August 3, 2009
Today we took about 35 kids from PHF to the Blue Zoo Aquarium in Beijing. We were paired up individually with kids. My kid was Hayden. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bus. All of the kids were excited to go. At first I felt a little helpless because I couldn’t communicate very well with Hayden, but I started putting together what little Chinese I knew and was able to ask her things like her age (she is 6) and if she wanted to drink some water. I showed her my little picture album that I brought with my family members in it and tried explaining in
Chinese who they were. She liked that. I tried to use my dictionary when I didn’t know words, but Hayden thought I was ignoring her, and so she took the dictionary away from me and did not want to give it back! She is a very sweet and loving little girl, who liked to hold my hand and was very obedient. Every now and then, she would come up and give me a great big hug. She also really liked my camera and took a bazillion pictures with it. We arrived at the Blue Zoo and after a lengthy potty break, we went in. It was pretty neat….there was an underwater tunnel with a people mover on it. It was funny watching Hayden get on that for the first time. She also apparently had never been on an escalator before either. She had a tough time getting on that! The underwater tunnel was so cool. It was basically made out of glass and so you could see fish and mermaids and scuba divers above and all around you. Hayden really liked it. After that we went back to the buses and to lunch KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken is in China). After that, we hung around outside for a while until everyone finished up. I started to notice how everyone would stare at Hayden’s face. She has a large tumor that will grow and grow until she is about 14. It has severely disfigured one side of her face. The good news, is that with a series of surgeries, by the time she is 14, you would hardly be able to tell she has a problem. The bad news is that by the time she gets the surgeries (if she gets them), her self-esteem may very well be shot. I really want to help this little girl. She is so sweet. We loaded up the buses and headed back to PHF. Another miracle….after drinking 20 oz pops, no one had to go to the bathroom on the hour plus drive back! We got back and I delivered Hayden to her house and said good-bye. I really enjoyed the one-on-one time with her. So far this has been my favorite thing on the trip.
Today we took about 35 kids from PHF to the Blue Zoo Aquarium in Beijing. We were paired up individually with kids. My kid was Hayden. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bus. All of the kids were excited to go. At first I felt a little helpless because I couldn’t communicate very well with Hayden, but I started putting together what little Chinese I knew and was able to ask her things like her age (she is 6) and if she wanted to drink some water. I showed her my little picture album that I brought with my family members in it and tried explaining in
Chinese who they were. She liked that. I tried to use my dictionary when I didn’t know words, but Hayden thought I was ignoring her, and so she took the dictionary away from me and did not want to give it back! She is a very sweet and loving little girl, who liked to hold my hand and was very obedient. Every now and then, she would come up and give me a great big hug. She also really liked my camera and took a bazillion pictures with it. We arrived at the Blue Zoo and after a lengthy potty break, we went in. It was pretty neat….there was an underwater tunnel with a people mover on it. It was funny watching Hayden get on that for the first time. She also apparently had never been on an escalator before either. She had a tough time getting on that! The underwater tunnel was so cool. It was basically made out of glass and so you could see fish and mermaids and scuba divers above and all around you. Hayden really liked it. After that we went back to the buses and to lunch KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken is in China). After that, we hung around outside for a while until everyone finished up. I started to notice how everyone would stare at Hayden’s face. She has a large tumor that will grow and grow until she is about 14. It has severely disfigured one side of her face. The good news, is that with a series of surgeries, by the time she is 14, you would hardly be able to tell she has a problem. The bad news is that by the time she gets the surgeries (if she gets them), her self-esteem may very well be shot. I really want to help this little girl. She is so sweet. We loaded up the buses and headed back to PHF. Another miracle….after drinking 20 oz pops, no one had to go to the bathroom on the hour plus drive back! We got back and I delivered Hayden to her house and said good-bye. I really enjoyed the one-on-one time with her. So far this has been my favorite thing on the trip.
MOMMY!!!! she's so cute!
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