Governments all across Africa want to move away from orphanages and resort solely to foster care and adoption. (ECM photo)
International (MNN) ― Throughout Africa, millions of children have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS, war, or the effects of poverty. Previously, Every Child Ministries and other aid groups have helped these orphans through foster care, adoption or group homes.
However, many African governments now want to eliminate one of the options.
"We are facing a big move in most African countries where the governments want to go away from group homes and want to place children into families through adoption or foster care," said Lorella Rouster with ECM.
She said this would create a problem, though, because of the vast amount of orphans. Without these homes, organizations would never be able to help each and every one of these children find a foster home or adopted family.
"Removing one option would be devastating," Rouster said. "Every form of care possible is needed."
Not only does the vast amount of orphans who would go unaided present a problem, but certain children simply could not be placed in a traditional family.
"We see children who have been living on the street for a considerable time. They have learned behaviors and attitudes that make it very difficult for ordinary families to take them in," she said. Without orphanages, this large amount of children would be placed back on the streets and "fall through the cracks" of the system.
Rouster said while ECM realizes God ordained the family unit and a nuclear family is ultimately the best option, they have been successfully running foster care, adoption and group homes for many years now.
In addition to this, Rouster said these children are not usually placed in traditional families. Instead, they are placed with a relative they have never met or a complete stranger, who simply views them as another mouth to feed and often treats them as a second-class citizen.
Also, if a woman loses her husband and remarries, her second husband often does not want the children from her previous marriage. If the kids do stay in the home, they are often subjected to abuse and neglect.
ECM does not know what has brought about this sudden pressure to close down group homes, but Rouster said she does not think they are at risk of being shut down yet.
"The truth is, they keep sending us their children," she said. Therefore, Rouster and ECM are hoping the governments will realize what a mistake it would be to close group homes and how many children it would affect negatively.
Pray for these governments to have a change of heart and see the benefits of every option. Pray also for every ministry in the area to provide the best care they can for the kids. Pray that these kids will be affected by the Gospel as these ministries help them.
Visit ECM's Web site to learn more about their ministries and what you can do to help orphans in Africa.
