In retrospect, almost all of the children we encountered had an understanding of grief and sometimes proved quite a challenge to mitigate given how different children cope with loss in contrast to adults. As a mushrooming organization, we had little skills to best handle them both psychosocially and emotionally but however, we took up the task non the less and they turned out so well beyond our prior imaginings.
At the passing on of a parent most children tend to worry about ‘’what next? which if left unchecked, lands them to depression which breaks their wellbeing in so many ways even sometimes fatally. Significantly, entities like ours come in not mainly as a loss replacement but as a shoulder they can lean on in collaboration with their existing families. Continuation of education more specifically is key in the reassurance that they are not alone and that their dreams are valid.
In our sponsorship program, we have seen gradual improvement in our children over the years, some even graduating college and raising their own children in line with everything they learnt under our guidance and we are even prouder when their life long dreams are achieved. Like Mother Theresa said, “Let no one come to you and leave the same.”
