By Heather Moore | Supporter Engagement Officer
When 9-year-old Noela’s* parents divorced, her mother was forced to spend time away from home selling bananas to provide for her family, leaving the children at home alone. This lack of structure led to irregular school attendance for Noela, which led to poor academic performance and punishmentsfrom teachers for lagging behind. As a result, Noela spent more and more time living and working on the street, where she was beaten by other young people, struggled to find food, lacked a place to sleep and spent most of her time begging to survive.
We met Noela through the Child Support Desk in Mwanza bus terminal where our staff were ableto provide her with food, medical support and care, and place her in temporary shelter while we traced her family.
We were able to reunite Noela with her mother, provide her with school materials and re-enrol her at school to give her focus and structure. We also helped her access psychological support and provided her mother with parenting skills once a week to improve their relationship as well as providing health insurance for the whole family to access medical treatment.
As a result, the family is now working together as a cohesive unit and integrating more with the community around them. Noela’s mother understands her children’s needs and, as a result, relationships and communication within the family have improved. The children are honest and disciplined, regularly attend school and are making good progress in their studies, opening up brighter futures.
Noela tells us she wants to be a doctor, so she can support her family and society, she tells us that ensuring people are safe and well protected from diseases will makeher dream come true.
It’s thanks to your support that our team are there at the Child Support Desk ready to protect Noela, and children like her, when they need it most – ready to not only reunite them safely home, but ensure they have all they need to stay together and thrive together.
*Name has been changed and models used to protect identities.
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