I never realized how hard it was to feed a baby with a cleft lip until today.
On Sunday, my host sister Lily took me to one of the high rises neighboring our own, telling me that we were going to the house of a woman named Amanda. This woman, she told me, had nine children. As I walked through the door to what looked like every other apartment I've seen since my arrival, I quickly discovered that I was in a very different place. As it turns out, Amanda has about 25 infants, none of which are her own. This seemingly normal apartment is, in actuality, a tiny orphanage for children with health problems. Their ages range from one month to four years, and their health issues from cleft pallets to down syndrome (and I had thought that the zoo was heartbreaking).
Despite its small size, the orphanage is horribly understaffed, and after speaking to Amanda, who is European, I discovered they are willing to take any help they can get. I went back today after school, and was immediately handed a baby with a cleft lip to feed. She was lighter than a bottle of water and her mouth struggled to grip the nipple of the baby bottle. Body shaking coughs arose from her throat nearly every time she managed to get a drop of formula between her lips. I now find myself both fascinated and upset by what I've seen, and fully intend on going back to help as often as I can.
I was told before I came here that each of us, the exchange students, would find at least one thing that would intrigue us like nothing before. In the fifth floor of a building in Feng Ye Xin Du Shi, I have found that one thing.