Fostering positive change.
When the M23 conflict ended in Goma in early 2013, more than 35 children lived at the Home Away From Home Orphanage, a project CAMME created to shelter vulnerable children, particularly young girls, from the violence. As time went on, however, CAMME’s leadership and the Social Services team recognized that this model was not sustainable. Fortunately, as the conflict subsided, many of the older children were able to return to their families.
In 2015, CAMME began a new approach with the children who had previously been living at the orphanage during the conflict, as well as new children who had come to the center. Working in collaboration with the Social Services team, CAMME leadership identified more than a dozen foster families who were prepared to take the children on a temporary basis as part of the Orphan Services pilot program. In return for providing room, board, and a family for the foster children, CAMME would provide a small monthly contribution, as well as access to the community garden grown through the Farm and Feed project. Three years later, the project has successfully placed more than 20 kids with their foster families on a permanent basis, a model in line with global best practices for orphan care.
While the families who have taken in these children have been incredibly generous, and given a remarkable gift through their work, it is a drain on their own limited resources. When you support CAMME, you contribute to their ability (and that of other families) to open their homes to a child in need.