EPIC Future was conceived in 2018 and borne out of a passion and desire to empower entrepreneurial young people to realise their business dreams. Since the start, it’s purpose has to been to close the gap that can exist for some young people due to adverse life factors and provide them with real, meaningful opportunities and the chance to fulfil their potential.

Being part of the Martin James Foundation, the team already had a long and successful history of creating inclusive communities through the work with improving outcomes for young people and families globally. This experience, coupled with the desire to empower more young people utilising the business start-up expertise of its founders, and resources from across the Martin James Network, created the focus of EPIC to do something more locally and give back to the community in the West Midlands.

EPIC Future initially started via a partnership with the Birmingham Careleavers Association, as a place to refer young people to, who had a dream and the will to set up their own business. Funding was raised from a mixture of corporate sponsors and events, mentors were identified from leaders within the Martin James Network, and services allocated from the Network’s businesses as part of their CSR strategies. This approach enabled the team to provide young people with the incubation support they needed, ranging from legal advice to branding and budgeting.

Since then, the team has helped more than 30 young people to launch their business ideas. In addition to this, many more young people have been empowered with small grants during COVID, and to create educational content through a partnership with Beat Freeks. With the passion for continually enhancing the programme, in early 2022 the team structured the programme so it now provides three core aspects of support: skills masterclasses, which equip young people with the knowledge and information to be able to nurture and sustain their businesses; mentoring from a specialist who has experience and connections of working in a sector aligned with their business venture; and funding to help with initial start up essentials.

Ayyab and Jim Cockburn, co-founders of EPIC share their thoughts about what inspired them to start EPIC.

“In the work that we do as part of the Martin James Foundation, we have seen how crucial supportive community structures are, whether they’re familial, workplace or societal, in all our lives, to help us grow, develop and thrive.

These support structures are particularly important when we are young and still exploring who we are and who we want to become. For some young people, however, it can be harder to realise their dreams and ambitions because those structures may have weakened along the way, giving rise to barriers both practical but also of the mindset.

That’s why we’re so proud of the work the team at EPIC delivers. We’ve received incredible support along our journey so far from individuals connected to the Network like Luke Mulekezi, who helped us get started and supported the initial cohort of young people, as well as the team responsible for the delivery of the programme consisting of Calum, Marc and Ade, who put all their passion, time and commitment into working with the entrepreneurs, building community partnerships so we may grow, and constantly refining the programme to make it impactful and meaningful.

As we grow and expand to empower more young people across the Midlands and throughout the UK, we remain steadfast in our vision that all young people, no matter their background and life experience, deserve a chance at entrepreneurialism and we need to create the support structures to enable this. Creating EPIC Futures for our generation and the ones to come, absolutely depends upon it!”

The inaugural EPIC awards are taking place on 15 September in Birmingham, UK. To learn more or purchase tickets, please visit the event page.   

The Martin James Foundation marks International Women’s Day by highlighting the family strengthening work of their partner in Madagascar. 

FAMadagascar (FAM) is not just imaging a gender-equal world but actively helping to build one.

Based in Madagascar’s capital city of Antananarivo, FAM provides family strengthening services and is developing a foster care programme.

While Malagasy society has profound respect and honour for women within its culture, women experiencing poverty are often discriminated against and forced to give up their children. FAM works to support these women who would otherwise have no choice but to place their children in orphanages.

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, the Martin James Foundation supported FAM to relocate 21 pregnant women from a government response centre, where 700 men, women and children lived in one room, to safe housing in the community, with furniture, food, and prenatal visits.

One of these women was Nadine.

Before the pandemic, Nadine and her mother were homeless and sleeping in a cardboard box, making them vulnerable to abuse. And finding work was almost impossible for Nadine, who didn’t attend school as a child.

Around the time the pandemic started, Nadine discovered she was pregnant with twins. She was placed in the government centre and was eventually allocated a social worker from FAM, who supported her move back into the community. It was a difficult transition as Nadine experienced resistance from neighbours due to the stigma and biases around poverty.

“It is necessary to help people see that poverty isn’t something that is necessarily the fault of the person but is a tragic outcome of circumstances, and it is society’s responsibility to reach out and help where we can,” says Lanto, FAM’s National Director.

Soon after settling into her new home, Nadine gave birth to healthy twins and had the sad news that her mum had died. Feeling isolated and alone, FAM worked to reconnect her with a relative who provided the family warmth that she needed to adjust to being a mum of twins.

