St. Mary’s children’s Home was establishment in the year 1999 and has been catering for war orphans, vulnerable and excluded children. The home started with six (6) children, three (3) boys and three (3) girls.
St. Mary’s Children’s Home is situated in Bo City in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. It is a home that provide interim care centre for vulnerable children and war orphans. We cater for their feeding, education and wellbeing. The home is presently housing fifty (50) children and we take children from all over the country who fall under these categories (vulnerable or orphans).
The home is having a core staff of four (4) the home mother, assistance home mother, home aunty and home uncle and the management board member. These members are representative of all the parishes in Bo who decide on the operation of the home. The home comprises of two dwelling structures where both the children and the staff lived. St. Mary’s Children Home is a faith based interim care centre that practices the Catholic faith.
The home is not operating in isolation but we are registered with the Ministry of Social welfare Gender and Children Affaires and licensed with the Bo City Council. The home is represented in all meetings organized by line Ministries, as a result of these, we hard hear to all the rules that governs the operation of any home and some of these are the taking of court order for all the children, taking and reunification of children.
REUNIFICATION.
This is the period when children had obtain the age of seventeen (17) and they are now to stay with their relatives or family caregiver and this is stated in the “child right act”. The home has embarked on three reunification excises of which twelve (12) children where reunified and presently six (6) are awaiting reunification.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
The home caters for the educational wellbeing of the children and sees that are all in school. The following are their educational positions of the children: four boys are in JSS II, two boys in JSS I, one boy in SSS IV, one girl in JSS III, one girl in JSS-I and one girl in Class IV. This result is as of their lst promotional result.
DONATIONS
The home received donations from well wisher, such as food stuff, used clothing and money. When these things are received, the name, address item donated and signature of the donor are entered into the donation book in the home and this will be followed by a thank you letter.
EBOLA PROJECT
The Christian Brothers in partnership with St. Mary’s Children’s Home engaged in housing the EBOLA children survivors from the treatment centre. The project began on the 1st of November, 2014 and is ongoing. We have housed 32 (thirty two) of which twenty six (26) have been reunified and six (6) children presently staying at the St. Mary’s Children’s Home Interim Care Centre.