This is Why-Hung Out to Dry

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…but whose words? Whose thoughts? What do different people see when they look at a picture?

This picture is deceptive in many ways. Some, perhaps most, would simply see an adorable girl, hanging her freshly washed, stuffed animals on the line to dry. They may or may not even wonder why. They may or may not notice and therefore question the old building to the left and behind the adorable girl. They are seeing what their mind tells them to see based on their unique perspective.

When I look at this picture, I of course recognize that this girl is adorable, as most children are, but beyond that, I see something entirely different than most people would in looking at this picture.

That is because I, like everyone else, also have a unique perspective based upon inside knowledge about the picture as well as less-than-common knowledge about a particular sector of our global society that this adorable girl belongs to.

What do you see? And how does it make you feel?

Before I answer the first question myself, I will answer the second question. It makes me feel angry. Angry because although I don’t personally know this girl, not even her name, I still know who and what she is. I even know, for the most part, how she feels. I know the secrets she hides about those feelings.

I know, because besides sharing the adorable attributes of a young child, she also shares something else with the many millions of children around the world that fall under the category of what is known as an orphan child.

I know that she was abandoned or taken away from one or both of her parents. I know she has no relatives that are capable and/or willing to take her into their home and care for her. I know that she likely asks the question “why?” nearly every day of her life. I know she feels sadness and probably wonders why her family doesn’t or didn’t love her enough to keep her.

I know that she lives in that old, musty and run-down Soviet-Era building behind her; because not even the government can and/or will provide her with a safe and comfortable environment to live in. I know that she has nothing of her own. Not even the clothes she wears or the stuffed animals she hangs on the line are her own. Because in places like this, it’s first come first serve for the children in these institutions.

My daughter lived in a place just like this until she was 4 ½ years old, which is when we adopted her from Far-East Russia.

I was there in that old, also Soviet-Era building that she lived in. I watched as the children there dug through piles of shoes to find a pair that matched and maybe even fit their feet. Community shoes. First come, first served. Nothing belongs to anyone except the hard mattress they sleep on with a number on the wall above it.

When we first started this organization 23 years ago, Russia was the only place we worked. In all these years since, our role there hasn’t changed. We are a subsidy. We provide the children with critical needs that the government doesn’t. We also provide them with education, entertainment and opportunities that they would never have otherwise. But make no mistake about it, there are limits to what we can do for these children, because like those stuffed animals she is hanging, the children in institutions like this one have been hung out to dry.

Thus, the anger I feel when I look at this picture with the adorable girl.

That anger is only mitigated by the fact that I know she has a much better life there than she would without our help. Without your help.

I know that she is well fed and taken care of. That her medical needs are met. That she is learning how to grow crops and raise animals. How to cook and sew. That she even has access to a stuffed animal to snuggle with at night. None of these things would be true if it weren’t for you.

The phrase “hung out to dry” is one that dates back to the 60’s, even the 50’s by some accounts based on searches I did.

Regardless of the time frame of origin, it’s meaning is pretty much agreed to by all who comment on it. It simply means, that like laundry hung out to dry, sometime people are left to the elements as well. The wind, rain, sun and blowing dust and whatever else life throws at them because of neglect by others.

Simply put, abandoned to whatever unknown fate they may face.

Look at the picture again. What do you see now. And how does it make you feel? Do you still just see an adorable little girl and cute stuffed animals? Or do you see and therein feel something different now?

To me, even the stuffed animals look sad and alone. Some hanging by one ear. Some by their feet. Their smiles, more of a grimace. Soon they will be left alone. Just Hung out to dry.

Now I would be lying if I told you that anger is the only feeling I have when I look at this picture. And it is also because of my unique perspective. And the feeling of anger I have, comes more from the fact that this young girl was abandoned in the first place and that even today, her government doesn’t consider her well-being a priority in their fiscal budget.

I also feel hope. Hope for this adorable, young girl’s future.

Because I know that her life is much different because of you. That her future is not written simply because nobody cared. You cared. You are giving her a chance at life that she would have never had. And a chance is all that any of us have if you really think about it.

Her life in this place is not, nor ever will be ideal. But it is much better than it would have been. Much better.

In every country we work in, the story is the same for children like this young girl. It is also true in hundreds of countries we don’t work in. Every country in this world has children that have been abandoned by their parents. Every country in the world faces the problems associated with finding a suitable solution to not only care for the orphaned and abandoned children, but how to proactively try to prevent the endless cycle.

Many, if not most, fail to adequately do either.

Thankfully there are people like you out there. People who understand that the problem may be big, but the solution is not that complicated.

We collectively simply show them God’s love in our actions.

We provide them with a home and caregivers who also show them love. We provide them with an education. Mentoring and nurturing. God’s Word and spiritual education. We teach them life-skills and through that they obtain self-actualization and therein, confidence.

Even in the countries outside of Russia where we are able to provide so much more because we control the programs, the lives of the children are not “ideal”, but as I said earlier, whose is?

One thing is for sure. Because of you, these children know that they are loved. They know God and His son Jesus. They have a real chance at a full and good life, and as young adults they are proving every day that this mission to serve the orphans and widows is worthwhile and good.

Life may not have started our easy for these children. It may not ever be “easy.” But the playing field has been levelled. Simply put, because of you, they are no longer hung out to dry.