Reunite 75 Exploited Children with their families

It is with deep pride that Little Footprints Big Steps staff members attended the recent graduation of a former street child we worked with who has just completed his studies at a professional school of sewing. We first met this boy at one of our annual Street Child Meetings, where we learned he'd been hiding in an abandoned car as he had an injured leg and was limping. Immediately after that event - several years ago - we'd taken him to the hospital and then placed him in our transitional safehouse while we located his family in the countryside. Several years after he was reunited with his family, he remains a bright example for other street children! With a positive and ambitious attitude, he proudly watched as models wore clothes he'd made at the graduation ceremony. We've been able to provide this student with a sewing machine and now that back-to-school season is in full swing, he is very busy sewing school uniforms and beginning to generate an income with his carefully learned skills. 

Throughout August and September, preparations for the new school year are a big focus for our team as well as for parents across Haiti! This time of year brings hope as students have goals and progress to look forward to... but it also brings stress amidst extreme inflation and increased costs. In addition, over 1 million people in Haiti have been displaced due to gang violence - with over half of that number being children. Many displaced families now find themselves in Southern Haiti or other rural regions, without the resources to secure access to education for their children. 

During the last week of September, Southern Haiti experienced severe flooding after prolonged heavy rains that lasted over 5 days. As soon as the rain stopped, our team was out visiting vulnerable families to evaluate their needs while also distributing school supplies - as most schools were due to open the following week! We were excited and very proud to see several children who were previously in the streets, now reunited with their families and beginning to attend school in their own communities! 

Towards the end of October, Haiti has been experiencing extremely strong winds and heavy rains once again, as it's on the projected route of hurricane Melissa. Schools have been temporarily closed for students' safety as it is requested that people stay home - yet we know that many families suffer when they are not able to make a daily income. There are already reports of over 500 families (over 2000 people) staying in temporary shelters across the Southern Department of Haiti. 

The Little Footprints team is part of a response committee coordinated by regional IBESR, or Haitian Social Services, in the South of the country. We remain mobilized and prepared to respond should the situation worsen. 

We have identified 69 families across Southern Haiti and the Grand'Anse region who are extremely vulnerable, and are assembling emergency food and hygiene kits using locally purchased goods for distribution to these families - which include those families of recently reunited children.

Following the recent flooding, Little Footprints was able to provide 21 children who were hospitalized in the pediatric ward of the public hospital in Les Cayes with access to the medicine and/ or medical exams that they could not afford - while ensuring they were able to stay with their families. In addition, our team identified 10 families in urgent need of housing repairs, as they experience flooding in their homes every time it rains due to leaks in their roof. Two of these families are actually living under tarps. Together with local child protection authorities, the Little Footprints team has also evaluated the needs of 26 displaced families to determine a personalized response based on each family's needs. 

Supporting families is key to ensuring children not only remain protected short-term, but also remain within their families long-term. Thank you beyond words for helping us do this when it matters most. 

Family tracing, mediation, and reunification

The second Sunday in June is Haiti's National Day of the Child. In collaboration with Haitian Social Services (IBESR) and other child protection partners, the Little Footprints team helped facilitate a community training campaign for several weeks to raise awareness about children's rights. In multiple different communities across Southern Haiti, our team members went into schools to speak with students, and met with community leaders and parents to highlight topics related to child protection and Haiti's current context. As we do each year, LFBS hosted a meeting with the street children in Southern Haiti, in order to document them, provide a safe space to listen to them, and to speak with them in hopes of motivating them to leave the streets and return to their families. Extreme inflation, coupled with an increased number of internally displaced families migrating to Haiti's countryside, has left many families struggling to meet children's basic needs. As a result, more children have been taking to the streets simply to try and help feed their families. Alarmingly, there has been an increase in the number of street children being trafficked/ disappearing. Authorities suspect these children are being trafficked and forced to join armed gangs. LFBS is in the process of working towards family reunification for 6 former street children, all of whose families our team has been able to locate! The children recently had a visit with their families. In the case of one boy whose family had not seen him since he had gone to the streets, both the mother and father were overwhelmed with emotion when they saw their son once again, and were crying while thanking our social workers for reconnecting them with their child.

Our efforts to work with street children and seek to reunite them with their families, thereby reducing the likelihood of them being trafficked into gangs, has now expanded to two other Departments (regions). In June, Little Footprints Big Steps in collaboration with Haitian Social Services (IBESR) in the Grand'Anse region held our first meeting with street children in Jeremie. We are actively planning a similar intervention in the region of Nippes. This means that the number of children and families requiring follow-up support will be increasing as we strive to support these children in leaving the streets.

Recently, LFBS has facilitated numerous initiatives to raise awareness amongst the Haitian community about prevention of family separation. Each time our team is visiting a family, we also work with community leaders to mobilize parents in the area. Our social workers share important messages about positive parenting and prevention of separation, helping parents understand all they have to offer their children and how important their engagement in child protection is. In addition, Haitian videographers worked with our Co-Founder and Director to share key messages about family reunification and LFBS' work through social media campaigns in Creole to raise awareness even beyond our physical reach. In May, LFBS participated in a 2 hour long local radio show in Haiti, discussing family reunification and raising further awareness.

As part of the Haiti Family Care Network, LFBS staff facilitated an online workshop for front-line workers in Haiti (in Creole) about the process of family reunification. This was our second time facilitating this training as it was in such high demand, and this time we did it as a 3-part training over several weeks.

Income Generating Activities

Several of the families our Income Generating Activities agent has been working with are now ready to receive start-up capital to begin small businesses! At least three others who received an initial installment of business capital have grown their businesses with such success that they are now ready for the second and final installment. Our Income Generating Activities agent continues to work with all families in the program, providing training and hands-on support before, during and after their businesses are started. Several new families are also being evaluated with hopes of being integrated into this program if funding allows.

Thank You!

Thank you for being a part of our incredible community of supporters and donors. Because of you, we are making real, impactful, and lasting changes in the lives of children, families, and communities. You are a partner in this work and we couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for your interest, support, and caring, and for being a catalyst for change. Thank you for your shared commitment to our mission to protect vulnerable children in Haiti by reuniting families and empowering them with resources and opportunities to build a self-sufficient future