Why do Orphanages still exist in Guatemala?

It’s a really good question. Unfortunately, it does not have a quick or simple answer. But it is a very important discussion to have in order to understand the need we are working to meet with Casa de Gracia.

The first answer is that while the United States and other countries have moved to a foster care system as the primary system of protection, Guatemala has not. While precise numbers are very hard to come by, there are still well over 150 orphanages around the country, housing at least 5000 children. The foster care system here is still in its infancy but with hopes of growing.

The other answer is rooted in the reality that, here in Guatemala, we are primarily working within a context of poverty. That reality raises deeply difficult issues most of us cannot even begin to imagine.

Here are a few scenarios of how things play out a bit more specifically in a context of poverty and how those are linked to children ending up in systems of protection:

1) Housing Situations

In many Latino cultures, it is common for several generations of a family to live together on one property—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and others. This is culturally a beautiful thing! Unfortunately, poverty can change the situation dramatically.

First, these homes are not normally the kind of home we think of in our North American frame of reference. Think cement blocks, sticks, corrugated steel, dirt, etc.

Second, overcrowding often means that several family members share the same sleeping space. Children and adults may sleep in one room, with beds or mattresses spread across the floor. Sometimes children have a separate room, but without a door or privacy. These conditions can create serious risks, including an increased vulnerability to sexual abuse, especially when alcohol or substance abuse is present.

When abuse is reported or discovered, children may be removed from the home and placed into Guatemala’s system of protection. This can be lifesaving. The heartbreaking reality, however, is that when a young person turns 18—or sometimes even earlier—they may be sent back to the same environment they were removed from. Even though they are older, the danger has not necessarily gone away, and in some cases, the abuse begins again.

2) Lack of Education

It is all too common here that education is not a priority. Many people have not had the ability or opportunity to be educated past 2nd, 3rd, or 6th grade. Often families may desire that their children could be in school but their reality is that they need those children in the streets, farm fields or mercados helping the family make even a little bit of money for food that day.

This creates several problems:

• Lack of education affects more than a child’s academic development. When children are not given the opportunity to learn during their most formative years, their other basic needs are often neglected as well—the need to play, to feel safe, to be guided, and to grow in a stable environment. Without the ability to read, write, understand basic math, solve problems, or process information, a child grows up at a significant disadvantage and becomes more vulnerable within the community.

• This lack of education can also place children directly in harm’s way. Instead of spending their days in a classroom with other children their age, they may be found in unsafe environments they are not physically or emotionally equipped to handle. Rather than learning the necessary basics in a safe setting, they are often exposed to places and situations no child should have to face.

  
  

Two results are common.

• Sometimes, when this kind of neglect is brought to light, children are removed from the situation and placed into the system of protection.

• Other times, the neglect goes unnoticed. When children are denied an education, they may grow up without basic skills. Over time, this can become a generational cycle that leads to deep harm and suffering. These damaging cycles can contribute to more children entering institutions, and they must be broken.

3) Survival Mentality

When a family lives in poverty day after day—wondering whether there will be enough food, how basic needs will be met, or what will happen if a medical crisis arises—life can become a constant state of survival. Over time, living in survival mode can deeply affect the way people make decisions and relate to those around them.

In the most tragic situations, the instinct to protect and provide can become distorted by desperation. Children, often daughters, may be seen not only as children to care for, but as a possible way to meet urgent needs or generate income. As painful as this is to acknowledge, some children are put in harm’s way through dangerous work, sexual exploitation, or trafficking. It is brutal and heartbreaking, but it is real.

When this kind of abuse is brought to light and authorities are informed, children can be removed from the situation and placed into protection. The harsh reality, however, is that when young people turn 18, they may be sent back into the very same environments they were removed from. Without a safe alternative, they are left with very few good options.

These are only a few examples of the realities we encounter as we live and serve here. Many of these young people have suffered deeply, and when they age out of the system of protection at 18, they are left especially vulnerable. These realities are sobering and difficult to confront, but they are also the reason this work matters so deeply.

We hope this offers a clearer window into the realities surrounding the young people we serve.

Please pray with us for Casa de Gracia—for each staff member, each volunteer, and most of all, each young person God will bring to us. Pray that they would find healing, belonging, and lasting hope through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He is our strength and our hope in all of this. He alone can save.

Pray with us as we share His love and hope with these young people each day they are in our care.