Man : Throwaway Children (Orphan)

Life of An Orphan

Throwaway Children

Have you ever thrown litter on the street? It happens all the time. People carelessly tossing unwanted things on the ground. There is no care or concern for what they discard. It is garbage -- a nuisance they no longer want to think about or have around. Similarly, Africa is much like Other Developed countries. Without care, unnamed and unwanted things are left in the street.

The difference in Africa and other third-world countries is that far too often these unnamed, unwanted things are not garbage – but children! Like the little girl whose HIV positive mother died in childbirth and whose father abandoned her.

Every Fifteen Seconds . . . . . .

Every 15 SECONDS, another friend child becomes an AIDS orphan in Africa

Every DAY 5,760 more friend children of mine become orphans

Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children like me become orphans (in Africa alone)

143,000,000 Orphans Worldwide in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home

Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but… not me

Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans life and AGE OUT of the system

Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT

Orphans
Don’t be surprised to find that many children like me who are considered orphans may actually have a parent who is still alive.  The definitions of different types of orphan’s:

A single orphan is a child (under the age of eighteen) whose mother or father has died.

A paternal orphan is a child whose father has died.

A maternal orphan is a child whose mother has died.

A full orphan/double orphan is a child whose parents have both died.  These are all categorized as "true orphans." "Social orphans" are children who have lost one or both parents because of abandonment, or relinquishment due to poverty, alcoholism, or imprisonment.

A child’s orphaned status:

• Death of my parents

• Being socially orphaned.

 A social orphan friends is an orphan due to their family ill afford to care for them due to incarceration, physical abuse, or abandonment.

• Economic hardship

Orphans parents of mine who are unable to provide for their families. My friend is force to live in the orphanage system where their basic needs can be met. Unfortunately, some children are able to return home other not.

• The court quashed my orphans friends parental rights for various reasons which include neglect, alcoholism, and drug abuse.

Effects of Becoming an Orphan

An orphaned child life is alone in an adult world. Experiencing serious violations of many of my rights:

·          Nutrition

Do not have the means to properly feed themselves.

·         Shelter

We live homeless in the streets and provided in squalid and old maintainless buildings.

·         Education

Our education is sacrificed first in order to meet my own needs and my young siblings in my care.

·         Health Care

I rarely am concerned with my own health, just a simple food and shelter. My living conditions and daily activities are highly dangerous for my  health, the risk of street fights, drugs, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, malnutrition, and poor working conditions.

·         Child Labor

I try to look for a job to escape their dire situations. All too often, I am exploited through all kinds of degrading and dangerous work. My orphan’s friends work in commercial agriculture, as street vendors and housekeepers, and in the sex industry.

Psychology

1. Inhibited Physical Development
• I am deprived of “touching affect”  resulting

o   increase in my stress level

o   a weakened immune systems,

o   my  physical recovery speeds is decreased

o   stunted abnormal growth and poor overall health even when all other basic needs are fulfilled.

2.       Increased Susceptibility to Psychological Risks and Emotional Problems

I am susceptible to depression and anxiety resulting heightening my stress levels associated with being an orphan. Because young children may not yet understand the finality of death, I am  unable to fully experience the mourning process which helps adults to cope and as a result I grow up with unresolved anger, depression and anxiety.

3.       Inhibited Cognitive and Mental Development

Due to my “touch deprivation” i.e. love, my Cortisol , a stress hormone levels increase. At consistently high levels, it inhibits my normal brain tissue development and damages existing brain tissue. It impact the regions hippocampus, part of my brain responsible for learning and memory, and  I experienced learning difficulties.

4.       Inhibited Social Development and Connectivity

My unhealthy social development has a long-term effect, deprived of consistent and genuine exposure to the love, affection, warmth and care from my family and community that contributes to my unhealthy social connection and the result of me  being susceptible to paranoia, insecurity and distrustfulness.

Orphanage Living

• Orphanage buildings we live are often of pre-WWII construction or none at all. The wear and tear over many years without proper maintenance is very evident. Funding is not available for even the smallest repairs.

• Proper heating, hot water, and electricity are often sporadically available during the harsh winter and wet months.

• Lack of modern plumbing and flushable toilets inside of orphanage and house is common; toilets often consist of holes in the ground, without toilet paper.

• Dry rot, ripped flooring, and broken windows are a frequent occurrence.

• Ratio of caregivers to look after my needs and friends  is low.

• Hygiene supplies such as soap, toothpaste, shampoo, and feminine napkins are frequently limited.

• I am  allowed to bath only once per week if there is water.

• Limited nutritional sources if there is any  (e.g. no meat, one egg per week, etc.), have resulted me and my orphans friend succumb  in malnutrition, rickets, and associated small stature.

• Medical and dental care is none and limited.

• There is a lack of “family unit” living, resulting me and friend the having low interpersonal skill development.

• Necessary life skills are seldom learned.

 Aging Out

• Children “age out” early to me and my friends due to orphanage system at the averaging 16 years.

• Due to a my child’s orphaned status, the opportunity to attend education is not possible, even if finances are available for them. Priority is basic needs

• Upon aging out,  me and my orphanage friend, turn to the streets sustain ourselves.

Out of despair 60% of the girls will turn to prostitution, 70% of the boys will enter a life of crime, 27% of these youth will find work, and very sadly 10% will commit suicide before their 18th birthday.

Findings

1. A finding by University of Minnesota found that the natural growth hormone levels of children living in orphanages tended to be lower than normal and that puberty was typically delayed by a year and a half to two years.
2. Another study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford concluded that the heights of children who lost their parents before age 15 averaged a final height approximately 2 centimeters shorter than unorphaned individuals.
3. In a 2003 study, a group of Korean infants living in an orphanage received 15 minutes more exposure to a female voice, affectionate touch and eye contact twice a day for 4 weeks. Compared with other infants living in the orphanage, they experienced fewer illnesses and significant increases in weight, body length and head circumference by six months of age.
4. A 1997 study by Makerere University found that psychiatric disorders were 3.5 times more likely among children in orphanages, compared with children living with their families.

