Tragedy in China

As many already know, a devastating 7.8 earthquake shook China's Sichuan Province today. The reports of damage, injuries and deaths continues to rise every minute.

Livie's orphanage, Fuling SWI, is located in Fuling, Chongqing. Although it is now a Municipality (like Beijing), Chongqing had previously been a part of Sichuan Province, so this gives you an idea of just how close to Chendu, Sichuan, Fuling SWI really is. Fuling is a small mountainous city. The SWI there is home to hundreds of children, with over a hundred additional children in Foster Care with local families. Currently I do not know what the status is regarding the Fuling SWI, and I am very, very fearful. I hope that our agency, CCAI, is able to find out information regarding the SWI and will be able to keep CCAI families updated. Now, of course I know that the main objective of all adoption agencies is to assess their adoptive families who are currently in China traveling, and to find out information regarding the many children who have been referred and who's parents are waiting to travel. One thing in particular that sticks out in my mind is that typically many Gotcha Days take place on Mondays, meaning that there is a great possibility that many families were actually in the midst of being united with their children for the first time when the quake shook. I can not even begin to imagine...

My prayers today and over the coming days are with China and our adoptive families around the world.

UPDATE: I have learned from our agency that they were able to contact our guide, Marie, in Chongqing. Apparently everything is OK in Chongqing. Nonetheless, I am certainly anxious to hear more specific news regarding the Fuling SWI. I will update as information warrants.

Mary