Optimistic Voices
Vital voices in the fields of global health, global child welfare reform and family separation, and those intent on conducting ethical missions in low resource communities and developing nations. Join our hosts as they engage in conversations with diverse guests from across the globe, sharing optimistic views, experiences, and suggestions for better and best practices as they discuss these difficult topics.
Optimistic Voices
Rising Tides: How Family Care Is Replacing Institutions
Child welfare is undergoing a profound transformation worldwide as organizations shift away from institutional orphanages toward family-based care models. But what does this transition actually look like on the ground? How can we redirect well-intentioned support toward solutions that truly serve children's needs?
This eye-opening conversation brings together true pioneers in the global care reform movement. Stephen Ucembe draws from his lived experience growing up in a Kenyan orphanage to advocate for family care through Hope and Homes for Children and Transform Alliance Africa. Phil Aspegren shares his remarkable journey from orphanage founder to family care champion as Executive Director of Casa Viva, supporting transitions across Latin America. Together with host David Titus Musa of Sierra Leone, they unpack myths about orphanages that perpetuate family separation.
The statistics are sobering: for every three months in an institution, a child loses approximately one month of development. Yet there's tremendous hope in the successful transitions happening worldwide. We hear about a Honduran children's home that reunified all 40 children with families, then redirected their resources to support 125 vulnerable families in the community, preventing separations before they happen.
Whether you're a donor, volunteer, or simply care about vulnerable children, this conversation presents a compelling vision for reform. Family isn't just a nice option – it's essential.
Family is the foundat
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Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.
https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html
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A bible study for groups and individuals, One Twenty-Seven: The Widow and the Orphan by Dr Andrea Siegel explores the themes of the first chapter of James, and in particular, 1:27. In James, we learn of our duty to the vulnerable in the historical context of the author. Order here or digital download
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Family Empowerment Advocates support the work of family empowerment experts at the Child Reintegration Centre, Sierra Leone. Your small monthly donation, prayers, attention & caring is essential. You advocate for their work to help families bring themselves out of poverty, changing the course of children's lives and lifting up communities. join
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Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.
Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.
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Helpingchildrenworldwide.org
Welcome to Optimistic Voices, a podcast of helping children worldwide. We help children worldwide by strengthening and empowering families and communities. This podcast is for people interested in deep conversations with thought leaders in the fields of child welfare, global health and international missions.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Optimistic Voices podcast. Welcome to the Optimistic Voices podcast. I'm one of your regular hosts, dr Laura Horvath, but today I get to take a backseat and spend some time in the audience while my friend and colleague, david Titus Musa guest hosts this episode. Welcome, david, it's great to have you here.
Speaker 4:Thanks very much for having me, Laura.
Speaker 2:I will take a minute to introduce David a little bit before handing the microphone over.
Speaker 2:David Moussa is the Senior Consultant for Reintegration at the Child Reintegration Center in Beau, Sierra Leone but he's also a recognized thought leader in child welfare and, specifically, in the transition of residential children's homes and orphanages to family-based care models across the continent of Africa, but mostly in West Africa, and the reason David is hosting today's show is because, together, he and I recently co-hosted HCW's Rising Tides Conference in Washington DC back in February.
Speaker 2:Since 2019, hcw has hosted an annual policy conference called Rising Tides, and, unlike other kinds of conferences, rising Tides comes from the notion that, as Kennedy famously put it, a rising tide lifts all boats. Every year, we seek to bring together small groups of thought leaders on specific topics of interest within the spheres of global missions, global public health and global child welfare and protection, and this year we and global child welfare and protection, and this year we focused on global child welfare and specifically on the role that transition of residential children's homes and orphanages plays within the larger sphere of care reform for children. As a transition expert, david knows a lot more about how to do that than I do, which is why he's hosting this episode and not me. So, david, take it away.
Speaker 4:Thank you once more again, laura. This year's rising tide catalyzing transition to broaden the impact brought together thought leaders from a number of different countries in the global north and the global south For deep dive conversation on how to continue to grow the impact of transition support services globally. These two day in-person early conference provided room and time for transition practitioners to reconnect, reflect on available tools and how they are using them in their respective context, wrestle together with various concepts and how they might be applied practically, and examine and discuss pieces of transition process and how we can collaborate and coordinate to broaden the reach and impact of transition around the world. Follow-up is planned, but the most important first step was to bring these experts together in one place. Two of those participants are with me on the show today.
