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- In November 2009 SFAC were invited by Compassion International Africa to deliver a 4 day training course on foster care to Compassion representatives from 7 African countries – Ghana, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda & Ethiopia. Compassion are working with hundreds of children who can’t live with their families so have been placing children with non relatives on an informal basis. The purpose of this training was to bring greater awareness and clarity to the issues around placing children in foster care.
Group participants with Walter Young, Mick & Brenda Pease in traditional Ethiopian dress!
- In July 09 SFAC returned to Africa visiting Uganda again and then moving on to Ethiopia. The focus of the work was to do a base line audit of a social work organisation working with street children in both countries. Their core tasks are rehabilitation with family or communities or foster care. Here is a photograph of a foster carer in Kampala Uganda – a single mum who fosters 3 teenage boys.
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Kurdistan - Iraq June 2009.
Mick & Tom were with an NGO STEPUK working with social workers and residential care workers in the local orphanages. They gave an introduction on foster care setting it in the context of a Muslim country and how that might work for some children.
The Ministry of Social Affairs is well behind the concept and hopeful of a pilot project commencing in the near future. One care worker explained as she finished the 3 day session that she had learnt so much and was now "more invigorated to do more with the children I look after".
- May 09 SFAC visited Kampala Uganda for 5 days working with social workers and care workers at local orphanages at the invitation of Viva Africa. There are so many young children orphaned or abandoned into orphanages there aren’t sufficient spaces available for some children. They are trying to develop foster care but the lack of resources, skills and knowledge is a huge hindrance.
On one day there was an open invitation to hear about child development and attachment, around 30 workers had registered but 55 arrived from many different programmes.
Mick also had the privilege of speaking to a group of Ugandan foster carers fostering ex street boys. They are recruited, trained and supported by Retrak and were an inspiration to see fostering working in this way.
Some of the 24 foster families Retrak have and their foster children
- April 09 SFAC were in Geneva Switzerland for a 3 day teaching at the YWAM International Missions School. The purpose was to elaborate on the concept of fostering and why family based care is a better solution to traditional institutional methods
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March '09 saw SFAC visiting a project in Bucharest, Romania, for the first time. RICF are developing foster care alongside City of Bucharest local government in sector 6. Our task on this short visit was to take 1 day training with their foster carers and staff then do a 3 day audit of the organisations work for development purposes. SFAC associates Walter & Elaine Young assisted Mick with the work.
This exercise with the string helps describe vulnerable children's separations and losses that often lead them to have insecure attachments.
- SFAC had a much awaited and welcome return to Brazil in January 2009, the country where the vision for SFAC was birthed. Mick was in Sao Paulo with ABBA – a part of Action International. ABBA have been working with street children for a number of years and over the past 4 years have developed a real desire to focus on a family resolution for many of these children. They now have an employed Brazilian social worker as well as a volunteer social worker with his Masters from Canada. Delton is married to a Brazilian and plans to be there for the long haul. ABBA had organised a weekend camp for foster carers and adopters they know and work with along with all the children. We had a wonderful time together encouraging one another and learning more about the needs of traumatised young children within the context of family.
- SFAC had its first visit to India in September this year with 3 days in Bangalore and 5 in Mumbai. The work was more an advocacy / promotional programme with numerous NGOs involved as well as Oasis who invited SFAC.
In Mumbai SFAC gave a talk at a day conference where Dr. Nilima - Chair of local government DWCD (Directorate of Women and Child Development), her colleagues and UNICEF India were present. Dr Nilima spoke clearly and passionately about the need for India to develop foster care. It has the legislation but it needs the experience and social work practice.
- May 08 was indeed a busy month with SFAC at work in 2 locations at opposite sides of the globe. Colombia with Steve Bartel and Formando Vidas in early May and Cambodia at Chab Dai coalition in late May. It was a tiring few weeks but a wonderful privilege to be part of developing child care programmes in these countries and involved with such passionate and capable workers who give much of themselves in looking after the welfare of vulnerable and exploited children. SFAC look forward to a continued partnership with these programmes and hope to return next year if requested.
Mick in Bogota Colombia doing a 5 day training with the staff at Formando Vidas and their Mercy Mission school. Steve Bartel made the theme of the week - Family care a better alternative to institutional care.
The participants at Chab Dai in Phnom Penh Cambodia with Mick and his wife Brenda (front right 2nd row). They had 3 days training in how foster care can be a more appropriate response for orphaned and abandoned children.
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- April 08 saw SFAC return to Tajikistan in Central Asia for the 3rd time to work with an International NGO - Helping Hand. Tajikistan is located north of Afghanistan and to the west of China. It is a small country with something like 93% of the country being mountainous, apparently some climbers practice here before going onto Mount Everest.
Tajikistan like other surrounding countries, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were formerly occupied by the Soviet Union before becoming independent since the fall of communism. Russian and Tajik (Persian) are the national languages.
Mick was with the team at Helping Hand in order to work with them on recruiting and assessing potential foster carers. This organisation plans to implement a foster care programme later this year after they have selected and trained a small group of carers. They will be the first organisation in the Central Asian Region to develop foster care. As well as foster care Helping Hand also have other projects:
- Day creche to enable local families to work during the day
- Back to school club for children who have been living on the streets
- Preparing young people to live independently
- A residential care unit for young people is closing down due to lack of funding
- Juvenile Justice working with young offenders - supported by UNICEF
Helping Hand has asked SFAC to return later this year to help with preparing to place children into foster families.
Below are 2 photographs - a group of children at creche playing in the sand & some of the Helping Hand team doing group work.
updated August 2009
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