Family strengthening and awareness session, to prevent children from entering residential care
In many rural areas of Myanmar it has sadly become fairly common for families to send their children away to orphanages, whenever a difficult situation arises. A major problem is that when one family sends their child away, it can encourage others to follow suit. At times entire communities are affected, as a generation from the village is lost to orphanages in the cities.
Recently we received a testimony from a man named Nawl Cung, after running an Awareness Raising session in his village. Rev. Nawl Cung is a former Pastor of Thangzang Baptist Church. In 2016 his wife sadly died, leaving him to raise their three children by himself. Overwhelmed by this responsibility, he decided that he would send his children to an orphanage in Yangon.
He knew of many families who had sent their children away, and this made it seem like an easy step to take. He believed that living in residential care would be beneficial for his children. He thought that they would receive good discipline, and would be able to thrive in a Christian environment.
He had also, however heard about some of the possible issues of residential care from other families in his village who had sent their children away. He had heard that the orphanage directors would change children’s ethnic name into Burmese; that children would often forget their culture and native language, and that they would often no longer have any attachment with their parents and relatives. He had also heard that children in orphanages could learn bad habits such as stealing, lying, and being lazy. Some people had also said that children were unable to assimilate to normal life after living in an orphanage, and would not able to relate with others well.
Despite these warnings, Nawl Cung still felt that an orphanage would be a better place for his children than what he could provide. When KM conducted an awareness session in their village, at just the right time, discussing the importance of family and parents for child development, something clicked in Nawl Cung’s mind.
After the session, he told us that there was now no way that he could send away his three children. He understood that orphanages not only cause huge behavioural issues, but that the lack of a family would have a significant impact on his children’s development. He is now certain that he will never send his children away, and believes that despite the difficulty of raising them alone, the best place for them is being cared for by him.