As a Woodrow Wilson scholar, Heather Campbell decided her major project would be researching conditions inside Chinese orphanages, a daunting task given the government restrictions on foreigners getting inside orphanages there.

Reports several years ago alleging poor conditions for orphans prompted the government restrictions, but Campbell, a junior international studies major, thought some of those reports might have been overstated. She wanted to see first hand, but on her first trip to China, all attempts to get official permission to visit an orphanage were fruitless.

On her return trip this past summer, Campbell came at the problem at different way: Instead of asking permission from the government, she just showed up at the gates of an orphanage in Shanghai. By volunteering to work there, she gained unprecedented access and recently spoke about her experience and her observations. To watch the video, follow one of the links below.

View the video as a Windows Media file. (This is Microsoft's player and comes bundled with Windows computers.)

View the video as a Real Video file. (Real Networks offers a free version of their player, if your computer doesn't have it. Newer computers come bundled with this players, but those with older computers may need to download the player.)

Click here to download the free RealPlayer,

For more background about Heather Campbell and her research project, see The Gazette article