Today’s conversation is a topic very close to my own heart, and one that’s formed a core part of my professional career: children living in orphanages. 

The evidence tells us that growing up in an orphanage is harmful, yet it’s still happening at scale with millions of children globally stuck in institutions. A key fact that I want to continue to drive home is that the idea that there are millions of orphans in orphanages waiting for the love, care and attention of well meaning foreigners is a myth. These children have families. In fact, anywhere between 70 and 90% of them have one or more living parents who with support, would be willing and able to care for them. Orphanages are harmful and result in the unnecessary separation of children from their families.

It’s a complex, and often emotive issue. There’s no single driver for children ending up in orphanages, there are many: trafficking, exploitation, poverty, abuse, neglect, child protections systems that don’t function, and the insatiable desire to do good among those more fortunate. 

I’ve invited Brandon Stiver onto today’s podcast to unpack these issues with me. Brandon is the Community of practice director at 1MillionHome, an organisation that works to shift mindsets about orphan care and scale community based care models that reunite children with families and eradicate practices that lead to family separation. Brandon is also an evangelical Christian who was called to work in an orphanage in Tanzania, where he and his wife adopted a child.

Brandon and I have a wide ranging, and at times challenging conversation about the intersections between evangelism, missionary work, colonialism, race, adoption and orphan care.