Who was Janusz Korczak?

“The lives of great men are like legends-difficult but beautiful,” Janusz Korczak once wrote, and it was true of his. 

Janusz Korczak

Most Americans have never heard of Korczak, a Polish-Jewish children’s writer and educator, who is as well known in Europe as Anne Frank.

Like her, he died in the Holocaust and left behind a diary. Unlike her, he had a chance to escape that fate, a chance he chose not to take. 

His legend began on August 6, 1942 during the early stages of the Nazi liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, though his dedication to destitute children was legendary long before the war.

He was to die as Henryk Goldszmit, the name he was born with. But it was by his pseudonym that he would be remembered.  As Janusz Korczak he introduced progressive orphanages  into Poland, founded the first national children’s newspaper, trained teachers in what we now call moral education, and worked in juvenile courts defending children’s rights. His books How to Love a Child and The Child’s Right to Respect gave parents and teachers new insights into child psychology.

Dining Hall at Korczak's Orphanage

Generations of young people had grown up on his books, especially the classic King Matt the First, which tells of the adventures and tribulations of a boy king who aspires to bring reforms to his subjects.  It was as beloved in Poland as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland were in the English-speaking world.

When the Germans ordered his famous orphanage evacuated, Korczak was forced to gather together the one-hundred-ninety-two children in his care. He led them with quiet dignity on that final march through the ghetto streets to the train that would take them to “resettlement in the East,” the Nazi euphemism for the death camp Treblinka.

At the end, Korczak, who had directed a Catholic as well as a Jewish orphanage before the war, had refused all offers of help for his own safety from his Gentile colleagues and friends. “You do not leave a sick child in the night, and you do not leave children at a time like this,” he said. 

According to a popular legend, when the group of orphans finally reached the Umschlagplatz (deportation point to the death camps), an SS officer recognized Korczak as the author of one of his favorite children's books and offered to help him escape. Korczak once again refused. 

He boarded the trains with his children and was never heard from again.

Polish government officials recently unveiled a memorial plaque in Warsaw in honor of the Warsaw Ghetto hero on the 70th Anniversary of his death.

7 Year Olds Find More Than Shelter

Hogar Suyapa does a whole lot more than care for orphans. They regularly take in children on a temporary basis as well. I received this note from the Hogar this morning:

We just had two 7 year olds with us for just one night.  Both arrived without shoes and so filthy, dressed in torn rags.  They had been living in the sugar cane fields with their family...part of the political protests going on over ownership of the land.  The police had raided the area and rounded up more than 20 children.  Within half an hour, we had them bathed, new clothes, shoes and ready to join our kids for dinner.  They slept in the therapy room on clean beds, no doubt for the first time in a long time.  

The next morning they were happily participating in the arts and crafts activity and the young girl, came to show me the work she had done.  The boy, was very proud of his drawing and told me he LOVED his new shoes.  I asked them if they went to school and they both said no, never.  Happy and beautiful children.  They were sad when it came time for them to leave but they were also glad to return to their family.  The Judge has told the parents that she wants to see proof that the children are going to school but, as is the case so often in Honduras, it is unlikely there will be any follow-up on this case.  There are just too many children in need and not enough resources available to the Judge to supervise the families.  I know, however, that their one night of peace in the Hogar is something they will remember.

Hogar Suyapa will be adding the third grade to their K-2 school next year. The World Orphan Fund is raising the $6,000 USD necessary to hire the new teacher.  It's our privilege to help those on the front lines. If you'd like to help, visit our website www.theworldorphanfund.org.

World Orphan Fund Website Launched!

The World Orphan Fund website is now up and running! It's still a work in progress, but we think you'll be pleased with the progress.

Now you can learn more our more about our life changing projects and orphanages we help. And in the coming months we'll add features like a social networking system where you can become directly involved by volunteering at orphanages, connect with others and set up your own fundraising page.

Check us out and let us know what you think. We welcome your input. You can contact us directly by sending an email to rj@theworldorphanfund.org. 

We Interrupt These Miracles

There's some great news from Orphanage Emmanuel that we just had to share. Below are the pictures we received this week of the recently finished toddler boys house that so many of you helped make possible.

With your support, the World Orphan Fund was able to fund half of it. The little guy in front with the grey shirt and turned sideways is my youngest sponsor child Junior.

Bathroom

Clothes Room

Downstairs Room

Stairs to Upper Level

Upstairs Room

The Boys in front of the new house!

You've touched the lives of some very special children. Thank you so very much for helping us get this charity off the ground. 

This year we are securing the funds to build a new special needs house at Rancho Santa Fe in La Venta, Honduras. If you would like to contribute, please click the donate now button on the right hand side of this blog. Your contribution is tax deductible and every dime goes directly into projects.

