013-10
Hengfeng 2013-09
Yingtan 2013-09
Ganzhou 2013-08
Ruijin 2013-08
Gao'an 2013-08
Jiujiang 2013-07
Pingxiang 2013-07
Shanggao 2013-06
Yichun 2013-06
Nanchang 2013-06
Wanzai 2013-06
Ji-an 2013-05
Jingdezhen 2013-05
Leping 2013-05
Fuzhou 2013-04
Yihuang 2013-04
Shangrao 2013-04
Xinyu 2013-03
Hengfeng 2013-03
Yingtan 2013-03
Ganzhou 2013-02
Gao'an 2013-02
Ruijin 2013-02
Pingxiang 2013-01
Yichun 2013-01
Wanzai 2013-01

2012
Nanchang 2012-12
Jiujiang 2012-12
Ji-an 2012-12
Jingdezhen 2012-11
Leping 2012-11
Shanggao 2012-11
Shangrao 2012-10
Fuzhou 2012-10
Yingtan 2012-09
Hengfeng 2012-09
Fengcheng 2012-09
Ruijin 2012-08
Gao'an 2012-08
Ganzhou 2012-08
Jiujiang 2012-07
Pingxiang 2012-07
Yichun 2012-07
Nanchang 2012-06
Shanggao 2012-06
Wanzai 2012-06
Leping 2012-05
Ji-an 2012-05
Jingdezhen 2012-05
Shangrao 2012-04
Fuzhou 2012-04
Yihuang 2012-04
Xinyu 2012-03
Yingtan 2012-03
Hengfeng 2012-03
Ruijin 2012-02
Ganzhou 2012-02
Gao'an 2012-02
Yichun 2012-01
Wanzai 2012-01
Pingxiang 2012-01

2011
Nanchang, Yingtan, Shangrao & Ji'an 2011-12
Ji-an 2011-12
Jiujiang 2011-12
Shanggao 2011-11
Jingdezhen 2011-11
Leping 2011-11
Yihuang 2011-10
Shangrao 2011-10
Fuzhou 2011-10
Fengcheng 2011-09
Yingtan 2011-09
Ganzhou 2011-09
Hengfeng 2011-09
Gao'an 2011-08
Ruijin 2011-08
Summary (Multiple) 2011-08
Pingxiang 2011-07
Nanchang 2011-07
Jingdezhen 2011-07
Ganzhou 2011-07
Ruijin 2011-07
Yichun 2011-07
Jiujiang 2011-07
Wanzai 2011-06
Shanggao 2011-06
Xinyu 2011-06
Leping 2011-05
Jingdezhen 2011-05
Ji-an 2011-05
Fuzhou 2011-04
Shangrao 2011-04
Hengfeng 2011-04
Ruijin 2011-03
Gao'an 2011-03
Yichun 2011-03
Yingtan 2011-02
Pingxiang 2011-02
Ganzhou 2011-02
Wanzai 2011-01
Guixi 2011-01


2010
Jiujiang 2010-12
Ji-an 2010-12
Nanchang 2010-12
Yichun 2010-12
Pingxiang 2010-12
Jingdezhen 2010-11
Leping 2010-11
Fuzhou 2010-11
Yihuang 2010-10
Ganzhou 2010-10
Gao'an 2010-09
Wanzai 2010-09
Shanggao 2010-09
Yingtan 2010-08
Xinyu 2010-08
Pingxiang 2010-07
Yichun 2010-07
Jiujiang 2010-07
Shangrao 2010-06
Ji'an 2010-06
Hengfeng 2010-06
Fuzhou 2010-05
Jingdezhen 2010-05
Ganzhou 2010-05
Ruijin 2010-05
Yingtan 2010-04
Hengfeng 2010-04
Jingdezhen 2010-04
Nanchang 2010-04
Gao'an 2010-04
Shanggao 2010-03
Yingtan 2010-03
Guixi 2010-03
Yichun 2010-02
Pingxiang 2010-02
Ji'an 2010-01
Wanzai 2010-01
Shangrao 2010-01
Hengfeng 2010-01


2009
Jiujiang 2009-12-B
Jiujiang 2009-12-A
Fuzhou 2009-12
Xinyu 2009-12
Yihuang 2009-11
Gao'an  2009-11
Fengcheng 2009-10
Leping 2009-10
Jingdezhen 2009-10
Yichun 2009-09
Ruijin 2009-09
Nanchang 2009-09
Pingxiang 2009-09
Wanzai 2009-09
Ganzhou 2009-08
Jiujiang 2009-08
Gao'an 2009-07
Shangrao 2009-06
Yichun 2009-03
Shangrao 2009-02



