Planting the Seed

Culture is a very interesting concept.  Often we live day to day not thinking twice about the things we do, what we say, and why we do it.  This week we have come face-to-face with a completely different culture—a completely different way of life.  In the case of the orphans, their way of life is almost a subset of the Bulgarian way of life.  They live for survival, living to meet their basic needs.  They yearn to feel loved.  They want to belong.  They need security, stability, and recognition. They want to be respected. 

Sadly, many of these children have never known anything but what they experience in the orphanage.  They lack adult supervision.  They lack a constant sense of love and support.  They lack stability and direction.  It is survival of the fittest. 

With this, comes many challenges.

Yesterday, a 15-year-old asked Bree why she didn’t have a facebook account, and if she didn’t have one because Joe (her boyfriend) would kill her if she got one.  When Bree laughed and replied “No, that’s not why”, the young girl asked if Joe would beat her if she got one.  At this, Bree was confused and asked for insight from our translator. 

Relational violence is becoming a prominent issue in this culture.  The older girls especially long for someone to love them.  They want to feel needed.  They want to feel beautiful.  Unfortunately, their understanding of this—how they achieve this—is not the safest, nor the healthiest way for a young girl to live.  This is obviously an issue that impacts many girls in many various settings; however, these girls especially lack proper role models, friends, and a voice of reason to keep them on the right path.  They don’t have examples of healthy, nurturing relationships.  They don’t understand that this is not “normal”—this is their “normal”. 

We hope that in our time here we can plant the seed.  We may only be here a week.  We may be Americans who they feel don’t understand their situation, but we can at least show them that we care enough to bring these issues and concerns to the table.  We can start the dialogue—a sign that we are here, we care, and we want to help.