By Bonnie Williams | Staff member
Doris, a 14-year-old from the Mpodo Home orphanage, missed her friend Halima. Halima had left the orphanage months earlier to be reunited with her aunt through Kidsave’s Reunification program in Sierra Leone. But friendship is persistent and after several visits Doris, Halima and her aunt all felt the same way...Doris should join that family permanently!
Kidsave and its partner FID work to help children who have been stuck in orphanages and reunite them whenever possible. When kin cannot be found, other willing families can step up into that role. Halima’s aunt did just that and changed the trajectory for Doris.
Doris wrote that she was very happy to live with Halima and her aunt, adding that “Almost six years ago I was cut-off from community life; from playing hide-and-seek with my peer mates and sitting together at night to tell stories of our great ancestors. Coming back to live in Kanga village reminds me of the great sorrow I faced [when her parents died], but I now know that things will get better for me. I appreciate FID and KIDSAVE for bringing smiles to me again and I promise to make the best out of your support.”
Two other children were also taken in by the families of their former orphanage-mates who had been adopted months earlier. Kidsave enables each child to bring to their new family a large bag of rice, school supplies and a bed kit.
During 2020, Kidsave’s work shifted from finding new families for orphans to meeting basic needs for food, sanitary supplies, and school supplies amoung the families where children had been placed. But despite that shift, Kidsave was able to move 17 children into permanent, loving families, and monitor 350 children previously placed in families to be sure they had enough to eat and were in school. Where deficiencies were found, Kidsave stepped in to help with food, school fees or supplies, and sanitary supplies. Kidsave is currently training 140 Kidsave families in land preparation, composting, and growing their own food so they can be self-sufficient.
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