A previous post was about orphanages for children with special needs. However, there are also government-run orphanages for children who have been abandoned. Perhaps both of their parents died or their families cannot afford to take care of them.

— The orphanages take care of them from infancy

— to toddlerhood

(I observed a lot of music and dancing for the little ones, which is super important in early childhood.)

— to the primary school years

(these two photos show where the the pre-school children sleep and eat)

(The infants and youngest children I photographed were in a dim basement so I could only get rather grainy photos of them. From what I could see, the children seemed to be well taken care of, but those kids need some sunlight!)

— to middle childhood

note: these children were greeting me as I entered the classroom. With hands together, they say “mingalaba”. Roughly translated, this means “auspiciousness to you”. Even more roughly translated, it could be “hello and good luck and everything favorable to you”.

— to teen years and young adulthood

The older children are trained in some sort of trade so they can go out to work on their own once they are grown up. Until then, they bond and forge their own family-like relationships with each other.