Last year on Children’s Day, MeiYing, a Little Sisters preschooler in Guilin, was asked if she had any dreams for her life. She surprised everyone by declaring, “I want to be a policewoman so I can arrest all the bad people.”

Back in 2003, when she entered our Infant Nurture Program, there was no hint of the confident girl resolved to right the wrongs in the world that Meiying would become. She made no eye contact, exhibited little emotion, refused to play with toys, and cried when invited to play with other children.   

Gradually, MeiYing started her remarkable transformation from frightened baby into self-assured preschooler. It all began with a growing bond between MeiYing and her HTS nanny:

'MeiYing is very close to me—she likes to sit near me. When I talk to her, tell her stories or play with her, she laughs excitedly. She cries loudly when I leave her.'

When she entered preschool, MeiYing cautiously mastered the necessary skills -- jigsaw puzzles, ball dribbling, cooperating with others, and the art of working with rather than eating Play Doh:

'MeiYing hadn’t used Play Doh before. In the beginning, she didn't know how to use it; she even tasted it a little bit. Gradually, she learned how to play with it and master the skills of pinching, pressing and kneading. Now she can make rice dumplings with it.'

MeiYing’s teacher patiently helped her learn to become more independent:

'When MeiYing went up stairs, I held her hand and encouraged her: “Don’t worry, I will protect you.” I told her that every day, and finally, she could go up and down without using the handrail and without my help. '

In time the teachers noted how lively and extroverted MeiYing was becoming, how many of her classmates were now her friends, and how much she loved to create houses, both for humans and for rabbits:

'Once when MeiYing built a house with toy bricks, she used a u-shaped toy brick as a door and piled a second story on it. She also placed some little toy bricks as a staircase…She can also make a triangle-shaped roof. When she plays with large cardboard, she puts the cardboards together to form a house. Then she makes a door, rooms, living room and kitchen. She then gets some tools and cooks in the “kitchen.”

'In a drawing activity, Meiying drew a rabbit, an apple, and a house. Later, she told me: "This is the rabbit's house, three floors. The rabbit will cook rice on the first floor, vegetables on the second floor, and sleep on the third floor."'

Finally MeiYing moved on to a transition class for primary-school-bound children where she learned that a bell rings when it’s time to start and end class and that you should raise your hand when you have questions. MeiYing also learned to recognize RMB paper money and coins, write her name “beautifully,” and write some simple characters like big, small, up, and down.

MeiYing’s teacher proudly pronounced her ready for primary school:

'Mei Ying is growing up to be a sensible child. We believe that she is prepared to enter primary school. She is very enthusiastic about studying.'

MeiYing went off to primary school, but only two weeks later withdrew because, at the age of 7, she was adopted! The little girl who loved to design houses has finally found a permanent home of her own.

More stories from our family...