Life in institutional care: the voices of children in a residential facility in Botswana

Abstract

As a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there are now more than 12 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of these children have been absorbed into their extended families. A minority of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children are living in residential care facilities. Although concerns have been raised regarding the care received in such facilities, very little is known about children's perspectives on their own experiences residing in these institutions. As part of an ongoing initiative to better understand the impact of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa and what can be done to address needs, one-on-one interviews were conducted with the children and youth residents, and graduates of a residential care facility in Botswana. The children report on the importance of having uninterrupted access to food, shelter and schooling and a sense of belonging. However, they also reveal a profound ambivalence towards their paid caregivers, and the other children residents. They describe being separated from siblings, missing their families and feeling disconnected from the community at large. Their narratives offer insight into ways in which we can better meet their complex needs. Policy implications are discussed.

Maltreatment experiences and associated factors prior to admission to residential care: A sample of institutionalized children and youth in western Kenya

“…Data from other countries have found similar prevalences. Among 232 child and youth residents in a Botswana residential care facility, 28% were placed for neglect (versus 21% in this study) and 8% for abuse (same in this study) (Morantz & Heymann, 2010). An audit of 1007 children and youth living in 28 institutions in South Africa revealed that 30% had experienced abuse and/or neglect, and 24% had been abandoned (Meintjes et al 2007).…”

“…Poverty-related conditions seem to underlie much of the orphanhood experience (Foster et al, 1997; Heymann et al, 2007; Miller et al, 2007; Nyambedha et al, 2003; Oleke et al, 2005; Powell et al, 2004; UNICEF et al, 2006). In the file review carried out at a residential care facility in Botswana, 38% of children and youth had been admitted for poverty-related conditions (Morantz & Heymann, 2010). Meinjtes et al (2007) in their study of institutions in South Africa maintained that “the underlying reason for admission is destitution.” A high prevalence of destitution was also found in this study (60% of child and youth residents).…”

“…Institutions shelter some of the neediest children, those without an adult caregiver or those who are survivors of abuse, neglect and abandonment (Nyambedha et al, 2003; Mbugua, 2004; Meintjes, Moses, Berry, & Mampane, 2007; Powell, Chinake, Mudzinge, Maambira, & Mukutiri, 2004; Reeler, Saba, & Bhatt, 2002; Varnis, 2001). Orphaned and separated children who come to live in institutions may have been subjected to child maltreatment by family members prior to admission (Morantz & Heymann, 2010; Nyambedha, et al 2003; Powell et al, 2004). …”

Models of care for orphaned and separated children and upholding children’s rights: cross-sectional evidence from western Kenya

“…The use of corporal punishment is an ineffective means of discipline, is linked to child abuse, may have long-term negative effects on the child [44-47], and violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 19 and 37 [30] and therefore is a fundamental breach of children’s human rights [48]. Third, despite reports in other sub-Saharan African settings stating that children in institutional care lack links to family, and community [26,27,49], CCI’s and CBO’s in UG County worked to facilitate family connections through their programs and ensuring that children in their care have knowledge of and where possible, contact with, their families. Fourth, very few children in both institutional and family-based care have birth certificates and therefore are lacking their right to their identity.…”

The relationship between orphanhood and child fostering in sub-Saharan Africa, 1990s–2000s

“…Despite early catastrophic predictions (Poonawalla and Cantor 1991; Barnett and Blaikie 1992; United Nations Children’s Fund 2003), however, there has not been the anticipated surge in Western-style orphanages or child-headed households. It is thought that fewer than five per cent of orphans live on the streets or in institutions although this has increased in the most severely affected countries (Monasch and Boerma 2004; Powell et al 2004; Beard 2005; United Nations Children’s Fund 2005; UNICEF, UNAIDS, and PEPFAR 2006; Morantz and Heymann 2010). Furthermore, a recent study of child-headed households in Zimbabwe found that few of these households comprised orphans, which challenges the idea that such households reflect the absorptive capacity of the extended family (Ciganda et al 2010).…”