The last orphanage we visited (the following day) was called Door of Faith, and was described to us as the luxury resort of orphanages before we arrived. Sure enough the orphanage’s facilities didn’t disappoint; it had a basketball court, a nice playground, a brand new dining facility with kitchen, an infant care center, and even a gift shop! Door of Faith is run by an American ex-businessman who is able to more easily gain access to resources in the U.S. just by virtue of his network of relationships. The main emphasis by this orphanage is to provide the kids a place that wouldn’t be any different from a “regular home.” As an ex-businessman, the orphanage director knew how to treat his resources as a business. He kept accurate records, and knew how to “market” the orphanage to volunteers. In fact, they provided access to volunteers by housing them on-site. This explained why many of the newer buildings had similar architectural style and structure much like the buildings we see in the States. Even the kids themselves were used to seeing volunteers on a regular basis, with one kid using Art as a “taxicab” for at least an hour!
All in all, our visit to Mexico was extremely valuable and insightful. It opened the team up to new areas of interest and provided us with new questions to add to our list of diligence items we were putting together for the orphanages in India we plan to visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment