Last Update Session 2!

Today, we were lucky enough to visit with some of the young men and women in Half the Sky’s Youth Services program. It so happens that the Youth Services program is holding a conference this week, so we joined in for a couple of hours. During this conference, participants learn how to gather, organize, coordinate, and put together a periodical newsletter of works by children and young adults in HTS’s Youth Services program. Participants with ages ranging from 6-mid 20s came from all over China for this workshop, much how we came together from all over America for the HTS / CCI trip.

We were very excited to meet them and them us. Their  English was very good, and a couple of us knew how to speak Chinese, so both worked. It was cool to get to know them – get to know what kinds of things they like to do, what sorts of school subjects they are interested in, and how they see their future shaping out. One boy was the writer of a famous song for Chinese soap opera. Another really liked Michael Jackson. Yet another is interested perfecting the art of Western Cuisine. We told them about our lives in America and about ourselves.

For activities, we played charades, ate lunch, and then took pictures while exchanging contact information. We can all say that we have a lot of new friends now!

We also had our discussion on the future of the adoptee community. The question is what sort of experiences have you had with the adoptee community so far, and then what would you like to see in the adoptee community as you grow older. We talked about some organizations such as FCC, CAL / Global Girls, Adopteen, Fangtopia, and of course, our own CCI. I (Charlotte) introduced a lot of the programs to everyone, but it is important to stress that the level of commitment is completely up to the individual. However much you’d like to get involved, we completely welcome it! Also, it doesn’t necessarily have to be CCI. Just getting involved in your local adoptee community is great – but CCI would very much like to hear about it!

This led into a discussion of how our final projects might be connected to the adoptee community. For example, one girl may decide to help CCI and HTS in a discussion about a potential joint conference. Whether connected to CCI or not, Second sessioners, we have total confidence that you will creates some awesome projects. You are all so 厉害 lihai!

Tomorrow Great Wall and then home we go. It’s been great Session Two!  Goodbye Beijing!