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From: orangemoon_s
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 4:40 PM
Subject: Thai Muslims want to keep tsunami orphans in the
community by Nicolas Revise SUKSAMRAN, Thailand, Jan 18 (AFP) - Dozens of children were orphaned when the tsunami devastated this heavily Muslim district in southern Thailand, but residents have decided to try to find ways to keep them out of orphanages. Instead of turning to institutions, the community is searching for ways to keep the children within their extended families. The six villages in Suksamran district, in the southern province of Ranong, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) north of Phuket, were devastated by the December 26 tsunami. Of the 5,337 residents, 107 died or are missing. At least 44 children in the district lost one or both parents. Nationally, some 300 children were orphaned by the tsunami in Thailand. The community is still reeling from the disaster three weeks later. In addition to losing relatives and neighbors, survivors also lost their beachfront homes and school, and many of the fishing boats that guaranteed a livelihood were washed away. The district's largest village is just a stone's throw from the beach, surrounded by banana and fig trees. The mosque here now serves as a medical dispensary and a meeting place for survivors. Orphans, all four to six years old, sing and play under the watch of Thai non-government organizations. Nearby, a crying woman hugs and kisses a four-month-old baby. Akecha Emphitak, 43, the baby's aunt, managed to save the child but her sister-in-law was swept away. The father sits in silence. "If someone else came looking for my niece, I wouldn't give her away. I want to keep her," Akecha said. "Children should stay in their homes, in the environment they're used to. They should slowly learn the truth about the death of their parents, then we will give them to other parents," said Abdulhah Salee, a district leader. After the tsunami, aunts, cousins, big sisters, grandmothers, even teachers immediately took in the orphans. Families here are used to watching the children of others. Economic necessity often forces young women to leave their village to work in Bangkok, trusting relatives to care for their children. In Suksamran, residents want to avoid institutionalizing the children in orphanages. "In difficult times, people in Thailand have a tendency to abandon their children in orphanages," said Narumol Intarachot, a social worker with the Thailand's Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF). "They think it's better because there are diapers for the babies, medical care, education and uniforms," the child welfare expert said. A Thai foundation with royal support has been tasked with taking in some 100 orphans and providing their education. But social workers worry about such projects. "Families need to be kept together first. Children need to stay as close as possible to the lives they're used to, within their routines," said Brigitte Giordan, a French nurse working with HSF. "For Buddhists, entrusting a child to an institution is culturally unjustifiable, and for Muslims it goes against Koranic teachings," she said. The children themselves are rarely consulted. Doun, a five-year-old boy, lost both his parents in the tsunami. His grandmother is caring for him, but he does not speak, answering questions only by nodding or shaking his head. Still in shock from his parents' burial a few days earlier, Doun manages a barely audible voice to say that he's "more happy at school, with his friends, than at home." "Here, children know their teachers, their friends, the extended family. It's better for them," said Sumalee Uttamapitan, an HSF welfare worker. http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNews.aspx? NewsID=9480000008183 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links
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