Remembering "Little Rock" and the other children, three years on

Today it is three years since a tragic accident where a minibus, full of schoolchildren, collided with a train in Cape Town. Ten children died, including Lisle (known as "Little Rock" in the media). One organisation that my charity, CHW, works with in South Africa, The Future Factory, had been supporting Lisle in previous years. 

Lisle had already been through so much in her short life, and had suffered a terrible, abusive incident at just seven years old. I had met her a few times and she was always so bright and lively, despite what had happened to her. I wrote more about her story here, this time last year. 

Lisle

Lisle, and all the children who were in the accident, are in my heart, and my thoughts and prayers are with their families, especially today. 

Back from Ghana!

I have spent part of the summer in Ghana, and am now back in London.

With some of the school children at New Life

It was really good to visit CHW's projects in Ghana. This was the first country where I set up links for the charity and started to fundraise. The projects CHW supports there are close to Cape Coast. The children had all grown so much and it was just so great to see them again! However, it was also a very difficult trip for me, as the founder of New Life, Madam Ruby, had passed away in June. She was someone who had truly inspired me. I met her when I was eighteen and I think I would have taken a different path in life if it wasn't for her. I was able to spend time with her family, which I am grateful for, as I stayed with them during my trip. Madam Ruby's vision and inspiration live on, as the children she was so determined to help continue to have shelter and an education due to her work.

As well as spending time in Cape Coast, I also went to Accra, and caught up with some former colleagues. I did some legal research there, and in the past, I have also worked in a law firm and at an advocacy centre. I visited the Human Rights Advocacy Centre. If you have studied, or worked in, human rights, it is possible to do internships there. They do very interesting work. 

A lot of my colleagues were talking about issues raised from the Care Reform Initiative (CRI). Currently, children's homes usually accept abandoned children, as well as orphans. As a result of the implementation of the CRI, more children living in homes are being reunified with their families, if possible. This may be with parents, or with other family members. Some people who work with the children say that the children's families often want them to stay in homes (or orphanages), as the children live in better conditions and are guaranteed to get regular meals and have access to an education. This is a very big issue - globally, not just in Ghana - as ideally every child should have a family, and there are serious problems regarding institutionalisation, which will have lifelong effects. At the same time, struggling families may see children's homes as a way to give their children more opportunities in life. Further problems are raised as some homes may have different standards, and if not registered, may not be regulated. It seems that the policy-makers, those working on the ground, and parents have very different views. Ultimately any action must be in the best interests of the child. I would like to explore these issues further and I invite anyone to get in touch with me if they would like share their views on issues of children's homes and reunification (not just in the Ghanaian context, but in general. I am interested in hearing about all regions and countries, and how people are working to solve these problems for children.).

I now hope to post more regularly as I am back home! Wishing you all a nice weekend!

Chance to change the law to support Care-Leavers

Today, there is a chance that a change to the law on children leaving care could be discussed and accepted in Parliament. Currently, children in foster care must leave on or before their eighteenth birthday. Support for care-leavers depends on the local authority, and varies greatly from one area to another. 

The Children and Families Bill has been making its way through Parliament, and has reached its Report Stage today. It will be discussed later this morning. MP Paul Goggins has tabled an amendment which would allow young people in foster care to stay with their foster carers until their twenty-first birthday (as long as both parties agree). This amendment could be considered today, if the Speaker selects if for debate. A number of MPs have signed up in support of the amendment. You can see more about this on the website of the Don't Move Me Campaign.

The Who Cares? Trust has produced a briefing for the Report Stage of the Children and Families Bill. It highlights the fact that those leaving care are some of the most vulnerable people in society and states that:

"Many children who have been in the care system have had a childhood full of instability and trauma, with over 62 per cent of looked after children being taken into care due to abuse or neglect."

Yet despite this reality, young people in care are expected to be able to fend for themselves at an early age. The Fostering Network states that the average age for leaving home in the UK is twenty-four, but those who have been in care are expected to leave much earlier on. 

Image courtesy of marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Fostering Network also produced a briefing (which you can download from this page), that states:

"Many young adults who have left the care system struggle to reach the same levels of educational attainment as their peers. They are over represented in prison populations, and are more likely to be unemployed, single parents, mental health service users and homeless than those who grew up within their own families...

The attainment gap between looked after children/care leavers and non-looked after children is wide.  In 2011, 40% of the general population was in higher education compared to only 7% of care leavers. The older an individual is when they leave care the more likely they are to remain in education."

Having to leave care before they are eighteen interrupts children's education. This article, in The Guardian, gives two examples of this. A girl, who was approaching her sixteenth birthday, and studying for her GCSEs, was told by the local authorities that her placement could no longer be funded, and was shown hostels where she could live. Another girl, who, in the run up to her eighteenth birthday, was studying for her A Levels, was told that her foster place could not be supported any longer. She would have had to leave college and go on income support. 

