Kidsave Sierra Leone: Reuniting Orphan with Family

After many days of diligent searching, often walking for hours to remote villages, assessing homes and then often waiting for hours for villagers to return from their farms to hold meetings, Kidsave’s Sierra Leone program reunified 12 children with their biological extended families in five communities in the Bo District in May.  Poor roads, rivers and communication are big challenges and a local boat captain was hired to transport social workers across the Sewa River to conduct communities and dialogue forums in two villages.

In the end, the villagers and the families of the children commended the social workers for their perseverance, crossing the rivers and traveling so far on foot to find families for the children. Families who were reunited with their grandsons and granddaughters assured social workers they would provide all that is needed for the children to live and grow up in the community.  Kidsave also established structures in each of the communities to monitor the children and be sure they are well cared for.

Kidsave’s social workers held community stakeholder and sensitization meeting in each of the five communities (Tailu, Bondor, Jakama, Kebbie town and Kandeh Town) to introduce the Kidsave program and children to otters. Information about the children was shared and questions from communities handled accordingly. 

Normally, the program would hold host family recruitment events to find families for children for whom no suitable family members could be found to adopt them, but this month, wonderfully, suitable family members were found for all 12 children. 

Links:

• Sierra Leone Program
• Kidsave general information
• Why Family Advocacy?

In 2014, the Ebola crisis hit Sierra Leone and many families with the virus left their villages and went to regional care centers. 5,000 to 7,000 Sierra Leoneans died of the disease and thousands of newly-orphaned children were moved into orphanages. Many have remained there for years without connections to the home villages and relatives.

 While the government believes that children belong in families, it does not provide enough resources to return them to their villages, find extended family members for them to live with, or find new, loving families so these children do not grow up in institutions.

 In 2010, Kidsave began placing finding families for civil war orphans first by looking for a suitable relative. If one could not be found, Kidsave used its “family visit model” to give time for kids needing a family and prospective adoptive families to get to know each other.

 Then when Ebola struck 4 years later, Kidsave worked with the Sierra Leonean government to identify those children who were displaced and without parents and work to reconnect them with families. Kidsave helps families take in an additional child by providing small loans that enable them to build their businesses and feed and support the child or children they have added to their family.

 Kidsave has trained and supported partners in Sierra Leone and served 639 children since 2010. In 2018 alone, Kidsave helped 165 served families. In 2017, 75 Ebola orphans were reunified and today 95% are in stable relationships. Social workers visit the families regularly to help manage adjustment challenges and keep the child’s placement intact or address any problems promptly.

Links:

• About Kidsave's work in Sierra Leone
• Why Kidsave?
• About Kidsave's Programs