Speaker 4:Phil Aspergren is the executive director of Casa Viva. He and his wife, jill, co-founded the initiative in 2003 and continue to serve as directors. In 2005, they launched Casa Viva Costa Rica. Casa Viva seeks to expand the spectrum of alternatives for children who've been separated from their biological families through reunification, national adoption and short or long-term family-based foster care. The Consultants of Casa Viva solution motivates and equips children's ministries in other countries to implement more family-like solutions for children and work throughout Latin America, in countries around the world. And work throughout Latin America in countries around the world. Also with us today is Stephen Usimbe, a professional social worker with skills, knowledge and experience working with children and young people without parental care and vulnerable families. Stephen is a caregiver himself, having grown in an orphanage in Kenya, and is a founder of Kenya Society of Care Leavers, now serving as the regional advocacy manager for open homes for children. So welcome to the show, phil.
Speaker 6:David, thanks for having me on the show.
Speaker 4:It is great to be here today and, stephen, you're welcome to the show.
Speaker 5:Thank you so much, david, and thank you so much, laura for having us today in the show. Thank you.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So having briefly introduced my guests, I also want to give them the opportunity to further introduce themselves and their roles. So can you introduce yourself and share your roles in the work of transition from orphanages to family-based care, Either?
Speaker 5:of you can start the conversation.
Speaker 6:Thank you, go ahead.
Speaker 5:No, you go ahead, Stephen, you get started, Okay, thank you. Thank you so much, David. I think you've already made a great summary of the work that I do, but just for the sake of the audience again, I work for Open Homes for Children as the regional advocacy manager and indeed I'm a care leaver. I also coordinate an alliance called Transform Alliance Africa, a coalition spanning 12 countries and with around 17 member organisations. At Open Homes for Children, we are committed to ensuring separated children are reunited with families, moving them away from institutional care, and through Transform Alliance Africa, we drive advocacy, knowledge exchange and collaboration to actually catalyze transition from orphanages to family-based care in the region. Our advocacy efforts focus on shifting perceptions, influencing policies and legislation and strengthening family care systems to ensure that the future for all children is actually families. Thank you so much. Over to you, Phil.
Speaker 6:Well, thank you, stephen, and thank you David again for having us here. My role in this work of helping orphanages transition to family-based care is really based in my own story. I'm from the United States. I grew up in the state of Oklahoma. I'm from the United States, I grew up in the state of Oklahoma, spent about a decade in Chicago after I graduated from university, and my wife and I were really impacted by the statistics globally of children that have been separated from their family, and we always had this dream wouldn't it be great if we were able to give family to the children who do not have a family? And so we moved to Latin America and we built an orphanage. It's a big jump that is made from thinking, wow, wouldn't it be great to give family to children too? Let's build an orphanage, and I think it's what I refer to as the great orphanage dream that's out there, that it would be great to gather all these children and give them family.
Speaker 6:What we didn't realize is we misunderstood who the child was, that all of these children that we thought were orphans actually have moms or dads and if the rare case that they didn't, they had extended family dads and in the rare case that they didn't. They had extended family. We misunderstood the trauma, we didn't understand the trauma that they'd experienced and we congregated all these kids into a single location. We just immediately came up on the challenges of the institutionalization of children, and so really, that began to stir in our hearts the question what would it take to engage churches to place children and families, to really be pursuing the best long-term options for those kids and also to be pursuing sustainability?
Speaker 6:And so we started Casa Viva in Costa Rica and we engaged local churches, to engage local families in foster care. We work for reunification and adoption, did those type of things, and as we did that, people began to ask us how can we care for children and family as well? So out of that, the work that we do supporting orphanages to transition their model was born, that, the work that we do supporting orphanages to transition their model was born, and we call that Casa Viva Solutions. We really work with children's homes, especially in Latin America, but also in other parts of the world, to help them develop the skills to care for children in families. Back to you, david.
Speaker 4:All right. Thank you very much, Phil and Stephen, for that short introduction. So, with such an experience and engagement you both have. What initially brought you to the Rising Tides Conference and what were your expectations going into it?
Speaker 5:Good question, david. There is a Swahili saying that goes that means one finger alone cannot kill allies. It's a powerful reminder that you know, true change requires cooperation and if you want to see an Africa where every child grows up in the love and security of a family, we must work together. We need to build relationships, we need to strengthen alliances and unite efforts to drive meaningful transformation. So, basically, I came to the Rising Tides conference because you know these work cannot be done in isolation. The challenges of for funnages are too huge for any one organization to solve alone. But collectively we can make a real impact.