Whilst costs will be involved with extending payment to foster carers, the Guardian article points out that such a scheme would not be so expensive, based on the results of the Department for Education's pilot, called Staying Put. The Fostering Network's briefing also points out that costs to the public purse are incurred through supporting and treating young adults who have left care, and who are experiencing various problems, given in the quote above.

I hope that this amendment will be selected for debate and that it will be accepted. Much more needs to be done to support vulnerable children and young people leaving care.

Including Young People in the Post-2015 Process

The world now has its largest generation of young people ever! It was highlighted at a recent event at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), that half the world's population is under the age of twenty-five. In Tanzania, half the population is under 15! It is vital that young people are included in setting the development agenda.

The Millenium Development Goals, a set of eight development goals, agreed upon by the international community, will expire in 2015. Back in July 2012, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed a group of twenty-seven people, known as the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons, to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015. The Panel includes leaders from civil society, private sector and government and is co-chaired by the Presidents of Indonesia and Liberia, and the Prime Minister of the UK. The Panel released a report today, presenting their recommendations to Ban Ki-moon and the UN. You can read the report here.

Ban Ki-moon praised the Panel for its inclusive approach and extensive consultations over the past year. As ODI points out, young people have been a visible presence in the emerging post-2015 process, from taking part in participatory consultations and 'tweet-ups' to participating in roundtables with the High Level Panel. The two reports released at ODI's event show the importance of making the voices of young people count in setting the post-2015 agenda. Both reports are now online:

1. Youth and international development policy: the case for investing in young people, by the ODI.
2. Youth Voices on a Post-2015 World, by the DFID-CSO Youth Working Group.

Tomorrow (31 May), a number of stakeholders and UN Agency Groups will hold a discussion on the High Level Panel Report. The UN CSD Major Group for Children and Youth forwarded this useful info sheet, with details of the discussion. The discussion will take place at the UN Headquarters and you can participate online.
You can watch a livestream of the discussion here, on the World We Want platform, from 10 am to 12 pm EDT.
You can follow the conversation on twitter using, #Post2015HLP, @WorldWeWant2015, @unngls, @2015on.

Please do pass this on to young people, so they can participate on 31 May. We cannot have a discussion about them, without them!

Recycling for Funds in Cape Town

Today is Earth Day! Rita Benjamin, of Cape Town, South Africa, is doing something amazing to fundraise, whilst helping the environment. She is recycling, and has asked people to give her their plastic, glass, paper, cardboard and tins, instead of just throwing them away. She will then take all this to a recycling centre, and can get some cash in exchange. She is also making low cost duvet covers and has asked for factories to donate any cut-offs, which they would otherwise throw away. This all sounds good, as Rita is encouraging people to recycle, which is an excellent cause in itself. However, she is also fundraising for a great reason.

Rita with some bottles, ready for recycling.

Rita and her husband, Alvin, adopted a baby, Melanie, three years ago. Melanie, was later found to be deaf. She recently had a scan. Doctors at Tygerberg Hospital, in Cape Town, have said that Melanie can undergo an operation to have a cochlear implant. Although the Government will sponsor most of the costs, Rita and Alvin, must still raise 40,000 Rand (£2860) for the operation. This is why Rita is fundraising through recycling. The operation will be on 21 June 2013. This date was only confirmed in April and Rita may not be able to reach 40,000 Rand in time. If you are able to help, by either contributing, or by telling people about Melanie's operation so they can help, please go to this site: http://www.kapipal.com/melanie. There is more information, and it is possible to make a donation.

Rita with Melanie at a guidance class for parents of children who

are deaf

So, what will happen with Rita's recycling initiative after June? Rita is the founder of Seawind Educare and has set up three creches around Cape Town for disadvantaged children. These creches aim to give the children the best possible start in life. Once Melanie's operation has been paid for, Rita will continue fundraising through recycling, to support the creches.

Rita with some of the children at one of Seawind's creches

Rita is helping many children, as well as the environment, and it would be so much appreciated if anyone were able to help her child too.

Melanie with her school bag. She attends a special 

school for children who are deaf.

Thank You Message from CHW at Six Years Old!

My organisation, CHW, is six today! I want to thank everyone who has supported CHW, and the children we have been working with, over the past six years. Below is a thank you note from me! I look forward to many more years of supporting amazing children's projects all over the world!

By the way, I recently returned to London from my research work in South Africa and will now be able to blog again more frequently! 

I'm Still Here!

I can't believe it is the end of February already! The time seems to be flying! I have not been able to post regularly these past couple of months. I have been at my organisation, CHW's, projects in Romania and I am now doing some legal research for a great children's rights advocacy organisation in South Africa. This has meant though, that I cannot always get online when I want. It is a shame because there is so much that I want to share on this blog! I will be able to, if not from here, then definitely when I am back home (with a more reliable internet connection!). For now, I will leave you with a photo of some of the children we support at a children's home in Romania, called Casa Mea. If you want to keep up with CHW's news, you can like our facebook page here.

Children at Casa Mea in Romania

I will write more, and properly, as soon as I can!