Students learn what it means to be an 'orphan'

It wasn't living off a diet of mainly bread and water that really bothered Isaiah Fasoldt.

Instead, it was the rain at night that really upset the Wheaton College freshman.

After sleeping outside in a box Saturday as part of the Orphan for a Night event, Fasoldt said he was moved by the experience.

"I don't know how these kids sleep at night," he said. "Simple eating I can deal with. But it was raining through my box and my box hardly helped."

He was joined by approximately 35 people who participated in the weekend-long event held at the home Wheaton College lacrosse coach Dave Libby and organized by the Wheaton College chapter of Orphan Helpers.

The nonprofit group assists in orphanages and detention centers internationally, focusing on Central America and working to provide teachers and programs for orphanages and center.

To understand the plight of the children they are working for, the students built fires, slept outdoors, ate meager meals and reflected on what their luxuries mean to them.

"It really has relevance for our lives and how we spend our money, especially if it's frivolous and could go to help save the life of an orphan," said sophomore Rachel Kusmer.

In addition to simulating an evening or weekend of poverty, students also listened to several guest speakers, including Greg Garrett, founder of Orphan Helpers, and a Rwandan refugee.

Besides raising awareness and funds at home, some members of Orphan Helpers have taken their work outside the U.S.

Senior Adam Garrett has already traveled to Honduras and El Salvador to work with children in orphanages and detention centers and bringing donated computer equipment along with him.

Garrett said events like Orphan for a Night help open people's eyes to why the work of Orphan Helpers is so crucial.

"It gives us a sense that we have been blessed and are not seeing that we have been blessed and that we don't necessarily deserve it," he said. "I think of us as stewards of our money and our time."