Reuniting Families

Poverty drives families in Shashemene apart. Parents or relatives cannot afford to feed children, and so they are sent out to live on the Streets to fend for themselves. Children must make their own way, working as a daily labourer or selling what they can find to try and get money for food. Some boys drag small magnets behind them to try and collect discarded metal to sell, others collect rubbish and waste to take to the dump. We have seen children as young as six years old on the Streets.

Often children are brought to us by the police who have found them in desperate need. Some have told us about their friends, just as young and vulnerable, and we have gone out to rescue them. Some have been brought to us by the local church.

However they end up with us, when a child enters our care they immediately undergo a medical evaluation, are allowed to shower and given clean clothes. They are fed and given their own bed, a luxury many have never had. They are then enrolled in the “Tesfa Manoriya Bota” Assessment Centre, where our specially trained staff will piece together their story and begin to trace the child’s family. They will stay in the “Tesfa Manoriya Bota” Centre for an average of 3-6 months.

Returning Home

Once a parent or family member has been located, our staff meet with them to assess if reunification is the best choice for the child. Sadly, in the cases of abuse or where there is no living family, a child cannot be returned to their home. These children are then placed in a Group Home, where they will be lovingly cared for by our staff.

Thankfully, the majority of the children we work with can be returned to their families. Often a child is on the Streets due to financial strain on the family, so when the families are reunited it is a truly joyous occasion!

Once the child is reunited, we work closely with the family to ensure the can stay together sustainably. We provide the family with supplementary food packages and enrol the child in the Hope365 Academy (or a school closer to their home if they are from outside the area). We also offer their parents the chance to take out a 0% interest micro-loan through our Income Generating Scheme, which can be used to start up a family business to generate income.