We believe that FAMILY is the best, God-given foundation for a child’s life. So that’s where we start. We start with THEIR family. We don’t believe any child should be separated from their birth family simply because of financial difficulty. Sometimes, all it takes is a little support in order for a family to stay together. FAMinternational can often provide simple solutions such as monthly rice provision, help with school fees, employment training, micro-loans or small business start ups; like Knief’s chicken farming business (above).
Fihavanana is the Malagasy tradition of caring for extended family members, and with good social work and communication, we seek to empower this rather than replace it. We work hard at finding extended family members and partnering with them to find solutions for individual families in crisis. We receive referrals of families in crisis from fokonatanys (local district chiefs), clinics and other NGOs.
Since 2017 FAMinternational has supported 45 extremely vulnerable families so they don’t have to relinquish their children to centres. 98% of these families are now living independently and flourishing in life, off the street with their children no longer at risk of malnutrition, trafficking or abandonment. Our sustainable model of empowerment has a proven track record of success. Whilst our social workers provide support, our team provide immediate basic needs such as food, housing and healthcare. We help them access paper work and ID papers so they can find work and rent housing independently. We provide them with simple business training and provide them with a tailor-made small business start up. We hold their hands and help them stand up, then make sure they are walking well.
During the covid pandemic we rescued 21 pregnant homeless ladies from an emergency covid response centre where they were in great danger of experiencing further abuse. We found them safe housing close to a maternity centre and provided food and basic necessity and support as they learnt to live a life in community and off the street. Today, they are thriving with their children and taking great strides towards financial independence.
