Kidsave Sierra Leone: Reuniting Orphan with Family

In early July 2023, Kidsave and our partners at the Foundation for Integrated Development (FID)embarked to reunify 16 older kids with their biological/extended families in the Kenema and Bonthe districts. After extensive family tracing, Kidsave found 12 extended and biological families for the kids in 10 villages within the districts. 

 One child, Fudia, shared her story with us! Fudia was three years old when she lost her mother and father to Ebola and was taken to an orphanage in Mattru, Bonthe district. Kidsave reunited Fudia with her stepmother on July 20th. 

 Fudia had lost hope that she would ever live with her family again.  “Life in the orphanage was not easy. We eat food without a choice, and our movements are restricted to only the orphanage. I felt good when I learned that there was someone from my family who was ready to parent me. Thank you Kidsave for bringing happiness into my life again!” she said.  

Before reunifying the families, Kidsave and its team of social workers educated the girls about the harmful effects of female genital mutilation (FGM) on their health and well-being. The FGM education with the girls was very successful. They were happy to learn that the act itself has been condemned by both the Sierra Leone government and the international community under various protocols, which will keep them safe while they live with their parents in the communities.  

In Kpadebu Dama and Joru, members of the Sowie council spoke openly to community members against the bloodletting aspect of the Bondo society and appealed to their membership to resist engaging in FGM during initiations. This is a major step in ending FGM, as previous attempts by other institutions have failed to even get the attention and support of the council. One Sowie Councilwoman acknowledged the importance of the Bondo society while condemning cutting.  

"Women who pass through Bondo are more committed to family care, home management, good parenting, personal hygiene, and many other useful family support mechanisms!” she explained. “Notwithstanding the good lessons learned by girls during the initiation period, there have been popular calls on states to ignore the bloodletting aspect of the Bondo society, due to the health risk it carries,” she said. “As a council, we stand with the government to ensure that we uphold the human rights of the girls but would support other components of Bondo without cutting. I, therefore, on behalf of the council appeal to all women to support FID and the government of Sierra Leone to stop cuttings during our traditional practices.”