Today has been different but very good. We spent this morning visiting the Jinan Welfare Center (Government run orphanage) and this afternoon at a Youth Community Center run by Percy Wong and his organisation. 

The Welfare Center is home to 400 Children with 95% of them being disabled – physically or mentally. The center receives 200 new babies every year (who have been orphaned or abandoned).  Those that are physically and mentally OK are usually adopted – most internationally – with over 100 adoptions per year. The "others", which are considered "un-adoptable" are kept at the Welfare Center.  So of the 400 or so children only about 60 or so are infants (under 2).  (Below: singing worship songs for the children at the welfare centre.)
 
I must add that this Welfare Center is very progressive – much better than several others I have visited in China. The leader has visited HK and they have had international consultants come in as they built the new center – which was finished the end of 2011.  The Welfare Center has arranged Foster Care (still very uncommon in China) and is doing small group homes (couples living at the center and being paid to care for 6 or so children – very progressive for China – vs the standard institutional care of dozens in a room mostly found in China).   The pictures we could take were limited but attached are a few from this morning.