BaoTou City Social Welfare Institute

BaoTou City Social Welfare Institute:

Address: No.3 Xing Fu Road, Qing Shan District, Bao Tou City, Inner Mongolia

Location:The orphanage is located in Baotou Baotou City, Qing Shan district, about 2 hours drive from Hohhot, the capital of the province of Inner Mongolia.

Information about Baotou :Baotou is the largest city in the whole autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.
It occupies an area of 27,691 square km and a population of about 2,335,600 inhabitants.
The nationalities with the largest Han , Mongolian, Manchu , Hui, Daur and Ewenki .
It is located on the north bank of the Yellow River and near the Gobi Desert.
Its name comes from the Mongolian language and means "land of deer " .
The climate is semi arid with extreme summer and winter temperatures.
Its economy is based on industry , highlighting areas dedicated to the manufacture of iron and steel.
General Information:The orphanage was founded in December 1950 , but it was not until 1979 that changed its official name to " SWI " . Years later changed its location.
There is a small hospital in the same orphanage.
The vast majority of children have special needs.
Some of the children living in the orphanage and other foster families in the city.
Half The Sky has 2 programs help in this orphanage since July 2009:
- Infant Nurture Program: nannies work full tiemplo providing children with stimulation, bonding and affection.
- Little Sisters Preschool Program: teachers prepare and teach children to when they go to school.

Director of the orphanage:Mr. Zhang Rong Chen

Surnames of children:Zhao, Hao
There’re many hotels in Baotou City.

Scenic Spots in Baotou:
Wudangzhao Lamasery
70 kilometers (43 miles) northeast of the city, Wudangzhao Lamasery is the only intact lama temple in Inner Mongolia. It is a famous shrine of Tibetan Buddhism on a par with the great Potala Palace in Tibet and Ta'er Monastery in Qinghai. The most attractive aspect of the lamasery is its spectacular Tibetan style architecture. There are many Tibetan sutras and art treasures, especially Buddha sculptures made of gold, silver, copper, wood and clay, as well as precious murals.
Meidaizhao Lamasery is another important religious center of Baotou. It is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the city proper. It was first built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as a Lamaism center in Inner Mongolia. The architecture is a combination of Han, Tibetan and Mongolian styles.

Depending on the size of the SWI and how often visitors return, a visit could can be a highly anticipated event by the staff, or a routine, minor inconvenience to the day to day running of the institution.

You will want to discuss this aspect of reality with your child and prepare her or him for what it might be like, based on what you know. It is good to talk to your child about what to expect and then what to do if things turn out differently than you expect. It is important to develop an attitude of flexibility and focus on enjoying the experience rather than to get set on things going a certain way, since things don’t always go exactly as planned on any trip or daily life experience. A small gift is always appropriate for the effort expended by the director and or staff to accommodate the visiting family.

Since it may be several years after an adoption, it’s not unusual that the orphanage moved to a new place. Remember it’s normal, natural, time will not stand still, just as your children changed dramatically from she/he was a baby when just there.

If you are interested in visit both of the orphanages, we are happy to facilitate it, you can follow the previous footprint to recall your excitement when you look at your children at first time.

We usually arrange visiting the finding site for families if have the Notarial Certificate of the finding place. The finding site usually is at the front of hospital/orphanage/government agencies, etc. Please note that there places may be changed also.

Since visiting the finding site is the most emotional part of the trip, it’s a personal decision for each family and only you can make the decision if you want to accomplish it.

We always arrange the meeting with the previous caregiver/ foster family. If you have the information of the previous caregiver, we will try our best to find her. Please do remember that it’ll be some years after your adoption, the caregiver may be moved away or be retired. If the caregiver is still working in the orphanage, the director will happy to facilitate the connection.

Also please note that the caregiver may take care of more than one hundred babies in the orphanage, so that she may not remember your child well.

If your family is interested or inclined to invite the orphanage director to lunch, it is proper to invite others in the meeting as well. This would usually be one or two of the directors' assistants. If you want to invite the caregiver or nanny, then you should extend that invitation through the director to show the proper respect that the position merits. Your guide will handle this for you, but inviting the staff through the director follows proper etiquette for the situation. Some of the orphanages offer the free lunch while the others request about USD90-USD150 for the extra charge. You may ask our trip consultant before you travel.

When visiting an orphanage, it is appropriate to prepare some gifts for the director/staff and the children. You can invite the director, the staff or the caregiver to have lunch together or prepare fruit basket for them, for their effort expended to accommodate the visiting family.

As for the gifts to kids, you can prepare some snacks, candy, books, school backpacks, toys and so on. Usually, you can buy them when arrival at the orphanage place, the guide can escort you.

If you want to donate something more valuable and not sure what is needed for the orphanage, you can first learn it from the director and then purchase them from the local market. Some SWI will issue a donation certificate to you but not every SWI will do this.