Our achievements in Eritrea

As a result of the wars, many children had no surviving relatives to care for them, and initially they were all sent to large orphanages. However, the Government of Eritrea was, and still is, committed to ensuring that children deprived of parental care are able to grow up in a family environment. Through our partner organisation, Vision Eritrea, we worked with the Government to develop a system of family-based care based on our Small Family Homes (SFHs) model.

The SFHs we helped establish are typical Eritrean houses where children are cared for by a foster parent. All of the children attend school and also have the opportunity take part in community activities, just like any other family. We ensured that children were placed in the area in which they were born, so that they are close to their roots and to the communities which they know. We also went to special lengths to ensure that the children were fully accepted by their community as without this, they would not have had land or marriage rights in line with local customs and their future prospects would have been severely limited.

We created a network of SFHs across the country and without them many children would not have had the opportunity to grow up within a caring family environment. The Government of Eritrea, in conjunction with Vision Eritrea, has now taken over these SFHs but we will always be on hand to offer guidance and support should it be needed.

Find out more

Why not read more about the Small Family Homes and the impact they had in Eritrea in an article – Shaping Futures – from our 2009 Autumn/Winter edition of HOPE.

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