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Activities


 

A Team Members experience of life in EWI.

Arriving in Eagles' Wings I was almost like coming home. We had been travelling (and exploring Hong Kong and Shenzhen) for almost five days - so it was wonderful to be greeted by the excitement of the children I had met last year. I had really got to know XiaoXiao, JingJing, Xiao Jian, Fu Jie and Si Yan last year. I sponsor Si Yan - so it was great to be part of her excitement and catch up on cuddles and how she (and the others) have grown.

The other nine children have arrived in the intervening time. I had read their reports, looked at their photos and matched some of them with sponsors - so I felt I almost knew them. However, there is nothing like being able to take them in your arms and play with them.

I did not recognise Chun Li as the little girl I had taken up to the school in the orphanage last year. She has flowered with the love and the care she is getting. She has lost the 'dead-pan' expression and now smiles, 'chats', plays with toys and no longer eats books.

My heart went out to Guo Guo who is just two years old and blind and has been with us for only a couple of months. I first noticed him when he had been crying steadily for pretty much the entire afternoon. He was spending almost all his time just lying on his back - so I started to pick him up and cuddle him and rub my hands on his bare skin ('mother-touching') at every opportunity. Within a couple of days, he was much calmer. I introduced him to the bouncy net and he soon worked out how to rock himself on it. And from there he just seemed to go ahead in leaps and bounds. He is now quite a happy little fellow who loves his food, rolls around the floor, is almost sitting up properly and is trying to work out how to crawl. He is nowhere near the developmental level of a 'normal' two year old, but is slowly getting there.

Because my family has now grown up I am not used to the constant noise of children - even when they are happy. I like my own space, so the lack of 'time-out' was a bit of a challenge.

While the older children were at school, and when there was time (because I was often out  during the day too - at the orphanage or the school or shopping) I spent time with the younger children - playing, taking some of them for a walk in the village and a lot of 'mother-touching' with the tiny ones. Most evenings here, I spent on the floor or at a table doing jigsaws with the children. This could be a bit of a challenge when the younger ones want to join in by wandering off with the pieces and trying to fit them into another puzzle or hide them with their other 'treasures' (Just like in an ordinary family!).

We also had a lot of fun of an evening with their picture books. There are several of these with pictures and the name in English, Pinyin (Chinese written in our alphabet) as well as the Chinese characters. We used these books so they could teach me Chinese words for animals and colours - and I could teach them some English. Chinese is a tonal language. I'm blowed if I could hear the difference between what they were saying and what I was saying -  even when I got it to their satisfaction I wasn't too sure what I had done differently.

After moving across to EWII, I visited EWI every day or two to keep in contact with the children - especially the ones I hadn't been able to see during the day at school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are really happy to see the children thriving in this homely environment. This means that we now have approximately sixty or more children in our care. Obviously this requires sponsorship for the children through the Raising a Child in Eagles' Wings sponsorship program and for the Ayi’s wages, as well as the general everyday maintenance, food, transportation costs, clothes, the list is endless. So if this account of the day-to-day activities in EWII as well as relating to life in EWI and EW III touches you to give, please donate by clicking on the above links and then going to the appropriate sponsorship form to provide us with your details. Thank you for reading this article and please keep your eyes on this website for future updates.

Margaret Mason

COAT Secretary

07/2009