• A study comparing intelligence quotients of Romanian orphans in foster care with those of children in orphanages suggests that caring family environments can counter at least some of these effects in females. Girls in foster care averaged IQ scores of 82, compared with the general population's average IQ of 100, while those in orphanages averaged IQs of 70. On the other hand, boys in either scenario averaged IQ scores of 60.

What We can Do

Ways to Help an Orphan

1. Make a general donation  by credit card to sponsor a specific project or child.
2. Donate through the mail by check.
3. Donate stock to established orphanage and trustee.
4. Sponsor a child.
5. Set aside an amount each month and donate with your debit or credit card.
6. Participate in "7 Days of Nothing" and donate the money you save.
7. Become a "Saving Sponsor" by donating to the Families Saving Orphans project and have your adoption or orphan story featured on the website.
8. Sacrifice one or more things in your life and donate what you save to help an orphan. Even one dollar can make a difference in the life of an orphan. Examples of things you might sacrifice: cable T.V. subscription, soda addiction, cigarettes, Starbucks coffee, fast food meals, full price movies (go to the dollar theater instead) dessert, manicure/pedicure.
9. Ask for donations from others. Send a letter to family members and friends and let them know you are trying to raise funds to help orphans. Ask them each for $10 or more if they can. Set a goal to get 10 donations.
10. Donate airline miles to Organization to help defray travel costs for our project managers as they travel to arrange medical care or help for orphans.
11. Go in person to local businesses and ask them to donate to Orphans.
12. Arrange with Supermarket to set up a table where you can tell people about Orphans and ask for donations.
13. Organize a pancake breakfast or a spaghetti dinner with the proceeds going to an orphan project. Ask businesses, friends and family to donate the supplies. Raffle or auction off donated items during the dinner, and encourage attendees to bring along items they can donate. Think about the people you know and what they could offer you. Do you have family who own a timeshare or condo or cabin? If so, auction off a weekend! Do you have a dentist in the family? Auction off a free exam and cleaning! Can you or a friend sew or quilt? Raffle off a custom quilt or blanket!
14. Sell unwanted household items on eBay and donate the proceeds.
15. Have a yard sale. Get friends and family members to donate items for you to sell, especially big items like serviceable furniture. Advertise well, listing specific high-demand items in your newspaper advertisement.
16. Use a credit card that gives you cash back on purchases and donate the cash back to help an orphan.
17. Organize a "Hoops for Orphans" event where children get sponsors to donate a specific amount for every basket they make at a special event you organize.
18. Organize a golf tournament with the proceeds going to help orphans.
19. Request that your birthday gifts be donated to help orphans.
20. During the holiday season request that those who traditionally give you gifts donate to help orphans instead.
21. Instead of sending a gift to someone, donate the amount of the gift you would have given to help an orphan and inform them of the donation being made in their name.
22. Organize a "Service Auction for Orphans" where family members and friends donate a service to be auctioned off with proceeds going to help orphans.
23. Share your orphan story. If you have had a positive experience with adoption or helping orphans, share your story with others .
24. Conduct Orphans drive in your neighborhood by sending a personal letter to 10-20 friends and neighbors asking for a donation to help orphans.
25. Dollars for Orphans. For one month ask everyone you come in contact with for $1 to help an orphan. Explain that most orphans live on less than $1 each day.
26. Hold a birthday party for an orphan and invite your friends to come and each bring $10 to donate to help an orphan who has probably never had a birthday party.
27. Consider adopting a child.
28. Hold an "Orphan Awareness Night" in your home and show Orphans DVD and request donations.
29. Sign up for the free "Orphan Watch" newsletter and encourage others to do so too. Send out the link to the sign-up page to everyone in your email address book.
30. Send out an email to everyone in your email address book inviting them to come to familiessavingorphans.org to sponsor a child or an orphan project.
31. Put Families for Orphans as a recipient in your will.
32. Ask someone else to put Families for Orphans in their will.
33. Contact local businesses and invite them to match your donation.
34. Challenge family members to match your personal donation.
35. Hold a Families Saving Orphans barbecue and donate the proceeds.
36. Organize a "Walkathon for Orphans."
37. Do an "eBay Scavenger Hunt" and ask neighbors and friends to donate items from a list you create of items that could be easily sold on eBay. Then auction them off on eBay.
38. Encourage your school to conduct a "Dollars for Orphans" project where each child is invited to bring in $1 to help an orphan. We can match up a school with a specific orphanage or project.
39. Organize friends and family to do a "Car Wash for Orphans."
40. Cancel your newspaper service and use those funds to sponsor an orphan.
41. Ask your dentist, doctor, orthodontist, chiropractor or anyone you regularly pay to receive services from to see if they will donate a portion of your payment to help an orphan.
42. Email your friends and families the link to "Compelling Orphan Stories" so they will be motivated to help orphans as well.
43. Take up a collection from co-workers ($10 each) to donate to Families for Orphans.
44. Start a blog and tell people about Families for Orphans and send them to friends.
45. Dedicate a percentage of the profits of your business each month to Families for Orphans and advertise your support of this project.
46. Send out a flier to your neighbors, friends, and family offering a paid service informing them that the proceeds will go to help orphans. Ideas for services you could offer: babysitting, housecleaning, baked goods or yard work.

Excerpt taken with thanks from:

The Effects of Being an Orphan | eHow.com

http://anorphansmiles.org/joomla15/index.php/anorphanslife

http://www.familiessavingorphans.org/fso/waystohelp.cfm