Yahoo news has posted two of my photos showing orphans in Dalah waiting for dinner.
Near dusk on Thursday, May 8, I was heading back toward the ferry connecting the village of Dalah to the capitol Yangon.
Not far ahead I heard the sound of children's voices. I walked further along and saw an entire line of children with cups, bowls and plastic bags in hand.
A man ran up to me.
"Hey you!" he yelled.
I was startled as he grabbed my wrist and brought me into the compound.
He pointed at the long line of children. I flinched as one man beat a child with a leather strap who had tried to come up to me.
I had never seen a child beaten like that before. (I asked later and found out that children are often struck with leather in schools.)
I asked a man next to me who these children were.
"No parents," he said. I asked if they were orphans from the cyclone. He nodded his head and took me to the front ofthe line.
Each face looked up to me with sad eyes. Some smiled for my camera. Others looked away toward the meal.
A large pot stood at the front of the line full of a brown soup. I did not know what was inside. Then I realized (and asked), this was the only meal these children would have that day.
I took several photos of the line, the food, the faces (The Associated Press has published three of them).
From the top of the school, Yangon's colonial buildings and high rise hotels can be seen where food supplies are plentiful.
Just across the Yangon River, people are starving because of high food prices. The price of rice to feed an average family costs about $3 USD. For a family that has lost everything, food is inaccessible.
*PHOTOS: 1)A man stirs the orphan's dinner at a school Thursday, May 8 at a school in Dalah, just across the Yangon River from Yangon in Myanmar. 2) Orphans line up for their daily meal at a school in Dalah Thursday, May 8.
5 comments:
Eh, this seems kind of inappropriate somehow, but I'm excited for you that you got some of your pictures published. Also, the airline Mike and I were supposed to fly to HK declared bankruptcy and got liquidated, so I'll only be there from June 7-17.
-Kyle
Jessica,
I am startled by the thought of orphans. Orphans in a country that doesn't have institutionalized foster care. Orphans in a country where there are no orphanages. Orphans where parents can't feed even their own children, nor themselves.
Who will take care of these children? This post reminded me of the biblical mandate that we care for the orphans; in this 21-century world, that mandate has never really hit home for me. Until I read this post.
In this way, your writing is a proponent of justice, and a voice on the children's behalf.
I love you. And I miss you. A ton.
Aleida
Jessica:
You did some wonderful work in Myanmar (Burma). I can only pray the orphans will be taken care of. Do you have a contact at this orphanage we can refer LCMS World relief to?
Love
Dad
Wow - just stumbled across this while searching for something else. I live in Dalah and hope you realise this is a huge scam - fuelled by people stupid enough to be bought in by it.
You might want to check out the many websites about orphanage tourism, and how people like you contribute to it by sharing you photos of sad looking kids.
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