As her babies grew, so did Nadine’s desire to become more self-sufficient. FAM supported her to enrol in a sewing course, and she quickly became one of the top students resulting in a job and a good salary at a local clothing company.

“This has been such a boost for her self-confidence. When we visit her, they are struck by her words welcome to my home, accompanied by an ear-to-ear smile,” says FAM social worker Mamy.

Nadine now tells her social worker, “You don’t need to provide food for me now. I only need a little help with my rent.” Nadine has the skills and resources to provide for herself and her children, giving her confidence and hope for the future.

Mamy goes on to explain, “The support given to these women, such as psycho-social accompaniment, allows them to achieve goals that they thought they could not accomplish for many years. The most important of these goals is to take care of their children and give them love.”

Empowerment is a value that underpins all of FAM’s work. They first work to empower parents living in poverty who feel forced to abandon their babies on the street or in centres. Then they focus on empowering parents to be self-sufficient by supporting them to access courses enabling them to set up small businesses and get the necessary ID and paperwork to be employed.

“We carefully shelter them from the possible judgements and stigmatisation from the community around them due to their previous lifestyles. We take their hand to help them stand on their feet, and once they do and can walk well, as parents and providers, we gradually reduce our support,” explains Lanto.

FAM is committed to breaking down the biases, discrimination, and stereotypes for women who are street-connected and living in poverty. They know that consistent and meaningful support can empower families to parent, provide and live with safety, dignity, and hope for the future.

Nadine is proof of this. Almost two years after meeting FAM social workers, she is working, and providing for herself and her children.

The Martin James Foundation’s Vice-Chairman, Dan Croft, reflects on his experiences in voluntary work and why it spurred his commitment to knowing better and doing better to create family -based futures for children.

Are there moments in your life when you thought you were helping, only to realise later you were not?

If your answer is yes, then you’re not alone. I’m right there with you.

Over the last few weeks, our team at the Martin James Foundation have been busy planning and preparing for 2022. The topic of good intentions continues to surface as we plan and take time to examine our motivations and intentions around past decisions.

We all have several stories about when our good intentions caused more harm than help. Truthfully, these conversations are not easy or light. Instead, they provoke feelings of shame and make us all cringe. But if we want to self-reflect and disrupt systems of privilege – and improve our ways of working – we mustn’t let shame or discomfort stand in the way.

Years ago, armed with my good intentions, I travelled to visit an orphanage in Nepal with a group of incredible, well-intentioned people. We all thought that we were helping these children and young people. But as we now realise, we weren’t.

Several members of our team have very similar stories. We grew up believing that supporting and visiting orphanages was necessary and constructive.

But we understand now what we didn’t then: children and young people belong in families, not orphanages.

And here are a few reasons why:

• 8 out of 10 children in orphanages have a living parent that they could be reunited with.
• 80+ years of research have highlighted the lifelong physical, mental, and emotional harm that orphanages pose on young persons.
• Orphanage care is more expensive than family-based care.
• Supporting, visiting or volunteering in orphanages reinforces an outdated model of care, which is proven to harm children.

These poignant words from Maya Angelou often run through my mind, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” 

We know that orphanages are not necessary, and families are the best place for children. In 2022, good intentions simply aren’t good enough. We must critically examine our decisions so that they prioritise children’s wellbeing and uphold their human rights.

As we consider how to make tangible and long-lasting changes, here’s a practical list of ideas to get children out of orphanages and into families. With this increased awareness we can ensure that we are genuinely helping and not harming.

1. Already supporting an orphanage? Don’t stop your support immediately as this could result in a child returning to an unsafe family.
2. Research and do your due diligence for organisations that support family-based care.
3. Do not visit or volunteer in orphanages.
4. Speak with the communities you’re a part of about alternatives to supporting orphanages.
5. Increase public awareness about the harm that orphanages cause. Advocate for family-based care by sharing info and posts to spread the message.
6. Don’t judge or shame people. We’re all learning.
7. Consider the importance of your own identity and family connections in your life and how important these are to children in orphanages as well.
8. Question your motives and intentions. Volunteering in orphanages meets our needs, not children’s.
9. Would you make this decision here (where you live)? If not, don’t do it somewhere else. For instance, please don’t take pictures with children you don’t know and post them online without informed consent.
10. Engage in conversations with us at MJF, the orphanage you support, or reputable organisations that promote family-based care to see how you can support Family-Based Futures.

