Visit to Fortune Training School - 18.09.2007

Hello back home,
For those of us left here in Beijing, today is our last day and this morning consisted of a visit to the 'Fortune Training School' - a  privately run school for special needs pupils in Beijing.
Kevin, Karen, Linz and I left for our visit at 8.30am and after about 1.5 hours of Beijing traffic, we arrived at the haven that is the Fortune Training School.
The school was founded 20 years ago by 'Mao Yu Yan', a psychology professor whose intention was to see if early intervention would help the development of special needs children. It is one of the first of its kind.
We were met by the Principal, Ms Huang who gave us a tour of the school and introduced us to staff and pupils. The school caters for 40 children ( mainly between the ages of 3 and 9) most of whom board. The sight of many small beds pushed together in a tiny room was a real eye-opener, as were the washing facilities-each named flannel hanging up in its own place.
The school is funded by parents and volunteers and receives support from the Beijing Municipal Government.
It would seem that they have very little in the way of consumables, such as stationery (second-hand paper) and few small games and books, but do have larger equipment - e.g. that in the play area,which has been donated by many sources.
However, the overall impression was one of laughter and love. The staff are dedicated to improving the quality of these childrens' lives.
We asked what they would really like from us, and the answer was 'knowledge'. Knowledge on how best to work with children with Autism. They would ideally love someone experienced in the field to come to the school and talk to parents and staff alike about how to help the children, and guide them in their teaching methods.
We exchanged gifts and left with the promise that we would keep in touch.
Our visit today reminded me how fortunate we are at Newick House with the support we receive from both parents and friends, without whom we wouldn't be in China in the first place.
I will certainly keep in touch with this school and hope to be able to offer my support to a school so similar to our own in many ways.
Thanks to Kevin for getting us here; Karen for making the contact; and Linz for her company on yet another emotional day and support in writing this blog.
See you all in December if not before.
Julie x

P.S We have photos of our visit which we will share with you at a later date.