Why we need to end the era of orphanages | Tara Winkler

These are some photos of me volunteering in a Cambodian orphanage

in 2006.

When these photos were taken,

I thought I was doing a really good thing

and that I was really helping those kids.

I had a lot to learn.

It all started for me when I was 19 years old

and went backpacking through Southeast Asia.

When I reached Cambodia,

I felt uncomfortable being on holiday surrounded by so much poverty

and wanted to do something to give back.

So I visited some orphanages and donated some clothes and books

and some money

to help the kids that I met.

But one of the orphanages I visited was desperately poor.

I had never encountered poverty like that before in my life.

They didn't have funds for enough food,

clean water

or medical treatment,

and the sad little faces on those kids

were heartbreaking.

So I was compelled to do something more to help.

I fund-raised in Australia and returned to Cambodia the following year

to volunteer at the orphanage for a few months.

I taught English and bought water filters and food

and took all of the kids to the dentist for the first time in their lives.

But over the course of the next year,

I came to discover that this orphanage that I had been supporting

was terribly corrupt.

The director had been embezzling every cent donated to the orphanage,

and in my absence, the children were suffering such gross neglect

that they were forced to catch mice to feed themselves.

I also found out later

that the director had been physically and sexually abusing the kids.

I couldn't bring myself to turn my back on children

who I had come to know and care about

and return to my life in Australia.

So I worked with a local team and the local authorities

to set up a new orphanage and rescue the kids

to give them a safe new home.

But this is where my story takes another unexpected turn.

As I adjusted to my new life running an orphanage in Cambodia,

(Khmer) I learned to speak Khmer fluently,

which means that I learned to speak the Khmer language fluently.

And when I could communicate properly with the kids,

I began to uncover some strange things.

Most of the children we had removed from the orphanage

were not, in fact, orphans at all.

They had parents,

and the few that were orphaned had other living relatives,

like grandparents and aunties and uncles

and other siblings.

So why were these children living in an orphanage

when they weren't orphans?

Since 2005, the number of orphanages in Cambodia

has risen by 75 percent,

and the number of children living in Cambodian orphanages

has nearly doubled,

despite the fact

that the vast majority of children living in these orphanages

are not orphans in the traditional sense.

They're children from poor families.

So if the vast majority of children living in orphanages

are not orphans,

then the term "orphanage"

is really just a euphemistic name for a residential care institution.

These institutions go by other names as well,

like "shelters," "safe houses," "children's homes," "children's villages,"

even "boarding schools."

And this problem is not just confined to Cambodia.

This map shows some of the countries that have seen a dramatic increase

in the numbers of residential care institutions

and the numbers of children being institutionalized.

In Uganda, for example,

the number of children living in institutions

has increased by more than 1,600 percent since 1992.

And the problems posed by putting kids into institutions

don't just pertain to the corrupt and abusive institutions

like the one that I rescued the kids from.

The problems are with all forms of residential care.

Over 60 years of international research has shown us

that children who grow up in institutions,

even the very best institutions,

are at serious risk of developing mental illnesses,

attachment disorders,

growth and speech delays,

and many will struggle with an inability to reintegrate

back into society later in life

and form healthy relationships as adults.

These kids grow up without any model of family

or of what good parenting looks like,

so they then can struggle to parent their own children.

So if you institutionalize large numbers of children,

it will affect not only this generation,

but also the generations to come.

We've learned these lessons before in Australia.

It's what happened to our "Stolen Generations,"

the indigenous children who were removed from their families

with the belief that we could do a better job

of raising their children.

Just imagine for a moment

what residential care would be like for a child.

Firstly, you have a constant rotation of caregivers,

with somebody new coming on to the shift every eight hours.

And then on top of that you have a steady stream of visitors

and volunteers coming in,

showering you in the love and affection you're craving

and then leaving again,

evoking all of those feelings of abandonment,

and proving again and again

that you are not worthy of being loved.

We don't have orphanages in Australia, the USA, the UK anymore,

and for a very good reason:

one study has shown that young adults raised in institutions

are 10 times more likely to fall into sex work than their peers,

40 times more likely to have a criminal record,

and 500 times more likely

to take their own lives.

There are an estimated eight million children around the world

living in institutions like orphanages,

despite the fact that around 80 percent of them are not orphans.

Most have families who could be caring for them

if they had the right support.

But for me,

the most shocking thing of all to realize

is what's contributing to this boom

in the unnecessary institutionalization of so many children:

it's us --

the tourists, the volunteers

and the donors.

It's the well-meaning support from people like me back in 2006,

who visit these children and volunteer and donate,

who are unwittingly fueling an industry that exploits children

and tears families apart.

It's really no coincidence that these institutions are largely set up

in areas where tourists can most easily be lured in

to visit and volunteer in exchange for donations.

Of the 600 so-called orphanages in Nepal,

over 90 percent of them are located in the most popular tourist hotspots.

The cold, hard truth is,

the more money that floods in in support of these institutions,

the more institutions open

and the more children are removed from their families

to fill their beds.

It's just the laws of supply and demand.

I had to learn all of these lessons the hard way,

after I had already set up an orphanage in Cambodia.

I had to eat a big piece of humble pie to admit

that I had made a mistake

and inadvertently become a part of the problem.

I had been an orphanage tourist,

a voluntourist.

I then set up my own orphanage and facilitated orphanage tourism

in order to generate funds for my orphanage,

before I knew better.

What I came to learn

is that no matter how good my orphanage was,

it was never going to give those kids what they really needed:

their families.

I know that it can feel incredibly depressing

to learn that helping vulnerable children and overcoming poverty

is not as simple as we've all been led to believe it should be.

But thankfully, there is a solution.

These problems are reversible and preventable,

and when we know better,

we can do better.

The organization that I run today,

the Cambodian Children's Trust,

is no longer an orphanage.

In 2012, we changed the model in favor of family-based care.

I now lead an amazing team of Cambodian social workers,

nurses and teachers.

Together, we work within communities

to untangle a complex web of social issues

and help Cambodian families escape poverty.

Our primary focus is on preventing some of the most vulnerable families

in our community

from being separated in the first place.

But in cases where it's not possible

for a child to live with its biological family,

we support them in foster care.

Family-based care is always better

than placing a child in an institution.

Do you remember that first photo that I showed you before?

See that girl who is just about to catch the ball?

Her name is Torn

She's a strong, brave and fiercely intelligent girl.

But in 2006, when I first met her

living in that corrupt and abusive orphanage,

she had never been to school.

She was suffering terrible neglect,

and she yearned desperately

for the warmth and love of her mother.

But this is a photo of Torn today with her family.

Her mother now has a secure job,

her siblings are doing well in high school

and she is just about to finish her nursing degree at university.

For Torn's family --

(Applause)

for Torn's family,

the cycle of poverty has been broken.

The family-based care model that we have developed at CCT

has been so successful,

that it's now being put forward by UNICEF Cambodia

and the Cambodian government

as a national solution to keep children in families.

And one of the best --

(Applause)

And one of the best ways that you can help to solve this problem

is by giving these eight million children a voice

and become an advocate for family-based care.

If we work together to raise awareness,

we can make sure the world knows

that we need to put an end to the unnecessary institutionalization

of vulnerable children.

How do we achieve that?

By redirecting our support and our donations

away from orphanages and residential care institutions

towards organizations that are committed to keeping children in families.

I believe we can make this happen in our lifetime,

and as a result, we will see developing communities thrive

and ensure that vulnerable children everywhere

have what all children need and deserve:

a family.

Thank you.

(Applause)