New Beginnings?

Posted by Sara Coggins, Kids Connection Manager

Today, when we went on our weekly visit to an orphanage here in Taraz, we found out that three of "our" children had gone home to live with their mother. This was a reminder to us that many of the children that we work with actually have a living parent, but for one reason or another they are not able to live with them. I was surprised that my initial response was questioning whether this would be good for them and thinking that they might actually be better off at the orphanage. This surprised me because if you ask me if I think life in a home is better than life in an orphanage in general I would likely answer yes, unless it was a rare extreme.

As I asked some more questions, I found out that they left yesterday, were living with their mother, and their mother was currently working. No one really new much about their mother, except that she currently had a job. I remember the children talking about her and their being excited about the idea of her taking them from the orphanage, but I thought the words were just dreams that would never be fulfilled. As I thought about their leaving and talked about it with others on our staff, we had more questions than answers.

Is this home a safe place for them? Will life with their mother actually be better than life at the orphanage? What kind of structure will they have? Will we ever see them again? Will this just be another chance for disappointment? How does something like this make the other kids at the orphanage feel? Will they have enough food? Will they end up in the orphanage again in a few months, even more hurt because they experienced family for a while and then lost it again? Will they go to school and develop in the way they should? Are there any positive male role models for them?

These questions are not new to me after having taught in the States for a couple years. Sometimes, it is hard to know exactly what to make of the changes that we see in our daily work. I guess I come back to the fact that I am glad that we even know these children well enough to realize that they are missing and care about their well-being.