The most vulnerable and defenseless ones

Orphan children with disabilities, living in poor countries are the most vulnerable human beings in our society. I got to this conclusion after finishing my third volunteering work in Africa through Microsoft Myskills4Afrika program.

In 2014 I performed my first volunteering work in  Rwanda. This trip was a big deal for me. I was afraid to stay away from my family because my first son was two years old and I avoided to travel for prolonged time to stay close to him and my wife. Perhaps, for this reason, I was sensitive and the first impact I had landing in Africa was observing children. They were many. In that country, they were even more. But the genocide happened in 1994 and Rwanda was devastated. Visiting memorials, cemeteries with thousands of people at the same grave was extremely impacting. To notice that children were the main target, with many marks and ruins to prove to everyone. I confess that I lost the faith in humanity. On that trip I had the clear and absolute certainty that the children needed help, either by my finding as a father or by the experience that lived there.

I had a life changing experience in Kigali. I was impressed with the number of orphans, but already adults. They were orphans of genocide. I remember having talked with more than 17 orphans, on various occasions of work or visit to memorials. I don’t forget Anita. She was the guide to a church in the interior of the country, today a memorial, where there 15000 people were killed, including all her family members. She also commented that the worst was after the genocide. Few had psychological support and trauma caused more trouble for those who managed to survive. A terrible and invisible disability. By the time I made the visit she was pregnant, and she already had a two-year-old son. We engaged in a friendly conversation and showed each other the pictures of our children. I asked Anita if she already knew what the sex of the baby was, and she told me it was a boy. I asked her if she had a name, and she told me no. But then we started talking and she explained to me that it’s not common to name babies before they’re born. It’s a tradition to wait for the children to live for two or three months before they get a name. In this period babies can die and, in such cases, are buried without a name. But she also explained to me that today the situation is changing and less children die but the culture continues.

When I returned to my home in Canada, not only I had the image of the children but also thought of the orphans. I remember thinking of the children several times, especially when my son would wake during the night scared or feverish. I could feel his breathing calming down when I was taking care of him. On these occasions I imagined an orphan child, waiting for someone at night. Heartbreaking and extremely hard to imagine. Most Rwanda's orphans had neither parents nor family to care for. They were orphans anyway. Until then, for me this was the definition of orphan, until I traveled to Kenya in 2016.

I visited an orphanage among the great slums of the city of Nairobi. The complex was extremely simple, and the couple took care of 128 children, with help of donations and having a monthly cost per child of USD $38.00, sufficient to feed, host, educate and dress. The children were well cared for despite the conditions. I observed that the 0-2-year-old children were clinging to the girls of 10-15 years. It was quite common to see them together, in the lap or in the arms. Most were abandoned or lived there because their parents were unable to keep them. Some were even abandoned with a few days of life on the doorstep of the orphanage. I spent a day with them, attending a mass, playing football and interacting with the kids. Moses, the adult in charge of the orphanage, told me that what the children need most is not money and nothing material: they need love, and that love always comes to us. We had an emotive farewell and a moment that marked my life.

Professionally, I began to get more involved with social issues, trying to help people with my knowledge in technology. From 2016 I dedicated myself to issues related to accessibility and ways to help people with disabilities. According to the UN, there are more than 1.2 billion people with disabilities and more than 80% of them live in emerging countries. Of this group, 70% is made up of special needs invisible to the eye, such as depression, deafness or learning difficulty. They can also be permanent, temporary or situational. I also observed that the biggest challenge is in the way people with special needs are seen in society. The disengagement of human interaction, especially by the environment and circumstance, creates or intensifies exclusion. In addition to their own special need, these people suffer for the stigma and prejudice, creating an absurd perception of inferiority. But this subject is for another article.

In a fleeting time, I started to be called to represent Microsoft in events and presentations. I did a technology presentation for teachers of children with visual impairments in Canada. I was inspired and happy to know that technology could transform people's lives in such a positive way. I found many dedicated people and a universe of possibilities and alternatives. In this area, I learned a remarkably interesting concept called inclusive design: It is a concept of identifying exclusion, addressing to those who need it most, testing and expanding for all. Friends and acquaintances, knowing my passion for the subject, started copying me in conversations, sending pictures, until one day I received this video telling the story of a deaf child in Africa

At that very moment, my head pulled my experiences from Rwanda and Kenya and thought about how the lives of children with disabilities in orphanages would be... If in the developed countries the challenge of caring, treating and including people with disabilities needs is already difficult, imagine in a poor country? I needed to find out and this opportunity appeared in 2018 when visiting Angola.

