Ugandans Adopt

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adoption open day event Video

Bonding, attunement and attachment in adoption.

Sarah Mirembe speaks at the get together

“Attunement is the perfect sync where my child will cry and I will know exactly why” Sarah Mirembe, child psychologist, Right to Improved Child Health (RICH Consult)

At our recent adoptive and prospective adoptive parents get together, we had an open forum where parents could share their worries and their joys about adoption. Sarah joined us and spoke on three key issues: bonding, attunement and attachment.

Adopting a child is an incredibly rewarding experience for many parents whether or not they have biological children of their own however, like most things, it doesn’t come without some worries. One of the biggest worries that parents can have is whether they’ll be able to bond with their adopted child.

Bonding or attachment refers to the emotional connection or the strength of the relationship between one person and another. In parenting terms, bonding is the relationship which develops between a parent and their child.

Bonding is crucial to the healthy development of an infant’s brain during the first two years of their life. It is most is successful when there is constant communication and contact between the mother or primary care giver and baby. In most cases, bonding is easiest when the child is adopted in infancy.

At Malaika Babies’ Home, once a child arrives they’re assigned one carer for the duration of their stay. This is so they can form attachments with their primary care giver and help to ensure healthy development. When an adoptive parent is matched with the child, there is a transitional period whereby the parent is able to spend time bonding with them before taking them home. This is also important for the child to transition the bond that they’ve developed with their carer. As all our children will have already formed healthy attachments this should be a time of great joy for both parent and child as they get to know one another. When the time comes to take their child home there should already be a strong bond developing between them which will only strengthen after more time together.

Carers at Malaika Babies Home

 

Could you give a child a loving family? For more information on adoption please send an email to [email protected] or call 0776110304

To watch the rest of Sarah’s presentation, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSS2dISFKPU

 

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adoption Video

Fiona’s Rescue

On Friday  the 5th  of July  we told you that we had a new arrival at Malaika Babies’ Home, a beautiful little girl called Fiona. We received a call from the police station asking us for help and Maria, one of our social workers, went straight away. On that same Friday evening, NTV Uganda broke Fiona’s story on the evening news : Fiona’s story on NTV Uganda.

Fiona at the local police station

When children are abandoned it’s often in harrowing circumstances. We’ve had babies found in pit latrines, a bush on the side of the road, or even hidden in a plastic bag. Their mothers are usually in desperate circumstances and it’s heartbreaking these women feel they have no other choice.

When Maria arrived at the police station it soon became apparent that Fiona’s circumstances were very different – and even more shocking.

Fiona was rescued by a local night guard after he heard a disturbance at the housing development he was working at. In a half built house, he saw a man kneeling over a body and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a flash light. The man heard the noise, grabbed the child and tried to make a run for it. The night guard screamed loudly, calling out for help and instinctively hit him on the back with a stick. He dropped the child and fled.

The night guard initially tried to chase after him but he panicked that someone else might return for the child and hurried back to the house. He rescued Fiona, who was naked and scared, and travelled with her to the local police station. The night guard initially reported attempted murder and rape but when he returned to the site the next day he noticed local herbs on the ground where Fiona had been, deliberately arranged. These herbs are commonly used for witchcraft in the area, more specifically for child sacrifice rituals. The police later found a wallet containing more herbs as well as African charms and talisman.

Fiona is estimated to be around 18 months old. She is healthy, strong and looks  to have been cared for well up until the incident. It’s likely that she was kidnapped. Efforts so far to trace her family have been unsuccessful but our social work team is working closely with the police to aid the investigation and reunite Fiona with her family.

When we found Fiona she was frightened and confused. She became instantly very attached to Maria, and now follows her carer, Edith, around everywhere.

 

She is traumatised by her experience, scared of people she doesn’t recognise and will only play by herself. Now she’s safe at Malaika, we’re going to nurture and care for her – helping her learn to trust again – while we search for her family.

Although this is the first case like this at Malaika Babies Home, child sacrifice is not uncommon in some areas of Uganda. Below we bring you  of Fiona’s journey at Malaika Babies Home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiRL6UCl7-Y

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adoption Video

Ugandans Adopt on NTV

Promoting National Adoption on NTV

As part of our media Campaign in 2012 we ran a comprehensive multi-media campaign in Uganda to promote national adoption and encourage Ugandan families to come forward to adopt children. Part of the Media Campaign involved a documentary and TV Talk Show that was aired on NTV. We bring you the highlights  in part 1, 2 and 3 below  :

Ugandans Adopt NTV Talk Show part 1

Ugandans Adopt NTV Talk Show part 2

Ugandans Adopt NTV Talk Show part 3

 

 

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adoption Video

Katie’s Journey

 

The cute Katie

Katie is a very special child, her will to stay alive despite being abandoned just a few hours after birth is inspiring. However what is more inspiring is the instant bond that she developed with her adoptive mother, Namara.

Namara opened up not just her heart but also her home to this special child by choosing to adopt and love Katie like her own. What Namara has given Katie is much more than just love and a home, she has given her an identity because adoption by Ugandan families ensures that the children preserve their culture and grow up in a setting they can identify with.

 

Ruth our carer at Malaika Babies Home taking care of Katie

Research has clearly shown that institutions like orphanages are not the right environment to raise a child. According to the Working Paper publication;Families not Orphanages by John Williamson and Aaron Greenberg, Orphanages are especially damaging to a child because the young children do not experience the continuity of care needed to form lasting attachments, hence these children have difficulty forming and maintaining relationships throughout their childhood, adolescence and adult lives. In addition for every three months that a young child resides in an institution, they lose one month of development, how disturbing.

 

That is why at Malaika Babies Home our priority is family, when an abandoned baby is brought to us. The first thing we do is search for the mother or relatives, while the baby is being given the best possible medical and general care at Malaika Babies home. The home is a transitional home and is equipped to offer temporal shelter and care for a maximum of 25 babies as we aim  to re-unite them with their family and in the event that this is not accomplished, then we proceed with domestic adoption just like we did with Katie.

 

Namara and Katie bonding.

The first media campaign that we ran in 2011 resulted in over 150 potential adoptive parents making contact and to date 30 of our children have now been adopted by Ugandan families. We are hopeful that this year 2013 more Ugandan families are going to open up their hearts and homes to the children currently resident at Malaika Babies Home.

                                      ” For there are no unwanted children, just unfound families”

To watch Katies’ story please view the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kda-EoQOs4U&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

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adoption Video

Adopting Mary

Adopting a child is a hugely rewarding experience for all involved.

Adoptive mother Amelo shares the story of how baby Mary came to be part of her family.

This is an adoptive parent’s perspective of the adoption process from beginning to end…

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adoption Video

WBS News focus on adoption

We were proud to see one of our adoptive families featured on WBS News’ coverage of World Humanitarian Day recently.

Christina adopted baby Tessa 3 months ago and as you will see in the WBS coverage her little girl has settled well in to her new family!

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adoption Video

What Can Be Done?

There are hundreds of children across Uganda currently living in institutional care. What is best for them and how do we safeguard their futures? Ben Ssebuufu recently visited a number of babies’ homes in Kampala, meeting staff and children in an attempt to understand more about the problem of baby abandonment in Uganda.

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