Speaker 5:So my goal here was to actually expand my network. You know, exchange knowledge and learn from other like-minded organizations and individuals are working towards the same vision. So I think, in summary, that's what took me to Washington, to the Rising Tides Conference. Thank you.
Speaker 6:Yeah, so for me. There are so many children's homes in the world and I think they play such an important role long term in the care of children and families globally. We need those small nonprofits to develop those skills, to stop focusing inward and begin to focus outward and to really engage local churches, local communities, to be the solution. We know that government makes a terrible parent, and so the wrong thing to do, as we're working towards transition, is to abdicate the role of the church, to abdicate the role of the small nonprofit organization to the government and allow them to be the only ones that are engaged in this space. And so I came to the Rising Tide Conference really to connect with other people, to learn from them, to share with them what we're learning and to empower and, as Stephen said so eloquently, to work together to multiply the impact that we have.
Speaker 4:Yeah, indeed, we spent great time networking during those two productive days and then I enjoyed so much because there are a lot of experts in the room. So why is face care critical for vulnerable children worldwide, phil?
Speaker 6:Well, I think that you know, as we look at the global research around the impacts of children that are in what we call institutional care or children that grow up in group, that are in what we call institutional care or children that grow up in group care environments, we were just struck by the need for the what I call the personalization of care, which is um I. I define institutionalization as when we do the right thing for the group of children instead of the right thing for the individual child, and an example that comes to mind is when I had a children's home. We had six boys who were eight years old and I knew that this boy loved Manuel, loved art, and I knew that this boy loved sports. But instead of buying an art set for this one and a soccer ball for this one, I bought a toy truck for all of those boys because I knew that they would be looking and comparing with each other. I made the right decision for the group of children rather than making the right decision for the individual children. And that institutionalization, that lack of ability to focus on the personal and individual needs of each child, it has shown that long term, that it has a great impact on children.
Speaker 6:And when, when, you know, I think about my own children and I think about what would I want if something happened to my wife and I. What would I want to have happen to my, to my own children, my wife and I, what would I want to have happen to my own children? I realized, my goodness, I would want them to be, first of all, with my brothers, with my wife's brothers, if not that grandparents, if not that with extended family, if that wasn't possible, I would want them to be with family. The last place I would ever possibly want my own children to grow up, I realized, was the beautiful children's home that I was building in a Latin American country.
Speaker 6:And I realized, you know, I had to ask myself the question why would I spend all this time and money developing solutions for children of the world that I would not want for my own child? And why are we not engaging the local church, engaging local families, to be a part of this? And so that's what I call the common sense. And then, finally, for me, it's listening to the children. When we take the time to listen to the children and their heart and their desire, the children that are living in our children's homes. We hear them very clearly say I want to go back home, I want to be with mom, I want to be with dad, I want to be with grandma or extended family. That's the desire of the children, and so when we can bring all those things together, we can do what I call personalizing the care for every child, making the right decision for every child and allowing them to get back closer to real family.
Speaker 4:Thank you.
Speaker 5:Thank you, thank you and thank you, cleo, because I mean, I don't know how many times you'll be mentioning the word family, but let me start by saying that, you know, the foundation of any thriving society is the family, is the family, and it's more than just, you know, a moral cornerstone, it's the bedrock of a child's growth, development. You know, a sense of belonging, sense of identity. Yet how can we lament, you know, that the breakdown of family structures were really continuing to invest in systems that really disrupt, you know, disrupt the family unit itself. So for me, really, it's all about making sure that, indeed, that every child gets to enjoy what we all value most, and that's the family, children raised outside the family unit.
Speaker 3:You know, children raised outside.
Speaker 5:you know the family unit struggle to understand its true value If they grow up, you know, without experiencing family, you know how can we expect them to build their own strong, loving? You know homes and families. You know there is the research that really paints a troubling picture. You know that for every three months a young child spends in an orphanage, they lose an entire month of development. Beyond that, you know there are studies that show that children raised in institutions, you know, face a higher likelihood of, you know face a higher likelihood of, you know, mental health challenges when they grow up. You know academically they don't do well. And then you know they face higher rates of unemployment. Even they are more susceptible, you know, to being in conflict with the law. So all that, for me, is really fundamental in this conversation. And to add to that, you know, often it just may provide you know the law.
