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Article by Christopher Huber and Lauren McLaughlin
Sammamish Teen leads adoptees back to China
Sammmish Tian Kisch made her first trip back to her birthplace in China four years ago. As a 12-year-old, the visit to 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 reasonated 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 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 nd 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."
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