Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

Did she cry a lot?
Did she sleep well?
What was her first word?
What was her favorite toy?
When did she learn to walk?
Was she as stubborn then as she is now?

Sadly her Chinese foster family are the keepers of the memories of her first sixteen months.

Nie Huai Hou, a villager of Shan Guan Village of Li Fang County (Fujian/Jiangxi Province) found a cardboard box at the village gateway around 7:00 a.m. on 24 November 2005.   Inside he was surprised to find a baby girl with a piece of paper indicating that the girl was born at 6:05 a.m. on 22 October of the traditional Chinese calendar. The villager took her to the police station immediately and after searching sadly the police could not find the parents.   The baby was sent to the county’s welfare institution/orphanage located in Guangze City and the following day was placed with a foster family.

Loss, how many of us actually know and have felt its depths?
Trust, how many of us really have been treated in such a way that trust no longer has a meaning?

Surely being so young when she lived through such trauma she does not consciously remember her first three early 'goodbyes’ in her life. It is without doubt that a heart and soul no matter how young will be left with traumatic imprints. Many adults fall into a deep depression after a single heartbreak and many carry it around like baggage for the rest of their lives but brave little Jia Hong has overcome three of them and is still able to embrace life fully though sometimes small splinters pierce the skin as to this day she systematically turns her back on strangers when they greet her.

Is this her survival instinct warning her to ‘beware Jia Hong!
They may be here to take you away to another strange place where you will be alone!

In 2007 the stars found little Jia Hong trying to find her way through the thorns and weeds that had for some ungodly reason been allowed to cover her life’s pathway and after a further five months living back at the orphanage a Star Angel from Spain named Lorena who’s love was shinning the brightest was rewarded the task of filling Jia Hongs emptiness with total love and affection which then allows for trust and an open heart. As each day passed she maintained the little girls pathway and through unconditional love and affection Jia Hongs thorns and weeds slowly died to be replaced by a life filled with rainbows, dreams and colours when compared to the life she may have been forced to lead.

In 2007 she moved to Spain where she was welcomed by not only Lorena but also a young girl who even though is her cousin has become the light of her life and best friend as she too was found in Ethiopia and was adopted by Lorena’s sister so both have formed an unquestionable attachment and bond.

One must wonder how her little heart has been able to trust, love and accept love after having to suffer through three emotional breaches so early in her life, when she was so small and vulnerable

So how do I fit into this picture?

Whilst looking for information on Jia Hongs birthplace Lorena I found my blog (April 2009) and after communicating for a time we became friends enough for her to trust me with my offer to help. From my blog most people will know Ting Ting and some may remember Mary being in it once or twice. Luckily for us all they both come from small villages in the Guangze area. We set the wheels in motion and they rolled around for a time some and finally answers began to filter through. Mary’s father knew someone that knew the actual man who found the baby girl who wore a small face with little hair in a small box.

Sadly though he has passed away and any information he could have given passed with him.

One month ago I returned to Fujian Province with a promise I yet had yet to fulfill, that of finding the actual village where she was found. So today Tuesday, 5th October 2010 Ting Ting, Ajin (Tattoo Man) and I rose early and caught several very slow and dusty chicken buses and along with a cab and we finally made it to the village around twelve thirty.

I’ll be honest with you, a single yet silent tear did escape and as the village gate came into view it slowly made its way down my check. Shan Guan villages gate way helps mark the borders of Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces. When I got out of the taxi I was in Fujian Province yet when I walked through the gate I entered Jiangxi Province. Being so rural the village is very poor and along with its one tiny store has only around twenty houses with another ten or so close by.

Its population is made up of around fifty families and around two hundred people.
And as you can see in the photos its main crop is that of rice.

My blog draws an increasing number of people each month and last month grew to over four thousand which is three thousand nine hundred and ninety more than it was originally meant for. Over the years I have made handfuls of ‘blogging’ friends, offered pages of information, answered a billion emails and questions, calmed a lot of nerves and fears along with helping many people find their way into and around China but nothing really has come close to what I have been lucky enough to have offered Jia Hong and Lorena find this day.

As each blog is completed and offered one small Chinese/Spanish girl sits with her mother and even though she can’t read the words. As she sits with a heart full of longing her mother does her best to explain to her the photos that are found at the bottom of each page. It has become her window to her origins and motherland and at the end of each entry (especially the bike rides and travel entries) I always find myself hoping that they help clear Jia Hongs window of the mists of the unknown.

But this entry I hope brings a beautiful flower to her window ceil.
Beers N Noodles toya…..shane

PS: the top three and the first sixteen photos below the text are of Jia Hongs life in Spain with her mother Lorena who I would like to thank for her trust and words that allowed me to 'eddakath' this entry in to life. We have just Facebooked and she in return offers a heart felt thanks to both Mary and Ting Ting for putting it all into place and of course Ajin and I for going along for the ride.

Life, it really is the most wonderful adventure!
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The soundtrack to this entry was by Mark Field.
The album was ‘Tranquility Simply’
Mark is a peaceful busker I met many years ago on the streets of Melbourne.
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