Many missions make huge business of luring children from their villages and poverty to "live the good life" at the mission orphanage. When the same children later return to the village they are too good for their parents, want nothing to do with Akha traditions or being Akha. We oppose this for very good reason, also reflected in this report. Here is a look into USAID research on the same t

From "Children on the Brink 2002"
A joint report on orphan estimates and program strategies
USAID

Page 12

What About Orphanages?
Some have suggested that building more orphanages or other group residential facilities is an effective way to care for the increasing numbers of orphans in AIDS-affected countries. It is generally accepted that orphanages are not appropriate as a first-line response to the AIDS crisis. Care provided in institutional settings often fails to meet the developmental and long-term needs of children, and orphanages are much more expensive to maintain than providing direct assistance to families and communities to care for orphaned children themselves.

The experience of major international child welfare organizations has shown that children benefit greatly from the care, personal attention, and social connections that families and communities can provide. Particularly in the developing world, where the extended family and community are the primary social safety nets, the absence of such connectios greatly increases long-term vulnerability. Children raised in orphanages often have difficulty re-entering society once they reach adulthood; many are ill-equipped to fend for themselves in the outside world. In Ethiopia and Uganda, long-term experience with orphanages has led those governments to shift their approach to adopt policies that now support family-based care.

Costs associated with providing basic care to orphans skyrocket when salaries must be paid, buildings constructed and maintained, food prepared, and services provided. Cost comparisons conducted in Uganda show the ratio of operating costs for an orphanage to be 14 times higher than those for community care. A 1992 study by the World Bank found that institutional care at one facility in Tanzania cost $1000 per year per child, a figure six times more expensive than the average cost of foster care in that country. Other studies have found a ratio of 1:20, or even up to 1:100. In communities under severe economic stress, increasing the number of spaces in orphanages often results in families deciding that their children can be better served by orphanages than at home.

In developing nations, the extended family and community at large traditionally provide care for orphaned children. To reinforce this tradition, an alternative model for institutions has involved transformation of children's homes into community-based resource centers that help families support children in the community. Such centers provide daycare for foster parents or parents in need of relief, support groups, counseling, training in parenting skills, and skills training programs for older children. Where circumstances prevent a family from providing immediate care, institutionalized care is best used as a temporary measure until more appropriate placement can be arranged