The Power of Love - Romania

The Power of love - a lesson from Romania

Never under estimate the power of love.

 Never under estimate the power of a few simple words!

Sponsoring a child or being a correspondent is far more than a financial or time investment in the life of a child. For some of these children it is a lifeline in a very difficult lonely world. It may be the only time someone cares about them enough to want to help them through their daily grind where being hungry is normal, roaming the street and begging are survival skills and to go to school is a far off dram they never imagine they will have a chance to do.

My job involves training educators who work in the child care industry and this lesson of the huge influence we have on a child's life, well-being and future we brought home to me very strongly as I read some research out of Romania some years ago. I share this with my fellow workers regularly as it made me realize how important the tiny details are to let a child know they are loved and valued. I believe this lesson is also true for our Compassion children and any other children in a sponsorship program.

Many years ago now, those of my generation will remember the horror pictures that came out of Romania as the world became aware of a country on its knees with too many children, too little food or work and a government that couldn't cope. These images were of scores of children locked in cots or rooms with little clothing or food and nothing to do but sit all day in their cots while the few staff employed would try to attend to their basic needs with the few resources they had. There were many horror stories of what happened to these children, what they were fed and what happened to them in the institutions. I won't go into that but you can research it on the net if you want the details.

The world was saddened by the plight of all these children and thousands of them were adopted all over the world. Most of the children adopted were under 5 years old from memory. A researcher at a US University decided to write his thesis on what happened to these children adopted in the USA and to find out how they got on as they reached adulthood.

His results were devastating finding that a very large number of the children adopted had not fared well. A large number had sever mental health issues, some had taken their lives, others hadn't been able to adjust to normal life and were living as homeless or on the edges of society. There was also another smaller group that were well adjusted, had been educated, gone on to have steady jobs, marriage and families and had completely assimilated into the American life style.

This puzzled him and he decided to investigate further. He then discovered that all these children who were doing well had come from the same orphanage. So he researched the orphanage and could fine no difference from that one and all the other government orphanages. So he decided to go to Romania and fine the orphanage and see if he could find the answers there.

When he got to Romania he also found that all these children had come from one particular wing of that orphanage on the same floor. He went to the orphanage and talked to the staff but they were all younger and had not been there when the children had been. One of the staff remembered there was an old lady who had worked at the orphanage then still alive and in the city. So he went to visit her and she had the answer:-

Another member of staff who had since died did the late shift. Every night at the end of her shift she would take off her apron, hang it up and then go to each crib one by one. She would pick up the child give them a cuddle and tell them she loved them and they were important. She would then tuck them into bed and go to the next child. She would do this for every child on that floor of the wing every night before she went home.

That was the only difference between the children that thrived and all the others from all the other orphanages. A little bit of love goes a long way!

All children need to know they are loved and cared for, in the world of poverty where survival takes first place love is often missing or not shown due to stress and strife. A short letter to let a child know you care and are thinking of them may be the same as that old lady telling each child they were loved and worthy.

As I started with never under estimate the power of love, your words could be the difference between a life lost or a full and happy future.

What can you do for a child today????