The dictionary says that an orphan is one whose parents are dead. But is it really so? A child’s parent need not necessarily be dead for him/ her to be an orphan. The attitude is a misnomer. Any child who has a father who has deserted his mother can be described as an orphan.It is, in a way, sad to note that even in our very own Nagaland that there are as many as twenty two orphanages with over one thousand children. This was unheard of even in recent memory. There are several reasons why the number of parentless children are on the rise. There are those who are victims of fratricidal killings with single mothers unable to provide the care and support that children require when they are young. There are also increasing incidents of unwanted pregnancies in the society. No studies or surveys have been conducted explaining this trend. But good parenting and lack of correct information to teenagers about behavioral patterns are most likely to be the cause of such increasing cases. The boom in ‘internet connectivity’ coupled with a generation of parents who are not tech savvy and have no idea what their children are accessing on social media sites could also be contributory factors. This gets even more reinforced with most families having no discipline in the manner in which children use the internet or watch television.
On the brighter side there are men and women of good will and altruistic leanings who have thought it proper to cater for these children and that various NGOs and individuals have been generous in extending a helping hand in cash or in kind or both.
It is notable that there are several orphanages that are doing whatever best they can and they deserve to be lauded and encouraged. To mention only one or two may not be fair to one and all. However, even the world has recognised November 10 as the World’s Orphans’ Day for children displaced by poverty, war and AIDS through a variety of grassroots efforts.
To cite one instance, students, Churches and business establishments conducted prayer walks and vigils, prayer balloon lifts. Concerts and more—all designed to encourage the public to celebrate local procrastinations in honour of World Orphans Day. This was initiated by Star foundation in its “Mission Love” which is not any event organizer but the enabler. The aim is to enable the orphanage to bring forth the needs and hardships to the people in general.
At the same time, however, it is to create awareness among the people that charity does not stop at cash and kind donation. It also involves devoting time to the children, interacting with them, sincerely upholding them and creating avenues whereby these children displaced by their circumstances are given a chance to live and achieve their dreams. In fact the further ranks of super-orphans illustrated and illustrious include Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, Superman, Storm, and Wolverine. Book sales for another redheaded orphan who insisted her name be spelled “Anne” with an “e” surpassed 50 million by 2008. But even Anne of Green Gables is outdone nearly ten to one in total sales by the most successful fiction publishing venture of all time, chronicling the coming of age of the orphan “boy who lived.” In fact, Daniel Radcliffe had played two orphans -- David Copperfield for the BBC and Harry Potter for movie audiences everywhere -- by the time he was twelve.
In fact being an orphan in no way disables a child from reaching his full potential as seen in lives of fictional heroes as well as real life orphans.
Aristotle, Cyrus the Great, Edgar Allen Poe, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ingrid Bergman, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nelson Mandela, Marilyn Monroe, the Muslim prophet Muhammad, Malcolm X, Leo Tolstoy, William Wordsworth, and John Lennon were all orphans.
If we extend the list to include the fatherless raised by mothers or other relatives, we can add Augustus Caesar, Bill Clinton, and indeed the current US President, Barack Obama.
Mission Love is about breaking barriers, destroying boundaries, pushing for peace and spreading compassion. This is not merely protecting the weak and oppressed from the strong and superior. The main objective is to motivate and inspire the weak and oppressed to break through barriers, boundaries, bondages and limits.
The Star Foundation’s most laudable objective is that it focuses on breaking through the fear of stigma to reach into people’s capacity for love in this drought and famine of love and compassion. So, to help someone is also a part of any religion.
However, your giving anything to anyone is also to be prudent. Do give of your very own will. But the Bible also says “Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you” (Matthew 6:1-4).
There are several other orphanages in our very own Nagaland and the sponsors that be are doing their level best to succour them. Call it altruism but then this is what we as human beings are also made and called upon for. In the ultimate analysis, it is not the biological parents that are most suitable for their children, Rather, it is those men and women, that is, surrogate fathers and mothers who do care for them in such a loving way that they surpass even the love of the natural parents. Are we up to it?
What makes the difference between an orphan’s “success” and failure? Is it individual temperament, coping skills, poverty, or support networks?
Most memorable for memories in the account of an orphan, were ‘simple human relationships and acts of generosity: loved ones with listening ears and advice when it was sought, a doctor who gave his rollerblades, a friend whose family let her use their weightlifting equipment, a neighbor who cheerfully “chauffeured”her and her sister to school, church chums sharing fun and ministry through service projects, ski trips, and choir retreats’.
This faith, hope and love is what we must bequeathe to our future generations.
