Kidsave Sierra Leone: Reuniting Orphan with Family

The war in Ukraine is having a ripple effect around the world, hitting even the small West African country of Sierra Leone. In late July, the Smith Sam Children’s Home, an orphanage in southern Sierra Leone and home to 153 orphans, felt the pinch of covid and, with it, dwindling donations to support its work. Then the war in Ukraine began, and prices rose while food supplies diminished. This combination of tragedies led to reduced daily food rations for the children and forced the orphanage to close its doors to new orphans.

The nearby orphanage of Cynthia’s Children’s Home, where 101 children live, suffered the same situation. The children reported that it was becoming unbearable to live there and that their fellow orphans were leaving to find a better situation.

Thirteen children at Cynthia’s were thought to have relatives they could reunify with and leave the orphanage. At Smith Sam’s they believed there were twenty-eight such children.

Kidsave program manager Ibrahim K. was then called in. His experienced manner took the thoughtful, sensitive next step of bringing together the orphanage directors, staff, and children, in a meeting he said, “brought so much love and happiness to these children” who were not having their needs met. “The staff and kids told many stories about their life in the orphanage and how they hoped other children would find an institution to lead their reunification in the future. Many still remember their villages but not a living family.”

With Kidsave to trace, find, vet, reunify and train families on the rights of children, his small team of social workers has set out to find suitable living relatives or other families who can raise these children well, making sure they go to school. Their track record is impressive. So far this year, 71 children have been moved into good, caring households thanks to Kidsave's work, and more than 1,100 have found families outside the orphanage since 2010 when Kidsave began working in Sierra Leone.

One orphanage director expressed her profound thanks and appreciation for the steps taken to move the older kids, adding, “No family member has ever shown up to visit and see how their kids were doing. I have done the little I can, but I hope a living family can be found for these kids to give them love, and protection, and allow them to continue with their education.”

Links:

• About Kidsave in Sierra Leone
• Kidsave, in general
• Case Mining and Reunification