Olga and her family from Borovljany, Belarus - 'Our Africa' filming in Ghana
I find myself talking a lot about SOS Children’s Family Strengthening Programmes (FSP’s). A bit of a mouthful, the term actually describes a relatively simple strategy: to prevent family break-up.
- “What happens on the ground?”
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Elizabeth Tofaris - Communications Manager, SOS Children UK
I find myself talking a lot about SOS Children’s Family Strengthening Programmes (FSP’s). A bit of a mouthful, the term actually describes a relatively simple strategy: to prevent family break-up.
And whilst the ‘heart’ of the SOS model has long been the SOS Children’s Village and family, the reality is, that we’re working with more than a million children and families in communities all round the world; trying to prevent crises that can lead to family separation. It’s easy, after three and a half years of working for SOS Children to repeat the rhetoric about what FSP’s are; and how they can prevent family disaster. But for all the talk - are FSP’s actually making a difference on the ground?
I was lucky enough to see for myself first hand on a trip to Belarus last March. I had travelled to see if the 1986 Chernobyl disaster had left a lasting legacy on the country, and what SOS Children were doing to help.
In a crowded room of a state-owned high rise block in the small town of Borovljany, just outside Minsk, I met single mother Olga. She told me her story of a troublesome childhood and her struggle to provide for her three children.
Olga, 33, was the daughter of poor farmers and says her upbringing was marred by her parents’ alcohol addiction. Her husband, who was also an alcoholic, died unexpectedly at the age of 25 doing one of his many spells in prison. Soon after her husband’s death, Olga’s father died of ill-health and a year later, her mother and brother were killed in a house fire. Distressed, and forced to care for three young children alone,
Olga found it difficult to cope and found comfort in alcohol. Before long, she too was drinking heavily, and the toxic cycle of dependency and struggle were happening again.
But today, Olga is no longer an alcoholic. She has a steady job as a cleaner, and although money is tight, her family is happy, ‘I’m much better now’ she says. Olga attributes the big change in her life to the support she has been receiving from the SOS Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) which has been helping her since 2007.
The support the family are given helps them with every aspect of family life. They are given monthly food packages; access to a counsellor; the children receive extra school support; and Olga attends weekly parenting classes. But Olga says that what has helped her most is her relationship with her FSP ‘mentor’, Vanda Manjko. Vanda, a trained Psychologist is in regular contact with the Olga and has gotten to know the children well. She is on the end of the telephone whenever Olga wants to talk, ‘I can call Vanda anytime and I know she will help and support me’ says Olga. Vanda is clearly proud of Olga’s achievements: ‘so many families face problems like Olga’s. She is a positive example of what can be achieved with a bit of support.’
On the ground, in communities all around the world, FSP’s are making a huge difference to the lives of countless children and families. They are not offering quick solutions but helping families to help themselves and prepare for the long-term. I count myself fortunate to work for an organisation that really does walk the talk.
- Ghana - “What choice for your farewell?”
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Kathie Neal - Director of Development, SOS Children UK
‘Our Africa’ is an ambitious project which sets out to let children across Africa film their lives and their countries the way they see them. When I recently spent time on location in Ghana for ‘Our Africa’, I learnt how some Ghanaians choose to be buried in rather elaborate coffins!
One day, we were travelling along the coast road through Accra on our way to visit the Cultural Centre. We passed a number of shops and markets as you would expect to, but eventually came across a building on the roadside which caught our attention. It had huge glazed windows and was filled with enormous wooden sculptures – or what we thought were sculptures! We decided to pull over and take a look.
We went inside and what we found was absolutely extraordinary - the sculpture-like objects were coffins! Ghanaians celebrate death by designing their coffin as something that was important to them in their life, or perhaps will look impressive.
For example – we saw one coffin shaped as a fish, perhaps for a fisherman, another was the shape of an ear of maize and still others were shaped like Coca Cola and beer bottles … one was even shaped as a cow! Eerily, we came across one which was shaped exactly as the Panasonic camera being used by our cameraman – I think he was a bit unnerved. So it seems you can be buried in anything you like!
Most of the specially-shaped coffins are expensive and so only quite wealthy Ghanaians can afford them. The more elaborate ones take about a month to make. The carpenter who owned the shop, like many Ghanaians, was happy to talk to us about his life and work, and showed us around his workshop and explained to us how he made them. Everything was done by hand – a skill he had learnt from his father through the family business.
Funerals in Ghana are extremely important occasions and very much a social event attended by large numbers of people; it is also an obligation to attend. The majority of Ghanaians are committed Christians and feel death should be celebrated, and the elaborate coffin as the centrepiece is characteristic of the festivity.
'Our Africa'Our teams have been travelling throughout Africa to capture children’s thoughts, opinions and ideas to present a new perspective on Africa through their own eyes. In ‘Our Africa’, you can see children talk about what matters most to them – from games they play; to aspirations they have for jobs; to how they would like things changed fundamentally in their societies. Check out the website.
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