Understanding the Local Perspective
I talked with my host mom yesterday about her perspective on the lives of orphans in Cochabamba, and she said she didn´t really know that much, but she did know that at an orphanage near where she used to teach English most of the children were not “orphans” in how we think of orphans, children without parents; rather, the children had parents (and actually see them at least once a month), but their families lived in the countryside and so their parent´s sent them to the city to get an education. She said she wasn´t sure if this was the case at the orphanage that I´m working at, but she knows it is the case with some.
After telling me this, the mood shifted a bit. She then told me her own story. I won´t share all of it here, but I will say that it truly provided me with a completely new perspective on what´s going through the minds of these children. I had assumed, as I´m sure we all would assume, that they would oftentimes feel lonely or feel as though they aren´t loved. However, I had not before thought about the idea of guilt. More than simply feeling alone, oftentimes they may feel guilty about the fact that someone else is assuming the responsibility of their parents. They may feel like a burden, like they are imposing on their caretakers, like they don´t deserve the love that is being given to them. This is somethign that I definitely had not considered before. Now, with the littlest ones, I don´t think they feel this way yet (they hardly hesitate to use me as their own personal jungle gym haha), but it definitely may be true about the older ones. For some, it may be important for me to emphasize that I enjoy what I´m doing and that they are helping me just as much (if not more) as I am helping them.
I was so glad to have taken the time to talk with my host mom about this. She is such a kind and wonderful woman, and I felt so grateful that she shared her story with me. Hopefully, there are many more stories to come (and when they do, I´ll be sure to share their meaning with you 🙂 )
Un beso,
Laurel Bingman