Can an orphanage transform into something better? The story of Asian Hope will inform and inspire you. Discover what it took for the director of a children’s home to ask hard questions and risk changing direction. I am an international adoptive parent. I understand deeply the passion, drive, reward, and challenges of bringing a child out of an institution […]
Read about one man’s journey on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children, including stories you won’t forget. Will you join in the change that’s coming? I heard a story from a man I was training in Myanmar. A number of years before, when his parents were visiting a rural village, his mother happened to use a […]
A sometimes mind-blowing firsthand account of an ambitious attempt to improve the care of orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. It started in a cramped government office in Kampala There are at least 50,000 children in residential care in the Uganda, a huge number by any standard. Uganda has been called the NGO capital of the world, and while […]
This inspiring story of working with childcare institutions in Uganda to resettle children and prevent family separation will encourage you and surprise you. We really can see changes that improve the lives of children and families even in the most vulnerable situations. Teddy and David are the newest residents in Emergency Housing at Abide Family Center. They were referred by a […]
One day an experienced Christian worker picked up the phone to call a young woman who was planning to open an orphanage in Haiti. This is what she said. Over the past two years, I have had the privilege of leading multiple teams overseas with World Orphans. Part of my job that I love is getting to educate […]
What happens when orphanages have beds to fill and and warped priorities? I can still see the tears streaming down her face, the hopelessness in her eyes, and the burning sting of defeat that grew with each tear falling onto the toddler she clutched close. The weary widow stood on the steps of our child […]
Why do children in orphanages often run and hug visitors as soon as they arrive? Why did Western nations stop putting abandoned children in orphanages? For answers to both of these questions look at the work of a genius named John Bowlby. John Bowlby (1907-1990) has been described as a genius and one of the three or […]
Why not start an orphanage? That’s a good question to ask before committing many years and untold resources to a task most experts agree is, well, questionable. Here are five answers one Christian worker in Cambodia found when he considered the question. Orphanages continue to be the default response of many to the challenge of caring for orphans and vulnerable […]
I like this post at Rage Against the Machine about orphanages. It is addressed to Christians directly, but the information and questions could just as well apply to anyone interested in supporting orphans. She says, “I think supporting orphans is important. Vitally important. But I want to make sure that we aren’t creating and sustaining a child’s […]
Not that UNICEF has withheld it’s opinion until now, but this was well done. UNICEF recently published a brief, very clear statement summarizing its position on orphanages in Cambodia. If you’re looking for a succinct summary of the reasons why orphanages are – or ought to be – on the way out, look no further. […]
I love this article at Mic.com about “Harry Potter Activists.” An online alliance of Harry Potter fans undertook a 4-year campaign that convinced Warner Bros Entertainment to buy only UTZ certified cocoa for its line of Harry Potter inspired chocolate bars. Why is this important? Because the cocoa industry is rife with child slavery and human […]
I read an excellent article at The Collegian about volunteering and voluntourism. Really nice example of storytelling to teach important lessons. Here is my favorite moment. The writer has been experiencing development work in different parts of Africa for months, and one day she sits down to a meal with a local chief in the […]
Families are irreplaceable. Funny how we can agree to that statement, yet accept that a child should be separated from her closest living relatives, sometimes even her mother or father, just because they are poor. But this happens often when children are put in residential care. Now there are orphanages that are good at what […]
Did you know most children living in orphanages have at least one living parent, and almost all have living relatives. But research shows that growing up in an orphanage breaks down a child’s connections with living parents and relatives, so they become more and more like orphans whether they really are or not. The statement […]
Does it surprise you that eighty-percent of children living in orphanages worldwide have at least a living father or a mother? Research shows again and again that the majority of children in orphanages are there because of poverty. Obviously, there are many other reasons children end up in orphanages. But the fact remains that it’s […]
Most children living in orphanages today could be living with families. Hard to believe? Yet research shows most children in orphanages are there because of poverty, not a lack of relatives or even parents who could raise them. Now imagine if a significant part of the effort and money poured into raising kids in orphanages […]
Po's World is the inspiring cartoon story of a boy and a girl sent to an orphanage and their subsequent journey home.
