A Story from BETH

Well, before I write I will just quickly tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Elizabeth Soderberg; I arrived in China in early February and will be leaving at the end of May. I have always wanted to work with the orphans in China and New Day has been such an amazing place to do this! Ok, here I go!

I slowly open the door and glance over the room until my eyes meet his, both of our faces immediately light up and he begins kicking his little feet in excitement! I quickly walk over to where he is laying and scoop him up into my arms. His beautiful brown eyes look up at me and incredible joy sweeps over me!

When I first came to New Day I was given the assignment to hold and be with a small ten month old baby as he recovered from pneumonia. He was very weak and could not sit up, and even had trouble holding his head up. I was with him almost six hour a day and for the first three weeks we were in an isolation room. As I spent many hours with Cameron I developed a bond and learned to love him in a very special way. I started to refer to him as my baby and would find myself missing him when I was away from him. Though there were times when the hours went by slowly the reward was worth the patience!

After the three weeks in isolation Cameron was strong enough to come back to the play room. Each morning and afternoon my job is to work with him on his sitting, tummy time, and just play with him. We have had so much fun together playing with toy, singing songs, dancing to the We Sing tape, or just observing the other babies in the room. I have watched him grow stronger and gain weight. He is now almost at the point were he can sit alone! It has been so rewarding to be able to invest my time in the life of a little orphan baby and to watch him grow and see him change! I know that the time I spent with Cameron not only helped him but has changed my life forever!