July 9, 2009 Ganzhou SWI Trip Report
General Information
  1. Head of Institute: Ding Kelang
  2. Head of Children's Department: Xie Hong
  3. Foster Care Program Coordinators: Qian Weiping
  4. Orphan population: Amity supports twenty children in foster care. There are over forty children living in the institute.
  5. Medical Check-up Status: Physical examinations take place every half a year. Foster children receive vaccines regularly.
Overall Impression

Institute Update: Ganzhou Zhanggong District’s institution is preparing a new office for foster care project office. Also, they’ve hired a new staff to help out. (Picture 1. This is the new office)

Interviews

Amity Grandma Update: Five Amity grandmas, Qi Hongying, Zhong Xiaoli, Liu Linlin, Zhong Lieyuan and Xiao Houying, are mainly responsible for taking care of babies and young toddlers with CP by teaching them cognition abilities and etc. They take turns working. On that day Zhong Xiaoli and Xiao Houying are working on the second floor and Zhong Lieyuan on the third floor. (See Pictures 2, 3, 4, 5)

Foster Family Visits: Met with 20 children and their families.  Reports (with a photo of the child) will be sent individually to foster sponsors and school sponsors.


June 15, 2009 Ji'An SWI Trip Report

General Information
 
  1. Head of Institute: President Huang
  2. Coordinator of the Foster Care Project: Peng Ying (office administrator)
  3. Medical Check-up Status: The staff of the institute go to the foster families to vaccinate the foster children who are in need of the vaccination on the 15th and 30th per month and on every 30th, they also give a medical examination for each foster child.
  4. Orphan Population: There are more than 60 children associated with the institute. Of these, 8 children receive sponsorship in foster care from the Amity Foundation, and 4-5 children receive sponsorship from the institute itself in foster care. More than 20 children (most of them are disabled or have severe cerebral palsy) live at the institute.
Overall Impression
The welfare institute: Ji’an welfare institute has recently built a three-storey building with a bright spacious canteen (Picture 1). The canteen provides the breakfast, the lunch and the dinner everyday and some disabled children who can take care of themselves can eat in the canteen. The welfare institute changes the environment of the children department: not only paints the building facades of the children department (Picture 2), but also improves the hygienic standard of each room and marks their utilities in front of each door.
Interviews
Amity Grandma Update: It is the turn of two grandmas to go to work that day: Guo Yuanlian and Zhou Guilian (Picture 3, Left: Guo Yuanlian, Right Zhou Guilian). They are partners and in charge of the rehabilitation of the disabled children and teaching the kids some basic knowledge.

Amity Grandma Guo Yuanlian: Guo Yuanlian was helping a child named FY write. FY is a child suffering from cerebral palsy. The grasping function of his right hand is bad, so he can only write with his left hand. With the training of the grandma, he can write some simple characters, but the written characters are not very neat. He couldn’t walk before the operation. After the operation, the grandma actively helped him do rehabilitation exercises. Now, FY can walk and can get dressed, eat and go to toilet himself. However, he can’t speak clearly. (Picture 4)

Amity Grandma Zhou Guiying: (Picture 5) Zhou Guiying was helping a child named FF do the rehabilitation exercises. FF is also a child suffering from cerebral palsy. She is 4 years old. She can’t stand and walk. Her lower limb is disabled and the muscle tone is high. At the beginning, when the grandma did the rehabilitation massage on her legs, she cried. But the grandma kept up doing the rehabilitation massage every day. After a period of rehabilitation, FF doesn’t cry any more and begin to enjoy the rehabilitation massage.

Met with children during foster family interviews.  Reports and photos will be sent individually to the foster sponsors.
New Requirements
There are many children in the institute and the summer is very hot and causes skin problems for the children, especially if they are not clean.  But there is only one water heater in the institute and children need to queue up for bath. So the institute applies for a solar water heater which costs about ¥4500.

April 9, 2009 Shanggao SWI Trip Report

General Information 
  1. Head of Institute: Leng Weiming (New)
  2. Vice Head of Institute: Director Huang
  3. Amity Foundation Foster Care Program Coordinators: Director Huang and Amity Grandma Li Xinzhen, who visit foster families once a month and will record any special circumstances they encounter.
  4. Medical Check-up Status: Foster children return to the institute once a month for medical checkups and their foster families take them to nearby disease prevention clinics regularly to receive vaccines and preventative care.
  5. Orphan Population: There are more than 30 children associated with the institute. Of these, 10 receive sponsorship from the Amity Foundation, and 20 children receive sponsorship from the institute itself. 5 children live at the institute.
Overall Impression 

Institute Update: Former Director Wu Xinmin retired during the second half of last year. A new director, Leng Weiming has taken his place. Leng Weiming was formerly employed at the Civil Administrations Office, and took over official duties at the institute in January. Director Leng noted that he now often goes to visit children in their foster families, and is now familiar with each child’s individual situations. Director Leng said that he would do his best to ensure that all of the children grow up in the most loving, caring, and healthy environments possible.