Speaker 5:So all that, for me, is really fundamental in this conversation. And to add to that, you know orphanages may provide. You know the essentials and I know you've heard this many times that they can provide food, provide shelter, they can provide education and medical care and that's all survival. But you know, true holistic development happens, you know, within families and true thriving happens, you know, only in the family. It's where they experience love, it's where they experience, you know, identity, belonging. You know the rich cultural heritage for us as Africans actually is rooted in the family unit. So if you truly believe in a better future for children, we must rethink the systems that we support, because every child deserves more than survival. They deserve to thrive and my true belief is in that family unit.
Speaker 4:Thank you, David. That family unit, Thank you, David. Yeah, thank you, Stephen. Meeting the desire of children is key to maintain a sense of belonging and to allow them to grow in a safe and loving environment, which is really very important. However, no matter what we do, we need the support. We need external support in diverse ways. So how can donors, volunteers and advocates best support this transition in ethical and effective ways? Yes, Stephen.
Speaker 5:Thank you. Thank you, david, for giving me this opportunity to go first. Yeah, so first, I think let me say we need to recognize an important truth Many donors and volunteers, often unknowingly, have contributed, you know, to the separation of children from their families and communities, to the separation of children from their families and communities. But there is good news that they can also be part of the solution by shifting their support to own family-based care. Donors and volunteers can play a critical role in reintegrating children with their parents and relatives. Through their donations you know kind, that sort of you know donations, whether it's financial or you know in kind they can also help build and strengthen families that prevent separation in the first place ensuring that, you know, families have the support that they need, you know, to stay together.
Speaker 5:You know, governments across the continent are already encouraging this shift. They are advocating for kinship care, they are advocating for guardianship, they are advocating for local adoptions, you know, and culturally relevant foster care models. So these approaches prioritize stability, prioritize this belonging and the fundamental right of every child to grow up in a family. So the opportunity is here, the moment is now. You know, together we can actually transform the way we support vulnerable children and create a future where, you know, family, not institutions, is at the heart of care. And so we are not actually asking you know, donors, you know, and volunteers to actually stop giving, but we are actually asking them to, you know, redirect, you know their support because, we know better Thanks.
Speaker 5:Thanks, David, and over to you Phil.
Speaker 6:Yeah, stephen, thank you for those words, and you started someplace that I want to pick up there as well, where you said that many donors and volunteers, without knowing it, have actually caused the separation of children from their families when they are supporting orphanages. Orphanages, faith Action recently did a study and they found out that one out of every five American Christians is supporting an orphanage globally, and that's challenging, especially when they find out that those orphanages are not actually supporting orphans. They're supporting children who they've actually helped to separate from their family instead of supporting those families. I recently, Laura, you and I were recently in Kansas City at a church that had supported eight different orphanages in other countries. They were supporting an orphanage in Haiti and they sent a medical doctor to support that orphanage from the US to the home, and when they got there, first of all they found out all of the children were none of them were orphanages orphans. They all had parents. The second thing was they found out that all of those children had been abused in significant ways that are very sad.
Speaker 6:The orphanage was not what the beautiful place that they thought that it was supposed to be, and so when the first thing that we have to do is help open the eyes to the donors, volunteers and advocates to understand this is not pure religion. Pure religion does not call us to build orphanages. It never says that. What pure religion is is the care for orphans and widows. And they always come right together the orphan and the widow and so that the widow is typically the mother of the orphan. The orphan has lost a father, the widow has lost a mother. It is those vulnerable families that we're called to support, not finding ways to separate those families, but finding ways to support those families, to bring them together.
Speaker 6:And so when I speak with donors and volunteers and advocates that are caring for and have a children's home that they love, the place to start is to celebrate the past.
Speaker 6:Place to start is not to attack the past. The place to start is to say, wow, there have been good things that have happened on this campus, but we're going to learn some new things and we're going to be able to do some new things better. We start with questions. We start with help us understand who are the children that are living on your campus and what do those children need. And then what we're seeing is organizations are successfully making this transition, helping their donors, their volunteers, their advocates, to move toward family-based care. I was working with a group based in Colorado Springs that supports children's homes in Asia and Africa, and 100% of their 250 child sponsors have transitioned with them to a new model where they're helping care for children in local families. But, as Stephen says, we need those donors to continue partnering with the organizations. The work is more important, the number of people involved is greater and we need the donors to continue walking alongside of us in this challenge, but it is possible to do that.
