Harnham

Hope and Homes for Children Case Study



 
 
 

Case Study – Bojan and Asya


“I don’t want my baby to go into an institution; I want her to have love. People working in the orphanage do not give love in the way a mother or father does. A child needs to see a mother and father and have love and cuddles. If she has love, she grows”.

Bojan and his two younger siblings were placed in the Dom Porodica institution in 2004 when he was 14 having been abandoned by both parents. Bojan met his partner Asya when they both lived in there. Since they have left they have had a baby girl, Emili, who lives with them in Zenica.

Many young adults leave institutions at 18 years old with poor educational achievement and a lack of life skills meaning it is hard for them to find a job and the cycle of poverty and disadvantage that resulted in them being institutionalised is perpetuated. The Hope and Homes for Children young adult support programme helps them develop key life skills and supports them to find work.  Bojan found it difficult to adjust to independent life: “Life after the orphanage was hard. I was lost. I had no job and no papers. Hope and Homes for Children were the only ones that helped me and I cannot forget that.”

The prospect of fatherhood came as a shock to Bojan who had never had to be responsible for anyone but himself. He found it difficult to accept at first and shied away from the responsibility. As well as helping him find a job to support his family, HHC helped him to understand his responsibilities and navigate family life.

Meanwhile, Asya faced the same problems as Bojan but they are able to help each other and recognise when they need extra support.

“When I was pregnant I was always asking myself, how am I going to be a mother? So I went to classes to learn. I needed to learn how to be a mum because I didn’t have a mother.”

Hope and Homes for Children aim to stop children being separated from their families in the first place by supporting families to get back on their feet. This prevents families breaking down and stops children being placed in institutions.

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Femi Akintoye

Femi Akintoye

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