Like all the other trips, I brought clothes to donate. I like to deliver them directly, without intermediaries. I asked a colleague at work to identify a nearby orphanage to visit and we ended up in a newly-renovated place in downtown Luanda. It was a beautiful orphanage, well cared for, clean, painted and with a lot of structure. I knew that orphanage wasn't the reality of the country. The site accommodates 250 children between 0-14 years. I was looking forward to seeing the kids but the tour with the director showing the premises took a while. At this time, she told the children's motives and ways to reach the orphanage. Domestic violence, abandonment, disease, physical disability, lost children, and even parents who made children tell lies to stay in the orphanage. A horror show that had everything a little. But one realization: many had family, and near there.

After walking through several rooms, we finally got close to the children. We started with the dorm because it was lunchtime. The beds were empty and tidy. A huge room. From the door you could not show the number of beds in a photo. I decided to go in and find another angle. Behold, I realized that a child was in bed, alone and in the corner of the room. I thought he was asleep and I got close. As I approached, I saw that the boy was not alone. There was another girl there. They were both disabled. I crashed. Some may call this moment eureka but there was the realization for me.

We continued the visit and entered the nursery. There was another child with disabilities, along with the babies, despite being 8 years old. Finding the other children was revealing: I had the same feeling of the visit in Kenya and realized that no matter the structure be beautiful or ugly, the lack was the same: love.

As in the concept of inclusive design, if we help orphan children with disabilities from poor countries, we will be able to create better conditions for everyone. As an economist, a scarce resource allocator, I believe we should devote total attention to the extreme. If we can improve the condition of these children, we will also improve the conditions for the orphan children, poor children and children or any combination of them. 

We must be careful when concentrating aid on orphanages. I have noted that many other volunteers and missionaries report systemic corruption in orphanages, abuses and lack of care. Many looks like a concentration camp. We need to rethink this outdated model. I recommend, for those who are interested about this subject, to watch this presentation of Tara Winkler.

With the problem set, we start to think about possibilities. Ideas begin to emerge. How about a social network for adoption (if it already exists, how about promoting more)? How about we bring help with a database and system for interconnected orphanage control by country? How about we create a website with direct information from specialists for curators, nurses and volunteers in the care of special children? What if we set up a partnership with companies that print 3d prosthetics? What if we create incentive to donate wheelchairs or prosthetics? What if we set up a technology lab and a professional training facility?

Whatever the idea is, it must be scalable, financially viable, and with sustainable impact. Many ideas succumb to problems of corruption, bureaucracy and lack of will. We are experiencing an unique moment of digital convergence and the democratization of technology. I believe that technology elevates the education, employment and living conditions of billions of people around the world if we prioritize. This is my mission and I want to play a part in this transformation.

I think now I enter a new journey and I hope to share some alternatives and solutions. The challenge is huge and impossible to solve without help. We need to know what we don't know, and this article can be revealing to many. I'm looking for ideas! Perhaps you have some knowledge, an acquaintance, or are now imagining something that may be useful for this dialogue. Share it! Include your comment or if you prefer, send an email to me: ricardo.wagner@outlook.com

I would like to thank Microsoft for the amazing corporate volunteering program. Through Myskills4Afrika I acquired new professional skills and I also joined a personal life changing journey. I hope more employees can experience this program and I also hope other companies get inspired too!

Thank you for reading this article!

Ricardo Wagner is Brazilian, living and working in Canada. He is an Economist with a MBA in Business/Marketing. Ricardo has worked for Microsoft since 2006, and he is currently the Senior Product Marketing Manager responsible for helping organizations to build Modern Workplaces. Subject matter expert in Accessibility, he is co-leading the Diversity and Inclusion initiative for People with Disability at Microsoft Canada. He is also an Ambassador for Microsoft Myskills4Afrka program, with volunteering assignments in Rwanda, Kenya, Angola, South Africa and Mozambique. His philosophy is to live deeply and intensively, sharing compassion, inspiration and love along the way.