Visiting Gladney Foster Care Center

I neglected to say that on Wednesday, we also visited each of the Gladney Care Centers. We were there in October to meet Arri and naturally we saw other children, but we didn't interact with them since we wanted to spend all of our time with Arri. On the second trip, Travis took us to each house to see all of the babies. We had some care packages to deliver to children from the families who are waiting to bring them home, and that was real treat. We remembered how much it meant to us when families delivered packages to Arri for us.

I can't post pictures of other people's children, so I don't have photos to share. I can say that one of the cutest sights in the world is to see the babies sunning. Each morning, the caretakers take the babies out and strip off their diapers, so they can get some sun. What an adorable sight! All of those little butts!

The toddlers are precious, too. They are taught the ABC's, numbers, etc. The caretakers of the babies generally do not speak English, but the caretakers of the older children know enough to begin teaching the children English. Virtually all of the children at Gladney will be adopted to American families. When we were there, Gladney was caring for about 100 children at its foster care centers.

As an aside, on our first trip, we visited the government orphanages. Gladney is a private adoption agency, but there are orphanages run by the government. Some of those children will be adopted, and others will spend their lives in the orphanage. Gladney does a tremendous amount to support the children in the gov't orphanages. I can't explain why some children end up at a care center like Gladney, and some end up at the gov't orphanage. I don't know the ins and outs of that process. All I can say is that the children like Arri are so fortunate. I had to walk out of the baby orphanage run by the gov't; it was too emotional to be there and not be able to help those children. We can help them, by giving money for more caretakers, diapers, formula, and other necessities. But still, seeing those children was a real kick in the gut, a sight I won't ever forget. You will hold your own children tighter, when you have seen children who have no one to hold them.