If there were a book that represents the social structure here in the orphanage-it would be Lord of the Flies.
The layout of the homes is (what I think) an excellent outline: there is an Ugandan House Mom for each home (there are 5 children's homes) who lives with the kids all the time except for her 5 days of leave every month. There is also an Ugandan Auntie who assists the House Mom. Each house has 2 rooms for children-about 4-8 to a room. Usually the big kids are in one room, and the small kids in the other. The houses are divided by gender, except the toddler and baby house which is mixed.
This structure works well-some of the time. A few of the House Moms' run their houses so well-truly like a little family. But some of them... Not so much. As I've mentioned previously, some of the older kids will beat the younger to get them to do what they want. Thus far, that is something I have seen with the girls, not so much the boys.
One morning while on our morning rounds, we heard some screaming coming from one of the houses. My teammate Meredith went to investigate and found one of the younger (about 10 years old) girls crying. The others in the house told Mere that the girl had refused to do her chores. Seems simple enough-a little girl cries because she doesn't want to do her chores. OK-so we finished our rounds. Later that day, we found out that one of the older girls had taken the one who refused to do her chores into a room and had beaten her with a stick. Yup-Lord of the Flies.
The kids have their own social structure-the older ones have authority over the younger. Depending on the house, the older ones exert authority using respect, and others use force. Most of the houses reflect the attitude of the authority-either the house feels tense or the house feels secure and safe. Very interesting.
It is hard to be here and stay an observer. Most of the time I just want to jump up and shout "this is wrong!" But what will that accomplish besides alienating myself and putting on this fake facade of superiority? I think Jesus knew the people well before he said-"wrong!" to them. Obviously: He is God (so that makes the whole knowing thing easier) but He spent 30 years of His life just living beside the people before He jumped into ministry. I need to remember this is for the long haul-and not just the 9 months, but for eternity. Am I expressing the love of Jesus to people as I interact? As I teach? As I learn?
Pray that I know when to stand up and say "wrong!" And when to watch and learn. Jesus was a Master at both, so I want to follow His lead
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mmm - wisdom and discernment.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Canada. I remember one time a little four year old did something disrespectful (sorry to say I don't remember exactly what) to the ywam-ers and one of the bigger kids set his bare feet down on thorns as punishment before we realized what was going on.
ReplyDeleteCrazy, right? Sometimes I can't believe it. It is just such a deeply ingrained cultural thing. Tonight I was giving medication to a 1 year old and I heard one of the ladies say to another kid nearby "don't move or I'll beat you." Such a deep thing. Good thing I'm not in control-God needs to take care of this one :)
ReplyDeleteActually, He'll just have to take care of it all :)
Probably not a good thing, but I burst out laughing at the "don't move or I'll beat you"... I do appreciate the comment about 30yrs before ministry though, made me think about what the rest of his time must have been like/about.
ReplyDeleteSaint-don't feel bad! Sometimes I laugh when I hear the kids saying things like, "if you don't give me that cookie, I'll beat you." True story. And my utmost favorite-to reprimand, someone might say, "don't beat your friends!" I guess it is either laugh or cry about it sometimes.
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