Recently we were asked why we demand DBS /police checks and references for volunteers who are offering to work online with us – (not in situ) – for the organisations with which we work. Good question and here’s our reply Our first priority is the safety of the communities and volunteers we work with. We have a duty to do all we can to ensure that the children, young people and any at risk adults that we work with are…
Nobody doubts the good intention of the donors, travellers, and volunteers who give time or money to orphanages. It is natural and right to care about poor and vulnerable children, wherever they are in the world. But is this support part of the problem rather the solution? We have been advising volunteers about the risks and dangers of volunteering in orphanages for some years now. We are so pleased to see the recent initiative from The Foreign and Commonwealth Office…
This is a cautionary tale. Sharing images of abuse, even when the goal is to question those images and promote best practice, could be a criminal offence in the letter of the law. Recently I (Dianne) was sent a video via social media by someone who works at one of the projects we support. The film showed shocking scenes of violence towards children. It was sent to me with the best of intentions by someone with whom I had have…
We want to start this post by saying very clearly that we know that some of you support orphanages – and we are not, for a moment, suggesting that you should immediately stop supporting those orphanages. We want to encourage people to look at alternatives and encourage the organisations they support to seek alternatives.We want to encourage people who are thinking about supporting an orphanage for the first time to consider the alternatives – we want to warn people that…