On the way back to Hanoi, we stopped at Tu Liem Orphanage. I so wanted to go in and meet the children and personally give them our gifts, but with the staph infection, we weren’t allowed. We did take pictures from the outside. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t go inside – I would have wanted to scoop up all of the children and take them all home with me.

That’s right – no dryer. How would you like to do all that laundry??
Forgive the quality of these pictures. I captured them from video someone shot for us a few weeks after we were home. They were able to go inside the orphanage. Just to give you a little glimpse what it was like.
Count it: space for 3 babies to sleep. We know Brian slept in a crib with at least one other child.
The older ones helped take care of the younger ones.
This was the kitchen.

And the squatty potties.
I believe the orphanage is still there, to the best of my knowledge, although it may now be known by a different name. I would still love to go there, to go inside and see where my son spent the first five months of his life, to hold and cuddle the babies. Vietnam is currently closed to international adoptions, so I wouldn’t come home with one! Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to go.