Wonderland, Part Two

The baby house is such an amazing place that we wanted to describe some of its warmth and its professionalism. There are currently just under 100 babies dwelling there, aged just a few weeks to 4-years-old. We haven’t received a head count on the number of people who work there, but we can attest to the tremendous care we witness each day, as little groups of children wander out onto the outdoor play and rest area with caretakers, doctors, and even a wandering minstrel, who serenades the children before sleeping. Today we heard him throat singing to the little devils!

The children are divided into age groups—and if you already know how hard it is to take care of one child—imagine what it takes to manage a group of ten with seamless efficiency. The past two days, when it’s time for us to leave, we’ve asked if we can go back to say good-bye to our little one, and have found—in a matter of seconds—that she’s already out of her play clothes and in her crib, with a quilt draped over the sides, giving her privacy from the distraction of nearby friends as well as the sun.

Some of the children have special needs, and they’re attended to with extra care. Each day we watch little boys and girls whose legs don’t move, whose faces seem twisted by developmental disabilities. There’s often someone holding these children in their arms. A portion of these children will be adopted; the rest will move onto the next stop for parentless children: a home for 5-18-year-olds that we can only hope is as kindly attended to.

Many of the adults passing by—doctors, social workers, care takers—drop in on us to say hello to our little daughter, and her face lights up to see them. They call her a name of endearment—Aliyoushka (her birth name is Aliya). The whole staff appears to be very interconnected. The culture here is one of dedication and respect.

And also order. The building is a three-storied maze of hallways with special rooms for various activities. There are life-sized stuffed animals everywhere, and brightly and soothingly painted walls. It’s immaculate. Peaceful. The environment feels nurturing and safe. Dr. Alma insists on this. She’s known to be a tigress about cleanliness and the execution of daily procedures. And her superiors—the government—supports her in this. We’ve been told that she’s considered retirement several times (we’re guessing that she’s into her 70’s), and that she’s proud to have been asked to keep doing this work.

Each child is assigned to one of the staff doctors. Each doctor keeps a daily log of the health of her assigned children. These books, like the home, are meticulously kept, and referred to. Our baby’s doctor had answers to all our questions, today, and her answers were parental as well as professional. All the doctors happen to be women, as is most of the staff. The few men there appear very gentle, especially in contrast to Kazakh culture, which has a strong dimension of machismo.

Perhaps you think there’s nothing surprising about this? If you read the literature on orphanages, you quickly find out about the common occurrence of neglect and its ravishing. While we’re sure this orphanage isn’t perfect, we couldn’t have been luckier—nor could Jem—to be placed in the country’s model baby home. We understand that President Nazarbeyev is known to show it to interested visitors.

A little event that happened today: We’re here with another American family who adopted a little boy, Gabriel, from this baby house 18 months ago. He is now two, and the family is here adopting a little girl. Gabriel made his first visit to the home today, and everyone passing by immediately recognized him and expressed their excitement at seeing him again. Gabriel wasn’t quite sure why he was being lavished with all this attention—he doesn’t recall the first six months of his life—but he didn’t balk at being the center of delighted attention. At two, who would?

We’re extremely grateful that this is where our daughter has spent most of her life. And we’re pleased to forge the beginning of an ongoing relationship with the staff here.