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From Hell to Heaven: How Orphan Care Evolves

Level 1: Hell

More of this Feature • Level 1: Hell • Level 2: Purgatory • Level 3: Limbo • Level 4: Heaven's Gate • Level 5: Heaven • More from this Author

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The 5 Levels of Orphan Care 1. The Streets: Orphans living and dying in the streets, a few orphanages run by religious and non-profit groups 2. Orphanages: State-run and church-run orphanages, usually overcrowded and understaffed 3. Foster Care, Few Adoptions: State-run foster care homes and institutions, adoption is not supported or particularly encouraged by the government 4. Subsidized Adoptions: Adequately funded foster care, financially subsidized special needs adoption, government actively encourages adoption of all waiting children 5. Child-Centric Society: Very few waiting and foster children, adoption accepted, supported at all levels, and viewed as an equally valid way to build a family, all adults feel responsibility toward all kids. -R.L.

by Rita Laws, Ph.D.
© 2002, Reprinted by permission

June, 2002 - Recently, at a City Council meeting in Minnesota, plans were approved for the building of a privately funded orphanage. The adoption community views this as a giant step backward. The following article explains why.

Paco is in hell. Not because he sinned, but because he was born in a country without a safety net in place for children. No older than 5 or 6, he has no memory of any home other than the section of abandoned sewer pipe he shares with 4 other children. All he knows is fear. Paco is a modern day orphan, also known as an orphan of the living. His mother and father may or may not be alive. Either way he is parentless.

Since Paco is the youngest, the older kids look out for him somewhat, but in this dangerous world, it's every child for himself, or herself. They steal to eat, and many times Paco has almost been caught by the people in the market. He cannot run very fast yet. Since Paco's arrival, several of the children in their group have died of pneumonia and tuberculosis. And two who disappeared were rumored to have been shot by the vigilantes who regularly "thin" their numbers with bullets. In the local language, Paco is part of a population of street orphans referred to as "Brown Dust."

The least evolved system to care for parentless children is no system at all. Call it hell, because if hell is defined as a place where suffering never ends, then being a child without hope is tantamount to hell. This system is what an estimated 20 million children are part of around the world, especially in Africa, South America, and parts of Asia. The lucky children eventually find care in a church-run orphanage, and a few are informally adopted, but these are relatively rare. The street children who survive to adulthood usually make their living as criminals.

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© 2002 Rita Laws, Ph.D.

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