Rachel

Born with a cleft palate, Rachel was abandoned by her birth family. She was considered “garbage” by her culture in China. Her teachers and classmates bullied her, constantly telling her she was trash. She lived partly in the orphanage and partly with a Chinese foster family where she was treated more as a servant than a member of the family. The father was tragically killed in an accident and Rachel had to return to the orphanage full time. In China, once you are 14, it is actually illegal to be adopted internationally. At that point, children are trained or educated for work. Thankfully, the day before her 14th birthday, she was adopted by a family stationed in England. She was surprised, she really thought her chances of being adopted where over. It was such a joy; however, things were difficult at first because of the language barrier. She spoke no English and her new family did not speak Chinese. At dinner, they’d all be sitting around the table laughing and she would get very upset because she didn’t understand. She would go for walks in the yard and talk to herself in Chinese until she calmed down. Rachel loves to talk so she picked it up faster than others might have. Her positive attitude and contagious smile is a tremendous blessing to all who meet her. If you meet her, be prepared to listen, she has a lot to say.
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