Kingdom Kids Klub, a non-governmental organisation, says that orphanages are not best homes for orphans to live and grow.
Mrs Sandra Chikan, Kingdom Kids Klub Executive Director, who stated this at the launch of “Mother Me” initiative on Monday in Jos, said that orphanages are temporary abode for children in need of immediate care.
Chikan, who runs a children’s home known as Destiny Home, advocated for adoption of orphans by relatives of the children instead of allowing them to live in orphanages.
The executive director said that the “Mother Me” initiative focused on advocacy to pastors’ wives, women associations and networks, women in communities, mothers, grandmothers, aunties and sisters.
According to her, the sole purpose of initiative is to encourage kinship care, reunification and family strengthening.
She said that women were the ones who took care of the children when parents die or primary caregivers abandoned them.
“It is with this reality that we seek to raise a network of women in all the 17 local government areas who will become champions for kinship care and mothers to orphans and vulnerable children in their communities.
“To this end, the first “Mother Me” gathering is to share this vision and connect with powerful, strong women who have for decades carried the burden of caring for our children.
“At destiny home, we provide immediate, short term and medium-term intervention for orphans and vulnerable children.
“We provide education, food and nutrition, medicare and life skills training for 69 children in residential care.
“Our mission is to provide care and support to vulnerable children and women through advocacy, counselling, economic empowerment, educational opportunities and trauma healing for a godly society,” she stated.
She called on women at community levels to advocate and lend their voices to help vulnerable children live in homes instead of orphanages.
Chikan specifically called on communities to take care of their orphans like their biological children, and explore options of kinship care.
“To encourage women at all levels to begin alternative care whether it is adoption, fostering or just helping with reintegration or the transition of children from the orphanages.
“You still need to find a place for them and so by the law, children should not remain in orphanages for five, 10, 15 years because we have children across the state and the nation that have been in orphanages for very long time.
“We have seen how that is adversely affecting our children, we are championing this conversation and encouraging people to reconsider their stand and absorb these children without taking them to orphanages,” he said.
Mrs Grace Chikan, a Jos based business woman, who spoke with newsmen at the event, described the initiative as a worthy course.
Chikan stated that helping a vulnerable child would reduce crime in the society.
Mrs Simi Goshwe, in her remarks, said that there were too many orphanges with too many children to the point that not all the children were getting the required attention.
Goshwe said that the initiative would help some families to know that they could also come in, take these children and give them adequate care they needed.
“I believe that as many that have come here today have heard and have been inspired to open their homes to accommodate vulnerable children especially those that related to them.
“There are many families whose children grown up and are no longer living with the parents, such families can take one or two orphan and raise them as their own children.
“If we cannot encourage families to do that, we are sitting on keg of gunpowder because a time will come when they will create more nuisance than what we are experiencing,” she added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured paper presentations and unveiling of “Mother Me Champions” to take the message to the hinterlands.
NAN
