Georgette Mulheir: The Tragedy of Orphanages

TED

 

In this TED video, Georgette Mulheir, CEO of Lumos, an NGO dedicated to ending worldwide systematic institutionalization, describes how orphanages can cause irreparable damage to children both mentally and physically and urges to end reliance on them by finding alternate ways of supporting children in need.

Research has demonstrated that separating children, particularly young babies, from their families and placing them in institutions seriously harms their health and development. Many institutions are overstaffed without adequate resources to provide quality childcare to their children. Children often are placed in poor residential conditions, go hungry, arbitrarily transferred to a different institution permanently separated from their siblings, and are bullied by older children. Even after these children leave the institutions, they have a difficult time integrating into society. Mulheir asserts that there must be a shift in focus to transfer resources from large institutions that provide poor quality care to community-based and family based services that protect children from harm and allow them to develop to their full potential.