2nd National Conference on Orphans and Other ... - FHI 360

SUMMARY OF GROUP 1 DISCUSSION (verbatim reproduction of flipcharts)
Needs:
Support of other to prevent the continuation
Play – children often get no time to play
Rejection vs acceptance
Positive reinforcement
Emotional needs – love and care
Life experiences – seeing, hearing etc.
Love: “The worst poverty is not being loved”
– Mother Theresa
Right to be a child: not responsible for adult
responsibilities
Safety/security
Opportunity to express feelings
TALK time: “Please ask my thoughts”
Physical needs – food, clothing, shelter etc.
Educational needs
Moral values – to give and receive
Access to health care
Positive role model/s
General acceptance as a child, recognition,
praise and encouragement
Input into decision-making
Access to information
Support systems: emotional; social; advocacy;
legal; financial
Children’s Advocate
Belonging
Affection
Peer acceptance
PSS needs specifically:
At least four components have a role to play in
the successful economic and social development
of a person, community or society as a whole:
Material base (involving raw materials,
instruments and goods, e.g. maize)
Knowledge and skills (e.g. if one does not
know how to cook the maize there will be
no food)
Emotional readiness (e.g. you have maize,
you know how to cook it, and you are
motivated to do so). Alternative terms for
this component are emotional intelligence
and social energy.
Physical ability (referring not only to physical
disability, but also to the ability to do something
for yourself because you are strong and
able because you have enough to eat etc.
Conditions that lead to vulnerability:
Unstable households
No care and support from immediate family
One parent who is unemployed cannot cope
with household and other responsibilities
Isolation (through separation of siblings)
Desertion or abandonment
Unemployment of caretaker (no income)
Loss of parent/s
Lack of support for grandparents who
cannot cope with a number of orphans
Parents’ neglect of children
Lack of food
Lack of transport (over long distances)
Lack of love/affection and support from
stepparents
Favouritism
Tradition (e.g. inheritance)
Uncertainty about the future
Institutionalisation
No vision
Marital conflict and divorce/separation
Social isolation
Overstretched extended family
Unfinished business in relationships
Special needs: HIV infection; special
personalities; children with disabilities
Loss and grieving
Stigmatisation and teasing
Unsafe institutions – lack of structures to
ensure safety
Exposure to unwanted, immoral, inappropriate
practices
Lack of parental guidance regarding e.g.
sexual matters
Child exploitation/labour
Sexual abuse of children
Peer pressure
Child’s ambition vs poverty
Caretakers/teachers/etc. being too strict; no
affirmation of the positive
Lack of responsible parenting
Lack of emotional support
Poor harvests
Exclusion from formal schooling
Discrimination; not being treated as equals
of other children
Repeated loss
Attitudes of people who do not really care
58 <strong>2nd</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children – Windhoek, Namibia, 25-27 June 2002: Full Report