Hailee's Orphanage

Hailee and I were talking about all the changes that have taken place in the orphanage since she was there. We thought we would show you how it looks now -- they have really done a nice job of updating things.

This is the road leading to the orphanage -- Yulia was trying to put lipstick on with a brush as we turned on this road. She asked Yerlan to please stop hitting the bumps . . . . she laughingly explained that although we would see many changes inside the orphanage the road to it remained the same as it was nine years ago. She was right.












The outside had definitely been redone -- the fence surrounding the orphanage was new. We were surprised with how it looked now -- very welcoming!













If you look closely at this picture you can see a play structure in the back of the orphanage. When Hailee was turning 6 or 7 Tree of Life was asking for donations to build it. After we read the letter they sent Hailee decided to send her birthday money for the children's playground -- she said that she knew the children needed a place to play. She checked it out while we were there . . . .










Upon entering the orphanage you take a sharp right and head up the stairs - the walls have been decorated with cute pictures and the railings have been painted a bright color. When we visited with Hailee it was a very dreary walk up to her room. The smell was often so awful I wished I could plug my nose without offending anyone . . . .






When you reached her room there was an area filled with cubbies where the coats and boots were stored. Now this area is cleared and filled with chairs and plants. The actual bedroom where Hailee slept was drab, the only color in the room were the mint green bedspreads -- now the room is bright and cheerful. It had just been redone and would be filled with 10-13 year old girls in the next few weeks.


See the greenish bedspread on the bed under the window -- this is where Hailee's bed was. She remembered that immediately upon entering the room. She knew too that the room was much prettier than it was when she was there.


Although Hailee claims she doesn't remember this hallway Jack & I definitely do. It was in this hall that Hailee waited for us most days when we came to visit -- it was this hallway that she ran down each and every time she saw us. There was never a day that she stayed put and greeted us with a hug . . . . ahhh . . . .the memories!

And finally, this is the area that we were in the day we came to pick Hailee up for the last time. After chasing her down the hallway we were told to change her into the clothes we had brought. That wasn't happening -- Hailee allowed us to change everything out on the bottom, however when we tried to change her sweater she wouldn't allow it. She cried and told Yulia that she liked her sweater and didn't want to get a new one. The director allowed us to leave with the sweater on but we had to send it back the next day . . . . Hailee was quite a handful at the orphanage . . . .

It was good for us to see the changes that have been done over the years. The children have so much more than when Hailee was there, they have toys, bikes, the opportunity to go to the neighborhood school and so on. We found that although the orphanage building has been painted and decorated there is one thing that remains the same. The children in this orphange receive much love -- we could see that nine years ago and it still shows through today.