Speaker 4:Effective communication is the key to bringing those donors, volunteers and advocates along with us in this process of transition thank you, thank Phil, and yes, indeed, effective communication is really key and we actually need to continue communicating so that we encourage them to redirect their funds and their support to what we think is the best for the child now family-based care support and, thank you very much, care support and thank you very much so reflecting on the deep dive conversations we had in Washington what were the most powerful moments or key insights you took away from the Rising Tides conference.
Speaker 5:Thank you, david. We had a great time. For me, what was clear is that there is a growing awareness of the critical need for children to grow up in families. Where we are now is not where we were 10 years ago. Awareness has really grown, but awareness alone isn't enough. I felt truly that resources and technical expertise, you know, still remains scarce for many organizations. You know, and that's why you know, collaboration is key. By coming together, we can bridge a gap, ensuring that those who have successfully transitioned from institutional care to family care can share the experiences, the insights, the lessons with others who are still on that journey. So I feel strongly that indeed, there is still a lot to be done in terms of, you know, sharing our expertise. Additionally, you know, by coming together, I was able to truly understand, you know, the key challenges and where the resources are needed most.
Speaker 5:And so, I feel like, yeah, that's for me quite a moment in terms of you know, understanding one. You know where we are currently in terms of care reform. You know where we really need to, you know, put our focus. So I think, in a nutshell, that's what I would say.
Speaker 4:Thank you.
Speaker 6:Steve, david, thank you for the question. For me, you know, the first thing was the connection and the friendship. The question for me, you know, the first thing was the connection and the friendship. Um, you know, I a highlight for me, david was just sitting around a table with you I didn't know you previous to this event and, uh, so it was just great to see your heart and to hear your passion for getting children into family and, um, you know, and and connecting with the others in the room who were I don't even know, were there 35, 40 of us in the room, something like that all of us passionate about seeing children cared for in family environments, and so that was a highlight for me.
Speaker 6:Another thing that I'll mention is, you know, a real sense that the solution already exists locally.
Speaker 6:It's not that this idea of the great orphanage dream was one that was imported.
Speaker 6:It was not native in the countries we talked about the first orphanages being built, and it was in the mid-1900s in a lot of these countries 1950s, 1960s, 1930s, something like that.
Speaker 6:This is not the historic solution that we have.
Speaker 6:There's been children and vulnerable families for years in all of these countries, and so we brought in this new model and set it up as the ideal standard, but it was not a local solution, and so, really, one of the things that we're doing is calling forth the local solution that was the historic solution for children that have been separated from the family, which was family as that solution, and so we're, you know, calling forth that solution and supporting it, saying how can we come around and support family solutions for children instead of residential or institutional solutions?
Speaker 6:An example that comes to mind is you know that God is already working in all these places we're going. I think of El Salvador, where, in one week, we were contacted by a children's home that wanted to transition, a pastor that wanted to engage his church in foster care, and a North American couple that was working on the ground that was looking for how they could support family-based solutions there locally. These are our examples of how God is moving to bring about family-based solutions as the primary response, the first response for children that have become separated from their families.
Speaker 4:Thank you, phil. Thank you very much. I also enjoyed a lot of great moments and the speed networking was one of my greatest, and amongst a lot of them. Yeah, so I know you guys have a lot of experience and you are deeply involved in care, reform and going to the rising tide. Are there any discussions or sessions that particularly resonate with you, and why is that?
Speaker 6:All right, I'll get started. So for me, the why question was the biggest, the most impactful one for me, and it's that question of how can we motivate a global shift to move children to families. It's exciting, with the children's homes that we're working with, to see transition take place, with the children's homes that we're working with to see transition take place, but really there's still the vast majority of children's homes that are not engaged in this process, finding out how they can care for children and families. I think about the country of Peru. We have there's in Peru. There are 500 government registered children's homes in the country of Peru, and the estimate is that there's another 500 unregistered children's homes in the country of Peru, and the estimate is that there's another 500 unregistered children's homes in the country of Peru. So let's say there's a thousand children's homes in the country of Peru.
