A Summer with Orphans International
By Giulia
This June I joined the OI America team on Roosevelt Island, New York. My relationship with the organization started long before stepping into their office, it all begun in Paris. During my year abroad in the city of lights, I spent hours researching summer internships: the same set of questions kept on flocking to my head. Where do I want to be? What type of job position should I apply for? And the most pressing of them all: what is my purpose? I was completely and utterly lost at sea. All that I knew was that I wanted to work with children in some capacity. But where? And that is roughly when I clicked on the OIWW website, a non denominational organization whose mission statement instantly grabbed my attention:
“to help orphaned or abandoned children grow into solid citizens of the world through a sound structure that simultaneously Interfaith, because there are many paths up the mountain; Interracial, because there is but one race - the human race; International, because our neighbors are our family; Intergenerational, because there is much to learn from our elders; and Internet- Connected, because the world today is at our fingertips.”
To some it may come across as slightly cliché. Thankfully, as I later discovered, it is a winning formula to what is, surprisingly, an attainable goal. I walked into our New York headquarters on the lovely Roosevelt Island soon after. Here I met with the hearts and souls (not to mention the brains) of this NGO: Jim Luce, Founder, and Linda Stanley, Executive Director of OI America. I was swept away by their commitment to the cause as they explained to the summer interns (there are over a dozen of us!) the character of OI, its history and our role in the organization.
Unlike other summer jobs before (and I have had quite a few, believe me!) this has not been your regular buying-coffee-for-your-superiors sort of internship, far from it. The focus of the organization are the children under its care in Haiti, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and as of this year, Tanzania. Hence my first assignment: a full blown project to research the building of a self-sustainable, and energy sufficient community centre for our orphans in Jacmel, Haiti. What does that entail? Getting in touch with multiple architects, sponsors, the media; but also: figuring out the logistics behind the process, the time constrictions, the budget. One has to map out a focus, a plan of attack. I would be lying if I said that it has been an easy ride: between the overwhelming sense attached to the task, the obstacles have been many, varying from the hostility to the complete indifference of those to whom we have been trying to reach out to. It has been a daily reminder of the difficulties faced by a non-for-profit and one of the many reasons why people think twice before choosing the job as their life career.
Alongside the team’s efforts to meet the children’s basic needs, such as food, clothes and healthcare, OIWW believes in the right of each child to a normal childhood (Matthew’s Rule). Every child should be entitled to fun and games. Unfortunately, for many of kids around the globe, this is not the case. I grew up dancing and I owe a lot more to my classical training than good posture and flexibility, for it gave me a solid foundation and enforced working ethics. However, the one reason why I danced, and still do, is for the simple pleasure of it. Hopefully, the dance DVD that we are trying to put together, with its ‘roger rabbit’ steps, plies and pirouettes will give our kids the same joy, and if anything else a fun break in their day.
In the past three weeks I have been inundated with unbelievable amounts of information regarding orphanage care: the Family Care Model is in multiple ways a more efficient system than the traditional Orphanage Model, every 15 seconds a child dies from infected water, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, there is a lot that we can do to help. Although Jim’s (slightly bad) habit of drinking approximately 26 cups of coffee a day might (partly) explain his ability to put such an organization together, and run it, it is clear that the key lies somewhere else. Where? In his continuous drive to help, in his ability to involve those around him, in his hard working team. Helping children is not an easy task, but if everyone of us could do what Jim has done, and rise to the challenge of an increasing orphans’ population, with determination and passion, then I have no doubts in the immense changes that we could bring about
