Through the Eyes of a Child

(Luana:) Our last impression of India is one of hope and awe, full of good feelings, based on our visit to the SOS Children’s Village in Cochin. We didn’t know what to expect at an orphanage, after seeing some of the squalid living conditions in India. So it was a relief and a pleasure to feel both amazed and impressed.

When we got off the bus, children led us by the hand to an open-air pavilion and presented us with coconuts and straws, for a refreshing drink of coconut milk. Then some of the children entertained us. Beyond cute, and you could definitely see that Bollywood has had its impact. The ship had sent a group a day earlier, and SOS had prepared two groups of kids to do performances for them. Well, all the other kids wanted to perform so badly that three additional groups came up with acts overnight, so our group had five different acts to watch -- all adorable. Then the children led us around the complex to see how they live. Bob and I were with a darling girl with an unpronounceable name -- Amritsa?? -- who looked 12 but said she was 18. She seemed to like the arts, and she was sweet and shy, and she held my hand as we walked.

SOS is an international organization, and in India it has 40 orphanages alone. The term orphan is a loose one. Many of the children have family, but their family is either too poor to care for them, possibly has abandoned them, or could tell some other sad tale. But instead of just shoving the kids into an institution, SOS sets up its own family structure. Each child grows up in a home with about 10 other kids of all ages, with a mother to care for them. Each family does its own cooking, and there are three bedrooms. One bedroom for the girls, one for the boys, and one for the mother, with room for any babies or sick children who need special care. Each child has his or her own bed. This complex had Hindu houses, Christian houses, and Muslim houses, so the children could be brought up according to their own religion. The lovely thing is that this family unit remains intact, and the children don't even appear to be forced out at what we would consider adulthood--there are many 20-somethings still living with their families. That especially made me happy, given the job prospects they face and the number of people who appear to be living on the streets (although not so much in Cochin, which seemed more prosperous).

We visited inside the homes of four of the 15 families at the Cochin SOS site, and in each house the mother immediately pulled out the photo album for a “daughter” who had married, and wedding pictures were all over the walls, so that is a particular point of pride for them, to be able to marry off a daughter in that fashion. What impressed me was how nice the homes were -- they looked kind of like a Northwest scout lodge -- and how happy and well-educated the children were.

While the ship’s students were playing soccer with the kids, I wound up talking to Vipin Das, the village director. (He assumed I was the “teacher” and in charge of the group, because everyone else in our group was under 25). He said most of the children speak both Hindi and English, and all were in school or vocational programs. They appear to do a good bit of testing and try to help find good educational fits for each child so they have a chance at careers. I think this is definitely a good organization to keep on your radar, if you’re looking for charities to support. I know this will be a memory of India that I keep in my heart.