I first heard about Helping Hands from my husband’s cousin. My ears perked up instantly because as a preschool teacher, I’d recently had two children in my class adopted from orphanages in Russia. Both students were blessed to be in stable homes where they were treasured. Still, they struggled. Their development continued to be negatively affected by their time in the orphanages. One student could not chew and eat food like a normally developing 2-year-old. The other found it difficult to interact with others and form friendships.
Ever since we had that conversation with my husband’s cousin, we have supported Helping Hands’ Babas Program. These Babas are woman typically about the age of grandmothers. Two of the ladies care for the neediest of the children at a large orphanage in northwestern Bulgaria. Two other babas care for disabled children at a daycare program. They interact extensively with the children.
This simple service can affect the children for decades because the early years are foundational for all later learning in life. For example, children who form attachments with adults feel safe enough to explore their world, which is how they learn. Seeing a toy on the floor will motivate them to learn to crawl so they can touch and taste it. The muscles used to crawl will help them learn to walk, so they can increase their exploring, which leads to more learning. Similarly, listening to an adult talk and sing gives them a model to imitate so that they can develop language, which also supports learning.
If babies and small children don’t interact with adults and form attachments, their development is significantly impaired. Their learning later in life will be much harder. Without a close relationship with a trusted adult, the child can struggle to make friends and to work with others later in life. It could be said that some of what the Babas do is just playing with babies. But play is the necessary work of childhood.
In 2014 my husband and I traveled to Bulgaria and met many of the former and current Babas. We saw first-hand how much they love their charges. Many of them had pictures of the children they’d cared for going back as far as 2005. We know that God is using these ladies to stimulate those babies’ development and set the children on a path to enter the world with a strong foundation for learning as well as for knowing what love is. Most important, those ladies plant the seeds for their little ones to learn about and trust their Savior, Jesus.