As we embark on a new year, let’s collectively commit to moving beyond good intentions. Let’s examine our motives and decisions to ensure that we are acting to help children thrive in safe and loving families.

Earlier this month, our affiliate Key Assets Australia opened a new office in Kununurra in the East Kimberley, a remote region in the north of Western Australia. Key Assets has been working in the region for several years but this is the first time we will have our own office with a shop front and signage, rather than sharing with partner organisations.

Key Assets is well established in the East Kimberley, delivering a small foster care service, and successful prevention of coming into care and reunification services.  This is delivered in partnership with the Wunan Foundation, a large Aboriginal organisation, and Ngnowar Aerwah Aboriginal Corporation.  All our clients are Aboriginal families.  Support workers employed by Wunan are co-located and work as a team with Key Assets Team Manager, Pierre Bush, and social worker, Alana Henderson.

 

Kununurra is over 3000km by road from Perth but fortunately there are regular flights, enabling WA State Director, Brenda Yelland, and Key Assets Australia Group Business Director, Judith Wilkinson, to join guests for the new office opening.  The occasion also gave opportunity to launch the East Kimberley Service Mapping.  This has been developed over the past several months in partnership with Binarri Binyja Yarrawoo (BBY), the ‘backbone’ organisation supporting the implementation of Empowered Communities in the region (https://empoweredcommunities.org.au).

The service mapping project worker was Philippa Abbot of &Projects, who devised the mapping methodology. The service map goes well beyond being just another service directory.  It is a dynamic artefact which gives greater visibility of service delivery in the East Kimberley across the community’s ‘journey’ — the lived experience of needing and using services. It will also provide greater visibility of all services; anchor these services to community needs and intergenerational value; identify service gaps and where people may fall through the safety net and identify connections and interdependencies between services (and service providers).

It is not easy Working in such a remote region, so far Key Assets main state office, and with a challenging climate – while the dry season is magnificent, the current wet season brings damaging tropical storms, humidity and extreme temperatures.  Local people deal with significant adversities – poverty, poor housing, family violence, intergenerational trauma.  But the same people can be courageous, and resilient.  The local culture of the Mirrawong people is strong.  The country is stunningly beautiful.  So the rewards are many and Key Asset remains committed to continue to work in partnership with local people and organisations to contribute to making a positive and lasting difference to the lives of children, families and the East Kimberley community.

 

To learn more about Key Assets Australia, visit https://keyassets.org.au

MJF catches up with their partner, Harum Family Center

The Martin James Foundation (MJF) works with partners around the world, including HARAPAN UMMAT (Harum) in Indonesia. Since 2005, Harum has supported many families with parenting skills and access to education. They are one of the first organisations mandated by the Government to pilot foster care in the region. MJF recently caught up with M. Noor Choirullah, Director of Harum Family Center and Ari Setiawan, Assistant Coordinator of the Foster Care Program at Harum, about their journey to implementing foster care in Indonesia.

MJF: CAN YOU SHARE HARUM’S JOURNEY TO IMPLEMENTING FOSTER CARE IN YOUR REGION?

In 2014, we were appointed by the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs as a model care institution that has successfully implemented parenting support for children in vulnerable families and prevented family separation. And since 2020, we have been part of piloting the Foster Care Program, which positively impacts the psychological development of children in need. We’re working with the Government to implement this program and support families that already care for children in informal arrangements to complete the statutory process of becoming approved foster carers. We are also raising awareness of foster care and the positive impact of family-based care with the local social service offices and within the community. We hope that many people are interested in becoming foster parents, as the number of children who need families is increasing, especially with the impact of Covid-19. Since Harum started in 2005, our values and commitments have been built on a belief that family care is the best. So, we are happy to be part of this work.

WHY IS FAMILY-BASED CARE IMPORTANT?

We believe that family care has a significant impact on children because parents and carers can meet the children’s psychological and physical needs. The reality is that most children in orphanages will not experience holistic care and the proportion of caregivers to children is far from balanced. There are no clear standards for health, hygiene, and handling children in need. One thing that is especially concerning is how children are forced to leave all their activities if there are visits by orphanage guests or donors. Children are being exploited in disguise. Some children have never been visited by their families, they feel abandoned and unwanted by their parents, and the problem is that there are no psychosocial support services for these children.

BEFORE FOSTER CARE REGULATIONS WERE BEING IMPLEMENTED, WHAT WAS THE PROCESS FOR CHILDREN IN NEED OF ALTERNATIVE CARE?

