MINISTER of Social Protection Volda Lawrence has said that institutions are not the answer to the needs of vulnerable children. “I have said it, and I believe it, that children should not be institutionalised,” she said. “Governments cannot raise children; it takes a family to raise children,” she told attendees last Saturday at the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the Yarrowkabra-based organisation, A Sanctuary.

Singling out the organisation as being living testimony of the success of bringing up orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in a home, as opposed to raising them in an Institution, Minister Lawrence said:
“A Sanctuary… provides a virtual safe-home for vulnerable children. The Home ensures the children are cared for and protected from the throes of discrimination and deprivation; exploitation and abuse, be it physical, verbal, emotional or sexual.
“More than that, it speaks to the spiritual, educational, psychosocial and emotional needs of the children, while teaching them life skills, evidently, under an environment where peace and love abound.”
‘A Sanctuary’ was founded on September 12, 2005 by Romeo and Glenys Smith, a remigrant couple from Brooklyn, New York.

WHAT OBTAINED BEFORE
Previously, institutional care [in government-run facilities] constituted an important response to OVC in Guyana. But in time, government came to realise that it was almost impossible to monitor the type of care being administered at residential children’s homes.
According to the Policy Framework for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, “There are no regulatory mechanisms in place to set or monitor minimum employment standards, or guide caregivers in institutions that care for children. The care provided was inadequate and contributed negatively to the physical, psychological, and emotional health of the child.”
The recommended alternatives to institutionalised care, the Policy Framework says, include “Placement and guardianship in the form of fostering, adoption and approved homes.”
In the circumstance, the Ministry, in consultation with UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund), took a bold and productive initiative to provide children with alternatives to residential care, preferring families who are able to provide them with non-exploitive kinship care, such as that which ‘A Sanctuary’ provides.

ENTER THE SMITHS
Minister Lawrence recalled, ten years ago when Elder Glenys Smith first told her of her dream to open a home here for OVCs, she thought it almost ludicrous, bearing in mind that she was living comfortably in the United States.

But when the venture did eventually get off the ground on Vlissengen Road here in the city where it first started, the thing that struck her was that it was not like the usual children’s home she was accustomed to.
“This was a real home, where children were not made to feel that they were there for a time,” she said, adding:
“That realisation has today borne fruit, based on the testimonies that I’ve heard from the children.”
Based on her assessment of the impact “A Sanctuary’ has had over the last 10 years, Minister Lawrence said all she could say of the Smiths is:
“You have been faithful to hearing the word of God, and bold enough to step out by faith. Through it all, I want to say to you, that you have been uniquely blessed, to come out from where you were [your comfort zone], leaving all behind…”

THE HOME TODAY
Today, nestled in the heart of the forested Yarrowkabra, on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, A Sanctuary is a picturesque homestead, spread across acres of agricultural land, dotted with dormitories, administrative offices and living quarters; Chapel; a mess hall (kitchen and dining facilities); classrooms; a guest house; cycling track; with cool black water brooks running through.
What gives them the greatest satisfaction, the Smiths say, is to see the lives of the children positively transformed; teachers making selfless sacrifice and being positive parental role models, and everyone living together as one big, happy family.

The testimonies were many, but most impacting was the story of their most accomplished student to date, who, having passed through two institutions and was on the brink of giving up, came to ‘A Sanctuary where he was shown love and acceptance, and adapted to the rules of the entity. He subsequently wrote the CXC Examination, did well, and is now attending the University of Guyana.
Initially, the Smiths dug deep into their pockets, and with the help of the Ministry of Labour and the occasional private entity, kept the programme running.
Today, the Home receives generous donations from friends and private businesses, entities such as Food for the Poor, and a few private businesses. It is also now funded by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, founded by the late Pastor Yvonne Retemyer-Williams.

Also joining in the day’s celebration on Saturday were visiting representatives of the Executive Committee of the Brooklyn Tabernacle; representatives of local Churches; past residents of the Home; and matriarch of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Elder Louise Norton.