Sharny and Julius Kieser normally spend every holiday season showering their six children with gifts. This year, they decided not to give them a single present.
The Australian couple recently gave up many of their material possessions to live a more nomadic life. They sold everything they own and are traveling with their children as nomads.
This year on Christmas instead of receiving gifts, they took their kids to an orphanage. In the locality they are visiting, when women remarry they are forced to abandoned their children. If those children are lucky, relatively speaking, they end up at the nearby orphanage.
The couple was shocked at the conditions of the orphanage. It was crude, unsanitary, and appeared to be dangerous. Yet, this is where many unwanted children find comfort.
"We stopped off at a local supermarket and bought some supplies and gifts since the orphanage is not government-funded and could really do with some help. We had no idea what we were walking into," Julius said.
However, the couple came to a heartbreaking realization. They could drop off all the supplies they could afford, but within days, the orphanage would be back at square one. Julius and Sharny felt gratitude for what they had, but guilt over what those children did not.
"We thought we'd bought a lot and we thought it would make a difference, but we were shocked, humbled, and intimidated by the unending need for help that we just couldn’t give," he said.
While the Kieser family acknowledges they can't help everyone on their own, they teach us an important lesson: that we still should try.
''No matter how much we try to live back in our lives again now, to mentally escape, a part of each of us is still there. The saddest thing is that we just cant help everyone," Julius says.
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