A year back I told my husband that I wanted to take Kanna to an orphanage and let him see and learn about the less fortunate sides of life. To which my husband asked, “Is he old enough to understand such things?” I wondered and asked, “What is the ideal age to learn about these?”
I haven’t visited an orphanage until now. I have visited a charity institution during my college days and seen some real sad situations. There were kids, adults, old people, sick ones, a newborn baby, a mix of all. It wasn’t a planned visit. I was living in a hostel during my engineering college days; one of the sisters in charge of the hostel took me to this place when she was visiting.
What I learned was, age doesn’t matter. When a kid is born an orphan, no one asks or cares if he/she can take it. If they are old or strong enough to take the injustice life subject them with, why should we hide our kids from knowing the brutality of the world. Of course not by forcing them with it but by letting them know that this sort of life exists too and you are one of the fortunate few who got the smoother ride.
Anyways, we didn’t pursue my idea of visiting an orphanage with Kanna.
Few weeks back we were watching TV and one of the commercials were a sponsored one from Oxfam about kids in Africa dying because they don’t have access to clean water. Kids are dying by drinking the dirty water. My first instinct was to talk about it to Kanna. Then I saw him watching it attentively, so I stopped and waited for him to talk to me. But he didn’t. Next day, when the same commercial was on he asked why they are drinking dirty water. When I replied that they don’t have access to clean water, and people around the world are helping them to get clean water. He told me that it’s good that we have clean water.
I wanted to talk about how fortunate we are. Before I opened my mouth, Kanna remarked that we are lucky!
Age is not a barrier to appreciate the good things in our life and to empathize with fellow human beings.
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and #MondayMusings.
Void Thoughts 
This is a lovely post. We underestimate children in so many ways … they absorb a lot more than we realise and are also a lot more resilient than we give them credit for. They will ask questions of course, but that’s how they understand and learn.
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More often the question is asked whether the young kid will understand it. May be not, on their first visit. But gradually they will. After all they are also thinking human beings
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Kids are so much smarter than we think. Good to hear he has that awareness at such a young age.
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They are, aren’t they? I am glad to see him growing up with a good heart. 🙂
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It is pretty amazing how astute kids can be. Not only that, they call it like they see it which makes them very refreshing.
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I feel kids are more sensitive to sorrows of others, they can understand and be empathic at any age. It’s wonderful to see Kanna understanding on his own 🙂
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You are handling this just right with your child, I think, letting Kanna set the pace. My son, when he was a teenager, did some volunteer work – including helping to set up a festival, stocking a charity book sale, and visiting a nursing home. It will come at the right time.
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This line “When a kid is born an orphan, no one asks or cares if he/she can take it. If they are old or strong enough to take the injustice life subject them with, why should we hide our kids from knowing the brutality of the world” is so true. We are all fortunate and blessed. Your little man will grow up great I am sure :).
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Thank you, Harini. I have seen kids as young as 6 years, boasting about their good life with no drop of appreciation. That sort of behaviour scares me. I would never want my kid to be one of that. All these is a delicat subject for me too. Be appreciative. Be grateful. Be humble.
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This is so true: “When a kid is born an orphan, no one asks or cares if he/she can take it. If they are old or strong enough to take the injustice life subject them with, why should we hide our kids from knowing the brutality of the world.” They aren’t asked, the universe doesn’t question whether they’re ready. As if anyone ever could be.
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That’s really sad, right? I hear many times people talking about someone else that he/she is very strong that he/she can deal with the pain or loss or the difficult situation and that they themselves are not strong enough to deal with such pains. I feel that’s truly not acceptable. No one is strong enough. But sometimes we all are forced to deal with different kinds of sad situations. All we can offer each other is compassion and empathy and a shoulder to cry if possible.
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So true, there is no age barrier. I worked with orphanages since I was a student in 6th standard. And from then on, I have made sure that I have been a regular part of charities. I take the kids too with me. My Kannan once had a talk with one of the kids in the shelter who had lost their home and didn’t even know where they were going to be next day. He tells me later, we have a home and we are fortunate. Another time, he helped distribute Christmas gifts to families in need and he was so happy to see their smiles and when they said Thanks to him.
I would say any time is a good time. Kids learn also that they could contribute to the society in their own ways. Great post, Vinitha!
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I know that you do charity, Rohini. I have learned so much from you. And it’s great that you are involving kids too in your activities. They learn a lot through these interactions. And learning to appreciate what we have is very important. They sooner we learn that, the better it is for us.
I didn’t know that you worked with orphanages when you were so young. Must have been quite an experience!
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It was!!! I think I started having more compassion because of that.
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I am sure you must have felt proud over Kanna’s response. You are right – there is no appropriate age. Slowly you must. May be that is how he will learn gratitude too! 🙂 Loved your post Vinitha.
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Yes Parul. I was happy and proud that he is learning gratitude and appreciation in his own way. Actually that’s what I wanted; for him to think and learn, rather than me telling him the importance of compassion and all. I think learning on your own makes all the difference. 🙂
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