Miracle 4 - The Leadership

Stefan Feuerstein is the National Director of NPH Honduras.  On any given day here at the Ranch you can catch sight of him zipping all over the Ranch on his bike, responding to constant personal summons, working other issues out by phone in-between.

Stefan Feuerstein - National Director of NPH Honduras

Tall with a warm, easy-going manner, and a somewhat sarcastic, but affable sense of humor, Stefan is easily approachable, inspiring confidence and trust in even those he’s known for just a short time.

The children, especially, are drawn to these characteristics and Stefan is always willing to interrupt “business talk” to give a few moments of loving, needed, attention to whatever child approaches and affectionately latches onto him. 

“What’s important is knowing the kids. Being loving and being patient. That’s all they need. Appreciating them no matter what they’ve done."

Ross Egge - Assistant National Director of NPH Honduras

Ross Egge, is the Assistant National Director of NPH in Honduras. Like Stefan, you are taken by how gentle and committed his is to the children. Everywhere you go on the Ranch you hear Ross! Ross! He is never too busy to spend a special minute with the kids, and I don't recall a single child he met whose name he didn't know. Given Rancho Santa Fe has over 500 children and Ross has been here for less than a year, that's pretty amazing. Before coming to Honduras Ross was at NPH's home in Nicaragua.

So why do we think they are miracles? Maybe it's because of the incredible job they do to individually evaluate each and every child and develop a specific plan for each one to succeed. With 24 currently enrolled in College, the most impressive vo-tech program we've seen along with the smiles we saw on so many faces -- their strategy is clearly working. But what they to help a child named Cesare Giovanni speaks to where their hearts are. We'll talk about that in miracle five.

Miracle Three - Special Needs Children

One of the ranch’s Miracles is Casa Emmanuel and its residents. Casa Emmanuel is the house for boys with disabilities on the Ranch. There is a home for girls called Casa Maria Reina. 

Casa Emmanuel at Rancho Santa Fe

Currently though, there are several special needs children living in the younger children's home, who in the next 2-3 years will need to be moved to an interim house. Placing them with older special needs children is not a realistic option.

The problem is that an interim house doesn't currently exist, and if one isn't built soon, NPH will be forced to limit admission of special needs children.

The World Orphan Fund has set up a specific project fund to build the new house, so that Rancho Santa Fe can continue to love and care for these special children. Engineers are currently drawing up specific plans, but the estimated cost is currently between $35,000-$45,000. Please consider a contribution to the World Orphan Fund to help pay for this important addition!

Also, in Tegucigalpa, Casa De Los Angeles is a specialized NPH home for children with severe disabilities. Residents suffer from a variety of neuromuscular diseases including Cerebral Palsy and Hydrocephalus. These children require around-the-clock monitoring and specialized therapies. A dozen high school aged Pequenas live in the home and help with their care.

Rancho Santa Fe's exceptional commitment to take care of God's most special children is truly a miracle.

Miracle Two - An Education

The focus on education at Rancho Santa Fe is remarkable and it's been a key part of NPH since it's founding in 1954.

According to recent data in Honduras, for every thousand graduates of the first grade in 1990, only 29% complete primary school in six years and 46% never finish. The situation with universities is much more worrying, since only 20% avoid failing out in universities such as the National Autonomous University (UNAH).

At Rancho Santa Fe an on-site school extends from a Montessori pre-school and Kindergarten through the ninth grade. Additionally, seven vocational workshops on the campus train children in a variety of areas including welding, carpentry, electricity, shoe making, tailoring and dressmaking. Each student must be nationally certified in at least one trade.

Children who want to progress to High School outside the Orphanage must serve in an  “Año Familiar” or Year of Service Program, allowing pequeños to give back to NPH for all it has provided them. After finishing the 9th grade, all pequeños are asked to provide one year of service as a sign of appreciation for the care and education they received while living at the home. Students who have good grades and are in good standing are then offered the chance to attend high school.

After completing these studies, students are asked to give back a second year of service. If the student wishes to continue their education at the university level, he or she must complete a third year of service immediately following the second. The second and third years of service function as both a expression of gratitude and an investment toward their own education.

150 children currently attend specific technical High Schools and the University in Tegucigalpa. The Orphanage maintains four houses for High School and University students on the outskirts of the capitol. High School houses have either two Tios (uncles - boy's house) or Tias (aunts - girls house) who look after the children. Children are monitored in all their study areas, and when a child has trouble with a particular class a tutor is hired until they improve. Houses for college students don't have tios/tias but are regularly checked on by NPH staff. The orphanage pays for all tuition, housing, books and food. It costs about $3,300 per child per year for college. College students are asked to come back and help the orphanage every other weekend. 

National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) in Tegucigalpa

While every child doesn't go to High School or College, Rancho Santa Fe does everything possible to give them the skills to succeed in the world outside the orphanage.