Soaring Beyond for Children in Out-of-Home Care

I still remember what it was like when I was posted to the Faith of Home in Agape Children’s Home to look after this group of teenage boys. They were in the middle of puberty, with endless energy and incredible power to cause major damage while still learning how to respect each other in group life. With each one wanting to be in charge, it was not usual to see the fight among the boys break out every other day.

From silent confrontation to bickering with each other, we dare not take our eyes off these restless boys for a moment. There are countless conflicts to deal with in a year, the most difficult one being inappropriate physical interaction when one party considers it merely playing, while the other sees things differently. 

Now a year has passed, and these boys have learned mutual respect under the company and guidance of the teachers. Through every educational opportunity, suddenly, they seem to grow into more sensible persons and more willing to contribute to this “ home” where they are living; giving a hand when it’s needed; doing their job such as tutoring, self-study, cleaning, cooking, etc. when the teachers are busy. They do it by themselves so that the teachers need not worry.

Although the boys still get lazy sometimes, it is much better now that the teachers no longer have to keep pushing them from behind every day. At least we don’t have to keep repeating the same words like parrots, and the pranks among the boys are much less now. We are very pleased to see that they have developed the ability of self-control.

Xiaoyu, in particular, is more than willing to contribute to the affairs of the home, so he was named the deputy caretaker of Faith of Home. He is an all-round handyman doing all environmental maintenance work such as repairing electrical appliances, painting, and applying silicon. His maturity and reliability brought this little community together and also influenced other boys.