Mukoya initially traveled to the area to cover stories related to the proposed disarmament process by the United Nations (which has yet to happen). Instread, he decided to focus his attention, and his lens, on children affected by the instability in the region. His research brought him to the Salesian-run Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma.

Children are extremely vulnerable when it comes to civil war and violence. Many were abandoned during the recent fighting between the Congolese army (known as the FARDC) and the M23 rebels. For many of these abandoned children, Don Bosco Ngangi has become a safe haven.

Established in 1988, Don Bosco Ngangi hosts more than 3,000 abandoned children and HIV/AIDS victims. According to Father Piero Gavioli, the center’s director, young victims with nowhere else to turn continue to arrive at the center.

“Father Gavioli told me that when the rebels took over Goma in December 2012, the center was not affected,” said Mukoya. “Not a single bullet was fired towards the facility that played host to running refugees from the different villages of North Kivu. The work happening at the center is very important.”

Father Gavioli—who Mukoya described as having a “very kind personality”—gave the Reuters photographer a tour of the facility, including the kitchen where dinner was being prepared, the outside space where groups of older kids were playing and laughing and a nursery where young orphans were being cared for by the Salesians.

“Immediately entering the children’s room I was touched by this 18 month old child named Imani,” said Mukoya.

The toddler, whose name translates to “Faith” in English, was “playing in his baby-cot and always smiled to the camera,” he added.

“The children are gorgeous and it was moving to see how much they liked visitors and were interested in my cameras,” Mukoya said. “I was inspired by the way young children lived and played together as a family.”

The photos were initially posted on Trust.org, a site of the Thompson Reuters Foundation.

THOMAS MUKOYA’S PHOTOS ARE BELOW:

(ABOVE) An abandoned child drinks milk at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

(ABOVE) Abandoned children play at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

(ABOVE) Michelle Sodiki, an abandoned child, rests in his cot at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

(ABOVE) A youth jumps through the air as he plays at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

(ABOVE) Imani, an abandoned child, plays in his cot at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

(ABOVE) A worker prepares food “ugali” at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

(LEFT) A medic treats an abandoned child at the Don Bosco Ngangi community center in Goma, North Kivu region. (August 6, 2013) REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

The post DR CONGO: Reuters Photographer Captures Life at Center Where Salesians Care for More than 3,000 Abandoned Children, HIV/AIDS Victims first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Mitchialine’s is a success story. From an impoverished family, she was abandoned by her father and left at a residential care center by her mother – but ultimately reunited with relatives with the help of Institut de Bien Être et de la Recherche Sociale (IBESR), Haiti’s child protection agency.

PROTECTING SEPARATED CHILDREN

Mitchialine is one of thousands of children in Haiti who have been separated from their families. Even before the devastating earthquake of 2010, it was estimated that some 1.2 million Haitian children were extremely vulnerable to multiple forms of violence and abuse, including physical and emotional abuse, domestic violence, armed and sexual violence.

To help protect children from exploitation and abuse, UNICEF provides financial and technical support to strengthen IBESR, which is tasked with the protection of all children. “The protection agency documents children who have been placed in institutions and finds alternatives to institutional placement for children,” explains Christina Torsein, child protection chief at UNICEF Haiti.

From 2010 to 2011, about 9,000 separated children were registered; 3,000 have been reunited with their families.

UNICEF has also supported IBESR to create a directory listing all residential care centers in the country, as well as their condition.

In January, IBESR, together with the child protection police Brigade de Protection des Mineurs, closed three centers in which children had been abused and neglected and placed the children in temporary care facilities, where they received medical and psychosocial care.

Mitchialine spent three years at a center that was closed last year because of reports of abuse and neglect.

NO EASY TASK

Reuniting separated children with their families is no easy task in a country with few resources for social services. According to Ms. Torsein, “Access to services in Haiti is highly unequal, and, the poorer a child is, the less likely he or she is to have access to basic rights.”

Mitchialine was identified by a relative visiting the center. Social workers at IBESR then worked to locate her closest living relative –her aunt Vanille Onezaire. After a process of family verification facilitated by IBESR, Mitchialine was reunited with Ms. Onezaire. Ms. Onezaire had thought the little girl had been lost.

“She may seem shy now, but when she first came, she didn’t say a word! Not a word!” recalls Ms. Onezaire, touching Mitchialine’s cheek tenderly. She gestures towards Mitchialine’s arms, which are covered with dark scars. “She got those at the orphanage,” she says. “Scars everywhere.”

She describes Mitchialine’s appearance when she first left the residential care center. “She was so thin, you can’t imagine…She had a swollen stomach from being malnourished. And her hair was falling out.”

“When she first arrived, Mitchialine didn’t play at all,” continues Ms. Onezaire. Mitchialine’s face lights up as she introduces her favorite toy, a green stuffed bear she calls Nounou.

Mitchialine puts Nounou away to help with the housework. Her favorite chore is helping with cooking. She smiles shyly when complimented, then quickly ducks her head and immerses herself in the simple, domestic task in front of her, content with her place in the family.

THE CHALLENGE OF REUNIFICATION

Carine Phadael is the IBESR social worker who helped reunite Mitchialine with her aunt. Ms. Phadael has been paying regular visits to Ms. Onezaire’s home since the girl’s placement to make sure that Mitchialine is doing well.

The first step – finding a home for Mitchialine – has been taken. But the next step is harder – how does Ms. Onezaire, who is already struggling to feed her own family, feed an extra mouth?

Ms. Phadael explains that IBESR provides a one-time stipend to families who have been reunited with their children. But the stipend is not enough to cover basic needs over time in a country in which 55 per cent of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day.

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