Since 2014 Fairstart Foundation has had a fruitful cooperation with SOS Children’s Villages Denmark, and now another big project is in the pipeline.
The successful family like units at the SOS Childen’s Villages is currently undergoing a transformation caused by an international strategy that closes orphanages for the benefit of foster care solutions. In relation to this the Children’s Villages is demanding a professional tool, which can educate SOS mothers as foster parents. Fairstart’s online training programmes and instructor educations are exactly the essence of this tool.
In the summer 2017 a larger family project is expected to be initiated in the three African countries; Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. The purpose of the project is to educate 20 SOS employees as certified Fairstart instructors, who can guide at least 200 foster parents and SOS mothers through our foster care training programme. The programme will optimize the participants’ abilities to use attachment-based quality childcare. The training programme is already being translated into the African languages Kinyarwanda and Swahili.
As preparation for the project Fairstart and SOS Children’s Villages Denmark will go on a two week long research travel to Rwanda and Tanzania at the end of February. We will visit two SOS Villages in the capitol city of Rwanda, Kigali, and the group of Islands at Tanzania, Zanzibar, in order to gather photo- and video material as well as knowledge of the structure and practices in the villages. By adapting the training programme and instructor education to the organisational needs of the SOS Villages, SOS departments from all over the world will in the future get a common educational tool.
We are looking very much forward to giving even more children a great start in life in solid cooperation with SOS Children’s Villages.
