Child Protection Haiti Project #59108

Reunite 75 Exploited Children with their families

by Little Footprints, Big Steps - IDO

Reunite 75 Exploited Children with their families

Project Report | Mar 11, 2024
Quarterly Report: March 2024

By Sabrina Jegede | Donor Relations Coordinator

Dear valued donors and dedicated supporters:

We would like to share an update from the past few months.

State of unrest in Haiti:

Haiti is going through one of the most difficult times in recent history, with growing violence and 5.2 million people in need of humanitarian support. During situations like these, it is more important than ever to empower, inform, and secure communities. LFBS is committed to supporting and protecting vulnerable children and families in Haiti.

Despite everything you may see in the news, there are still child protection actors and government bodies working to protect children. Our team is continuing to respond to the needs of the families and communities we work alongside. Family reunification is still very possible and happening, and it is still safer for children to be with their families rather than in orphanages.

We thank our supporters for your thoughts and continued support. Your contributions are invaluable, and we cannot do this work without you, especially during such times of crisis.

Family Tracing, Mediation & Reunification

As of January, LFBS is actively working with 231 children.
After successfully reuniting three children with their families between December and January, we currently have two children in our safe house.
In late February, GTPE (the working group on child protection in Southern Haiti), led by IBESR (Haitian Social Services), removed 51 children from an illegal and abusive orphanage. As a partner in GTPE, LFBS is supporting the care of these children in the aftermath of their removal, as there are a lot of family tracing, mediation and reunification activities that must happen. The orphanage claimed that other children had been previously sent home before GTPE intervened, and we must verify that those children were, in fact, sent home rather than being trafficked elsewhere. Of the 51 children who were removed by GTPE, over half of their parents arrived to get them the next day. We are working towards tracing the families of the remaining children. All of these children and their families will need follow-up support, which we are currently working to identify and implement.
Between November and February, we successfully traced five families and conducted 11 mediation sessions.

Education & Vocational Training

Our Youth Mentor has been developing a tool to streamline the identification process for high-quality vocational schools.
Currently, 4 youths are on a waitlist for vocational training opportunities.
An additional 4 youths have been identified and selected for vocational training.
2 youths have commenced their internships.

Income Generation Opportunities

10 families have been carefully selected and evaluated for participation in our Business Start-Up project. Their selection was based on their level of vulnerability and capacity to manage small businesses.

Community Reinforcement

As of February:

207 children are receiving ongoing medical follow-up.
Between November to February, 22 children were accompanied to the hospital for necessary care and 61 children received various forms of medical assistance, including evaluations, testing, lab work, or medication.
In November, we organised two weeks of community training sessions to commemorate World Children’s Day across over 5 communities. The events drew over 1000 attendees and covered important topics such as various forms of violence and their impacts, people’s rights and responsibilities, and cholera prevention.
Additionally, we conducted 6 health education sessions.
In December and January, we held community training sessions involving 8 parents of street children, focusing on topics such as parental responsibility and the significance of education in families and society.

Advocacy and Awareness Raising

We are advocating and actively pursuing longer-term plans to address the situation of three children who were abandoned at a maternity ward in Les Cayes. Despite the hospital being on strike, we have been conducting regular visits to ensure their well-being and supplying essential items such as mosquito nets.

Thank you for your shared commitment to our mission to protect vulnerable children in Haiti by reuniting families and empowering them with resources and opportunities to build a self-sufficient future.

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Nov 16, 2023
November 2023 quarterly report

By Morgan Wienberg | Executive Director

Dear valued donors and dedicated supporters:

We would like to share an update from these past few months.

Current state of Haiti

“Socially, life in Haiti is always troubled; people are living with anxiety and fear, and counting the days they are still alive.

