This picture depicts an orphanage. The children are sitting neatly eating the food that they’re served with. These children are age around two to four years old. In the foreground there’s a child looking up at the camera innocently while another hand is holding on to the spoon.
In their plate, they are not served with very nutritious and delicious food but just rice and beans. To them this is what they get to eat everyday and they are already really thankful to it. In the background, there are more children. There’s a child in white looking down at his food. He is probably younger as compared to the others, which is why he was served with different kind of food. Maybe something that’s more suitable for younger children to consume.
I think that they are either abandoned by their parents or their parents passed away. It’s estimated that it will be one million orphans related to the Aids epidemic in South Africa by 2004. About 5.6 million South Africans are infected with the virus and about 1000 day every day. They are living in fear if they will infect with such diseases.
It’s hard for us to truly imagine what they are going through. They are so young yet they have no one to depend on. They have no parents to be there for them. We are so different here in Singapore. We get what we want and we don’t have to eat beans and rice for a meal. Yet, we don’t know how to appreciate what’s given to us. No parents bear to give their child away or leave their child to survive on their own. But since they child have no choice, hopefully they have the courage to overcome any obstacles in their life.