In Indonesia, there has been a pattern where people immediately place children in orphanages when they were neglected, in need, or victims of violence, even though they still had extended family or kin. Moreover, some people practice unregulated or illegal foster care and adoption, causing the child’s lineage to be lost.

WHAT IS THE NEED FOR FOSTER CARE?

Foster Care is the main form of alternative care after kinship care. It is in the child’s best interest to grow and develop in a family, and many children need a foster family after being referred to social services. Also, there are more than 50 orphanages in our area, and those children desperately need placement in the family, not in orphanages. Since we became the agency appointed by the Government to carry out the Foster Care Pilot, there have been children in need of care referred to us, and we currently have nine children who need temporary care support. The Foster Care program becomes an alternative parenting bridge, and the best permanent care for children could be returning to live with their families or adoption.

TELL US HOW COMMUNITY LEADERS AND MEMBERS ARE RESPONDING TO THE IDEA OF FOSTER CARE AND FAMILY-BASED CARE?

While formal Foster Care is new, there are traditional care methods in our region similar to foster care. As we aim to increase public awareness about FC, one challenge we face is that most people think orphanages are the natural and necessary main solution when children don’t have families. Many don’t know that children in orphanages still have parents. Some child activists see this as an opportunity for alternative care solutions, while others think that requirements and procedures are too complicated, making some reluctant to carry out or legalise foster care.

CAN YOU SHARE A POSITIVE STORY THAT HAS EMERGED AS YOU HAVE STARTED PILOTING FOSTER CARE?

We have found that many families have good hearts and want to help take care of their children, even though their economic status is still in the poor category. They have a passion for helping make children happy. Good parenting does not know socio-economic backgrounds, and we found foster parents who have a blessed heart. Even though their circumstances are limited, they are still wholeheartedly willing and able to give a home, love, affection, and care for children who have been abandoned. Although we encounter many obstacles to implementing foster care in communities, we are encouraged that it is beginning to get attention from the local governments.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES YOU SEE IN CHILDREN WHEN THEY ARE IN FAMILY-BASED CARE?

From our experience running a family-based care program, children in family care get personal support and attention. They feel relatively no different from most children because they are in the care of a family that accepts and loves them. Therefore, children in family care tend to be more confident, physically, and emotionally healthy, and even have outstanding work or achievements than children in orphanages.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO CONTINUE, DESPITE THE CHALLENGES YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER?

Our experiences assisting children in orphanages and three slum areas made us feel a call and a moral responsibility to do something. The knowledge, access, and experiences we have gained about what is best for children and the consequences of inappropriate care inspire us to continue doing what we can to support these children in need. The challenges we face also allow us to become more resilient, creative, and smart in our approach. Of course, our meeting with MJF, Key Assets and other global organisations made us even more optimistic. It encourages us that there are still many people who care about the future of children, especially our children in Indonesia.

 

Learn more about MJF’s work with Harum by visiting https://martinjames.foundation/partner-harum-family-center/

The Martin James Foundation and Child’s i Foundation partner to demonstrate community-led alternatives to orphanages

The Martin James Foundation (MJF) is pleased to announce our new partnership with the Child’s i Foundation in Uganda.

With MJF’s support, Child’s i will implement a two-year project called “Demonstrating Community-led Alternatives to Orphanages”. It aims to work with organisations to create a professional foster and kinship care community that will work with the Government to review and approve the National Foster Care guidelines. It will also develop best practice models across three districts, which will serve as learning resources to be used to raise national awareness of alternative care in Uganda and the region.

During this project, Child’s i Foundation, with the technical support of the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development, will identify and assess 120 potential foster carers and submit 90 for approval. The project will collaborate with six civil society organisations to document and demonstrate alternative care models in their practice to support the Government of Uganda to consider approval of the National Foster Care Guidelines.

Good practice lessons learned, and contextual adaptations from the six organisations will be documented and shared with the Government as case studies to demonstrate contextual practice in the manuals. Learnings gained from this collaboration will be used to develop foster and kinship care models and tools to capacitate other organisations with knowledge and skills in foster and kinship care and safeguarding.

