The news of the military coup in Myanmar and the turmoil there is very worrying in itself. However, when I heard about it, the first thing I thought about was the children. Particularly the children who have been recruited into the orphanage industry – ‘orphanages’ run for profit, something that has boomed in the country, over the past decade. What is going to happen to them?
Continue reading “Orphanage Industry in Myanmar Under the Coup”Author: Florence
I am the founder of and consultant at Family-Based Solutions. I have started this website and this community, and I am the moderator. I have been involved in alternative care since 2007, having been involved up close in China, Brazil, India, Kenya and Myanmar.
Initially I ran another NGO dedicated to improving the chance of survival and the quality of life of children in institutions, over time getting more and more involved with family-based alternatives and community services. In 2018 I folded the previous NGO and founded Family-Based Solutions. You can find more information on what I do now on the other pages of this website.
Cooperation, Not Competition
Over recent weeks and months, several initiatives have been launched to bring together experts in the fields of child protection and alternative care reform. The aim of these global workgroups or committees is to try to get past the current practice of many people/organisations working in parallel in countries, with a similar aim but different approaches. Something that is both inefficient and expensive. Plus it creates a lot of confusion. Getting past this and trying to develop a common approach and increased cooperation is a great, and important, goal. Though unfortunately not one that is within sight just yet.
Continue reading “Cooperation, Not Competition”It Is Not Just the ‘COVID-generation’
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the effects of the pandemic and the restrictions put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 on children. A lot of concerns are raised about the impact of increasing child poverty, lack of access to education, and reduced opportunities for socialising. Fears are expressed for the long-term effects on children’s health, development, educational achievements, mental health and lifelong potential. As one policymaker recently put it: this generation will forever be known as the COVID-generation.
Continue reading “It Is Not Just the ‘COVID-generation’”Start with the Institution, Cover Wider Child Protection
At the end of last year, I attended an online course organised by Harvard X: Child Protection: Child Rights in Theory and Practice. It was an interesting course that gave a very good overview of what Child Rights and Child Protection entail, looking in detail at several aspects, and also providing insight into what is needed to work towards effective Child Protection. On this latter subject, one of the issues that came up was that in the past – and to a certain extent still – the tendency was to use a siloed approach to individual child protection issues, which usually led to limited success.
Continue reading “Start with the Institution, Cover Wider Child Protection”The Promise of Institutions
I have mentioned it in various ways on various occasions, but I think it is important to lift this point out and look at it closely. The point being that children ending up in institutions is not just about push-factors – such as not having anywhere else to go – there are major pull-factors. If you are not aware of this and do not take it into account, it will not be possible to avoid the unnecessary separation of children from their families or to successfully remove children from institutions.
Continue reading “The Promise of Institutions”Investing in Services and People
The call is often heard that more money needs to be spent on social protection, child protection and universal services like education and healthcare. Very often this is true when compared to spending on defence or tax breaks (or loopholes) for big corporations, the spending on these areas lags behind significantly, which leads both to human suffering and bigger expenses to the public purse down the line. However, in a way it is also misleading.
Continue reading “Investing in Services and People”What a Year!
The year is drawing to a close again, so it’s time to think back over what it brought us. It certainly was unlike anything we could have predicted a year ago. And while COVID-19 as a disease does not hit children as hard as it does adults, children have been very severely affected by the pandemic, the restrictions to keep it under control, and the actions, or lack thereof, with regards to mitigating the impact on the population.
Continue reading “What a Year!”A Story for Christmas
Today’s blog is not a Christmas story. However, Christmas is a time for storytelling, and also a time to contemplate how things may not always be what they seem. And so I want to share a story with you about a girl whom I have known for some time and about what happened to her over the past few months.
Continue reading “A Story for Christmas”Dealing with Traumatised Teenagers
As mentioned in the previous blog (HERE) last month, I attended the online conference: Trauma Informed Practice Using Biopsychosocial Models to Promote Recovery organised by ICTC and IRCT. In this blog, I want to mention the presentation given by Jane Herd, who shared her experiences working with ‘troubled’ teenagers. I feel what she said was very important because particularly when it comes to teenagers there is a tendency to blame all ‘misbehaviour’ to their age and ‘unwillingness’ to control themselves. Pointing out the ways in which traumatised teenagers are quite simply unable to self-regulate, will hopefully lead to more understanding.
Continue reading “Dealing with Traumatised Teenagers”Diverse Outcomes After Trauma
Last month, I attended the online conference: Trauma Informed Practice Using Biopsychosocial Models to Promote Recovery organised by ICTC and IRCT. It was, once again, a very interesting and useful event, that provided much food for thought. In this blog, I want to address some of the points brought up by Matt Woolgar, one of the speakers, and next week I will write about Jane Herd’s contribution.
Continue reading “Diverse Outcomes After Trauma”