A very popular question about The House of Dreams is: How do the kids come to you?
We are a legal orphanage licensed by Bolivia. All the children living in the House of Dreams were brought to us by the Social Services of Cochabamba. Oftentimes this government office works closely with the Child Protective Services of the Police Department to remove children from harmful situations and place them in a safe home like ours.
Most of the Dreamers suffered some form of abuse or neglect which brought them to us. Speaking in very general terms I can tell you a few of the types of harmful environments from which our kids were removed.
- abandoned in a public bathroom as an infant
- severe physical abuse
- an infant being sold at the border
- sexual abuse
- homeless parents using drugs
- abandoned in a market for a long period of time
- left in the home alone as a toddler for a long period of time
- evidence of starvation
- severe malnutrition
If we are made aware of a situation in which it would be best for a child to be placed in an orphanage or foster home we must involve the correct governmental offices. For example, when a mother came to our door to give us the infant sibling of one of the children already in The House of Dreams we had to help her to work with social services to have the child placed in our home. In the end she didn’t want to speak to anyone in social services so she took the baby and left. We could not accept the baby without her involvement if she wanted to give up her child.
The families have the right and power to appeal to the courts to regain or attain custody. Some of the children who lived at the House of Dreams were finally reunited with their families after the relatives could improve the standards of care the child would receive in their homes.
In the cases where no blood relatives can be located, or the relatives have no desire to be involved in their lives, you might say that the children are true orphans. In only a handful of cases at the current time are there family members who are taking the necessary steps to attain or regain custody. The rest of the children are available to be placed in adoptive homes, or their paperwork is being processed to that end.
- Angie
