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this page Newsletters - Abandoned Children
Indonesia
Most people in my country believe that “a child is a gift from God”, while the old Chinese tradition (at least as my parents and relatives believe) is that “more children means more blessings”. With this belief, the population of the country is increasing very much although in the past three decades central government has been trying to reduce the number of births through the Family Planning Programme. In many cities the programme is successful, but in the villages it is not so. People in the villages do not realise that having many children is a burden. Villagers in less populated communities would not think about the need to control the number of births. Take the example of my family. My parents had eleven children, whereas I am the eldest and now have two boys (surely that is enough) and the youngest is still in high school. Fortunately, my parents had the opportunity to send us all to school. What if they were less fortunate? Surely all of us, or at least nine of us would become abandoned physically. For sure, spiritually and mentally, my younger brothers and sisters might have experienced abandonment.
In the urban context, the number of births is less in each family, but the number of children is extremely high. Accordingly, the number of less fortunate parents is high and this means many children are not cared for appropriately. The number of abandoned children in the city is very high. Take the example of Bandung City, where the Salvation Army serves hundreds of street children and homeless children in our two homes. More than 60% of these children were born in poor families, around 15% are from broken homes, while the rest are thrown-out children. Looking at the faces of these children, my heart is broken. How can they reach their future if no one cares?
Take another example of Surabaya City – East Java, where the Salvation Army has a similar programme with the addition of a Mothers’ and Babies’ Home. This home serves over 60 babies every month. All of these babies are abandoned children. Over half of them were born in the home, while others were born in hospitals and left by their parents. The majority of the mothers giving birth in the home come from poor or broken families. Fortunately, they still had the conscience to come to this home to give birth and then left the baby under the care of the Salvation Army. How much more abandoned, the babies who were found on the doorsteps or rubbish bins? “Oh Lord, have mercy on us!” Currently this Mothers’ and Babies’ Home is under reconstruction to build a two-storey building to accommodate and care for more abandoned children. If there were more financial resources, this home would be completed by the middle of 2004.
With “heart to God and hand to man” the Salvation Army Indonesia has been using its limited resources to care for these abandoned children and open the “windows of hope” for their future. With the support of many helping hands who adopt these children through sponsorship for their education and health, the Salvation Army has been able to transform thousands of children from abandoned to accepted children. Currently there are still thousands of children abandoned, and with the economic and moral crisis, there will be still more to come – as they beg for the right to live and have a better future.
We might not be able to eliminate the numbers of abandoned children, but as we make a caring response to this social issue and with God’s help, we can help these children to find the river of hope that leads them to prosperity.
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