Orphanage tourism is a type of tourism in which the wealthy of western countries visit orphanages in poorer countries. The practice has been described as commodifying the orphans for the benefit of tour operators and the management of the orphanages, while the tourists are exploited for their money. The children are expected to be "poor but happy" and are encouraged to engage in inappropriately intimate encounters with strangers with the risk of abuse. [1]
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country, and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now generally accepted that orphanages are detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family unit.
Food For The Poor, Inc. (FFP) is an ecumenical Christian nonprofit organization based in Coconut Creek, Florida, United States that provides food, medicine, and shelter, among other services, to the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Boikarabelo is a rural community located in Magaliesburg, South Africa dedicated to helping and providing a home for economic and AIDS orphans and the poor. The site includes an orphanage, school, medical clinic and village. It was founded in 1990. Boikarabelo was featured in the documentary film Angels in the Dust.
Community-based care serves as a "bridge" between orphanage and settlement house. Adolescents are placed in a family in their community. The guardians will provide individual care and nurture in the context of a family and community. This teaches adolescents more independence.
Child laundering is a tactic used in illegal or fraudulent international adoptions. It may involve child trafficking and child acquisition through payment, deceit or force. The children may then be held in sham orphanages while formal adoption processes are used to send them to adoptive parents in another country.
The Orphan Train Movement was a supervised welfare program that transported children from crowded Eastern cities of the United States to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the Midwest. The orphan trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating from about 200,000 children. The co-founders of the Orphan Train movement claimed that these children were orphaned, abandoned, abused, or homeless, but this was not always true. They were mostly the children of new immigrants and the children of the poor and destitute families living in these cities. Criticisms of the program include ineffective screening of caretakers, insufficient follow-ups on placements, and that many children were used as strictly slave farm labor.
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, is a captive breeding and conservation institute for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village, 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of Kegalle town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2023, there were 71 elephants, including 30 males and 41 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala.
Robert Buettner is an American author of military science fiction novels. He is a former military intelligence officer, National Science Foundation Fellow in Paleontology, and has been published in the field of natural resources law. He has written five volumes of the Jason Wander series, three volumes of the Orphan's Legacy series, the stand-alone novel The Golden Gate, numerous short stories and novellas, and the afterword to an anthology of stories by the late Robert Heinlein. Buettner currently lives in Georgia.
An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless"
The Two Orphans is a 1947 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Totò. It is based on the 1874 play of the same title by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon.
Openmind Projects (OMP), in Nong Khai Province, Thailand is a developmental aid organisation focused on helping communities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Nepal through the creation and management of grass roots projects in the areas of e-learning, education, and environment. The focus of the organisation is using information and communication technologies (ICT) to educate individuals in schools, orphanages, national parks, and villages. Projects rely on volunteers to promote changes in local communities.
Orphanhood in Romania became prevalent as a consequence of the Socialist Republic of Romania's pro-natality policy under Nicolae Ceaușescu. Its effectiveness led to an increase in birth rates at the expense of adequate family planning and reproductive rights. Its consequences were most felt with the collapse of the regime's social safety net during the Romanian austerity period, which led to widespread institutional neglect of the needs of orphans, with severe consequences in their health and well-being. A series of international and governmental interventions have taken place since the 1990s to improve the conditions in orphanages and reform the country's child protection system, with variable degrees of success.
Street children or orphans in some Eastern European countries face problems such as malnutrition, HIV, lack of resources, victimization though child sex tourism, social stigmatization and discrimination.
The Khpal Kor Foundation is a non-governmental organization and a partner of UNICEF, which serves children affected by years of conflict in Swat, Pakistan. Established in 1996 in Mingora, Pakistan, the foundation is an orphanage that provides free lodging, boarding, and standard education to more than 200 orphans. Khpal Kor Foundation has also established the District Child Assembly Swat to provide "a unique opportunity for young people to voice their concerns about children's rights issues, and to present solutions to address these concerns." Malala Yousafzai was the chair of the assembly through 2009 and 2010. AkzoNobel and KidsRights support Khpal Kor Foundation for its educational projects as part of the International Children's Peace Prize.
Tourism in Cambodia is one of the most important sectors in the country's economy. In 2013, tourism arrivals increased by 17.5 percent year on year, with business travelers increasing 47 percent.
Caminhos Language Centre is a Portuguese language learning centre, situated in Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro state. It was founded in March 2009 by the Association of Friends of Casa do Caminho as a non-profit organization to financially support and assist Casa do Caminho Abrigo Orphanage in Xerém in Rio de Janeiro, which houses about 35 children. All profits from tuition and course fees go directly to the orphanage.
The Colored Orphan Asylum was an institution in New York City, open from 1836 to 1946. It housed on average four hundred children annually and was mostly managed by women. Its first location was on Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, a four-story building with two wings. It later moved to Upper Manhattan and then to Riverdale in the Bronx.
Fattigauktion, was a historical practice within Swedish poor relief during the 19th century, in which paupers were auctioned off to a bidder among the parishioners willing to house them in exchange for the lowest amount of money for their keep from the parish poor care board.
Issa Abdallah Issa Timamy is a Kenyan politician. He was the Governor of Lamu County until he lost the seat in the 2017 general election.But later regained his seat as the governor of Lamu on the previous elections held on August 9, 2022. A lawyer by training, prior to his election, he served as the chairman of the National Museums of Kenya. He was elected as candidate for the United Democratic Forum (UDF).
The Shangri-la Highland Craft Brewery is China's first fully licensed craft brewing company. The company is based in Shangri-La City, which is located in China's north-western Yunnan province. This area is known as the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.