[smbcpc]

Has anyone sent or planning to send a care package to their baby at the orphanage? What would you recommend sending (other than a camera of course) and is it shipped directly to the orphanage?
Wondering....

[copper653]

We sent a care package. We found a yahoo group for people who have adopted from our orphanage and they gave some good info. It seems that every orphanage is different. The director to our orphanage seems to have changed some time at the end of 2005/early 2006. Before the change you would get your camera and everything back. After not so much. In fact one family was given the entire box back.. I believe unopened. Some people say that it takes alot of time for them to open the packages and give it to the children. So I am not expecting to get anything back.

[sakelley]

I would check with your agency about it. Some are very strict about sending care packages. Ours will only allow you if the child is at least 2 years old and you have to send it through them. They were very specific on what you could send - photo album, small toy, and disposable camera. We got back everything - except they didn't use the camera. It helped with our daughter's transition because they showed her our pictures and she recognized us from them.

[adoptchinablog]

For our first adoption, we sent a care package directly that apparently never reached the SWI. The second time around, we used Adele at Blessed Kids (I think you can reach her directly just at blessedkids.com), and it got there and we got a nice bundle of photos back. Our agency didn't really approve of sending things directly to the SWIs, but I think they're a little hampered by CCAA's attitude -- my suspicion (and it's just a suspicion) is that the CCAA, while not outlawing anything outright, frowns on direct contact between families and SWIs or anything that can lend itself to the appearance of impropriety, and agencies have to maintain their official role as the go-betweens for families and SWIs.

The SWIs (the two I've had experience with, anyway) don't seem to mind the care packages at all. "Seem," again, being the operative word in all this.

[lovemybulldog]

Because we plan to adopt a waiting child, we know we'll have the opportunity to do this. Our agency allows it and has no restrictions on who sends it for us. They can do it or we can send with a family travelling before us, or we can use a service. Check to see if your agency has rules. If not, I would totally go for it...What if she gets attached with one thing in the package and won't let go...then again, she could just get attached to the wrapping paper instead... that would be my luck!

[Sheba]

I sent a care package to Kennedy that included a camera, panda,photos of us, blanket, and gifts for her foster Mom. We recieved the blanket, panda and camera back with Kennedy. We also recieved a beautiful photo album as a gift from the orphange. I hope that this time with Kelsi we recieve our camera back more than anything. It is a gamble but the worst is you get nothing and the best you get what we got. It was priceless.