Rachel lives in Taiyuan City, Shanxi, China with a foster family. It's a very large, smoggy city. Their main industry is coal...thus the reason for the thick air. I, of course, have researched her province to learn more about her birth place and have discovered that despite the pollution, the city and the province are full of rich history, beautiful scenery, kind people, and lovely artifacts. We can't wait to see it with our own eyes!
We've also discovered that Rachel's foster family is overseen by the Taiyuan Social Welfare Institute. It's said to be one of the best orphanages in China. What a relief to us. The director of the orphanage has a real heart for children and his work there has reflected that. Most likely that means that Rachel is getting the best care possible for a child who has experienced such tragic losses in her short little life.
We have a good indication from her file that Rachel is well loved in her foster family. To the best of our knowledge she has been with this foster family since she was 3 months old. She is going to grieve and grieve very hard when we are united. At the age of 4 there is no way that she could fully understand that it's in her best interest for us to make her a part of our family and bring her halfway across the world to live in a strange land. The experience for her is likened to kidnapping. If you have or ever have had a 4 year old, imagine them being kidnapped and how scared they must be without their mom and dad. To Rachel her foster parents are her mom and dad and she is going to be taken from them and handed over to very different looking strangers. In her province it is rare to see a Caucasian. She may never have seen someone as pale as us. She may never have seen someone with blue eyes or green eyes. She may never have seen someone with red hair. Not only are we strangers....we're aliens! We smell, talk, and eat differently. So now we can liken the experience to being kidnapped by aliens!
I'll leave you with that image...that thought. It's very sobering, isn't it?
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