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Somova Children’s Home
Somova Children’s Home currently houses 17 children, 12 boys and 5 girls. There are two buildings, one each for the boys and girls. The Home also has 2 dogs, a pig, a goat and some ducks.
Bedrooms take 2 – 5 children each. The youngest child is 4 years old, the oldest is 16. They attend school in the village, a short walk away. They have a TV set in each block. Most enjoy fishing in Lake Somova and they manage to catch fish with a hook and string tied to a stick of bamboo. They use worms dug from the garden as bait.
Apart from Christmas Shoe Boxes, the Home has had no help from any body other than the Social Services Department. The Home is well run by dedicated staff. The children carry out decorating and routine maintenance themselves
The children are all from families in the Somova area. Entry is after an assessment by Social Workers. The overwhelming main reason for the children being taken into care is that their families cannot support them because of poverty.
Of course eradicating the poverty that has brought the children into care should be the main aim, but that is a task that will take some time. With EU aid the Village Council has only recently completed the task of ensuring a supply of fresh water to every house. So the Children’s Home will be needed for some time to come.
We asked the children what they want for the Home. Their answer was that they wanted better play facilities. So we decided to raise funds for an outdoor play area in the small garden of the Home and sports equipment. One advantage of this is that the play area would also be accessible to other children from the village.
The main costs will be the materials. The children will undertake most of the building work themselves. When paid workers are needed, they will be recruited from the village.
Our family are planning a series of sponsored events and fund raising activities to raise money to build a play area and buy equipment for Somova Children’s Home. The Mayor of Somova has agreed to personally oversee the project to ensure that all funds are properly accounted for. In the meanwhile if you want to help or donate to the project contact us.
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