The program involves folks who are interested in giving to children left behind. Children who have no family to come see them. Children who for various reasons have not been adopted. Children who are used to living with 20 other children...and are used to not having parents. No family. No-one to teach them the ins and outs of life. No one to prepare them for the time when it's time to spread their wings. No one.
The Give-a-Mentor program will help alleviate some of those issues. Some of them. It doesn't give a child the family that they so desperately want and need. It doesn't give them the cooking skills or the grocery buying skills or the job getting skills. It doesn't give them the day to day love and hugs that children (and all ages, actually) so desperately need.
But. It does give them interaction with 'grandmas' or young people who want to give of themselves to these children. It does give them the opportunity to know that one person in the big ole world cares enough about them to come visit. It does give them some brief contacts with love. It does let them know that life is not all about just getting from one moment to the next.
It gives them hope. Hope for the future.
It gives them a little stability. It gives them a chance to attach to one person in their life....which is such a blessing when they are adopted. If a child has the ability to attach to just one person, that child will (someday) be able to attach to their new family.
It gives them touch, which is so important for a child's development.
Overall, the program is a wonderful way to help the orphans who are left behind. Orphans at Play has partnered with Vlad Mission (If you go to the Vlad Mission website, you'll notice that it is a Catholic organization. I'm not a Catholic, nor do I agree with all the Catholics believe, but I do believe that what they are doing in Vlad is wonderful.)in order to get 8 grandmas into orphanages full time....meaning they have to spend 48 hours per month at the orphanage spending time with the children.
So. There are a couple ways that you can help us get these mentors in to the children's lives. ONE: go to the OAP website and click on the 'donate' button at the top of the page. You can designate in the comment box as to where you want the money to go. Just as an item of interest...it costs $60 to get one grandma into the orphanage for one month. Any amount donated would be greatly appreciated. TWO: We'll be unveiling a new program here in the next few weeks just in time for Christmas...so stay tuned. :) Oh, and by the way? Anytime you donate to OAP, it's tax deductible. Not that that should be an incentive, but if you claim it on your taxes...in the long run you'll be able to give more to more places...just because you saved that much in tax money. Or something like that.
I have to admit that I'm not a financial guru.
While this is obviously where our hearts are...the orphans in Russia...I know that not everyone else's hearts are at that same spot. And I'm so thankful for that. If we all were concentrating on Russia, what about Ethiopia or Liberia or Uganda or India or Chile or Brazil or Mexico or here in the States? God in His wisdom has allowed us to think for ourselves and has given us the hearts for different locations around the globe. He knows that there are children (and adults) everywhere who need folks to love them from afar. The main point is that we need to be aware. We need to do what we can to help who we can.
Sometimes we get so caught up in ourselves (talking to myself here) that we tend to forget that there are others out there who have it way worse than we do.
But. There's what's happening with the organization that I am involved with. If you care to help us get the mentors into the orphanages, we'd be thrilled to have your help!!
God bless you all...
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