Beijing Summer Camp 2007

Report No. 2: CCAA Visit

by Gongzhan Wu, August 15



The opening ceremony took place in the multi-function room on the 17th floor of CCAA's headquarter building. Ms. Chu Xiao Ying, Deputy Director General, and Mr. Ji Gang, Director of Tomorrow Project Office at CCAA, played the role of emcee.

Ms. Lu Ying, Director General, announced the opening of the Embracing China & Experiencing Beijing Summer Camp and appointed Mr. Ji as the head of the camp.

Mr. Li took the camp flag from Mr. Lu and passed it on to Sarah Heath, a camper who was originally from Jiangsu province and now lives in Tennessee. Sarah "loves life, and is very excited that she is visiting China." She volunteered to hold the camp flag. When she walked toward the stage, and took over the flag, all campers applauded and cheered enthsiastically.

Camp Director Mr. Li performed his duty immediately. He requested the campers to stand and recite with him: "Unite, Love, Keep Fit and Enjoy." These words summarized the expectation of the campers. They will also serve as guidance for the children during the camp.

The thirty campers were then divided into three groups. Three English speaking CCAA staff members: Jenny Zhang, Amanda Li and Jessie Zhang were named as counselors for the groups. They read the names of their group members; each child responded with a quiet "here." The groups were color coded in Green, Blue and Pink. We were told that this is for the convenience of activities in the next few days.

To welcome campers, CCAA staff sang a few Chinese songs. In return, all campers went to the stage and sang "America the Beautiful." Just imagine: half of the campers had arrived in China only eight hours before, around midnight, and the whole group only had a chance to rehearse for a few minutes on the bus to CCAA headquarters. They did well though. Every child enjoyed it.

Also invited to the camp opening ceremony were Deputy Minster of Civil Affairs Dou Yu Pei, a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an official from the American embassy in Beijing. Both of them spoke at the opening ceremony and welcomed the children to Beijing. They also praised CCAA for organizing the camp.

All the campers were later shown around the CCAA office, and this is what made them really excited.

I was with Group Green and visited each department office with the children. Frankly speaking, I have been to this office numerous times, but this time is different. I am with children who came through this process, and here they are now, to learn about this important part of their lives. I was curious to see how they would respond.

In the document reviewing room, Deputy Director Wang Xiao Feng spoke to the campers about the process. She also showed the children stacks of adoption dossiers that are to be reviewed. I also tried to tell children the role of adoption agencies in the U.S. and how we work with adoptive parents to prepare dossiers which are submitted to CCAA after their completion. I wanted to give the children a complete picture of how everyone involved in the process works together to determine the eligibility of adoptive parents. While this process might not be the most effective one, it helps to screen adoptive parents and somewhat ensures that children are placed with good families.

Children showed the most interest in the Archive room at the CCAA.

Thanks to its staff, most of the children were able to review their adoption process that had been found and pulled out for the camp visit. One child spotted a picture, and said excitedly "hey, that was my mom ten years ago!"

I asked a couple of children to hold their parents' picture and recorded the moment. Another child requested Mr. Liu Kang Sheng, Director of the Archive Department, to read a note that states how she was found one day morning by four security guards on duty. They spotted a crowd and noticed that people were looking at a child who was left there by her biological parents. That sad moment was the early life of the child. It is, however, the turning point of her life.

In the afternoon of August 15, campers attended a lecture by Professor Ma from Beijing Foreign Study University. Its theme was the rich 5,000 year-old Chinese history. Accompanied by multi-media images, Professor Ma's presentation covered Chinese history, religion, nationalities, social customs, and the like. It lasted nearly three hours. I would not be surprised if you were concerned about the length of the talk. I, too, wondered if these children would be able to focus their attention so long. But at the end, all the children applauded loudly for a couple of minutes. This was not just politeness. After the lecture, some children told me they really gained knowledge from the talk. Some children even went to Professor Ma for her contact information and to thank her in person.

Meal arrangements were also wonderful. Children had pizza for lunch. The restaurant serves a variety of pizza and din sum. The children reacted immediately when I announced that "it's pizza, and it's a buffet, what you are waiting for?"

We had a Western food buffet at the restaurant for dinner.

More later – stay tuned.

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