Baby Cherry
After many discussions with the orphanage director and his supporters about the baby’s long-term future, the director said, “I am willing to give back the baby to the mother if she is willing to take her back and wants to look after her baby, but she must come to me personally as I am worried that she will give [her] to other people or admit [her] to another orphanage.” Kinnected social workers travelled back to village to inform the family that the director was willing to return their child. The next day the family traveled to pick up Cherry from the orphanage and take her home.
The meeting between Cherry’s family and the orphanage director went well. We drew up an agreement letter which everyone signed, and the baby was passed back to her family. The necessary government department was informed of the decision, and government officials were happy that the baby would no longer have to grow up in an orphanage. At this point Cherry had lived in institutional care for all seven months of her life, and was finally going to be able to experience life in a family.
Cherry with her social worker
We were also able to share our Christian faith with the family and explain that we do this work because we truly believe that God’s plan is for children to grow up in families. Our organisation is based on Biblical principles and we want to show the love of Jesus to all people without discrimination. We sometimes face resentment from the Christian community for taking children out of what are considered to be Christian orphanages and placing them with non-Christian families, but it is our firm belief that we are doing this with the child’s best interests at heart.
Monitoring.
Following the placement with family, our social workers made many monitoring visits. It is not enough to just place children back with their families. Follow up visits and calls help us to ensure the safety of each child we work with after placing them back into family care. On our first visit Cherry looked well and healthy. The family informed the team that Cherry was happy and was sleeping well. She was developing well and ate a lot, and their extended relatives had visited and also loved her. The family told the social workers that they were very grateful for their intervention.
Cherry with her Mother and Grandmother
On this visit the team noted that Cherry’s grandmother had taken more of a motherly role, which is not unusual considering the young age of Cherry’s mother. All of the family loved the baby, and were playing an active role in taking care of her. While the family was financially stable, and didn’t request any assistance, we provided some high quality formula to ensure that Cherry would be getting good nutrition up to her first birthday.
Cherry was home, with a family that loved her deeply and a community that accepted and wanted the best for her. Many babies who are born to young unmarried mothers in Myanmar spend their whole childhood in institutional care. These children don’t get to experience the love and care that comes from a family, are more at risk of abuse and exploitation and struggle to lead normal lives as adults. We are unendingly thankful that Cherry’s story didn’t end this way, and that she now lives in a family that deeply loves her!