Morgan Girls Return To China - Part 3

By Susan Morgan
Friday, November 9, 2007
Guixi, Jiangxi Province, China

During breakfast, Tammy and I reviewed the questions that Anna, Mary Ruth, and I had come up with in the States that we wanted to ask about Anna's first year. We added one or two more then divided them into two categories - those for the SWI staff and those questions to keep for Anna's foster mom (Mrs. Huang) when we went to her house for lunch.

The Guixi SWI was just a short drive from our hotel in the city. As we drove up the narrow road to reach the complex of mostly pink-colored buildings, I wondered again about the circumstances surrounding Anna's being found outside the gates of the orphanage four days after her birth. Who exactly found her and when...and then what happened?... These questions and others occupied my thoughts as we drove up the only road leading to the orphanage, the one that Anna most likely traveled before she was found. I wondered also about what she was now thinking... How would this visit to her birthplace, and what we might find out, affect what she thought about herself?

The meeting to review Anna's orphanage file was held in a small room on the second floor of the main building. Workmen were busy taking down the handrail and installing a new one on the staircase as we made our way upstairs. Director Shao and Vice Director Yang along with Ms. Hou, the Supervisor of the Infants Department, facilitated the meeting, with Tammy asking our prepared questions and translating. Although it was confirmed that no "red note" had been found with Anna, we did learn some new information.

The present day orphanage gate was constructed around 2000 when the original, located at the top of the narrow road leading to the complex, was torn down during renovation. We realized that Anna was not found outside the current gate in 1996, but further down where the front of the new wall ended. Also, we learned that the "passerby named Peng Nianlan" who found Anna was an employee of the orphanage who went out into the courtyard on a cold December morning at about 6 am to get some water when she heard a baby crying. After she brought Anna in from outside the gate, the police were called. An investigation followed to confirm that the baby's parents could not be located. No clothing or blankets found with Anna were kept as all babies were given a bath and put in clean baby clothes. We were told Anna only stayed in the Guixi SWI for the day until a foster mother surnamed Huang, who lived less than half a mile away on the main highway, came to take her home. When I asked about how long Anna may have been outside the orphanage gate before being found, I was told probably not for more than several hours. There was a custom back in those days that firecrackers would be set off at night to alert the orphanage staff that there was a baby outside to be found as nearby farmers' animals sometimes roamed at night. Since no one heard anything, most likely Anna was left shortly before the sun came up early in the morning.

We were told that, of course, no one could say where Anna may have been from, Guixi city center or rural village on the outskirts, or who her birthparents might be... As Mrs. Huang joined the meeting near the end and greeted us warmly for the second time, I realized that we had found Anna's roots after all in this woman who had cared for her during her first year of life. Now, after ten years, a relationship was beginning to form that could provide some closure to Anna's questions about her past.

We left the meeting with a copy of the orphanage file, which Director Shao provided us upon request, and promised to send periodic updates on Anna's life in the States. We were invited to return to Guixi SWI in the years ahead and to stay in touch.

Ms. Hou accompanied Tammy and me as we walked towards Mrs. Huang's home just down the road for lunch. Mary Ruth and Anna had been invited to climb aboard the electric motorscooter that Anna's foster mom drove, so they were already eating snacks inside when we arrived. Many grandchildren and neighbors were gathered around the modest rural farmhouse as we were greeted by Mrs. Huang's husband and invited inside. We were introduced to her now grown daughter (who was eighteen during the time Anna lived there and liked to play with her) and her oldest son and daughter-in-law. Another son lives in Guandong Province. A wooden table, narrow benches, and a large cabinet holding some bowls were in the front room. An adjoining bedroom was the one that Anna had shared with her foster mother. On the wall was a calendar with a large cross and Tammy translated that Mrs. Huang was a Christian, one of only several in their village, who attended church every Sunday. She had taken Anna as a baby with her and felt that the prayers had helped protect her as she had no parents to do so.

The lunch was a hearty one with plates of delicious food reminding me of those in rural An Shang Village in Shaanxi Province where the girls and I learned so much about the lives of the farmers in China while teaching conversational English with Global Volunteers. Mrs. Huang, through Tammy as she spoke no English, told us about her life growing up in Guixi and her reasons for becoming a foster mother. She talked about the first time she saw Anna on the day she was found and about how she cried for several days a year later when the orphanage officials came to take Anna to Nanchang to be adopted. For ten years she never expected to see her foster child again and when they told her we were coming back she couldn't sleep for the excitement. As I pulled out photos to pass around, it seemed as if this day was closing a hole that had existed in the lives of both Anna and her foster mother.

After lunch we were invited to tour the house to take more photos. Several Guixi foster moms stopped in who lived in the village hoping that perhaps we could reconnect them with some of their foster children from years ago who had been adopted in the US. As I copied down some information and took a few photos of them, I hoped that my efforts would be rewarded with equally wonderful reunions as ours had been.

We decided to walk back to the SWI and take some photos of the outside area where Anna was found and her foster mother wanted to join us (which was wonderful as no one was ready to say goodbye). We were pleasantly surprised when arriving at the site we met two other foster moms who chatted with us for quite awhile as Anna and Mary Ruth scavanged for small rocks on the ground for their treasure boxes.

One of the ladies had to leave us but the other foster mom, along with Anna's, continued to walk with us as we headed towards a nearby scenic spot where one could have a wonderful view of Guixi. The large hill with steep cliffs had a hole through it like a tunnel and it reminded me of "Elephant Trunk Hill" in Guilin in Southwest China. The weather was sunny and pleasant, a beautiful day as we strolled past rural village houses along the tree shaded lane. When we reached the hill and started to climb, I was grateful for the occasional helping hand from the foster moms whose climbing skills sure beat mine! The girls scampered along unaided for the most part and once or twice, in a reversal of roles, Anna offered her hand and helped her foster mother in a particularly steep spot. Once at the top, Tammy and I took out our cameras for some (I hope!) great pictures.

After the walk back down, we reached the orphanage gate and the foster moms with us invited us to see the babies again. We were very happy as we had only had a short visit the day before in one room. We ended up spending quite a long time playing with the babies and toddlers until almost suppertime when we had to leave. The children all appeared healthy and very clean. We all hoped to visit again someday.

Mrs. Huang wanted us to have dinner at her house and we hoped she'd eat with us at a restaurant rather than giving her more work to do. In Chinese style (!) we each tried to invite the other to have dinner with no resolution. Finally, Anna's foster mom stated that she would just have a simple meal and that it had been ten long years until this day so it was not a lot of work for her. We didn't feel we could refuse.

Entering her house as the sun began to set now felt like home despite the difference in appearance, lifestyle, language, and culture of our two families. There were really more similarities deep down, they just weren't as obvious. Almost as soon as we finished eating, the taxi that had been called showed up and we all rushed to gather up our belongings. We walked in the now dark night to the road and Anna gave "Mama Huang" one last hug before hopping into the taxi. I was grateful for the quick departure as I felt it made it easier for everyone, especially Anna's foster mom. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to have given her a copy of the red memory book "Anna Gwendolynn Hongxiang Morgan's Bethany Adoption Story," translated into Chinese by Cindy Liu, which we had printed if and when we were ever able to return to China and find her. In it is an old photo of "Mama Huang" and the caption reads in part..."she was given a baby found outside the walls of the orphanage by a passerby and took wonderful care of her for almost a year - the baby's name became Anna Gwendolynn Hongxiang Morgan. Someday, she will meet her foster daughter again..."





China-Babies Research