What comes to your mind when you see a homeless orphan? How do you perceive them? Did you ever stop to think about how they feel, what they need, what they can become and what memories to they have? Let me share these 5 things about the children and maybe you will help sponsor an orphan

They are human beings

Homeless orphans may be children without parents or a home, they may be dirty and uncultured, they may even be resentful and bitter towards others but they are still human beings capable of pure and good emotions like the rest of us. They live and breathe and have the right to health and an education in a safe environment just like every child.

They deserve love and respect

Because they are human beings like the rest of us, regardless of how they may behave – which is often a consequence of their circumstances – they deserve to be treated with love and respect. All the more so because they rarely encounter this in the world they live in, and in the few years they have lived you find that life has been cruel to them so that they may have already lost faith in all things good and kind. So it is up to you to show them that life has a positive side and make them believe in it.

They are future leaders and societies

Who knows the limitless possibilities of just one life? It may be that someone grew up homeless and without their parents but that cannot stop them from becoming a father of nations like Nelson Mandela or the wielder of the wealth of the world like Bill Gates. It has happened before. It is therefore important not to see a homeless orphan as just some ‘insignificant kid to whom life has been unfair’, but to see the possibilities in just that one life if you could make the difference. Also, though homeless orphans may not all grow up to be leaders, they will be the very ones that make the societies that the leaders will serve. T

hey will be the families and communities and labourers that feed the economy and pass on worthy cultures and values to the next generation in order for that country to continue to exist. If they are not recognised as the future by present generations, there might as well be no future at all.

They have a heritage

Indeed, they may be landless and appear to be wanderers on the street who don’t belong anywhere but the fact of the matter is they do come from somewhere. They had parents, homes, relatives and a family tree. But because of the plague of AIDS these  orphans of AIDS may have lost the physical things but the heritage still exists somewhere be it in their minds or in the minds of some distant relatives or neighbours. It is important to honour and restore this heritage in helping homeless orphans so that they have a sense of belonging and purpose about their lives. It is important so that they don’t just see themselves as orphans but as children who are part of a larger whole that has existed for centuries.

They remember

The most poignant of memories any person can have often come from their childhood and youthful years. Science reveals that the brain is most impressionable at the early stages of life and we all know how socialisation shapes the adult. Therefore, it is true that some of the most important lessons and memories of your life come from when you were a child and when you were a youth. When you show kindness and sponsor an orphan in Swaziland, he /she will be moulded into a good person, a person who appreciates someone in need and fulfils his/her obligation as a human being to help those in need. When you show a kindness to these children, they will remember