Please read this post as a means of introduction to this series.
In the west, an orphan is generally viewed as a child who has neither mother nor father. In fact, dictionaries define an orphan as a child without parents or a child deprived of parental care. Therefore, sponsors, prospective adoptive families, philanthropists, churches, short term volunteers, even many mission boards are convinced that when they are supporting or adopting "an orphan" the child must surely be a true orphan. It has been shown that the majority of the world's orphans have families and the majority of children in orphanages have families.
The word orphan has morphed in much of Africa to include a much broader category of child.
When a child is "an orphan" here, his mother might be bringing him to the office as an orphan to see about getting assistance with his school fees.
An "orphan" might be brought to an orphanage by an "uncle" (who turns out is actually the father) because the family cannot (or will not) care for the child due to stigma from the mother's death.
A child might be admitted to an orphanage because she is young and very vulnerable and the family is so impoverished that the child is suffering from malnutrition. She might still have two parents and extensive extended family.
For this reason, I will seldom use the word orphan except when the child is a true double orphan (no parents alive). I will otherwise use the term "vulnerable child" which can clearly encompass all of these cases without causing so much confusion. In fact, a child who is being trafficked is CLEARLY a vulnerable child.
Paternal orphan: a child who has lost his father
Single orphan: a child who has lost one parent
Double orphan: a child who has lost both parents
Social orphan: a child who is functionally orphaned by illness or other extenuating circumstance
Vulnerable child: a child under 18 years of age with a very high risk of lack of care and protection
OVC: Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Child-mother: a mother who was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and gave birth to a baby in the bush. The children from the bush had much stigma when they first emerged from the bush due to the manner in which they were conceived and the assumed atrocities that the mother may have committed. That stigma is fading now and a child is no longer automatically labeled and stigmatized as a child-mom-child by peers, teachers, and the community.
Child trafficking: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and/or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation could simply be financial. Example: uncle puts child up for international adoption and receives money. NO MONEY or benefits should be given to families or orphanages when it comes to adoption. If the orphanage that you are adopting a child from is asking for money, the answer is NO. It's a red flag and it's illegal.
What is an orphan?
In the west, an orphan is generally viewed as a child who has neither mother nor father. In fact, dictionaries define an orphan as a child without parents or a child deprived of parental care. Therefore, sponsors, prospective adoptive families, philanthropists, churches, short term volunteers, even many mission boards are convinced that when they are supporting or adopting "an orphan" the child must surely be a true orphan. It has been shown that the majority of the world's orphans have families and the majority of children in orphanages have families. The word orphan has morphed in much of Africa to include a much broader category of child.
When a child is "an orphan" here, his mother might be bringing him to the office as an orphan to see about getting assistance with his school fees.
An "orphan" might be brought to an orphanage by an "uncle" (who turns out is actually the father) because the family cannot (or will not) care for the child due to stigma from the mother's death.
A child might be admitted to an orphanage because she is young and very vulnerable and the family is so impoverished that the child is suffering from malnutrition. She might still have two parents and extensive extended family.
For this reason, I will seldom use the word orphan except when the child is a true double orphan (no parents alive). I will otherwise use the term "vulnerable child" which can clearly encompass all of these cases without causing so much confusion. In fact, a child who is being trafficked is CLEARLY a vulnerable child.
Definitions:
Maternal orphan: a child who has lost his motherPaternal orphan: a child who has lost his father
Single orphan: a child who has lost one parent
Double orphan: a child who has lost both parents
Social orphan: a child who is functionally orphaned by illness or other extenuating circumstance
Vulnerable child: a child under 18 years of age with a very high risk of lack of care and protection
OVC: Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Child-mother: a mother who was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and gave birth to a baby in the bush. The children from the bush had much stigma when they first emerged from the bush due to the manner in which they were conceived and the assumed atrocities that the mother may have committed. That stigma is fading now and a child is no longer automatically labeled and stigmatized as a child-mom-child by peers, teachers, and the community.
Child trafficking: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and/or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation could simply be financial. Example: uncle puts child up for international adoption and receives money. NO MONEY or benefits should be given to families or orphanages when it comes to adoption. If the orphanage that you are adopting a child from is asking for money, the answer is NO. It's a red flag and it's illegal.
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