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Adopted Wythe County student returning to China

Posted: Friday, October 25, 2013 5:58 pm

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY Staff

Seventeen years ago Beverly and Daniel Burke went to China to bring home her newly-adopted 5 ½- month-old daughter Ivey. Early next year the Wytheville residents will return to that country for a short-term teaching session at an orphanage similar to the one where Ivey lived as an infant.

“I think it will be neat to go back and give back to the people like me had I not been adopted,” noted the 17-year-old George Wythe High School senior. “I want to show them that someone cares.”

Her mother said the orphanage in Fuzhou is a group home for children considered “unadoptable.” This, she said, means the children could have behavioral problems, are between the age of 12-18..

“I can’t wait to hug the children and let them know that someone loves them,” added Beverly Burke, an employee of the Virginia Workforce Investment Board. “We will stay at the orphanage while we’re there.”

According to her, the upcoming camp is sponsored by a non-profit faith based organization that recruits volunteers to teach English as a Second Language to children at the orphanage during their winter break. Children from a government orphanage, Beverly Burke, might be able to attend the camp to be held Jan. 26, 2014, to Feb. 8, 2014.

Also making the trip will be Beverly and Daniel Burke’s 15-year-old son Timothy, born two years after his sister’s adoption. He is a sophomore at GWHS.

Their dad is Daniel Burke of Wytheville. He is now divorced from their mother, and remains very active in their lives.

The Burkes are busy collecting money for their trip to China that will cost them $2,500 each, which includes airfare, some lodging, craft supplies, and food. Their next fundraiser will be held Saturday, Nov. 9, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Wytheville Moose Lodge.

Proceeds from the Bingo games will go toward their trip. There also will be several vendors selling merchandise.

The family has an account through Truliant Federal Credit Union in Wytheville. Checks for the trip can also be made payable to Beverly Burke.

“As the face of adoption changes,” said Beverly Burke, “and the numbers of children being adopted internationally declines, we as Christians have a wonderful opportunity. As China has cracked down on child trafficking, it has also increased pressure to care for those that are not adoptable due to them aging out of the system or significant medical needs. These are the children with which we will work.”

She also noted the team will teach skills to the house parents in Trust-Based Relational Interventions developed by two professors at Texas Christian University. The family-based intervention, Burke said, is designed for children who have experienced relationship-based traumas such as institutionalization, multiple care givers, maltreatment and neglect.

In August 1996, Beverly Burke and her then-husband arrived in Fuzhou, China, to adopt Ivey Mariyn Cui Burke, who was born Feb. 18, 1996. They were there for three weeks.

“Ivey only spent three days in the orphanage,” Beverly Burke said. “She was in foster care.”

According to her, she and her husband turned to adoption after years of trying to have their own child. They worked with an international adoption agency and qualified to select a child from Thailand.

“I have no idea why we were directed to China,” Beverly Burke said. “I guess God had another plan.”

On Sept. 4, 1998, she gave birth to her son, Timothy. Burke refers to him as a miracle.

Ivey Burke said she always knew she was adopted. She has a scrapbook of the highlights of her life put together by Beverly Burke.

“I treat her like she’s my mom,” Ivey Burke said.

Her childhood, she said, was normal and happy. Ivey Burke is a typical American teenager.

Ivey and Timothy Burke are active in the youth activities at Wytheville Baptist Church. She has been in the church's Praise & Worship Band, lead the singing for the contemporary worship service, leads the Meet You at the Pole for GWHS, and is currently organizing this year's HOPE for the Hunger Event in May of 2014.  Timothy Burke assists his father with running the technology for the services at church and both took part in the Hope for Hunger event in park in 2013.

At GWHS, Ivey Burke is a member of the National Honor Society, the marching band, the concert band and the Science MACC Team. She also works part time a KFC/Taco Bell in Wytheville.

Commenting on her trip to China, Ivey Burke said, “I feel like I need to go back. I want to see the world where I would have lived in and what it’s all about. I want to experience that.”  Timothy is excited to see the country his sister was born in.

She plans to attend George Mason University after graduation and major in forensic medicine.

The Burkes’ upcoming teaching mission can be followed on their blog site at fuzhouwintercamp.blogspot.com.

Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 Extension 20 or wquesenberry@wythenews.com.