Saving "Treasure"!

Guo Tong Yi was found in June 2007 when she was less than one year old. Police couldn’t find her parents so she was sent to our Xining Children’s Home.  We found that she had hydrocephalus, which can cause the heads of babies to swell to accommodate excess cerebral spinal fluid.  We took her to Beijing for surgery and Teresa, a wonderful friend of Christian Action, paid for a shunt to be placed in Tong Yi’s head. She then cared for this little infant for a few months after surgery. When Tong Yi recovered, we arranged for her to be cared for by foster parents in Xining for two years.

By the time she was adopted by the Brewster family in January this year, Tong Yi had become quite a little chatterbox and constantly referred to herself as Bao Bao, which means 'little treasure' in Mandarin. I explained this to Laura Brewster who came to China to collect her new daughter, and now the whole Brewster family agrees wholeheartedly that Tong Yi is truly a treasure, although her name is now  Rosemary.

Laura sent this email last week:

Rosie could not be doing better.  She is healthy, happy and cherished by her whole extended family. She has just rolled with the punches, adapting to a new family, new language, new foods, and new smells with a grace that most adults would envy.  She has also grown two clothing sizes!
 
She has had X-rays and a CT scan, as well as an appointment with a neurosurgeon to evaluate her shunt.  Everything looks great. The hydrocephalus seems to have had no deleterious effects.

She is very bright, has learned English very quickly, and has fantastic fine motor skills.  She knows her colors, loves letters, counting, reading and singing nursery rhymes.  She is always asking me to “do school” with her.

We own and operate a flower farm in the summer time, and Rosie is a very enthusiastic helper.  She especially loves working with her daddy, who is completely smitten with her.  She planted two cherry tomato plants, and is so proud of her own harvest.  If you could only have seen the glow lighting up her face when she brought me her first tomato to try!

Rosie’s three big brothers are as crazy about her as her mom and dad.  It would be hard not to love her; she is such a joy.  She and Joseph (our 5-year-old from Henan province) are the best of friends, and can usually be found together, giggling and plotting some sort of mischief.

Every night Rosie ends her prayers by thanking God for “my mommy, my daddy, my Isaac, my Lukey and my Joseph… I thank God for ALL my people!”  Little does she know how ardently we are thanking God for her!
 
Words cannot tell how grateful my husband and I are for the gift of this little girl in our lives and the role that Teresa and Christian Action played in getting her healthy and placed for adoption.  The world is a better place with her in it.  I am awed and humbled to think that saving her life is only one small part of the beautiful work you have done and continue to do.  Thank you!

Have a good week!

-Siew Mei