Speaker 6:Our team and others there in Peru have been working towards transition and we currently have 10 children's homes that are actively developing family-based solutions, and when I say family-based, they're working to reunify children that have come into their orphanage back to their own biological or extended family, or they're pursuing national adoption as an option for these kids, or they're pursuing foster care, either short or long term, for those kids. So we're seeing 10 homes in the country of Peru that are making that transition toward family-based care, but that's 10 out of 1,000 children's homes in that country. So we're only seeing 1% of the children's homes make that shift. The question is what does it take? You know that. Why question, why are we making this move? What is it going to take to really see this idea of caring for children and families move past just an idea and become the norm? That family-based care would be our first and primary response for children that are separated from their family, and that's within their own family or within an alternative family. So that conversation that we had was really particularly motivating for me.
Speaker 4:All right, thank you. Thank you, thanks, phil Over to you Stevie.
Speaker 5:Thanks, phil. I think for me it's more really understanding about the push and the pull factors. And you know that conversation really sort of went back to you know, how can we address these issues sustainably? And you know, we were all saying you know we really need to address, you know, the root causes. And so I felt like, indeed, it feels like for years and years we really missed the mark because, you know, most of us are really into the you know band-aid kind of interventions, we are more into addressing you know the symptoms, and so we have sort of remained in this sort of revolving door kind of an approach where we never really get to address the issue. And so I feel like, you know, most of our efforts should actually be going to addressing the root causes of, you know, separation of abandonment for us to see real change, abandonment for us to see real change. And so for me, that composition sort of really kept me awake since then, asking myself, yes, so if we do this, yes, yeah, a rescue is good, but you know what's happening, you know, at the point where this child was actually abandoned or what actually, you know led to that abandonment, we took away the child, but you know the parent is there or the guardian is there or the primary caregiver is there.
Speaker 5:We never, you know we never did anything. You know, to really support that caregiver, anything you know to really support that caregiver? You know, maybe that. You know that you know caregiver was traumatized, was a young teenager and so maybe they had. You know it was sexual violence. So what are we really doing in terms of addressing issues of sexual violence within communities? It was poverty. So what are we really doing, you know, to strengthen livelihoods? So it still feels like most of us, you know support openages really missed the mark in terms of what we should be doing. You know, to address the issue sustainably and not just them. I feel like also the whole system needs to look at. You know the root causes significantly. I'm not saying that you know we abandon, you know rescue and all that, but I'm saying for us to see real change and meaningful change, I think we need to go back to a root cause kind of an approach, thank you. Thank you, stephen. Yes, to go back to a root cause kind of an approach.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Yeah, thank you, stephen. Yes, yes, transition in orphanages to family care was really the focus of this rising tide which is gradually taking shape around the world. So how do you see this shift playing out in the regions where you work currently?
Speaker 6:Phil. So I'll get started, david Just giving an example of one project that has made a transition. This is a children's home in the country of Honduras. They had 40 children living in four homes family-like homes, I call them 10 children per home and they were content doing that work and they were doing a good job. But as they came across some of these concepts, they realized, wow, you know, we need to focus in on each child and ask that question who is this child, what does this child need? And they began to do that. And as they did, they realized a lot of these children have moms or dads or uncles and aunts and grandparents, and they began to work with those kids. They were able to reunite 26 of those children back to biological or extended families. That left 14 more children. So they started a foster care program and they started seeing kids adopted and fostered there nationally. They ended up seeing all 14 of those kids move out of their orphanage into either foster or adoption care, and so they ended up with zero children living back in the residential group home environment.
Speaker 6:And not only that, they began to realize that, wow, we have to start looking upstream and think about what are some of these causes that Stephen was talking about? Why is it that children are being separated? Why are there so many children literally being dropped off in orphanages by families that are in difficult situations? And so they started a prevention program and they identified three communities that were the three toughest neighborhoods, where the majority of kids that were being separated from their families were coming from, and they started a program where they were identifying vulnerable families in those communities and finding ways to come around and support them. Today they have 125 families that they're supporting in that ministry.
Speaker 6:They also have a team of social workers that are out visiting the kids who formerly lived in the children's home but are now living with those families, and so what was once a inward-focused program, just focused on their campus, has become a program that's engaged in their community, that is preventing separation, that is supporting children that have been reintegrated into family and is doing amazing work. I think this is one example of really so many examples that we could point to, that of ways that children's homes can move beyond that inward focus and begin to focus outward in their community, to engage the local church as well, to be a part of the solution.
Speaker 4:Stephen.
