Good Things are Happening

I truly cannot believe it's already May 12th!! Where oh where has time gone?!

Things have been moving right along here in Hunchun since my last post. I must say that being here the second time around has brought a new sense of "home." All of the glamour is gone but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's like wearing an old pair of jeans - they seem to fit just right. But don't get me wrong, nothing is at the point of being mundane or slow.

I worked with the stroke-affected adults for a couple of months to place their feet on better ground by demonstrating appropriate exercises and techniques. Because each individual had suffered the stroke one year or more prior, there was only so much I could do to help. Before I stopped going 4x/week, they assured me they felt confident with what I had shown them. I still visit them from time to time to check in. They each became dear to me and continue to hold a special place in my heart. Many mornings I see them walking on the street and it makes me smile every time. It's nice to be walking through town, see an old friend, and have the ability to chat with them a bit in Chinese.

At Special School, most things are much easier and more enjoyable now that the snow and ice are gone. It's great to see the children out playing and enjoying themselves. This coming Sunday is Disabled Day in China which means Sports Day will be this Friday at Special School. It's set up similar to Special Olympics and everyone, from the students and parents to the teachers and volunteers, loves Sports Day! Various types of competitions are held (even a tug-of-war between the volunteers and the teachers). It should be a great day! In addition to that excitement, hippotherapy starts up again on May 24th and the children are elated! They've been asking about riding horses since I returned in January :) Much goes into the program and I hope to get all of the details worked out in time.




Two brief news clips: 1st - The pediatric wheelchair I ordered for Song Ju came in from Beijing! Just as a reminder, he has muscular dystrophy and can no longer walk. The Province I live in (which is comparable to a US state) didn't have any small wheelchairs so we had to purchase an adult chair for temporary purposes. It made me cringe a little seeing him in it, but it was necessary for him to have a chair. I included both pictures so that you could see the difference in his posture. He was so excited when he saw it and his mother was incredibly grateful. He really seems to be happy and is even enjoying coming to therapy! :) 2nd - A mother in the community heard about the therapy at Special School so she brought her 6 year old son, Li Jia Cheng, in to see me. It was immediately apparent that his Achilles tendon was too short and needed to be surgically lengthened. What a blessing to find out soon after meeting Jia Cheng that the orthopedic surgeon from South Korea was making his yearly visit to Yanji one month later. This surgeon's work is excellent, his heart is worn on his sleeve, and he does his procedures at 1/2 price when he comes to China. Jia Cheng's family is very poor but, with the assistance of a Stateside couple whom I met last year when they visited Hunchun, we were able to pay for Jia Cheng's surgery and hospital stay. The surgery went extremely well and, with a cast on, he was walking 3 days later! I recently visited him and his mother and younger brother in their home. I was so happy to see Jia Cheng smiling ear to ear and walking about! You see, great things are happening!

Thank you so much for your continued support, love and interest! I truly feel blessed to be here and to be living this part of my dream! I'm happily living in the moment!

~keira