Sung Ro Won Orphanage

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June 23, 1988

Back in Seoul from our road trip, we had a few more days to visit more points of interest. In addition, these days were set aside so that some of the adoptees could visit the location of the orphanage or home where they lived before being placed with our adoption agency and ultimately matched with their adoptive families.
Since I was in foster care, I did not ever live in a group home. So, I decided to go with a few of the adoptees (2 of which were my roommates) who lived at one of the group homes that is a partner of our agency, the Sung Ro Won Orphanage. The Sung Ro Won home is still in existence today.

The orphanage is a 2 story brick building with an outdoor play area. There are rooms for infants and rooms for older children. There is also a large room that looks like a pre-school classroom. When we arrived, we were met by the director of the home and a few of the care givers. They were so gracious and happy for our visit. We toured the home and got to hold the babies and play with the children. It was just amazing that these sweet, beautiful children did not have families.

For a few of the members of our trip who lived at the orphanage, this, of course, was the first return visit to the place where their lives in Korea came to an end. The director at the time, Mr. Kim, was the director when the adoptees on our trip were residents. This was quite special for them to meet someone who "knew" them in Korea.

Mr. Kim took my fellow adoptees into his office. The orphanage kept meticulous documentation of the children who lived there. He pulled out photo albums that had pictures of them at the Sung Ro Won home in the early 1970s. My roommates saw pictures of themselves that they had not seen until this visit. Towards the end of this private meeting, Mr. Kim presented each adoptee with a hanbok which is a traditional Korean dress. I have photos of them on the steps of the Sung Ro Won home in their hanboks with Mr. Kim. This day visit turned out to be quite emotional and certainly very special.