Residential groups

Care of orphans

The first project of the World Child Care Foundation was helping the PDO High School to take in 70 orphans. To this end, two houses were purchased on the edge of the school compound. These buildings housed the children who lost one or both parents in May 2008 due to the cyclone 'Nargis'. The children were very traumatized in the beginning. Often they had also seen siblings drowning before their very eyes. It is not surprising that at the start we found many anxious, silent and sad children. But that quickly changed thanks to the dedicated staff who were put in charge of the orphanage. Our staff members have done a tremendous amount of good work for these children.

Expansion of the residential groups

Since 2010, our residential groups have been expanded annually. There are now about 350 girls living in The Golden House (divided over two houses). They are led by two senior staff members and thirteen junior staff members. In the residential group The Hostel live 50 boys, together with one senior staff member and two junior staff members.

The girls and boys all come from poor families. Myanmar has 134 different ethnic groups. Children of 20 different ethnic groups live together in The Golden House and The Hostel. Some of the original group of 70 orphans still live in The Golden House. The others have already flown out and live and work in their native village or in the city. It is good to report that The Golden House and The Hostel are no longer orphanages, but that only a few orphans live there.

Togetherness

The composition of The Golden House and The Hostel partly changes every year. Under the inspiring leadership of the staff members, the residential groups have grown into a large, close-knit family. Everyone cares about each other, the children help with cooking and cleaning up, and they study hard. The girls came up with the name The Golden House themselves in 2009, because they were tired of being labeled 'Nargis kids' all the time. Their gaze is on the future and not on the past.

Current situation

The World Child Care Foundation currently manages three large residential buildings on the site of the PDO High School in Mandalay. The residential group The Golden House consists of two residential buildings: House 2 and Pandaw House. House 1, in which the project started in 2008, is located between these two buildings. That house is currently only used for cooking.

The Hostel was completely renovated in 2019.