Speaker 5:Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Phil, and just to add, you know, to what you've already shared, I feel like you know it's such stories that we can actually sort of use to scale up. You know, at the national level, we must, you know, make you know these learnings, this knowledge sharing, accessible to others. You know organizations and advocates on the ground. They need the tools, they need the insights and experiences that can actually drive this meaningful transformation. And you know they need the insights and experiences that can actually drive this meaningful transformation. And you know what you've just shared, I feel like you know that's what is really needed. You know the modeling from such small organizations and looking at how I can be scaled up, and it doesn't stop there. At the regional level, we need to amplify these learnings, ensure that they inspire others and serve as a catalyst for broader change within the society. So, thank you so much, and I think that's only what I have to say on that, I feel. I think you really put that well.
Speaker 4:I know many who are listening now may want to learn more or get involved. If so, where should they start if they want to get involved or learn more? Phil?
Speaker 5:Yeah, phil, yeah, phil did mention. You know organizations that are really doing some remarkable work, including, you know, helping children worldwide. You know Faith to Action. You know Better Care Network. We have Casa Viva here. We have Open Homes in Churri, we have Lumos. We have All Without.
Speaker 3:Offense. I mean, there are all these organizations that Phil did mention earlier.
Speaker 5:And you know there are also national, small national organizations. I feel like you know they're not mentioned, but I feel like you know they do incredible work around. You know this particular issue. I think when there is a will, there is a way, and I always feel like you know, at times I used to think, oh, there are no organizations that are doing you know family work when I was starting. But you know, I came to realize that you know there are all these small organizations that you know don't find their ways into Facebooks and you know websites, but doing amazing work, so it's always trying to look out.
Speaker 5:You know, in country as well, who is doing what, the organizations. I mean there are coalitions in some countries, like the Alternative Care Alternative Family Care Coalition in Kenya. There is one in Tanzania. So I feel like there are all these initiatives at national and regional level that one can reach out to, and I know BCN has a repository of organizations in different countries that are involved in family care work, so I think it's worth looking at their website. So in the region, I know we have regional alliances like Family First for Children, and we have Parental Care Alliance. In Africa we also have Transform Alliance Africa that I'm a member of, but I don't think, yeah, I feel like, yeah, there are enough organizations that one can look out for and ask for content. Back to you, david.
Speaker 4:Thank you, Stephen and Steve Phil.
Speaker 6:Yes. So you know, stephen has mentioned so many of these organizations and you know the two that maybe he didn't mention. Christian Alliance for Orphans and an organization called World Without Orphans are two more organizations that you can look at. You know Stephen's organization, hope and Homes. My organization, casambiva. Your organization, david, helping Children Worldwide.
Speaker 6:There's so many places that people can go to get connected, to ask the right questions and, like Stephen said, there are national movements. We have Paraguay Protects Families. We have Peru for the Children. We have Identify Solutions in Honduras. There are, you know, all kinds of small movements, big movements that you can become a part of, get educated, ask the questions and go there. The place that I would probably start would be the Faith to Action website and where it says get started, because they have some beautiful information there. So lots of opportunities. The key thing is begin with a question. Send an email to one of us. I'm at info at CasaVivaorg. You can get to me and I would be happy to connect you with people in other countries. I know David, you, stephen, laura, also would be happy to connect people to find the best place for them to engage in this topic.
Speaker 4:Yes, indeed, we are always happy to connect and provide the necessary answers. Thank you very much. You can also contact the Sierra Leone Coalition for Family Care. It's an organization that is based. Four organizations came together to form this coalition in Sierra Leone and they are working hard to also make sure they provide information, working with the government and other stakeholders in transition. So the Sierra Leone Coalition for Family-Based Care is also here in Sierra Leone. Thank you, stephen and thank you, phil. It's great to really let our listeners know that family care is indeed becoming a better solution in different parts of the world and we are trying our best to see how this will really take shape. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Optimistic Voices. It's a big, big messy world out there and there is no shortage of need and there is no shortage of need, but we here at Optimistic Voices believe that with radical courage and radical collaboration together we can change the world. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 1:Please return for part two of the Rising Tides Optimistic Voices episode hosted by David Titus Moussa.
Speaker 3:Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it with others, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review about it on social media or leave a rating and review To catch all the latest from us. You can find us at Helping Children Worldwide on Instagram, linkedin, twitter and Facebook Hashtag Optimistic Voices Podcast. Thank you.
