Sammamish teen leads adoptees back to China

August 18, 2009

By Christopher Huber

Group goes to help in Chinese orphanages

By Christopher Huber and Lauren McLaughlin

Sammamish teen Tian Kisch made her first trip back to her birthplace in China four years ago. As a 12-year-old, the visit to the Guangzhou orphanage she lived in until she was eight months old brought her full-circle and answered some of the questions she had growing up.

She faced the questions many adopted children have: ‘Who are my birth parents? Where are they? Why could they not take care of me?’

“I remember thinking, ‘I’m so lucky to be in the U.S. and to have opportunities,” Kisch said, reminiscing about the first trip. “There are so many things that could’ve been different.”

Kisch saw what her life could have been like had her parents not brought her home to Washington. Even though she toured the country and stayed in nice hotels with her parents Ken and Linda and younger sister Moli, the experience changed her outlook on life. It helped her see how much she has here; how easy it is to give back to orphans and the disadvantaged in China.

“It’s amazing what you can do with so few resources,” Tian Kisch said. “The importance of giving back is really taken for granted.”

That idea resonated with her and some of her peers at Families with Children from China and eventually led to the group’s first service trip in July. For many of the 11 Seattle-area teens and nine parents, it was the first time back, but for a few, it was a chance to serve in orphanages and expose themselves to the real China.

The group volunteered in five orphanages and child-care facilities across China for 17 days.

Kisch and fellow organization board member Julia Tombari, 13, of Seattle, organized the trip virtually on their own, Kisch said. The trip took more than a year to plan, as the two teens worked with the adult board members to procure a travel company, sign-up travelers and approve itineraries, among other things. The organization hosts various gatherings throughout the year, Kisch said, but the older children didn’t have many opportunities to learn about their heritage.

“There wasn’t really anything for the older kids. It was our idea and we brought it to the board and they said, ‘alright,’” Kisch said. “They thought it was pretty ambitious.”

While she and her friends were volunteering their time in the orphanages, Kisch said she realized, “this could’ve been me 16 years ago.”

Since China opened its adoption program in 1992, more than 100,000 children have come to the United States, said Lara Peterson, president of the organization’s northwest chapter.

“I think it’s going to be eye-opening, because for many of them it was their first time back to China,” Peterson said. “For many of them it reopened questions about their adoption story. They spent a lot more time thinking about the impact, and what were their lives like, when they were in the orphanages.”

Families with Children from China is a loosely organized group of parents and their adopted children from China, with chapters in most major cities in the United States and some international chapters.

The organization provides information to parents of adoptive children on how to deal with issues that may arise and also provide support to form playgroups and connect with other parents who have gone through the same things. They also help with the adoption process by providing advice on local adoption agencies and information to prospective parents.

They organize events such as a Chinese New Year celebration, Autumn Moon festival and a Chinese-American heritage camp every year, said Peterson.

“In the past we’ve arranged symposiums where adult adoptees have come to talk to our members about their experiences, and we’ve had Chinese dance or language classes,” Peterson said. “We do a lot of activities that the children and their parents are interested in.”

The 16-year-old Northwest chapter is unique in the fact that it has teens on its board of directors.

“The biggest impact is we’re a lot more in tune with what the kids want,” Peterson said. “Now they’ll tell us what they’re interested in, what they want to do, like the China trip. Now we really try to listen.”

The group originally existed as a small group of parents, Peterson said. It currently serves about 250 families in Puget Sound, but its reach extends to more than 500 families. Approximately 50 percent of member families live on the Eastside.

“(The trip) actually got families that had not been active for a while to come back and be part of the organization,” she said.

Peterson said about a quarter of the adoptive parents in the Puget Sound area are involved with the Families with Children from China.

“In an ideal situation everyone with children from China would be involved, but due to the economy the membership is actually down,” Peterson said. “A lot of families rejoined just for the trip.”

Kisch and Peterson said they hope to make the China service trip a biennial tradition for teens in the Northwest Chapter.

“For so many it’s sort of the closing of the loop – that circle that started 16 or 17 years ago,” Peterson said. “Hopefully they’re able to go back and answer some questions. Across the board the girls said, ‘we have so much’ and, ‘what can we give back?’ and I hope this trip fulfilled that.”

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.sammamishreview.com.