“I have come to realize more and more that the greatest disease and the greatest suffering is to be unwanted, unloved, uncared for, to be shunned by everybody, to be just nobody (to no one).”
-Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
To think of any child being unwanted or unloved is heartbreaking, but a sad reality for millions (estimates range as high as 200 million) of children across the globe. These are children who have never known any other life than that of an orphan, children who have survived tragedy and the loss of their entire family, and the children of war and AIDS.
The causes that have left the world with so many orphans are endless, however regardless of the causes that have led children to become orphans; the true tragedy is that these children continue to be victimized. As it is World Orphan Week, I encourage all of you too look deeper into the plight of child orphans across the globe. We must look deeper into the roots of the problem to see a solution for the disease and suffering that is plaguing millions of children, to strive for an end to poverty, gender discrimination and then we will begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel. For it is truly the world's greatest disease to be unwanted and unloved.
