-We classify the orphanages we know by two factors:
One factor is the provision going to the children in the
orphanage. All orphanages here have
great needs, but it is clear that the needs of some children are being met in
some orphanages more than in other orphanages.
The other factor is the quality of care. Children at some
orphanages are supervised and being raised under higher standards than others.
-Donations go out the back door
in some orphanages, sold by the staff instead of being given to the children
for which they were intended. In some
places it is hard to give unless we place the donation directly into the child’s
hands or place it on the child’s body.
-Children learn what behaviors
get them results; thus some orphanages have the most unruly children that
behave like animals whenever visitors arrive, in an attempt to receive as much
as possible. The loudest gets the most.
-Orphanages are often full of
disease. Imagine one hundred children
sharing a bathroom with no toilet paper, toilet seats, soap, or towels. Fungus, hair loss, malnutrition, colds and
flus, athlete’s foot, and lice are all more than common. Aside from the questionable behavior mentioned
above (and "questionable" is a generous term here), disease issues always left me
wondering if I was being a good parent by having my own little one at the
orphanage. Upon returning home after a visit, the first thing we always did was bathe. Thoroughly. Everything in the wash. The orphanage bag was relegated to the floor of the
same closet, and was washed weekly. Even
in lovingly run places, an orphanage is a dirty space.
-We have seen children talking to
or playing with the following in place of toys:
a door, a wooden bench, a brick, a metal rod, a seed, a shirt named Alice, a
paint chip named Henry, and a tree called Isador.
-It is a tricky thing to decide
which orphanage we should help more. An
orphanage of high quality care that provides loving guidance and good
facilities to its orphans. Or an orphanage that provides terrible care for
children and thus has needier children desperate for any drop of food or
love. Which would you choose? We never quite decided, but found ourselves
torn between the two. Our methods of
giving became very different, dependent upon what orphanage we were visiting.