Cover Your @$%^

Yesterday, we met with the General Director of the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs. This individual was the first step in trying to register an organization in Iraq to facilitate the opening and running of church-based orphan homes in the country.

After sitting in a very hot, stuffy, dingy waiting room, we were ushered into a very cool, bright, opulent official’s office. The contrast pretty much said it all.

Although we unsurprisingly didn’t receive instant permission for new NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) status during the meeting, we were ultimately granted the opportunity to meet with the next level in the bureaucracy tomorrow morning. God did indeed give a rather wonderful affirmation also. We discovered that Mike Vinson, our Exec. V.P. of World Orphans, knows the nephew of this particular official. The nephew currently resides in the Dallas, Texas area. What are the chances of that? Only God knows.

Apparently because of this family connection, and the scale of our proposed involvement, our subsequent request to see a couple of state orphanages was quickly granted. In light of the widespread bad press that a Baghdad orphanage just received recently, this was quite an accomplishment itself.

However...

As we were chatting amongst ourselves during the epilogue of the meeting, one of our hosts overhead the official speaking on the phone – "Americans are coming. Don’t let them take any pictures. Get everything in order. Prepare yourselves."

Our host pastor would later tell us that, in this culture, the phrase "Prepare yourselves" is synonymous with "Cover your crap."

The dismal institutional orphanage was reminiscent of grim and forlorn prisons of the 1940’s. It had the feeling of entering a forgotten insane asylum, a decrepit mental hospital. Dreadful. Pitiful. Creepy.

The uneasy eeriness was further compounded by the fact that we only saw four children in a building designed for hundreds.

When asked the obvious question, the response was, "They were sent home for holiday."

"What holiday is that?" we thought to ourselves. "And where is home?"

We bit our lips and proceeded on the tour of the facility.

The answer seems even more incredulous when you consider that there were no less than a dozen staff people there, beds were used and disheveled, and enough rice to feed a small army was being prepared in the kitchen.

During the tour, we were shown every room...almost.

A few locked doors weren’t opened for us.

Our host told us afterwards that, in his credible opinion, the children had all been locked away and were forced to be silent until after our visit was completed.

It’s pure speculation, I know, but what likely existed there was a situation that was akin to the images shown around the world a few weeks ago. The boys were doubtless undernourished, dirty and distraught. Hollow eyes were probably inserted into hollow bodies.

The government official wanted to show us that they had nothing to hide and hastily arranged the visit. To the contrary, we left with the feeling that things were indeed hidden. Crap was covered.

(Image: Children playing on the street near the Government Minister's Office)

Comments

[Scott]

Reading the posts daily. Heartbreaking stuff.
Be safe bro's.

[Daleea]

It breaks my heart... God bless the children... hear their cries.
Be safe and walk in God's protection.