Children's Home
The Home of Affection Children's Home is home currently to twenty children, who have either no parents, or parents that are too poor or sick to care for them.
In 2007, the Home of Affection faced financial difficulty and the possibility of closure. After discussions with local government, orphanage staff and children, there was a strong consensus amongst all involved that the orphanage should stay over. From January 2008, we became the main sponsor for this home, in co-operation with the Department for Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Thua Thien Hue (DOLISA). But we did not just agree to keep it open. We made a commitment to improving the quality of health, education and well being of all the children there, to create an environment that prepares children for the world ahead of them.
key changes we started at the home
Some of the key changes we have made since we began sponsoring the orphanage include:
* Increased the quantity and quality of food
* Assisted nearly all of the children to enter mainstream education
* Provided additional tutors and extra educational classes
* Organised extra curricular activities, such as art and music classes
* Provided the majority of core funding to the orphanage, along with financial accountability procedures
* Provided international English teachers and social work students to the orphanage
* Organised a range of summer activites, including participation in our Swimming for Safety programme.
what has this meant for the orphanage?
* Issues of malnutrition have been combated
* Many of the students are now acheiving the expected academic results for their age groups, and some are even within the top quarter of their classes
* The home is now a stable and safe place for children to grow up in
what next?
DOLISA have constructed a new building for the children at the Home of Affection. We fully support this project, as this new purpose built facility is set to provide a much more spacious home that is packed with both educational and recreational resources. The children are set to move to the new building in the summer of 2010. Our main priorities at the moment are
* Providing resources for the new building, including a library, furniture and outside play areas
* Ensuring that the transition to a new home is smooth and that all the needs of both staff and children are fully catered for
* Co-ordinating a Vietnamese life skills training institution to work with orphanage staff and children to assess and carry out relevant training in the fields of life skills and child development
* Developing a programme for children aged 15+ to prepare them for life outside of the orphanage.
