Caring For Those Who Have Nothing To Live On
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| photo credit www.alamy.com |
An Orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans, these are children who have been abandoned by their parents or whose biological parents are deceased or are unwilling to care for them.
There are various children all over Plateau State and Nigeria as a whole that are left with no proper and adequate care of anyone, some are usually adopted and cared for by these orphanages.
In Plateau state, you find children whose parents were killed during the various crisis in the State as well as children who are living in the State as a result of the lingering insurgency in the Northeastern part of the country being managed by Orphanages.
There are peculiar instances where economic challenges (poor living conditions) especially in the rural areas where parents are unable to meet the needs of their children thereby exposing them to abject poverty, lack of food, and most at times illiteracy. Some parents who cannot meet the needs of their children in different aspects of life as a result of their busy schedules and nature of their jobs contact these orphanages for their children to be adopted.
Several young mothers in our environment get pregnant very early and therefore have very little or no knowledge of motherhood and how to care and cater for the needs of their children. Some of these young women get pregnant at early stages unwantedly due to peer-pressure, ignorance or even youthful exuberance. Unfortunately, some parents send these young women out of their homes thereby exposing them to hardship and abject poverty. There are scenarios whereby the young men responsible for the pregnancies deny responsibility.
Young girls still in secondary schools, most times find themselves with unprepared pregnancy in a position where the man responsible either denies the pregnancy, neglect them or have no means of livelihood to take care of himself before he could think of taking care of her. And most times angered parents overreact and send the pregnant daughter away.
These girls are put in a dilemma on how to go about their lives and that of the child. At this point they are left with no option but to give the child up for adoption to these orphanages. Some children are also abandoned by these young mothers in different locations because they can not deal with the stigma of giving birth out of wedlock and some out of confusion and having no where to go to, leave the children in different locations to be found by good and caring citizens who hand over these children to orphanages. It is disheartening to find some of these adorable new born babies in sewages, latrines and even refuse dumps.
Orphanages on the Plateau and many other parts of the country are managed by the Government, Non Governmental Organisations, Missionaries and private sectors.
These entities are sometimes supported by Organisations, Companies and kind hearted individuals who support them in cash and kind, while some more fortunate homes have international sponsors (SOS village).
Survival of some of these orphanages is as a result of revenues generated by building schools and admitting children of the immediate community and neighborhood. They also provide services in different areas. The Orphans are thought skills such as tailoring, carpentry, catering, tie and dye, etc.
Although there are many orphanages on the plateau, here are some few;
1. SOS Village
2. Our Lady of Apostle Zawan
3. Aisha Mana Orphanage
4. Gidan Bege Orphanage.
Typically, children in orphanages fare well on most measures than some children in other groups, which suggests that difficulties linked to orphanage experience are overcome when social environment improves. So this children need love, help and care from individuals, foster parents and orphanage staff.
Another important role we need to play in the improvement of orphanage standards is by helping these orphanages materially and otherwise. So many individuals have excessive possessions; clothes locked up in boxes for years without making use of them, instead of giving them to these orphanages. Some have food in excess, it gets spoilt without anybody to consume when these children need them.
How can we as right thinking individuals have these basic necessities of life but don’t share with one another and most especially those in need. According to Matt (25:35), Jesus told his followers "I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me."
In her book, “The Philanthropic Works of an Indian Lady” Anila Jyodhi Reddy together with her children settled in the US. She started her dream project which provided placement to more than 100 youths and to start a school from LKG to PG. She made an effort on her birthday to go to India and celebrate it in the orphanage in Waranga.
She also sponsored a mentally challenged kids’ home where there are 220 children. In the same direction, she joined hands with like minded NGO'S; Prasadharan, Welfare Society Foundation and Child Rights Advocacy Forum (CRAF)
The children in the orphanages are human beings like every one of us. They are faced with different challenges daily than an average child. Sometimes all they need is love, care and support to make them feel accepted and wanted.
Why don't you make a date with an Orphanage tomorrow?
All you need to give is a little that will go a long way in changing their lives!
By Zainab Bello
zainabbello202@gmail.com
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