Picking up the pieces…
Young people growing up in Goma have been the witness to two civil wars, a volcanic explosion turning their home into lava and ash, endless poverty, sexual assault, and more. Many staff and teachers at CAMME and YIA remember the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees swept across the border into their homes. For children in CAMME’s programs, any one of these events is one too many, and some have endured all of them, or the after effects of them, losing their families and ending up living on the street.
That these sorts of events are traumatizing is beyond dispute;. At CAMME, Social Services staff members work to put the pieces back together.
The first step for children arriving at CAMME is a consultation with the Social Services team. Staff members evaluate the child, and if necessary, place him or her in remedial literacy classes at YIA. Staff then work with children to reintegrate them with their family members if they offer an appropriate environment and can be found. If this is not the case, CAMME places children in foster care, providing services and support for both the child and the foster family through the Orphan Services program.