In Uganda, Child’s i Foundation has consistently worked with various stakeholders and communities on child protection and safeguarding programs. In this project, it is anticipated that the initiatives will position both foster and kinship care as an excellent alternative to institutions.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Child’s i Foundation, working alongside them to contribute to the incredible work they are already doing. We are confident that this project will enable children in need of foster care to be placed with safe and loving families and kept out of orphanages.” – Daniel Croft, CEO, Martin James Foundation

“We are grateful for this support from MJF. The grant will enable Child’s i to consolidate its footprint in the alternative care space in Uganda, specifically through our contribution to policy discourse with the Government and other stakeholders. We anticipate that our efforts in this initiative will contribute to efforts in achieving formal approval of the Foster care guidelines that will be critical in harmonised practice in foster care among program implementers”. – Susan Ajok, Country Director, Child’s i Foundation

 

Background

The Martin James Foundation (MJF) is a global network of organisations working in alternative care for children. We believe that children should grow up in families, not in orphanages, and we are working to deliver, empower and influence work to make this a reality. The Foundation includes independent fostering agencies in Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand (Key Assets), support to foster carers in the UK (FosterTalk), and projects that contribute to the global efforts in deinstitutionalisation.

Child’s i Foundation was established in Uganda in 2009, having transitioned from a children’s home – Malaika Babies’ Home. The organisation works towards addressing the root causes of why children end up in orphanages in the first place. Its main interventions include system strengthening for childcare reform which includes training foster carers, and a community social workforce as a sustainable alternative to orphanages. Further, Child’s i partners with the Government of Uganda to help build community structures for child protection and works alongside orphanages to support them technically in repurposing their operations into community hubs that serve the wider community.

Image courtesy of Child’s i Foundation.

https://www.childsifoundation.org

All press enquiries:

Kara Kamari
info@martinjames.foundation

Daniel Croft, CEO of The Martin James Foundation, reflects on his thoughts on World Children’s Day.

As we mark World Children’s Day we continue to experience the unparalleled losses and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. One which looms most prominently in my mind is “pandemic orphans.” These are children and young people that have lost at least one of their parents or caregivers to COVID.

A peer-reviewed report published a few months ago in The Lancet estimates that from 1 March 2020 to 30 April 2021, over one million children experienced the death of primary caregivers, including at least one parent or custodial grandparent. Of course, as the number of COVID related deaths continues to rise, millions of more children are at risk of being orphaned within the next year.

At The Martin James Foundation, we firmly believe that orphanages are never the answer, especially not in response to this “hidden pandemic”. Over 80 years of research shows the physical and psychological damage that orphanages can inflict. Children without parents need more than informal caregivers, but instead reliable kinship care, foster care, or adoption.

MJF is wholeheartedly committed to supporting infants in need of safe, secure, and loving homes. But we don’t do this alone. We collaborate with like-minded organisations to advocate for family-based care solutions that make orphanages and similar institutions unnecessary.

Through our affiliates in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the UK, we deliver quality family strengthening, foster care and support services to foster families.

We also empower global partners to strengthen their child protection systems by building on their capacity to design, pilot, deliver and advocate for high quality-foster care. We are currently working with partners in Greece, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Thailand and Turkey.

We must be constantly advocating for a local, national and global commitment to preventing children from separation from their families.

It’s an honour to join forces with so many incredible people and organisations for this noble cause. As we see more impacts of COVID on children’s mental and physical health conditions and access to education and healthcare, we must remain focused, committed, collaborative and relentless in our efforts to protect children.

As a father, uncle, brother, colleague, and leader, I invite you to join me on World Children’s Day and every day to promote and celebrate young people’s rights. They should be able to thrive with the support of a safe and loving family.

The time is now for us to join together and reimagine a better world for children.

I am curious, how will you be improving child welfare on November 20th?

The Martin James Foundation (MJF) is pleased to announce our new partnership with Udayan Care.

Udayan Care is an Indian organisation with headquarters in Delhi and working in 25 cities across 14 states. It was originally registered in 1994 as a Public Charitable Trust and its initial work centered around its ‘Ghar’ (small family home) programme for orphaned and abandoned children in Delhi. Since then, they have established family homes in other locations, supported girls’ education (including fellowships for higher education) and provided vocational training to improve employability of underserved communities.

Our joint-partnership will focus on family strengthening, restoration and the reintegration of children back into their families in Delhi from Institutional Care during the Covid-19 crisis.

MJF’s CEO, Daniel Croft says, “We are pleased to be partnering with Udayan Care in this important project of supporting the reintegration of children with their families after living in institutions. We believe that children should grow up in safe and loving homes, not institutions, which is only achievable through the collaborative efforts of like-minded organisations. We will draw on experience of delivering foster care and family strengthening services to build on Udayan Care’s incredible work.”

