Earlier this year, during the school summer holidays, Kinnected social workers accompanied 8-year-old Kyaw and six other boys from the same orphanage on a long bus journey back home. Like many children in Myanmar’s orphanages, Kyaw was not an orphan, but had been sent to one of the many orphanages and children's homes in Yangon because his family thought he would get a better education.

On the journey, Kyaw was quiet and shy, however when the six older boys had been dropped off with their families, he opened up to the social workers. He said that he was afraid of the older children at the orphanage, as the orphanage director had given them the authority to punish him. (This practice is common in institutions as there usually aren’t enough adults around to manage all the children. Unfortunately, this power can be abused and younger children in the orphanage are often bullied).

Without these boys around to bully him, Kyaw came out of his shell, as observed by our social workers when they stopped at a small playground where he laughed and played like any child would. He hadn’t been able to experience such normality at the orphanage, and was loving his new-found freedom! After two days travelling, Kyaw was finally met by his family at the bus stop.

60 children went home to visit their families during this period and our social workers were able to observe the interaction between the children and their families, many of whom had not seen family in many years. They also conducted family assessments and awareness-raising seminars in the communities about child protection, child rights and the detriments of long-term institutional care on child development.

Though Kyaw was only supposed to visit his home for the summer, his family came to realise through the seminars that Kyaw would be much better off living with his family in the community, where he was known and loved. Kyaw would also have a better chance at a good education if he remained in his family, as children in institutional care rarely do well in school without a family around to support them. Kyaw’s family re-enrolled him in a local school where he continues to study.

Our social workers keep in contact with the family so that they can monitor Kyaw’s progress and provide support where needed. For those children who returned to the orphanages, our social workers continue to visit them and their families, with the aim of finding safe solutions for their future care.