Amity Grandma Update: Met with three Amity Grandmas, Li Xinzhen, Xiong Suoxiu, and Liu Lianxiu. Li Xinzhen is mainly responsible for visiting foster families.

Xiong Suoxiu and Liu Lianxiu are responsible for providing nursing services in the nursery and going to individual foster families to carry out rehabilitation services. 

Foster Family Visits: Met with the families and their foster child.  A report and photo will be sent individually to each foster sponsor.

 

 

March 12, 2009 Yintan SWI Trip Report

General Information

  1. Head of Institute: Yu Xiaozhen
  2. Vice Head of Institute, Coordinator of the Foster Care Project: Zhan Jianjun
  3. Medical Check-up Status: Because sponsored children are mostly older, they only return to the institute twice a year for checkups.
  4. Orphan Population: There are more than 60 children associated with the institute. Of these, 21 receive sponsorship from the Amity Foundation, and more than 20 children receive sponsorship from the institute itself. More than 20 children (this number changes frequently, most of them are mentally retarded or have severe cerebral palsy) live at the institute.
 
Overall Impression

Foster Family: Most of the foster children at the Yingtan City Social Welfare Institute are in school. They lead a good life in foster family and have built deep relationships with their foster families. Being teenagers, some of the children can be disobedient. When they are rebellious, they are often easily persuaded, and listen to the wishes of their families. Currently, all the children are doing well at school. The social welfare institute is providing for all of the children’s needs. For example, the institute provides the children with notebooks and school supplies.

 
Interviews
Amity Grandma Update: Met with 3 Amity Grandmas: Zhou Meizhen, Yu Hongying and Doctor Wang Junjie. Wen Lili stopped working at the institute for personal reasons. Meanwhile Zhong Xiaofang took place of Wen Lili and has became Zhou Meizhen and Yu Hongying’s work partners. 
Amity Grandma Zhou Meizhen: Zhou Meizhen was helping a child named Fu XW do rehabilitation exercises. XW is a child suffering from Cerebral palsy. He understands what adults say to him and is able to talk with adults, but he is unable to walk and stand on his own. However he can walk with support under his arms and can walk with support from fixed objects standing on his both sides.
Amity Grandma Yu Hongying: Whenever Yu Hongying is on duty, she will play with DD, teaching her speak and helping her with rehabilitation exercises. DD also likes playing with Grandma Yu Hongying. DD is unable to walk stably due to her hydrocephalus. However, Yu Hongying is persistent in helping DD with her rehabilitation work.  

Amity Grandma Zhong Xiaofang: On the day of our visit, Zhong Xiaofang was helping Fu A do some rehabilitation exercises. A’s house is near the institute, so her foster mother takes her to the institute for rehabilitation work whenever she has free time. A suffers from paralysis of the right side of her body. At first, she was unable to extend her right hand and was unable to move her right leg. After Zhong Xiaofang helped her do rehabilitation exercises for quite a long time, she is now able to extend right arm to get things, and make steps with her right leg as well.  


Here,
 Doctor Wang Junjie is examining Fu XG, who was brought to the institute to receive treatment after having a cough for two days. Doctor Wang said XG was getting better and could go back to foster family after two days of treatment.



Here, Doctor Wang is examining an abandoned child. Every child needs to receive doctor’s primary examination and evaluation before living at the institute.



Sponsored School Child Fu J: He now is a seventh grade student at Nanchang Qiyin School. Now he is learning 9 subjects: Chinese, Math, Sign language, Art, Penmanship, PE, History and Ideological and Moral Cultivation. He is having some difficulty with his humanities subjects, and is worried that they might affect his score on the entrance exam for senior high school next year, but he said he would work hard to receive further education. Fu J’s best subjects are art and paper-cutting. He has taken art courses at the senior high school level and received excellent grades  
 

Sponsored School Child Fu X: He is now at New Oriented Cooking School of Nanchang city. On that day, he was doing knife-crafting exercise when we saw him in his dormitory.  Knife-crafting is his specialty. He won the second prize in the knife-crafting competition at the school. We learned from him that he is a student in the two-year TC0802 program. Now he is in the second year of this program and will graduate in half a year. After graduation, teachers in his school will recommend students to work with different hotels according to their abilities.


