Labels

Once you label me, you negate me. --Soren Kierkegaard

Ok, I know I've been gone a long time. And we are getting really busy with the stuff of caring for Sovietsk--fundraising, trip planning, and the like. But this soon-to-be MSW who has studied philosophy since high school has been thinking a lot about the importance of language, especially concerning our children, and so it's time to post.

You may have noticed you won't find the word orphan on this blog--at least, not unless we are quoting someone else. That's quite on purpose. Why?

Because our children are hardly different than you or I, they just happen to not be living with parents at this time.
Because our children have experienced so many losses or traumas that you or I may be unable to comprehend, it seems ridiculous to boil that down into one word.
Because our children have big hearts, are strong and brave, and have entire lives ahead of them.
Because our children are more than orphans.

I get that labels are useful for simple organization. But we as Sovietsk Supporters are not census workers--we are family! We are here to love the children for who they are, each individually. We're so different from them, but we're also the same.

So, we might talk about children who have been orphaned. Or the kids who live at the orphanage. Or children who are particularly vulnerable to this or that predicament or who have experienced trauma or neglect.
But mostly, we will talk of this young woman, or that little boy. Or if it's not too private, we will just use their names. Because that is who they are.

The popular term for this kind of langage in service circles is 'people-first' langage. And it's so important! Think of all of the labels over time which have fallen from common use: Leper. Dumb. Idiot. One that starts with R-----. And countless racial labels. Why? Because they don't amount to a whole person! I am more than a wife, or a woman, or a White person, or my intelligence, or my failings,or my accomplishments. I am Sarah, Ben is Ben, and Katya is Katya.

So, if you see me cringe at the word orphan, I hope you understand.