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Until recently, families like
those of Ipan had been bouyed by the so-called "tiger" economies of
South-East Asia, and were gradually rising above the deprivations of poverty.
But this devastating downturn has pushed thousands of families back to the brink
of an abyss from which they had so recently escaped.
The situation is at its worst in Indonesia where the
wretching political changes have combined with the crash to render problems like
rising crime rates and child labour, increasing hunger and malnutrition and the
dissolution of families. Government officials say that nearly 100 million people
- nearly half the population - will be unable to afford adequate food for
themselves by the end of the year.
At the same time, a system of some 250,000 local health
and welfare centers are collapsing because many of the million plus volunteers
there had to leave to take care of their own families. And larger public health
clinics have recently doubled their fees, forcing poor people to rely on
primative herbal remedies that are often useless against disease.
Amidst this turmoil, millions of children from all around
Asia have already dropped out of school and gone to work long, underpaid hours
in factories, of have turned to prostitution. As a final desperate measure to
battle hunger, some families who can't afford to feed their children have been
forced to leave them with orphanages.
The "economic orphans" are the most dramatic
manifestation of how the Asian economic crisis is shattering the family unit -
the backbone of Asian society. Like Indonesia, South Korea is also the scene of
many heart-breaking stories of abandoned children who are trying to make their
way in a world that is especially harsh now. The lucky ones find their way to a
bed and a meal at an orphanage.
Twelve year old Kim Min Ah is an orphan who lives in an
orphanage in Seoul with her little sister and brother, aged 8 and 6. Min Ah
takes care of her sweet-faced siblings in a room that sleeps eight children.
Their parents, who were forced to abandon them to the orphanage when both lost
their jobs, vow to return to their children. But for now, Min Ah and her
siblings wait in forlorn hope.
"This economic crisis has emptied many people's
pockets and also their hearts," said Lim Joon Kyung of the Seoul
Counselling Centre, who was recently interviewed by the Vancouver Sun.
He says the Centre has been swamped by requests for
orphanage placements. The demand for space in the orphanages, which are
themselves under increasing financial pressures, is threatening to overwhelm the
orphanage system in Asia.
ChinaPac International is doing
a small part to help those unfortunate children in Asia who have been forced to
leave their families to live in an orphanage. For every passenger travelling to
a ChinaPac destination, we will donate USD 10 to the
Asian orphanages.
You Make the Difference
You are welcome to send your
donations directly to these orphanges:
Kangnam Orphanage
57-9, P'oi-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel: 82-2-573-0412
Number of orphans: 72
Boy's Town
42-5, Ungam-dong, Unpyong-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel: 82-2-355-3422
Number of Orphans: 940
God bless you!
Jenny Soares
President
ChinaPac International
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