The new building Social Welfare Institute, which has an area of 3000 square meters, has been constructed, but it has not been furnished yet. Therefore, the children have not moved in yet.
 

By January, 2009, the Welfare Institute has received two wheelchairs and two walkers from the Amity Foundation.  These items are already being put to good use.

 






Fu MM’s right little finger treatment: She received stitches on her right little finger, although she is unable to bend it well, and it needs further exercises.
 
 


December 10, 2008 Yichun City SWI Trip Report

General Information
  1. Amity Foundation Foster Care Program Coordinator: Li Yan, Chen Qian, who go on family visits approximately once a month, and record any special circumstances.
  2. Orphan Population: There are more than 60 children associated with the institute. Of these, 10 receive sponsorship from the Amity Foundation, over 40 children receive sponsorship from the institute itself, and over 10 children live at the institute (most of the children have cerebral palsy or are mentally retarded).
  3. Medical Checkup Status: The children return to the institute twice a year to undergo medical checkups. The foster children also go to local disease prevention clinics for regular medical treatment.

Interviews

Child #1 is not even a month old yet. She is now drinking Feihe milk powder. She drinks 120 ml of milk each meal. She is a very cute baby, and goes to sleep when she is full. Yichun_1
Child #2 is a beautiful young girl. Her foster mother told us that when she arrived at her foster family, she was very small and thin. She didn’t even weigh 2 kg. She is now eating Feihe milk powder, and her weight is getting better. Yichun_2
Child #3 will soon be 10 months old. She drinks 200ml of milk every four hours. Although she is a bit short, her body is rather strong. Yichun_3
Child #4 is now over a month old, and is still drinking Feihe milk powder, but she often throws it up. Because of her problem keeping the milk down, she must be fed 100ml of milk 8-9 times a day. After she finishes eating she will fall asleep. Yichun_4
Child #5 is now over three months old. When she was born she already had two teeth. Since birth she has been drinking Feihe milk powder. She drinks 150-200ml every four hours. Her body strength is rather good, and seldom gets sick. She sleeps soundly. Yichun_5
Child #6 is now one year old, and has been drinking Feihe milk powder since birth. She has a decent appetite, and drinks 200ml of milk at each meal. She is a very cute and likeable child. Yichun_6
Child #7 has also been drinking Feihe milk powder since birth. She has a good appetite, and drinks a lot of milk, 350ml, at each meal. She crawls very quickly, and likes when adults help her walk Yichun_7
   
We would love to be able to offer milk power to more of the children of Yichun.  With your help, we could purchase additional formula and provide assistance to more of the small children in Yichun.  If you are able to donate to this cause, please contact us.
   

 

 Report of the Field Visit to Jiangxi Orphanages
3 orphanages in Jiangxi province
Participants:  Wu Anan and Zhou Bo from the Amity Foundation
Dates:  Mar.21-25, 2006

Schedule:             

Mar.21                   Travel from Nanjing to Nanchang
Ma
r.22                   Travel to Shangrao
Mar.23                   Travel to Yingtan
Mar.24                   Travel to Fuzhou, Fujian Province
Mar.25                   Back to Nanjing

 

  A Visit to Nanchang...font>

 

Activities: 

1.       Visited the Nanchang Orphanage and discussed both the present state of affairs as well as ongoing projects with the orphanage director and project coordinator.

2.       Observed the working conditions of the Amity Grandmas. Visited foster care area and the communicate-based rehabilitation room.

 
 
 

Observations and Comments:

Basic Information:

The standard amount of government financial support has been changed to 190 RMB per child per month in Nanchang.

 
 

Project Observation:  

During this visit to Nanchang, we visited the foster care area, including the new rehabilitation room in Hongdu. We met the two new Amity Grandmas, who just returned from two-weeks of practical skills training at the orphanage rehabilitation center. The training provided them with a renewed sense of confidence in their abilities and an abundance of love for children with special needs. They said, “We had not seen so many children with Cerebral Palsy before. We were moved to see them so happy to live with foster families. We will be so proud if we can do anything for them. Although we had medical and nursing experience in the hospital before we retired, the rehabilitation skills were new for us. But we now have confidence and will do our best to help these kids with love and care.”
   
  The rehabilitation room was recently moved to the first floor of an old apartment which was decorated by the orphanage. There are two rooms for activities. The rehabilitation equipment just arrived a few days ago and still needs to be set up. The children with Cerebral Palsy in the community will participate in rehabilitation activities. Ms. Ni, the teacher of the rehab room, is in charge of the rehabilitation, along with help of two Amity Grandmas.
   
  Yingtan 2005| Hengfeng 2005 | Shangrao 2005 | Nanchang 2005