Dr Kiran Modi, Founder and Managing Trustee of Udayan Care says, “Partnering with Martin James Foundation means a lot to Udayan Care. The reintegration project will build on our existing work on family strengthening as child and youth care practitioners. With COVID-19 already reminding us of the importance to invest more in family-based alternatives for children and young persons without parental care, this partnership is most timely. We hope to learn from MJF’s global expertise and be able to use that to craft a demonstrable model on reintegration for children in the Indian context.”

Content Warning: Infant loss

The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in many unexpected challenges for people worldwide, including 18-year-old Raina* living in Madagascar, an island country off the southeast coast of Africa. Though Raina left home looking for a better life, she couldn’t have predicted the challenges that awaited her.

When Raina was a child, her father died, leaving behind her and her mother. Shortly after his death, her mum remarried and had two more children with her new husband, with whom Raina had a tense relationship. Eventually, it reached a breaking point forcing Raina to leave home and live on the streets of Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar. It has a population of around 20 million, 85% of whom live on less than two dollars per day.

During this time, Raina started a relationship with 18-year-old Jean*. He had been homeless in Antananarivo for four years and worked on a casual basis as a parking guard with dreams of becoming a driver. The young couple tried to build a life together, but they realised that living on the street is an ever-present challenge and often did not have enough to eat.

The challenge intensified when the Covid-19 pandemic began, and Raina learned she was pregnant. In an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus, the Government placed the couple, and 700 others, in an emergency centre for the homeless. The centre was crammed, loud, unsanitary, and even risky – proving to be only marginally better than life on the street, and Raina and Jean were worried about what might happen if they gave birth there.

Thankfully at five months pregnant, Raina was allocated a social worker from FAMadagascar, our partner and a Non-Governmental Organisation that provides family strengthening services and develops foster care programmes. FAM partnered with the Malagasy Government to offer support to pregnant women in the centre, ensuring they received food, clothing, medical care and were prepared to give birth and take care of their newborn. Building a robust support network around expectant mothers prevents babies from being abandoned or removed from their mothers.

“I find it hard to think of anything more tragic and unjust in this world than a child being separated from a birth family due to poverty. Many of our families seriously considered abandoning their children to an orphanage at some point. It is a privilege to be involved in preventing this in Madagascar,” says Cath, co-founder of FAM.

With support from the Martin James Foundation, FAM has been able to relocate 23 women, including Raina, out of the centre and into safe accommodation close to the maternity hospital, in addition to funding a social worker who supported the women. This crucial support has prevented children from being separated from their families and entering orphanages.

“These families have been locked out of communities, housing, employment and income generation. Our project is about giving them the right keys to escape a life on the streets and access healthy lives and futures within Malagasy society. Small, short, focused investment with lasting impact for generations,” says Lanto, FAM’s National Director.

Settled into her new accommodation, Raina went into premature labour at seven months pregnant, and doctors delivered their baby through an emergency caesarean section. Tragically, their newborn baby died in the hospital at just five days old. FAM social workers journeyed with the young couple and offered psychosocial support as they grieved during unfathomable and unexpected loss. “Our support doesn’t just provide for immediate emergency physical needs but restores hope, and in some cases gives hope for the first time,” says Mamy, FAM Project Manager and Social Worker.

As the couple began the healing process, FAM offered further support such as helping them obtain identity papers, which are vital for continuing education and securing work in Madagascar. Already this is opening up new opportunities. Jean has enrolled in and graduated from driving school and is now confidently looking for a job. Raina dreams of becoming a seamstress and is selling baked goods to provide an income in the meantime. Despite the loss and trauma, the support provided to Raina and Jean means they are hopeful for what the future might hold, and they have recently married. Raina is one of the many young women from the homeless shelter that FAM has supported. FAM is committed to family strengthening, ensuring that children are not separated from their family and are prevented from entering orphanages.

“MJF is proud to collaborate with organisations such as FAMadagascar who provide early support to expectant mothers so that they can prepare for the arrival of their baby and prevent them from being unnecessarily separated. FAM’s work enabled this family to remain together for those precious few days with their child. The care and sustainable interventions that continued throughout a traumatic time has enabled the couple to reintegrate into the community and rebuild their lives.” Louise, MJF International Practice Development Officer.

*Names changed to protect the identity.