[blparent] the China adoption

[sharon howerton]

I am by no means an expert on China, but I work for Hadley, and we have a 
school in China where blind individuals there can learn English. We offer a 
number of English chats for our China students, and I moderate them twice a 
month. Life for the blind there is so different. For the most part, they do 
not travel alone. Some of our staff went there a couple of years ago for the 
25th anniversary of our Hadley China. One of them was a mobility instructor, 
she brought some canes and couldn't keep them long enough! Many were hungry 
to learn, but whether they were able to continue traveling independently 
after the little bit of instruction Ginger could give them I don't know. 
Many do not seem to work, but some who do seem to work as massage 
therapists. The computer is their life and their tie to the outside world. I 
am saddened to think of this girl at age 14 and if I can locate her email, 
I'll ask one of the regular student participants about what happens to 
orphans like this girl. Actually, I have the email address of one of our 
faculty who co-moderated with me before; I'd feel very comfortable asking 
her, too, though their school is closed now for the Chinese New Year which 
occurred February 14. It is indeed a very different world. For those of us 
who have very active lives, care for ourselves and have cared for our 
children, it is hard to imagine what their lives must be like. Even to be 
deprived of the freedom of mobility is incomprehensible.
Sharon