A five-year-old girl, weighing 6kg, who has lived in an institution since she was a few months old, because she has spastic cerebral palsy. At five years old she is the size of a very skinny 18-month-old and she has reached the milestones of a four-month-old baby. On first meeting her, it is easy to presume that she is very severely impaired, both physically and intellectually. However, appearances are deceiving.
Continue reading “What About Children with Disabilities?”Category: Awareness
Making Education Accessible
‘Education is the golden bullet’, a cliché maybe, but that does not make it less true. As mentioned in the blog about education driving children into ‘orphanages’ (HERE) earlier this month, people all around the world are becoming more and more aware of the potential of education for lifting people out of poverty. This makes them willing to send their children to an institution to make sure that they get this marvellous chance.
Unfortunately, the damage done by institutionalisation to a child’s brain development will almost always outweigh the benefits of getting an education. For a child really to get the full benefit of being educated, this needs to be combined with growing up in a family-environment. So, we need to look for other solutions.
Continue reading “Making Education Accessible”Combating Poverty, the Cheaper Option
As mentioned in the blog at the start of the month (HERE) poverty is very high on the list of reasons why children end up being separated from their parents, and in many cases institutionalised. This is something that can be tackled relatively simply.
When I talk about poverty relief, I am not talking about pie-in-the-sky wishes like an end to hunger globally (and let’s throw in world peace for good measure). Of course I would like to see that, but let’s go one step at a time. In this blog I want to mention a series of practical measures that are already being implemented in many places, including in some low-income countries. Measures that have been shown to be very effective, as well as very cost-effective.
Continue reading “Combating Poverty, the Cheaper Option”What About Parental Problems?
Wait a minute, you might say, didn’t you say in the overview that some children need to be taken away from their families for their own protection? Because they are being abused or neglected, or because they are surrounded by domestic violence or substance abuse. Nothing to be done there…
While it is true that there will always be some children who need to be removed from their families for their protection, this is actually only a very, very small group… IF support systems are in place. Even when parents are facing serious problems or are really struggling to raise their children, very often it is possible to help out in ways that allow the child to stay with the family, safely.
Continue reading “What About Parental Problems?”Disability as Reason for Institutionalisation
As the momentum of the global movement towards deinstitutionalisation is growing, the proportion of children with disabilities in institutions is growing. In many countries, children are being moved from institutions to family-based alternatives, but in this process the children with disabilities are left behind. Often for many of the same reasons that had them end up in the institutions in the first place.
Continue reading “Disability as Reason for Institutionalisation”‘Orphanages’ Luring Children with the Promise of an Education
All around the world, people are becoming more and more aware of the importance of educating children. People are realising that the best chance their children have of escaping poverty or moving up in the world, is to go to school, preferably past primary level.
In itself, this is a positive development. It has caused more and more children to be sent to school and to be given greater opportunities. However, unfortunately there is also a flip-side to the desire for education: children ending up in institutions.
Continue reading “‘Orphanages’ Luring Children with the Promise of an Education”Poverty as Reason for Separation from Parents
Everyone one pretty much agrees that poverty should never be a reason for children to be separated from their parents. The UN Guidelines for Alternative Care specifically states that no child should be taken away from their parents because of poverty. And very many countries have this stated in their legislation as well.
And yet… in many countries, poverty is known to be one of the main reasons – and often THE main reason – for children ending up institutions. Why this is the case is complicated and multi-faceted.
Continue reading “Poverty as Reason for Separation from Parents”Why Are They There?
In Guatemala 75% of parents with children in institutions surveyed said that with a little support, they would be able to take care of their own children. These are the things we need to look for. In order to know how to get children out of institutions, it is helpful to find out how they got there. This will give a starting point to finding out what needs to be done to prevent the children from ending up in institutions.
Continue reading “Why Are They There?”Increasing Momentum of Deinstitutionalisation
As the year draws to a close, it seems almost inevitable to look back and to look forward. Because my work and life are completely entangled with children in institutions and the quest to get them out of there, this features heavily in these ponderings, even on a personal level, for me.
I invite you along with me, as I look back and look ahead. I feel the past year has been a good one, for moving children towards family-based solutions.
Continue reading “Increasing Momentum of Deinstitutionalisation”Becoming Aware and Becoming Involved
Last summer, I was having dinner with some people and one of them told me that a friend of his was running a children’s home, somewhere in Africa. He said that there was a real need for that kind of thing, to keep the children safe and well. I told him that I understood his admiration and his friend’s good intentions, but that unfortunately this was not in the best interest of the children. In about five minutes, I outlined the consequences of institutionalisation and the orphanage industry that is blooming around it and the alternatives that give children far better chances in life and are more cost-effective.
The man sat there pretty gobsmacked, as he was processing the information. Later he told me that that conversation had turned his life upside down. If you have been reading the blogs of the past four months without any prior knowledge about the effects of institutionalisation, it is likely that you are feeling much the same.
Continue reading “Becoming Aware and Becoming Involved”