Hands to Hearts International (HHI) has dedicated itself to two interconnecting problems in the developing world – the plight of orphaned children, laying untouched in cribs, and that of women trapped in a cycle of poverty, without the education or economic opportunity to contribute to their families or communities.
Around the world there are millions of orphaned children – due to AIDS and other diseases, political instability/conflict, the stigma of unwed motherhood, and extreme poverty. Most countries try to deal with orphans by creating orphanages and hundreds of thousands of children (country data varies widely), ages zero to three, are being raised in orphanages. Faced with scarce resources and circumstances of dire poverty, most orphanages have too few caregivers and too many children. Often lying untouched in cribs, the children suffer most directly from these circumstances.
The mission of HHI is founded on two principles: To nurture children and empower women.
“Study after study has taught us that there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. No other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity, reduce infant and maternal mortality, is as sure to promote health – including the prevention of HIV/AIDS.”
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
The research is unequivocal: beyond the age of three, if a child has not formed a loving bond with a consistent caregiver, the critical window for developing this capacity all but closes and severe emotional problems can persist into adulthood, impacting communities with greater violence and instability.
“Institutionalization in early childhood increases the likelihood that impoverished children will grow into psychiatrically impaired and economically
unproductive adults.”
World Health Organization – Infant/Caregiver Report
While HHI is not an all-encompassing solution to such a massive and complex issue, it does offers a critical component for healing and a way to shift the systems and community situations that perpetuate this crisis.
