I’m spending Christmas this year with my family at an orphanage in Cambodia. It’s a decent place run with genuine love on a very low budget (much lower than the linked article). They care for kids living with HIV, who are rejected by most orphanages. And they could use some money, if you’re looking to give, because they run on a shoestring.
That being said, and I mean it; I’m hoping for a future without orphanages. I don’t recommend starting an orphanage if you want to help orphans. I’d like to see orphaned kids being raised by their extended families, because the majority of “orphans” in the world have relatives who could take them in. Heck, a lot of them have at least one parent alive (the definition of “orphan” in Cambodia is that at least one parent has died). Often the relatives are very poor, so they think an orphanage would be better for the child, but a small subsidy would help them accept the responsibility. I don’t have it here, but I’ve read about a study showing that being raised by a dysfunctional family is better for a child than being raised in an institution.
I want to learn from an organization in Phnom Penh that has (I’ve heard) placed thousands of orphans in homes with either foster parents or extended family members. Someday I’ll post a report of my findings here.
In the meantime, read this excellent article from the New York Times which makes an excellent case for supporting families rather than starting more and more orphanages.
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