March 16, 2006

Today we went to the orphanage where Delaney lived. It was very disturbing to see the conditions these children live in. Many of us could not hold back the tears, it was heart wrenching.The room where the children slept was apprx. 10ft by10 ft with concrete walls and floors. The bedding was worn and the room was dark and dingy. The crib Delaney was in had rope holding some of the bars together. It was very sad to see the condition these babies live in. It was very apparent they didn’t get much stimulation of any kind. There were about 7 cribs in the room with two babies in each crib.One nanny cared for 12 children. As we were getting off the bus there were several loud explosions. There is a coal mine right next to the orphanage that operated 24 hours a day and these explosions occur all through the night. There was a very large grave yard next to the orphanage. We were all shown where our babies were found, Delaney was found at the gate of the orphanage. . The round trip was apprx. seven hours with a stop for Chinese food for lunch-Tofu was the speciality-Yum, Yum.

We were all tired after the trip, so Bill went to Pizza Hut and brought a pizza back to the room for Michael and Tina and he went to the hotel restaurant for fettuccine.