Kyra’s thoughts.
After our first week at CHA I was seriously beginning to wonder about the orphanage, our role and the good it’s doing everyone involved.
Every day, the children are left alone with us, with no other supervision. The kids are extremely needy, quick to be friendly to whoever will pay them attention and will often resort to begging if they don’t get their way.
Having an education in social welfare, alarm bells have been going off in my head for a while. None of the stories here match up, the director is hardly ever present, there are currently 5 volunteers, absolutely no regulation and as far as I can tell, a lot of the kids have at least one living parent.
After doing some research on Institutionalised care in Cambodia I have found out a few things. Firstly, there is no need for a license or permit to open an orphanage in Cambodia. Secondly, the number of orphanages in Cambodia has tripled in the last five years and finally there is a very real and very damaging phenomena of “voluntourism” impacting these children’s lives for the worst.
The reality of the situation is this:
- There are legitimate orphans with no family to speak of and no where to go in Cambodia.
- There are also some legitimate orphanages that support and provide for these children.
- There are a lot of corrupt orphanages in Cambodia.
- There are a lot of foreigners with good intentions and money to give away.
- Orphanages provide food, shelter and education.
- There are a lot of families in Cambodia with no means to provide some or all of those things.
This means that families are giving up their children because they receive no support or do not have the resources to provide for their children. Foreigners fund orphanages and ensure that they receive the necessities. The children are in situations that are less than ideal. Although they receive education, food and shelter, they need love. I’m not just being cute- unconditional love and nurturing are a necessity for the healthy development of a child. Their families can provide this far better than any institution can .The money that is spent on orphanages could be as easily spent on supporting families to keep their children and ensuring they have enough to feed and educate them. No matter how well run an institution is, nothing replaces a loving and nurturing family environment.
After pushing past the guilt and confusion over what I was doing in an orphanage if it could be contributing to separating families and creating more orphans, I asked myself a few questions.
What were your expectations coming here?
What is the reality? and
What are your unwavering beliefs on child welfare and safety?
The truth is that I was aware that corruption was ripe in Cambodia, everywhere. I understood that often orphanages were involved in corruption and that there were cases of some orphanages opening their doors up to day visitors, passers by and anyone who cared to pay a visit to the kids. I wanted to avoid giving my support to this kind of thing so Clare and I both made sure we researched this part of the trip properly. We went through a number of reputable NGOs to make sure we ended up being placed somewhere that was legitimate. We also got police checks for the trip and ensured that the orphanage we would volunteer at only wanted us for helping out, teaching English and participating in general duties that needed completing.
I guess my expectations were that I would help out wherever I could, assist in some teaching and entertain the kids a bit. I assumed that they would have permanent staff looking after them and meeting their needs. I expected that there would be checks and balances in place to ensure the kids safety and wellbeing while we were there with them.
The reality is that anyone can walk on in to this place. The other worrying reality is that we are alone with the kids all day. We can not teach them as we have zero resources or translators. We do our best through song but these kids speak no English and we speak very little Khmer. I have my doubts about this kids safety and I’m willing to bet the other volunteers do not have Police checks. If anyone can walk into the orphanage for a visit and spend hours alone with these kids, how is that in any way safe?
As for my unwavering beliefs, first and foremost I believe that every decision made regarding children should be made in the best interest of the individual child and its safety. I believe that preventing family separation is important. I believe that the childs opinion should always be listened to and taken into account. I believe if important decisions are made regarding a childs welfare, the outcome should be constantly monitored and reviewed. Finally I believe that all services and decisions should be provided without discrimination to any party involved.
In recognising this I realise that what I though was helping is infact doing more harm than good. Decisions are not being monitored or reviewed because there is no one to be held accountable to. I can not say for sure if the children are being listened to, or if the parents of the children are being discriminated against. Ultimately our presence here is not in the kids best interest. Nothing can replace the personal attention and love of a family member, no matter how poor the family. We really have to consider our impact here and that means recognising that supporting corrupt orphanages means that we are creating more orphans. These kids are not in an environment that is in their best interest.
Obviously the whole issue is not black and white. In an ideal world, no kid should be in an orphanage, but in this world at least, no kid with a family who loves them and can provide safety should be in an orphanage. We should fund families instead of funding orphanages, particularly those that aren’t legitimate. While these kids are being provided with food, shelter and education, at what cost?
I have realised that spending my time with these children is a band-aid solution to a much bigger problem, if that. While its lovely to give these kids attention and play games with them, in the end its only putting them in a position of more vulnerability where they will ultimately experience another abandonment when we leave.
That, and the fact that visiting orphanages is becoming such a ‘must do activity’ that its actually in the lonely planet. Gap year students flood these small communities with the best intentions but instead leave devastating impacts on the community. The phenomena has been dubbed “the new colonists” because locals are losing their jobs due to the fact that tourists pay to work in these places and organisations are becoming westernised in order to accommodate to the tourists needs. NGOs are open specifically to place volunteers in these type of organisations, surely knowing the impacts.
We have to ask ourselves what the word tourist and orphanage are doing in the same sentence. Would this behaviour be okay at home?
All of this leaves me with plenty of questions, particularly what do I do now?
I want to be able to change something, ensure that my visit wasn’t in vain and I also feel like I have made a commitment to the project. The reality is that the problem starts here and can only be finished here. Without programmes to support families to support themselves, how will the cycle end? Without legitimate, accountable, licensed orphanages how can we ensure the safety of children in need? Without a willing and uncorrupt government how can any of this even begin to happen?
I don’t have many answers at this point except the feeling that I should redirect my time and energy. My presence and support in this case is not helping. I have a feeling that more research, educating others and supporting NGOs that fund micro-finance programs to families is a step in the right direction. In the mean time my intention is to email anyone who will listen and post this blog for anyone who will read it.
It’s one thing to travel half way across the world to help out, but another thing entirely to ignore the fact that your attempts are misguided and potentially very harmful.
‘
\