Large populations are dying of hunger while sitting on incredible natural wealth that we can’t benefit from due to poor leadership of the country.
extreme increase in food instability in the country as inflation continues to rise
increasing number of displaced families as gang violence and terror continues to spread in and around Port au Prince
significant mental trauma due to exposure to videos and/ or direct witness of gang violence, including homes lit on fire, gunfire, murder, massacre, rape, and other crime
LFBS being referred increased number of families in situations of extreme poverty (unable to afford to meet children’s basic needs, particularly struggling to eat each day and/ or afford medical care and education

Reunification

12 new highly vulnerable children identified: 5 girls & 7 boys
We provided food and hygiene kits, but they also require longer term follow up such as business start up for parents and education support for children (not yet provided).
Our team is actively working with 224 children: 103 girls & 121 boys
Currently, we only have one child in our transitional safehouse (1 boy, former street child, working towards reunification
5 former street children that were taken in after the street child meeting in June have all been reunited with their families.
Our youth mentor is working to secure a vocational training apprenticeship for a new youth: 17 year old former street child who has been reunited with his family only had a 3rd grade level of education and cannot write his name; we are seeking a professional mentor to work alongside him and teach him a manual skill.
We have recently integrated 3 youth (boys) in mechanics apprenticeships, working alongside local mechanics to learn the trade.

Education support

Schools opened in September and October. Our team was very busy making initial school payments (we pay tuition directly to the schools wherever the children are located), purchasing uniforms, school books, and backpacks. Although in Port au Prince many schools have been shut down due to gang activity and violence and many students have had to relocate for the same reason… in the South Department and Grande Anse, where LFBS primarily works, schools continued operating without issue. However, due to the extreme inflation and economic hardship in the country, more and more families are struggling to afford access to education.

Former street children we’ve been working with following the annual street children meeting we hosted in June:

8 street children are in school now
2 older youth have been integrated in vocational training apprenticeships
1 is currently in the safehouse receiving literacy tutoring while we work towards reunification with his family

Like many other countries suffering from political unrest, our team in Haiti continues our work to support the at-risk and exploited children. We are extremely thankful for your ongoing donation and support so we can assist more children like these.

NOTE: Giving Tuesday is November 28th and we welcome you to join our efforts in raising funds that day when GlobalGiving will match donations.

Until then, we wish you and your family well.

Sincerely,

Morgan Wienberg

Executive Director

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Jul 23, 2023
Project Report

By Morgan Wienberg | Executive Director

Feeding street kids

Dear donors and supporters:

In these past short months, Little Footprints worked with IBESR-Nippes to prepare for the closure of two orphanages currently housing 31 children and youth. The Little Footprints team was joined by the Regional Coordinator and two Child Protection Agents from IBESR-Nippes in the LFBS office. A representative of UNICEF also stopped by on the second day. Our teams diligently planned the documentation tools for the closure of these orphanages, the reunification of the children, and the subsequent follow-up efforts with the families.

In addition, a child who had been kidnapped by a voodoo practitioner escaped and informed authorities that she was abducted from her school. Together with the Child Protection Brigade of Haiti’s National Police (BPM), other police officers/officials, and a judge, LFBS assisted in arresting the woman who had abducted this child. In another incident, a teenage girl separated from her mother attempted suicide and Little Footprints' staff intervened and provided emotional support. The girl has since been reunited with her mother but still requires psychological follow-up.

Once again, Little Footprints hosted an annual "Street Child Meeting". Together with Haitian Social Services (IBESR) and other child protection partners, we mobilized children who are currently living on the streets of Southern Haiti. We facilitated psycho-social activities and games with them, had a meal together, giving them the chance to be heard and share their challenges as well as their dreams, had former street children give motivational speeches, educated the children on relevant topics, and encouraged them to reconnect with their families. For children who expressed an interest in returning home, our team is currently prioritizing efforts to reunite them with their families.

Despite an earthquake and flooding in Southern Haiti in June, Little Footprints' staff resumed services to support the children. We are extremely grateful for your donation and support for us to continue assisting more children like the ones above. We look forward to sharing more of our progress from your contribution in our next report.

We wish you and your family well until then.

Sincerely,

Morgan Wienberg
Executive Director

Meeting with street kids

Staff preparing for orphanage closure

Staff preparing for orphanage closure 2

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