Child Protection Sierra Leone Project #19252

Kidsave Sierra Leone: Reuniting Orphan with Family

by Kidsave International

Project Report | Mar 5, 2024
28 Kids Reunited in Just One Month in Sierra Leone!

By Kidsave Staff | Development Coordinator

Falamatu and Valantine Reunite with Siblings

In November, Kidsave, alongside our partners, successfully reunited 28 kids with their families after vigorous family tracing, verification, and home assessment efforts in the Kenema and Kailahun districts. These young people were all at the Grace Foundation Orphanage, where their condition had deteriorated because of insufficient support.

The Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, the Kenema District Council, and local traditional leaders participated in the reunification ceremonies and pledged their commitment to these children as they move back into their communities.

Mariama, 14, shared her story of reuniting with her aunt Theresa in the Kailahun district after spending years in an orphanage.

Mariama and her aunt Theresa were excited to live together again. Mariama expressed how sad she was in the orphanage, “I never thought that there was a place for orphans in communities and that orphans are outcasts and could only be supported by the government and the orphanages.” At this point, her aunt Theresa wept, embraced her, and promised to take good care of her and the other children in her home.

In a similar story, Falamatu and Valentine reunited with their aunt and siblings. Valentine said, “we are all very grateful for this wonderful opportunity to live once again with our aunt, even though our biological parents are no longer with us. We want to assure Kidsave that we will grow up to be responsible people!”

In December, our partners in Sierra Leone concluded their monitoring for the 28 kids reunited with their families in the Bonthe, Kenema, and Kailahun districts. This monitoring was focused on the education, health, and well-being of all the kids in their new households in all three districts. All the children are in safe homes.

Four of the kids were sick during the monitoring period, however, the families presented medical prescriptions and treatments to the Kidsavesocial workers to show that their conditions are being treated. We are hopeful that their health will improve and will continue to monitor their health.

The kids, with their families, are very grateful to Kidsave for supporting their reunification with their families and communities.

Mariama and Her Aunt Theresa Reunite

Falamatu and Valantine Reunite with Their Aunt

Community Training

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Nov 6, 2023
Reunited Families and Community Activism

By Kidsave Staff | Development Coordinator

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.”

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Jul 14, 2023
Reunited After Seven Long Years

By Rachel Cvitanovich | Development Coordinator

Keifala and Rainatu reunited with their father.

In 2016, when Ebola devastated their village, Rainatu and her brother, Keifala, were just six and five years old. Ebola took the lives of their mother and two older brothers. Their village, Gorahun Tonkia, went under quarantine for 21 days, and Rainatu and Keifala were taken to the Hope Emmanuel Orphanage in Kenema. They lived in the orphanage for seven long years until the orphanage asked Kidsave to try to find any living relatives.

Amazingly, their father had survived but had moved several times. Kidsave’s team in Sierra Leone had little information about his whereabouts but still the team was able to trace him. While meeting with him, he was overjoyed to be reunited with his children, calling them, “the only source of happiness left on earth for me."

The next day, Rainatu and Keifala were told their dad was alive and wanted to have his family back. The kids were elated! Rainatu could not hold her tears and burst into crying. ‘So, Daddy is alive, and we get to live together again!’

Two days later, Kidsave arranged for their reunification. The whole community had gathered to witness the reunification. During the ceremony, Rainatu said, "I don’t know how to express myself, for once again reuniting with our dad after the Ebola virus killed our mother, and we were taken to Kenema without our approval."

“We are grateful to Kidsave for helping us experience life as a family again with our biological father.” She described the orphanage as a civilized prison and thanked Kidsave for “bringing smiles to our faces again after spending seven unhappy years in the orphanage.”

Reunification ceremony attended by 200+ people

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